The mention of the word homework evokes strong opinions amongst teachers, parents and students. Stances vary on whether there is too much, too little or even the right kind. Homework beliefs and their historical influences affect the debate on homework in many ways. Arguments for or against homework today are no different to the arguments that have been carried out for the last 100 years. Today, however, there are many new and unique challenges placed upon students to meet the demands and standards being set for them.

Attempts from researchers to answer the question on whether homework assignments improve achievement have led to conclusions that are inconsistent at best and contradictory at worst (Kohn 2006). Enough research has been done on homework to support almost any position, as long as conflicting studies are ignored.

Although teachers from K-12 commonly assign homework, research has produced no clear-cut consensus of the benefits of homework at a primary level (Marzano and Pickering 2007).

Cooper (1989) claims that homework has smaller effects at lower grade levels, however, still recommends homework for young children because homework for young children should help them develop good study habits, foster positive attitudes toward school and communicate to students the idea that learning takes place at home as well as at school.

In The Battle over Homework (2007), Harris Cooper notes that homework should have different purposes at different grade levels:

• For students in Kindy and Year 1, it should foster positive attitudes, habits, and character traits; permit appropriate parent involvement; and reinforce learning of simple skills introduced in class.

• For students in Years 2-5, it should play a more direct role in fostering improved school achievement.

• In Year 6 and beyond, it should play an important role in improving standardised test scores and grades.

Advocates of homework who believe that it should be part of a child’s daily life recognise that it has many advantages, some of which are:

Immediate achievement and learning:

• Better retention of factual knowledge
• Increased understanding
• Better critical thinking, concept formation and information process
• Curriculum enrichment.

Long term academic:

• Learning encouraged during leisure time.
• Improved attitude towards school.
• Better study habits and skills

Non-academic:

• Greater self-direction.

• Greater self-discipline.
• Better time organisation.
• More inquisitiveness.
• More independent problem solving

For homework to be successful, we need to make sure that it must be increasingly inspired by students own interests and motivations. Students must be given control over what they learn, how they learn it and how they show they have learned it. Students must also have opportunities to self-evaluate, to reflect on their own learning and to set their own goals.

Over the years we have found that discussions on homework almost exclusively focus on short-term achievement or passing the test, not on what the practice of homework does to a child’s long-term learning, attitude about learning, or attitudes about their intellectual life. We do not want homework to dampen a child’s natural curiosity, passion, and love of learning.

Using the experience and expertise that the teachers at Newington Lindfield have can allow for us to use the research available and put it into perspective for our students. If teachers are able to plan homework collaboratively and then reflect on the experience they will be able to provide creative and interactive tasks that engage the students at home.

If the students are provided with such tasks they can successfully complete their homework using self-control, direction and regulation. When students can successfully plan and prepare their learning into small time frames using the support available to them without any distractions it would be hoped that the students are not bored by the homework but rather excited because they are using their own autonomy to complete the tasks that have been prepared for them.

In the next Prep-Talk we will discuss how parents can be involved in student homework to help positively impact learning (without the arguments…).

References

Cooper, H., 1989. Synthesis of research on homework. Educational leadership, 47(3), pp.85-91.

Cooper, H., 2007. The battle over homework: Common ground for administrators, teachers, and parents. Corwin Press.

Kohn, A., 2006. The truth about homework. Education Week, 26(2), p.52.

Marzano, R.J. and Pickering, D.J., 2007. Special topic: The case for and against homework. Educational leadership, 64(6), pp.74-79.

Jackson English