Wow! This says everything that I've thought about homework, both as a teacher and as a parent! I know many of my colleagues agree too. More importantly, here they have shared with us a research basis with Alfie Khon who is certainly a well revered educationalist sharing practical and sensible ideas with us. I wonder how this momentum can grow?
An interesting debate! They talk about homework creating inequalities due to parents ability and willingness to partake in homework. I do notice with things like reading the kids that are on the lower side of average who maybe in the reading group there does appear to be a difference in how quickly they progress through the reading levels when it is reinforced at home. Those that don't re-read the book at home aren't advancing as quickly as others in their group despite the same teaching in class. I realise homework may not be the only key to this it could be that the teaching technique favours the learning style of one student more than the other...and I do appreciate that for those who don't enjoy it, it becomes more of a chore, but for some it will always be a chore so do we let this be an excuse to not read? I do agree that it is important students don't become bogged down in homework as it is important they have time to be kids and to learn and naturally they will often combine reading and writing in their down time. Just today one of the students in my class who LOVES Star Wars came to school with a book he is creating with pictures he has googled and put them together in the order of his book that he was able to talk me through what the pictures meant. This was of his own accord, but in doing so he has used ICT skills to access the pictures. He has created a story in his mind (writing) and sequenced the order. I remember reading an article around this issue a few years ago in one of the glossy newspaper weekend magazines. It featured a school that was taking a different stance on homework. They had a certain time frame I can't remember if it was a term or shorter but they were responsible for completing their own project on whatever they choose, something important to them and they had to present it to the class. One kid did about sponsoring a child and therefore learnt about how others live etc. This requires a lot of the skills we ask of home learning and yet it is more on their terms. The last point that got my attention in the video was the issue of time. While the video featured older students and ones that didn't get home until late this is similar to many of our students. I know that there is a number of children from my class that are dropped off early in the morning at ASA and then aren't picked up until well after the school day has finished. With two working parents they are hitting the ground running as soon as they walk in the door, homework then becomes a burden for everyone involved and something that is dreaded and with stress levels high can sometimes lead to parents just doing it for them to get it done. But what is this really teaching the child?
Wow! This says everything that I've thought about homework, both as a teacher and as a parent! I know many of my colleagues agree too. More importantly, here they have shared with us a research basis with Alfie Khon who is certainly a well revered educationalist sharing practical and sensible ideas with us. I wonder how this momentum can grow?
ReplyDeleteAn interesting debate! They talk about homework creating inequalities due to parents ability and willingness to partake in homework. I do notice with things like reading the kids that are on the lower side of average who maybe in the reading group there does appear to be a difference in how quickly they progress through the reading levels when it is reinforced at home. Those that don't re-read the book at home aren't advancing as quickly as others in their group despite the same teaching in class. I realise homework may not be the only key to this it could be that the teaching technique favours the learning style of one student more than the other...and I do appreciate that for those who don't enjoy it, it becomes more of a chore, but for some it will always be a chore so do we let this be an excuse to not read?
ReplyDeleteI do agree that it is important students don't become bogged down in homework as it is important they have time to be kids and to learn and naturally they will often combine reading and writing in their down time. Just today one of the students in my class who LOVES Star Wars came to school with a book he is creating with pictures he has googled and put them together in the order of his book that he was able to talk me through what the pictures meant. This was of his own accord, but in doing so he has used ICT skills to access the pictures. He has created a story in his mind (writing) and sequenced the order. I remember reading an article around this issue a few years ago in one of the glossy newspaper weekend magazines. It featured a school that was taking a different stance on homework. They had a certain time frame I can't remember if it was a term or shorter but they were responsible for completing their own project on whatever they choose, something important to them and they had to present it to the class. One kid did about sponsoring a child and therefore learnt about how others live etc. This requires a lot of the skills we ask of home learning and yet it is more on their terms.
The last point that got my attention in the video was the issue of time. While the video featured older students and ones that didn't get home until late this is similar to many of our students. I know that there is a number of children from my class that are dropped off early in the morning at ASA and then aren't picked up until well after the school day has finished. With two working parents they are hitting the ground running as soon as they walk in the door, homework then becomes a burden for everyone involved and something that is dreaded and with stress levels high can sometimes lead to parents just doing it for them to get it done. But what is this really teaching the child?