Is homework now another dinosaur of education?
We were at a meeting with a parent. I was asked about homework for my class and was explaining that my assignments are all long term. I work my eighth graders through the process of research ending with a 5-10 page term paper. There is always something to be doing but progress is checked every few weeks in the form of note cards, outlines and such. As I was explaining this I said what I have often said to try to reinforce other teachers, “It isn’t like math that has homework every night.” To my surprise the math teacher said, “Not under Common Core.”
I did not have time to follow up the discussion but what I got from it is that with the new Common Core Curriculum in math the students do not have homework every night. I can hear the children cheering now.
This is another example of how the forces of dumbing down are winning battle after battle. This is another one of the conflicts that has been waged in education. A growing pool of parents and teachers have been trying to do away with homework assignments. They feel like it puts too much stress on the student and of course “everyone” knows that it doesn’t do any good. My response is that of course it doesn’t do any good if the students don’t do it.
I am sure that there is a very good explanation for the change. I am sure that they can quote studies and position papers. I am sure that you can be made to look ignorant because you don’t understand the latest jargon.
It is like telling weight lifters that they don’t need to lift weights. It is part of the syndrome that believes you can eat what you want and lose weight. It is the fantasy that we can have total, high quality health care for everyone and lower the costs. It is believed by the same people that believe the billboard about the new car that gets 108 MPG.
I guess education is just catching up with the rest of society.
homo unius libri
I have seen the amount of homework get absolutely abusive for children, with each teacher acting as if THEIR class is the only one the kid has. However, there's a need for balance, not total elimination.
ReplyDeleteAgreed
DeleteI keep hearing this but in 27 years I have not seen it. Most kids keep ignoring their work and let it pile up and then try to do it all the night before. When you operate that way I would agree it looks oppressive. For instance, I require them to do a minimum of 30 note cards with one piece of information on each card. They have three weeks to do this step. That comes out to two cards a day if you only count school days. This is hardly abusive. It may be that in some intense, preppy schools you have issues but that is not the norm.
DeleteGrace and peace.