Homework Debate
Reading this book has not changed my opinion on
homework. Prior to reading this book, I
believed that homework needs to be relevant, flexible, and meaningful to
students. Reading this book has only
strengthened these beliefs. Given the
complexity and diversity of today’s family life it is obvious homework cannot be
approached with a “one size fits all” attitude.
I do believe homework has its place, particularly in college
prep courses. Homework in reasonable
amounts can support and enhance learning; however the negative impacts of
excessive homework are quite alarming. Homework’s
negative effects include frustration, exhaustion, lack of time for other
activities, and possible loss of interest in learning. Administrators and teachers need to see that
the most important criterion for judging decisions about homework is the impact
they’re likely to have on students’ attitudes
about what they’re doing. Most of what homework is doing is driving kids away from learning. Let’s face
it: Most children hate homework, or at best see it as simply something to
be gotten through. Thus, even if it did provide other benefits, they
would have to be weighed against its likely effect on kids’ love of learning.
Maybe we should find out what students really think of
homework. Most adults simply assume that homework is useful for promoting
learning without even inquiring into the experience of the learners
themselves. Do students find that homework really is useful?
How does homework affect their desire to
learn? How does it impact their lives and/or families?
Children learn how to make good decisions by making
decisions, not by following directions. Ideally, students should have
something to say about what they’re going to learn and the circumstances under
which they’ll learn it, as well as how their learning will be evaluated.
