Does Homework Really Matter?

For teachers, homework is one of the biggest struggles in the classroom. Between assigning the homework, getting it completed and returned and finding time to grade it, it can take up a huge amount of time and energy. Conventional wisdom says that regular homework is an important part of the educational process. But, administrators in Europe, and some even here in America are starting to challenge that wisdom.

 

In an article in the IrishTimes, an administrator said that homework was not only a struggle for students but that there doesn't seem to be any hard evidence that it actually has any benefit.

 

He went on to say that homework caused stress between the parents and the children and took away from family time in the evenings. Additionally, it made things more difficult for teachers because they had to take time to correct the work.

 

The report suggested that some teachers give homework because parents expect it thinking that good teachers give a lot of homework. When the reality is that the best teaching happens in the classroom rather than at home.

 

This got me wondering if teachers here in the states feel the same way about the usefulness of homework. It has been my experience that parents do expect their children to be assigned homework on a regular basis, and when it isn't, they think that perhaps the teacher isn't being very effective. In fact, I have heard parents complain that their kindergartener wasn't receiving as much homework as they had expected and wondered if the teacher was doing their job.

 

On the other side, I can say that as a parent, I am not a fan of homework. I think that it focuses more on completing certain tasks rather than showing any mastery of a topic. But, I also understand that sometimes students need more practice with a new concept than what can be accomplished in the allotted classroom time. When the homework is more than just busy work, it can be a very useful tool. But assigning it just because that is what is expected seems a bit silly.

 

So, I want to know what do you think? Do you think that homework is mostly a waste of time for both students and teachers alike, or do you think that homework is the best way to teach a student the subject matter? Please let me know in the comment section.

 

 

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By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.