The Case for Quality Study Habit: Why There Should be no ‘No Homework Policy’
Luis B. Taruc
Concerns about students’homework or assignments are nothing new, and today, in Philippine settings, dialogues about their significance have resurfaced to examine and weigh their positive and negative impacts on the learners and on their family life.
Just this August 2019, two bills pertinent to No Homework Policy were filed separately by House Deputy Speaker Evelina Escudero and Quezon City Representative Alfred Vargas. Escudero and Vargas who filed House Bill (HB) No. 3611 and HB No. 3883 respectively might have thought that homework loads are distractions from family time and downtime. Even the Department of Education supported the proposed bills saying in a statement that learners can find balance between their academic development and personal growth if they are provided little or no homework (Rappler.com).
Providing assignment to pupils has always been part of the instructional activities prepared by most teachers in the country. Many studies and experts claim their positive connection to academic achievement. But in what way can assignments be really a key vehicle to helping shape our children into mature learners? According to Janine Bempechat, assignments play a critical role in the development of positive learning behaviors and prepare them to more complex tasks. This suggests that assignments can enhance academic success through a positive study habit continued at home and allow learners not to shun challenges in life. Moreover, psychology professor Harris Cooper from Duke University also claimed that homework positively ties with academic success, meaning a pupil who does an assignment fares well in the classr oom.
The effect of homework on the learners will be forever a highly debated issue. But it is still worthy to note that academic activities spent outside school if explicitly made clear about their purpose can still dramatically increase achievement. Learners, parents and teachers have to remember that assignments are like dietary supplements providing extra nutrients that when taken too little have no effect, too much might put you at risk, and with the right amount can make you get better.
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The author is Teacher III at San Isidro Elementary School, San Luis
District, San Luis, Pampanga