The Great Homework Debate: Should We Ban It?

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   tsmogposted 7 months ago

   The OP title is a fellow, HP author - Jennifer Neel, actual article title. We all have an opinion about homework, right? Many live with it as a student, as a parent guiding their child, and for some of us participating in these forums researching other's positions, particularly to the lively Politics and Social Issue Forum Topic. At least it does for me!! Though it is not really assigned and is voluntary, it does further one's knowledge.
   
   The link to her humorous article is:
   https://hubpages.com/education/the-grea … -we-ban-it
   
   So, what is your take on it?
   
   Is it a political left - right issue at heart? Could be, maybe, yes or no.
   
   How about your experience with homework? Were you relentless about it or lackadaisical?
   
   When did it have the importance for you? Elementary - middle school - high school - college/university - higher self learning
   
   How much did your parents emphasis completing assignments?
   
   For a deep dive what is your philosophical view?
   
   Thoughts?

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      Venkatachari Mposted 7 months agoin reply to this

      The article is very interesting posing a much-debated discussion among academia circles currently.
      
      I would like a change in the method of that approach.
      I think they shouldn't burden the students with heavy homework thereby causing psychological problems both to the children as well as their parents. Better they get assignments related to one single subject per day and that too in some interesting style each day. We need to find out that alternative.
      
      And, Tim, regarding your question about my experiences, I too suffered that homework problem in my primary school education. Trigonometry used to be difficult for me.
      
      I don't remember exactly whether my parents were concerned much about it or not. My mother expired during my primary school duration. But, my father used to ascertain that we sit and study/ complete homework after having dinner daily including Sundays. That's all I remember.

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         tsmogposted 7 months agoin reply to this

         Thanks! As Jennifer's article points out it is a debate. I imagine for some time too. My parents emphasized homework with me growing up too. Inspired by her article, I placed a reference to it on my computer to look into later. My niece is a 6th grade (11-12 age group) teacher. I plan to ask her about it at the next family gathering. That will be interesting.

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            Venkatachari Mposted 7 months agoin reply to this

            That's a nice thing to do. You can draw some interesting perceptions of her too and ignite your mind.

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      Kathryn L Hillposted 7 months agoin reply to this

      "For a deep dive what is your philosophical view?"
      
      
      Why have homework AFTER being in school all day?
      
      Why did you not do the learning and working THEN?
      
      Why do you have to do homework/SCHOOLwork at home when you (should) have the freedom of flow time,
      
      ~ where you could be learning according to your OWN inner prompts!

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         tsmogposted 7 months agoin reply to this

         Good questions, Kathryn!

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         Venkatachari Mposted 7 months agoin reply to this

         Home work is a part of your recapitulation which is a good food for our brain. It is necessary as a student as well as a working professional.
         
         But, not the present boring system of homework that hinders your growth rather than doing anything good for your brains.

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   Kathryn L Hillposted 7 months ago

   "How much did your parents emphasis completing assignments?"
   Not at all.
   
   "How about your experience with homework? Were you relentless about it or lackadaisical?"
   The latter.
   
   "Is it a political left - right issue at heart? Could be, maybe, yes or no"
   Yes. The left values obedience. OBEDIENCE, as in BLIND obedience.
   
   "When did it have the importance for you? Elementary - middle school - high school - college/university - higher self learning"
   The latter-est.

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3. 77

   Kathryn L Hillposted 7 months ago

   from the article (Homework: Professor Tsmog's reading assignment.)
   
   "Childhood isn't just about hitting the books; it's about exploring passions, nurturing your creativity, and building social skills. To these rebels, homework often gets in the way of those vital parts of growing up.
   
   And they've got a theory that homework might secretly be plotting against us. Like it's on a mission to tire us out, mess with our motivation, and overload our brains. They wonder if all those hours spent on homework are truly worth it or if they're just leftovers from an old-school way of doing things."
   
   I would tend to agree.

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      tsmogposted 7 months agoin reply to this

      Old School . . . Rote? My remembrance of that leads me to think, perhaps, maybe Rote was/is indoctrination in some instances. For example an emphasis on memorizing dates for history while the student does not gain insight into the significance of the event. What do you think?
      
      From what I just learned there are different choices for schools with their philosophies for learning. Those are:
      
      ** Traditional public school
      ** Charter school
      ** Magnet school
      **Virtual or Online school
      ** Traditional private school
      ** Boarding school
      ** Language immersion school
      ** Montessori school
      ** Private special education school
      ** Parochial school
      ** Religious school
      ** Reggio Emilia school
      ** Waldorf school
      
      The Ultimate Guide to 13 Different Types of Schools Across America
      https://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/educa … f-schools/
      
      I wonder how they approach homework?

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         Kathryn L Hillposted 7 months agoin reply to this

         Waldorf and Montessori value the freedom to explore, learn and research during school hours and believe in allowing the child to activate his own mind. The learning is done via the prepared environment during the hours present in school.
         
         The environment is the key. In Waldorf they believe in a lot of outside time. With Montessori it is a matter of didactic teaching materials arranged in specific ways (with a directress acting as a behind-the-scene guide) to help children increase their understanding of reading, spelling, language comprehsion, writing/eye-hand coordination and math/numbers, measurements, proportions. Montessori also provides methodologies for the development, (in real time,) of social skills, self-care abilities, sensory enhancers. Activities to stimulate the interest and understanding of Art and Music is also featured.
         
         The ideal is freedom within boundaries. The ideal is allowing the inner spirit of the child to direct himself toward his own robust health in body, mind and soul.
         
         Montessori urged adults to "respect" the child.

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      Venkatachari Mposted 7 months agoin reply to this

      I do not agree with above perceptions totally. As I said already, homework is to sharpen your brain. So let us have homework as a part of our studies. The only thing is this present method of all this should be replaced with some new innovative methods.
      
      For example, let us have a kind of group discussions after the school hours at least for one hour duration. The students can be arranged into different groups. Each group is discuss a certain topic and express their views. It can be in a rotational process so that each group studies the same topic on different days and all views can be clubbed together at the weekend assembling all of them in a hall. This is one idea of innovate way of doing your homework thereby feeding your brain with ideas.

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   Kathryn L Hillposted 7 months ago

   I wrote:
   
   "Montessori lights the way for a new direction in education. Education today teaches from without in attempt to create the child in the teacher's or society's image. But a new direction in education allows the child to create himself in his own image ... as he did in the womb.
   
   During the first six years the child is laying the psychic foundation for the man he is to be. By cooperating with nature (at work within him,) we can help the child develop his own potentials and abilities.
   
   We need to keep in mind that it is nature at work within the child. We must facilitate this work and not impede it.
   
   Know when to encourage the child by stepping in, and when to let him work from within, by stepping out."

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   Kathryn L Hillposted 7 months ago

   The Child's joy of life is the key feature in the development of his ability to learn, grow and thrive according to his own inner nature via curiosity and interest in life as he perceives it all around him.

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