HomeworkEducationsBiggestScam

Homeworkispossiblyoneofeducationsmostcontentioussubjects.Beforeweaskthepurposeofhomework wemustfirstlookateducation. Q)Whydochildren/studentsattendschool? A)Tolearn Learningismosteffectivewhendoneinarelaxedandhappyatmosphere:theschoolmustprovideaplacewhere thestudentswanttobe.Then,andonlythen,willthestudentslearningbemaximised.Thisisourgoalandwe muststartwithacleanslateandputstrategiesinplacewhichpromotethis.Anythingwhichhindersthismustbe scrapped.Thisseemscommonsense. Theabove(providingaplacewherestudentswanttobe)isaprerequisiteforeffectivelearning. Now,letsconsiderthepurposeofhomework.Inearlyyearsofeducationthereisnoreasonforhomework.If youngchildreninprimaryschoolcannotlearnalltheyneedtoduringschoolhours,thereissomethingwrong withtheeducationsystem. Insecondaryschoolthepurposeofhomeworkisforstudentstoconsolidatewhattheyfinddifficult.Aftera lessoneachstudentwillhavedifferentneedsastowhatworkneedsconsolidation.Onlyeachindividualstudent knowshis/herhomeworkneedsandsoonlyeachindividualstudentknowswhathomeworkhe/sheneedstobe doing.Thelogicalconclusiontothisisthateachstudentchooseshis/herhomework:theideaoftheteacher settingallstudentsthesamehomeworkissenseless.Ifastudentchooseshis/herownhomeworkhe/sheismore likelytodoitandmoreimportantly,learnfromdoingit. Thehomeworkpunditswillarguethatsome/manywillnotdohomework.Wemustaskifhomeworkis appropriateforallstudents.(Insecondarymodernschoolsyearsagohomeworkwasnotsetandthestudents learnedappropriateskillstopreparethemforlife).Atthemoment,studentswhodonothandinhomework havedetentionandareoftenmadetocompletethehomeworkatschoolinthepresenceofateacher.The studentmaycompletethehomeworkbutthereisnolearningtakingplaceundertheseconditions. Whatdoeshappenisthatthestudentsrelationshipwithoneormoreteachersdeteriorates,resultinginless learningtakingplaceinlessons.Ibelievethatforcingastudenttodohomeworkresultsinlesslearningoverall becauseoftheirantischool/teacherattitude. Efficiencyisoutput/input.Fromthisdefinition,homework,asconventionallysetinschoolswiththeresulting sanctionsandmarkingmustbeoneofthemostinefficienttasksoftheeducationsystem. Thereisawealthofliteratureexposingthefallacythathomeworkasconventionallydoneimproves performance:itdoesnot. Thereasonhomeworkisdoneisbecauseparents/guardiansexpectit.Schoolsareoftenjudgedbyhowmuch homeworkisset.(Ifparentsbelievehomeworkimprovesperformancethentheytooshouldbesethomework eachnightbytheiremployer). Parents,governorsandgovernmentsneedtobeeducatedinwhatreallyimprovesstudentslearning. Onafinalnote,teachersnowadayshavenotimetofocusonwhatreallyimproveslearningastheyaretoobusy doingalltheunnecessarytasks(suchasallthehoursspentonhomeworkissues)imposedbyconstantchanging governmentstrategies. JimBaker06/10/2011