What are the many main reasons that teachers assign homework to students? In the book The Homework Myth: Why Are Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing by Alfie Kohn, he takes a deep dive into why many teachers may assign homework and why he believes homework is not effective. His main argument is that while this method of teaching students and educating them more is not effective, it can also weigh on their mental health, as well as increase the educational gap among students. Through his book he also argues that it is a waste of time, and puts unnecessary amounts of stimulation for children as well as their parents. Assigning homework has often become some sort of tradition, and one that many teachers feel they have to upheld. “Policy makers …show more content…
Assigning this type of “busy work” does not meet the individual's needs for students and what they may need more help learning. A homework assignment could be given but have no problems for possibly what half the class is struggling in. That type of homework does not contribute to academic success, and can actually lead to tearing students down. “No matter how successful we are at promoting that desire, there are still going to be many things in life that must be done even though they’re not particularly pleasant” (Kohn …show more content…
“There’s one more reason that homework doesn’t have to be valuable in order for teachers to keep assigning it and parents to keep accepting it” (Kohn 122) Kohn believes this could be due to the norm of giving out homework, and it is just something that should be expected. Making giving out homework a passed down tradition from generation to generation. This tradition is something that needs to be done with as the effects showing from it are not all that great. Kohn argues it is time to rethink homework and consider alternative approaches. I completely agree with all of his statements. Choosing a different way to show students what they have learned based on their individual needs is so important. Stepping away from the cultural traditions of giving homework and expecting students to do it is something that needs to be put into place
As a student taking advanced classes, I’m sure I can speak for kids countrywide under the same circumstances when I say there are rarely days that I am not overloaded with work. There are days when I am not sure that my teachers realize their class is definitely not the only class I take, and oddly enough, they are also not the first teacher to come up with the idea of lengthy homework assignments.
We have told our teachers time and time again how stressful such instances of homework are on our lives. We have told them of our predicaments with juggling school, home, sports, and free time. We have appealed to their instances of such oppression in their pasts. They too have been deaf to the troubles that grading homework has imposed upon them. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, that the eradication of homework would benefit both teachers and
Teachers consider homework to help students better understand the subject matter. Teachers also assume the homework so the students will learn back at home. But did you know that giving homework too much and too much is not good. Here are some reasons why teachers should not give homework to students.
Why Students Shouldn’t Have Homework There are around 365 days in a year, and in a school year, there are around 180 days. From the beginning of the school year to the end, the most common thing that students least like, is homework. Coming home after a long day of school, then having responsibilities to do at home, not to mention some students have after school activities which take up around 2 hours if not more. Homework for students is a barrier that makes it difficult for them to have any kind of social life, or spend time with their family. There are many reasons why students shouldn’t have homework, during this essay people will learn why having homework isn’t helping the student, except making things more difficult for them.
Homework takes too much time out of kids lives, it causes anxiety for students, and it’s not healthy. Even though some will argue that homework teaches kids time management, responsibility, and strategy skills, many sources show that they can learn these skills in other ways. Overall, homework is not necessary for students to be doing. Educators need to understand that kids have other things going on in their lives and homework is just too
A direct statement from education and parenting expert Alfie Kohn states, “Kids should have a chance to be kids [...] it’s absurd to insist that children must be engaged in constructive activities right up until their heads hit the pillow”. Homework (as many people know it) is a way for students to work outside of school if time is limited inside the classroom. However, there are times when students may not have enough time to complete their tasks at school. Many outside factors contribute to this. Perhaps an emergency where a student has little to no choice but to miss their homework.
Over recent years, the debate has gotten more attention as to whether students should have homework as homework has seemed to increase. Students having homework does not benefit them in their academic skills and should be abolished. In countries like Japan and Denmark, the students don’t have much homework, but exceed the United States on international tests. A lot of tests have proven that homework does not help improve a student’s performance of skills.
Tai of UVA (both professors), and Xitao Fan, dean of education at the University of Macau, tells us that homework is better when quality of it is considered over quantity. Inside the research, they conducted a survey of more than 18,000 10th grade students to measure and explain reasons for their performance in school. After analysis of the total amount of time spent on homework, compared to student’s final grades of a particular class, there was no substantial difference in grades between highschoolers who did homework, versus those who did little to none at all. Robert H. Tai states, “homework assignments cannot replace good teaching…beginning with the content coverage requirements that push too much information into too little time to learn it in the classroom, the overflow typically results in more homework assignments,” he says, “students spending more time on something that is not easy to understand or needs to be explained by a teacher does not help these students learn, and…may confuse them,” (Tai, Maltese). He then also adds, “Homework should be purposeful,” (Tai).
An average student would spend hours on schoolwork a day, which can be very stressful. A high school student will use half of their day around school relation. Almost all elementary to high school students will likely to agree that homework should not be assigned. The majority of students complain about homework yet teachers don’t usually understand why. While homework gives benefits to students, unnecessary homework should not be assigned due to the fact that there are enough school hours, it consumes time, and the development of poor health is encouraged.
Reflective Essay: Personal Philosophy of Homework McQuet Osborn Arkansas State University ELFN 6763: Philosophies of Education Dr. Gabrina W. Charles June 4, 2023 Personal Philosophy on Homework Context I taught 5th and 6th grade Math at Lafayette County Elementary School for 4 years. 67% of the population at this school were minority students.
When teachers assign homework, it either doesn’t get finished or nothing is taught from it. I know this because there have been several occasions where this has happened to me. For example, my 4th-period teacher assigned homework and I didn’t know how to do it so I and my friend just copied someone's answers. Nobody is learning from just copying the answers.
There are multiple reasons why schools should continue to assign homework to students. Often, people think homework encourages responsibility and higher academic achievement for students. Others frequently think homework allows parents and teachers to see the progress of each individual student. Pro Point 1 - Brenna Homework encourages responsibility and higher academic achievement. It gives the students a better understanding of the content in which they are learning, leading them to get more out of school.
Everyone goes to school, everyone has homework. Homework has been a topic of interest for a very long time. Many students think that homework is not beneficial. However, without homework people wouldn’t remember what they learned in class. Homework gives kids the chance to prove what they have learned.
Homework provides kids with stress, sleep deprivation, and ruins their social lives and should be highly modified. Homework has been around for a long time, so there must be some reasons as to why they haven’t gotten rid of it completely. It can help by practicing what you’ve learnt in class and covering more material in a year. Homework helps make sure students can understand the concept without the teacher having to lead them through the steps. In a previous meta-study in 1989 Duke university found that high schoolers have much
According to John Bishop, “School and homework show students the important life lessons, such as how to read and communicate with others, that they will use as an adult.” Students can learn how important planning, staying organized and taking action is just from doing homework. Homework gives the students an opportunity to learn how to work independently. Although I understand that assigning homework is not beneficial at times, I still believe that assigning homework can teach students many skills and even help teachers. Assigning homework to students is constructive, therefore teachers should assign homework because it allows students to gain responsibility, time-management, perseverance, self-esteem, homework also gives students a chance to review the class material, and it also helps teachers determine how well the lessons and materials are being understood by their students.