The ‘unnecesary’ homework
Even in education, there are several outdated practices, which are largely based on theoretical myths, which must be addressed to protect the physical and mental health of young children.
One myth is the idea of homework as a means for “parent-child quality time,” from which a lot of assumptions can be questioned.
First, daily homework adds to the child’s mental burden of eight hours, just listening to her teachers at school. Any employee working full time knows the mental and physical burden. Former Department of Education secretary Armin Luistro’s circular on his “no weekend homework” policy in 2010 understood that pupils must be allowed “to enjoy their childhood.” In fact, “pupils must be given ample time to be together in more enjoyable activities,” indirectly confirming that homework is not an enjoyable activity.
Second, parents assume that they send their children to school to learn the lessons at school and not go home and wait for a tutor. If the child cannot retain the lessons taught, something must be wrong in the manner of teaching it. If children desire to learn, even the “slow learners,” it is a bad teacher who cannot help children learn in the classroom.
Third, the myth of “quality time” in homework is nothing but a myth. At the end of the day, an exhausted child and a worn-out parent can hardly create “quality time” over homework. Perhaps, a nice and relaxing talk over ice cream will do far better for both. In fact, Luistro affirmed that homework is a burden, removing “quality time with their parents.”
However, certain educators find a way to go around this approach by attaching “conduct” elements with homework, still forcing the child to work at home. That is unfortunate. Sometimes educators forget that graders do not need to function academically like high school students.
Nichole Carr, in her research article published in School Community Journal in 2013, noted that the problem is not essentially in the homework itself as studies found academic benefits in it. She pointed out that teachers tend to misuse it, that is, unadvised by evidence-based practice, for instance, from not knowing that it is beneficial only to grades seven through 12, not from kindergarten through grade six.
According to Carr, teachers also tend to give similar homework to all pupils, instead of designing it to meet the specific learning needs of each pupil. Knowing alone this demand for the correct use of homework will motivate teachers not to give homework again.
Thomas Carruthers said: “A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary.” Thus, a teacher who makes a tutor necessary fails in her calling.