For many children, Christmas holidays will often include lots of homework. But
if schools are teaching correctly, the majority of homework is irrelevant,
says John Walmsley
Regardless of your personal beliefs, I hope
that your Christmas will be a time for family, friends and festivities.
However, as a teacher and a parent, I must regrettably admit that for
too many pupils, these Christmas holidays will also include no small
amount of homework.
The debate around holiday homework has raged for years and it’s a topic
which divides teachers, parents and pupils alike. Recently, the
discussion has been brought to the fore by a number of new free and
academy schools who have declared that they would not issue homework.
The increasing trend of primary and secondary schools
announcing they would ban homework only seemed to fuel the debate- it
even made the Education Secretary sit up and take notice.
Michael Gove’s decision to rethink national guidelines on homework was
a wise move. If educators and parents can’t agree, what chance was
there for a consistent Government opinion on how much time children
should spend on homework each night?
Personally, my view is that homework is totally unnecessary for primary school pupils and those in the first three years of secondary school education. However, I will concede that it is necessary when students reach their crucial exam years.
At that stage – from year 10 and higher – homework assignments serve a purpose; they provide opportunities for students to develop valuable skills in independent research, academic citing, and the fundamental principles of academic honesty.
Ultimately each school, teacher and parent will draw their own line in the sand when determining the correct age for pupils to be given homework; but discussions over homework should not stop there.
What must be asked is the value homework provides to students and, in my opinion, that debate should be based upon three questions:
• Is that homework beneficial for the student’s personal education goals?
• Will homework assignments help to develop the student’s independent learning skills?
• How can educators guard against placing undue pressure on students and help parents support their child’s learning?
Today, league tables and exam results have created a mechanistic education system. Schools, pupils and teachers are too often focused on achieving scores and targets.
In my view, this underpins the homework debate, and it completely negates the truest goal of education, which is to inspire and nurture a student’s love for learning.
For parents, when it comes to homework, there is a fine line between helping your children and doing the work for them. Just as teachers should avoid placing unwarranted pressure on their students, parents should appreciate that by doing the work for them, they are in fact hindering their child’s ability to think independently.
Homework becomes an exercise in futility if children aren’t allowed to take charge of their own learning. Instead, parents should put their efforts into providing an environment which helps to instil a real desire to learn.
As I have already stated, there will always be times, such as exam
preparation, when parents and teachers need to ensure students are
studying at home. In my opinion, the true issue isn’t whether students
should work at home, it’s whether homework should be routinely assigned?
If schools are teaching correctly and engaging students, the
majority of homework becomes irrelevant. In my experience, engaged
students regardless of age will, on their own initiative, actively seek
to advance their knowledge and learning outside of school. In such cases
the teacher and parent roles should then act to support this drive in
whatever way they can. In my own school (which I should mention is an international sixth-form boarding school), we try to use experiential learning to engage and enthuse our students. We do this by providing a dual programme which sees students split their school time equally between academics and corresponding extra-curricular activities.
Frequently, students themselves will take the lead in setting up extra-curricular activities outside of school hours.
Having taught in many kinds of schools in the UK and abroad, I can honestly say that no-other curriculum does more to encourage students to become actively involved in their own learning.
While I accept that not every school will have the luxury of adopting a co-curricular programme to the extent we have; it’s an option I actively encourage them to try, and I believe it would be more readily welcomed by their students.
Personally, I don’t think schools should routinely issue students with homework (particularly below GCSE classes). Ultimately, as a parent your question shouldn’t be “why are schools giving so much homework?” but rather, “is this homework relevant, interesting and does it encourage independent thinking?”