Why our kids should quit doing homework
Survey shows teachers and students question point of homework.
More than a third of New Zealand teachers and parents say they are increasingly doubting the value of homework.
A Massey University survey of teachers, parents and students has found the students overwhelmingly agree homework makes them “frustrated and tired” (68 per cent) and doesn’t leave time for other activities after school (67 per cent).
But all three groups were divided on whether the stress is worthwhile. Almost all the students (93 per cent) said they had to do homework, and 82 per cent of teachers said they assigned it.
Associate Professor Alison Kearney said homework was “deeply embedded in the culture of schools and thus has rarely been questioned”.
But when she asked, 37 per cent of teachers agreed with the statement: “I am increasingly doubting the value of homework.” Only 38 per cent disagreed, with the rest uncertain.
Among parents, 38 per cent of parents agreed they, too, were “increasingly doubting”, and 41 per cent disagreed. Students were also split down the middle that “My homework
is a waste of time” — 37 per cent agreed and 36 per cent disagreed.
Parent support charity the Parenting Place is a firm supporter of homework, saying any new skill requires lots of practice.
Parenting Place chief executive Greg Fleming and his wife, Kirstin, have encouraged homework for their five children, aged 8 to 19.
“The most valuable homework that can be set is just reading. That is by far and away the best way for parents to interact with their children as well,” Fleming said.
Most parents agree. A massive 73 per cent said they “like to be involved in helping with my child’s homework”. Only 17 per cent disagreed.
Despite growing doubts, 56 per cent of parents agreed their child “benefits overall from doing homework”. Only 23 per cent disagreed.
Many students also agreed. Fifty per cent felt homework “helps me be responsible for my own learning”. Only 24 per cent disagreed — even though 78 per cent also agreed homework could be stressful.
Kearney said there was little evidence of the academic value of homework in primary and middle school, and clear evidence that it added to other pressures on children.
“In this study, children and young people are saying homework is stressful for their family, that it makes them frustrated and tired, that it does not help them learn or be responsible, and that it does not leave them time for other activities,” she said.
Of all 2500 NZ schools invited to take part on the research only 755 parents, 424 students and 193 teachers replied.
These sound like great times to be at school, as a pupil or teacher. Testing for national standards is about to be abolished, NCEA pass rate targets are almost certain to go, and today we report the worth of homework is being questioned.
A survey of teachers, parents and students by a Massey University researcher has found more than a third of them doubt the value of homework, 37 per cent of the teachers and pupils, and 38 per cent of the parents.
Far higher proportions agreed homework was stressful, made them tired or frustrated and left little time for other activities in the evening.
Homework can be a bugbear for parents as well as pupils, not to mention the marking load for teachers.
For primary school pupils, homework is liable to be an elaborate project that requires as much effort from the parent as the child. Secondary school homework may be entirely the student’s work but many a parent has to work hard to keep them at it.
For all that, an appropriate amount of homework is worthwhile.
Homework can give young people necessary work habits. At school, study is organised. They are told where to be when and what to do. Even in modern education where they are encouraged to work at their own pace, they are organised and supervised at school.
Not so at home, or at least, not as much. The value of homework is that the student must plan his or her evening, deciding when to do it and what else they can make time to do.
If it leaves them “too little time” to do things they prefer, that is a valuable lesson. Life is like that.
Homework also enables students to find out what they have absorbed of lessons at school, what they thought they understood but now do not, or have forgotten. Often, just the time to concentrate alone, away from the classroom, helps to clarify information.
Although a third of pupils, parents and even teachers may think homework a waste of their time, it is gratifying that two-thirds do not.
Obviously, it can be overdone, work-life balance is important. But work habits are vital and those are best learned at home.