TOPIC: Does homework hold educational value or improve educational performance?
This popular educational debate exists for one reason: the practical applications and perceived benefits of homework vs. the impractical applications and actual benefits of homework.
Homework, in its purest intent, would add educational and performance value to any academic curriculum; however, many variables (e.g. time, familial obligations, extracurricular interests) prohibit this value from fruition, only creating frustrated teachers and exasperated students.
Teachers argue Common Core Standards, or whatever set of standards areas incorporate into their academic curriculum, are too extensive to cover during the allotted school days in a school calendar year, whether in an elementary, middle, or high school setting; Common Core enthusiasts argue if the standards are stringently adhered, slicing away the unessential, or frivolous, material or concepts some teachers incorporate into daily lessons to secure “well-rounded” students, teachers would have more than enough time to allow their students to retain and master most of the knowledge and skills needed to create “well-rounded” students.
Employed as a teacher, I am a Common Core advocate, believing basic knowledge and skills are the extent of an elementary, middle, or high school teacher’s responsibility. I am also against assigning homework, albeit an occasional review sheet or familial-signature-required form. And, no, I do not believe utilizing Common Core Standards, or any other set of standards, as "teaching to a test."
Scientific evidence simply does not exist stating homework holds educational value or improves educational performance, and as for empirical evidence, most teachers observe, myself included, the focus of assigning homework does not result in higher mastery, but culminates with frustrating teacher-student debates or heated arguments (basically a power struggle) concerning incomplete or late assignments, student effort, or personal value of education.
Despite solid arguments against homework, teachers will continue to assign it because of practical applications and perceived benefits or simply because they feel if they were assigned homework as children and became educated, well-rounded, productive adults, then it proves merit for the next generation; however, if homework insists on remaining a tenet of academic curriculum, its procedure is in need of a serious overhaul. If homework practices remain the same, the outcomes will simply become kindling for the fires “burning out” passionate, deserving, and talented teachers, as well as alienated otherwise ambitious, dedicated, and "well-rounded" students.
Below, I provide some other articles debating the pros and cons of this topic:
No comments:
Post a Comment