Homework

Almost no one except a certain type of person fearful that their children/ students will be left behind really thinks that piles of homework are a good thing. Yet, there's a certain amount of, "If it was good enough for me..." mindset among adults that fosters a generational inertia around homework. Among theorists and researchers, the argument about the efficacy of homework is largely between those who think a little is okay versus those who think we shouldn't be giving anything at all.

This article in the Atlantic explores this debate about homework and how homework is given in the United States. While I am pedagogically and philosophically in Alfie Kohn's camp; the structure of the high school day makes it difficult to give no homework at all. 

For the record, I give homework. Not much. But some. I teach 9th and 12th graders. Most written work by my students is done at home. All journals are written at home. For projects, I try to allot enough time for most of the work to be completed in school. But some of the work is done at home. I also give about an hour's worth of reading a week.  

This paragraph from the article jumped out:

Another problem is that research tends to focus on homework’s quantity rather than its quality, because the former is much easier to measure than the latter. While experts generally agree that the substance of an assignment matters greatly (and that a lot of homework is uninspiring busywork), there isn’t a catchall rule for what’s best—the answer is often specific to a certain curriculum or even an individual student.

Surely worksheets and other mindless busy work does nothing to promote learning. This article doesn't fully answer the question it poses. If I had my druthers, I do away with most homework and being fully honest, I'd give even less of it myself. But kids are trained to think about school a certain way. They conflate rigor with learning. At least some parents still expect it; I still get an occasional phone call from a parent worrying that their child isn't doing enough homework.  Homework becomes a proxy for virtues such as determination, hard-work, and personal responsibility. 

It seems right to me that the ultimate answer about the efficacy of homework comes down to the individual student.  And if that's the case, individualize the homework. Drop the one size fits all approach. I've always felt that if we really wanted to use homework to promote responsibility, we should make much of it optional.  And we should emphasize better over more.  Now, I have to think more about how to do this in my own classes.