The latest from dougbelshaw.com/blog
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Why homework isn’t working
83 CommentsI’ve just come across a great article in the Observer entitled Why homework isn’t working. It talks about the strain homework can put on families and the fact that very little learning takes place as a result of the boring homework usually set. If it was up to me I wouldn’t set any, or I’d make it optional. Unfortunately, I can’t so I set the minimum amount I can and try to make at as interesting as possible. My Year 10 students, for example, are blogging pretty much all of their History homework…
Published on January 28, 2007 · Filed under: Uncategorized;
83 Responses to “Why homework isn’t working”
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Snap! I was just talking about this. I think it still has its place in some subjects, but it's difficult to get right.
I like the homework blogs by the way, I think that student blogs could be the next stage for our school blogging.
Dan -
Doug – you mean you have to send homework? Now, my understanding of homework is work that you don't get done in class. So, for my classes, we are doing work and, if they choose not to use classtime to work or they don't get finished because of another reason, they get to take it home. Since I do quite a lot of work using computers and internet, I sometimes have students staying after school or staying in at noon to finish. I don't assignm work to be done at home, well, sometimes I give reading selections that are short just so that we can move to the discussion, evaluation, creation stages without using time in class to read. With long term projects – students may decide to work at home on part of their projects. It's almost criminal to have to give homework.
Kelly -
Doug,
Sorry, hit sent and then though "Is this a common practice in Europe?" What is the reasoning for this?
Kelly -
Dan – was looking forward to reading your blog but it doesn't seem to be working… :(
Kelly – yes, we do have to set homework. I've had complaints (albeit indirectly) from parents and in my last school the Head was forever 'reminding' teachers of their obligations towards homework. I do try to give interesting, more ICT-based homework but it is time-consuming.
As for whether it's 'common practice in Europe', this makes me smile. :) Europe is a collection of very diverse countries all with fairly different educational systems. I have no idea, for example, what goes on in Spain, France, Germany and the like regarding homework. It even differs from school to school and from department to department. There are, however, government guidelines in the UK as to how much homework students in different year groups should be being set per night/week.
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Hi Doug+Kelly, thought I should add a comment on behalf of the Italian education system as I am working out here right now!
In the state sector it is common practice to give our lots of homework most nights, and yes it is 'required'. Where I work in an International School a lot of students actually effectively do two programmes: The international one and the Italian exams (as required by the wonderful Italian bureaucracy!) – this results in ridiculous amounts of homework on top of extra after school lessons etc, again the homework is 'required': I have to set a minimum number per term. I set lots of ICT type homework as well and the number of times it is registered as being received/done at 1am or later is shocking!
I have to say I completely agree with what is being said about homework. It just seems to be yet another thing that has always been 'done that way' and therefore must continue to be 'done that way' despite lacking any obvious rationale. -
Thanks for your input, Chris – we need to start a campaign. Can anyone think up a witty anti-homework slogan? ;)
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Doug, edublogs seems a bit temperamental at the moment, the blog's working again now.
In the UK I think that the overwhelming driving force behind compulsory homework is from parents. I guess their expectations are driven mainly by tradition.
AS I said, I think there's room for homework of different types at times. But I would like the freedom to choose when and what is appropriate without external pressures. -
Absolutely, Homework can actually be invaluable for certain tasks in moderation. For example my grade 9's are currently working on a 'family history project': it is one of the most valuable and rewarding projects that they do and it would be impossible without homework for obvious reasons!
I agree from my experiance in the UK it is the parents that are driving this, certainly that is the case here in Italy where there is a tradition of quite 'traditional' teaching methods (e.g. read this, memorise it and repeat).
I know from my conversations with language teachers that homework is absolutely necessary for them: at the end of the day as a History teacher I tend to focus on the 'skills' that my subject gives kids, with memorisation of facts being less important. However if you are trying to learn a foreign language you have to learn words, there isn't anyway round it.
Its this setting homework for the sake of it I can't stand. The kids see right through it: they know only too well when a homework is a necessary, useful and planned part of the curriculum and when it is there to make up the numbers and keep parents happy. -
[...] homework is gathering speed. I wrote about it here last December, and I was interested to read Doug’s idea for taking the sting out of homework. He has his students blogging their History homework! I [...]
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