I recently finished reading a book recommended to me by Josh Stumpenhorst (@stumpteacher) by Alfie Kohn, titled The Homework Myth. I will admit that for years I have been on the opposite end of the spectrum in some of the reasoning of the book, which made the read, all the more interesting. I teach engineering in a great school with very actively engaged students, and have always leaned towards being rigid with due dates, and penalizing students for late work. I have tried to never give "busy work" as HW, rather I have always tried to give meaningful assignments that would just keep students "refreshed" for the next lesson that may be several days away (block schedule and weekends). Sometimes I have asked that students read ahead of time, 10 slides of a curriculum provided PowerPoint, and take Cornell notes, hoping that they would retain 20% of what they read, and have some word/idea recognition when we reviewed it in class. I did this thinking I was helping them prepare for colleges that will expect readings to be done outside of class, and ahead of class, in order to more efficiently utilize class time...
After reading the book, I understand and agree with many of the points made. I do not have children of my own, but I do have three nieces and a nephew (with the oldest going into second grade). After reading the book, I could not agree more with many aspects of his arguments against HW in the primary and middle grades, and even many of the points regarding secondary school HW. Sir Ken Robinson put it nicely when he said "Kids are not young adults...they are kids". As an uncle, I agree that my nieces ad nephews should not be bogged down with excessive HW, and reduced snack and recess time. Those grades are the times of their lives where the foundations for learning how to cooperatively "play" and socialize, build relationships, learn to accept differences in others, and develop self management strategies. If we do that right in those lower grades, then when they are asked to creatively explore, communicate, develop, innovate, and create...they will not only do so, but they will do so with gusto, applying the self management and ability to work with others, strategies that we have also encouraged and allowed time for.
I worry about the path that the U.S. education system is taking with excessive standardized, high stakes tests to students throughout their entire development cycle. The stress is becoming enormous on the students, and the teachers, and the addition of hours of HW being given, to compensate for those already stressful tests, is something that grossly worries me for my own family members' mental health and development. I will be drastically reducing (by about 80%) the amount of HW that my freshmen receive this year, increasing my planning of the meaningful activities and exploration that class time will be used for, and hoping that I can inspire them to CHOOSE to pursue further learning and inquiry on their own...you know...like we do in real life as adults.
If you haven't read the book yet...please do. You will be a better teacher/administrator for it.
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