What do you think about no Homework?

[RobAnthony66]

As a teacher I have always had concerns about the usefulness of homework set for the sake of it. I am thinking of trialling a term of no 'normal' homework for our Year 8 students. Alternative tasks would be offered, though not made compulsory, along the lines of something to research or do (like find out about Pablo Picasso or find out how your parents maintain their car). There would be a choice of four each week but, as they are not compulsory, it would be up to students to decide which one, if any to do. They would not need to write anything down to 'prove' that they had done it but would be free to explore the ideas for themselves or with their parents. If it works I might make it school policy for Years 7 to 9.

I know this is a bit radical but I wondered what you all thought about it as an idea?

I am a serious homework sceptic, and don't agree with it at all for primary school children. However, I wobble a bit in secondary school. I do think though that this is because it's only homework that gives me any idea of what my year 9 - soon to be year 10 - dd is doing. If I'm honest it's for my benefit rather than hers!

I suppose the other thing that would concern me is essay writing. How would you make sure they had practice at that?

sounds like an interesting idea. but without wishing to sound snobby it really depends what kind of school you're at IYSWIM.

my old school - superselective grammar blah blah blah - those free projects would be brilliant as it's the kind of stuff a lot of the geekier kids (inc. me!) would do for fun anyway.

my DSDs school - nope. the kids there would just do fuck all I expect, as most of them do fuck all anyway. mind you the homework they do set is stupid and pointless - "just for the sake of it" as you say. worksheets galore etc.

but hey - if it's only a one term trial, go for it and see what happens!

I think it sounds great. (By the way, I'm 16 and occasionaly stalk Mumsnet to laugh at the 'Teenagers' section)
I have and would always be happy to do preparation and research type homework. It makes sense to set things like that. I enjoy doing extra reading to find out more about subjects I might even dislike.
Through the past few years, I've found homework very restricting, and not particularly helpful in my education. For example, my GCSE Maths teacher would set homework nearly every lesson and it would take hours to finish. I realise that repetition is the best way to learn maths, but the amount he gave was unnecessary. As a result, I would just do no maths work at all. It was very counter-productive.

During the run-up to GCSEs(and not a moment before, the teachers slacked off on the homework a bit. I always put the time I saved to good use doing revision, reading French books/set texts, or on internet revision sites. I would have done this(albeit with less frequency) even if there were no upcoming exams.

I think it would be a great school policy if homework was abolished/the amount lessened. People assume that all teenagers and children will hold this opinion, but it's because we have a point, not 'cuz we're lazy.

So yeah, go for it. Even if you choose not to continue this after the trial, I've always thought it would be good if the teachers had some sort of 'homework rota'. I always felt cheated when I had no homework for almost a whole week, and then six separate ones dumped on me on a Friday. There should be a limit on the amount, frequency, and when it's given in relation to other subjects.

Brilliant inside info for you there, anyway. ;D

MY DD (just finished Yr 8) would have far preferred this to a lot of the homework that she did get. The only thing that would bother me would be maths - I can see that the homework she gets there is very useful in consolidating the knowledge she had gained in class and I think possibly without the repetition she wouldn't have had such a strong grasp on the concepts.
Otherwise, yes, most of her homework is a waste of space.
What subject do you teach?

I'm a languages teacher and have just been working in a school where Year 7 only had one project-type homework a year. In the case of languages, this homework was supposed to last 2-3 weeks just before Christmas. In my opinion, it was the most rubbish idea ever!

When learning languages, pupils need little and often. They need to learn vocabulary and grammar on a regular basis and, like maths, to complete tasks to consolidate work done in class.

I think no homework is a great idea. I remember not being given homework until I was 14, when we had to start studying for GCSEs.When I got to uni I wasn't burned out and my thirst for knowledge was still intact.

DH is Japanese and they're homework obsessed here. They go to "cram schools" from an early age to cram. He studied so much, got into one of the best unis in Japan...and hasn't picked up a book since he graduated. He's just not interested in learning for pleasure.

Although, yes, daphne, one block project is useless for some subjects, especially languages. But I think too much homework can destroy any child's interest in a subject. 10 new vocab words a week is enough for languages, I think, and even then only at about age 14. Until then, I think it's counterproductive. (I speak 5 languages)

Thanks for your comments. Cat64 I would be interested to find out which school your ds is at as I would like to find out what their experience is. I would say to parents that the 'homework' is there to provide additional avenues of learning. Students are welcome to follow them to see where they lead but they could just as easily follow their own interests. Parents should support their child's decision IMHO.

I do think that many of you have hit upon an interesting challenge in that some subjects would perhaps benefit from small amounts of regular homework (I was thinking of Maths and Languages as well).

DustDustDust - as a 16yo (and if I may say so, without wishing to sound all patronising, a very articulate one!) how do you feel about all the worksheet-type homeworks? did you get them in your school? my stepdaughters do and it drives me up the wall. it's just laziness from the teacher IMO. the only thing they learn from them is how to use process of elimination to fill in the blanks

anyway I do think regular homework for maths/languages is important. particularly in maths I found, even now as I'm doing my degree, the only way for me to really learn a process is to practise practise practise. although at my school we also had bigger projects - we were doing maths coursework, GCSE-style, from year 7, which needless to say I adored!

but for other subjects a self-directed learning thing could be really great, in history, geography etc. I'm really in favour of autonomous education (in fact we would homeschool our DCs in a heartbeat, if school didn't work out for them). I feel it can maintain or even spark a love of learning that more traditional methods (especially with all the govt box-ticking etc) can crush

I think it may be one of those things though, that takes a few years to settle in. suddenly being told 'you're not having proper homework' could result in a 'well I'm not doing anything then' from some students. but students coming into the school over the next few years would be accustomed to it IYSWIM.

I hope that if you do this trial, OP, you will keep us updated on it!

MathsMadMummy- That's not patronizing at all, don't worry. Thank you.
I agree with you about worksheets. Sometimes I could tell that teachers had set homework that was deliberately easy for them to set and grade. During GCSEs I appreciated such worksheets because any practice like that was good revision. In like, Year 8 or something it just seemed like a time-filler. Even though it's supposed to be the easy year "where you don't do anything", I got so much homework in Year 8. I used to pretend to be ill every few months to stay at home and catch up.

Moving on, I didn't actually mind worksheets as much as some other homeworks. It was much worse when the teachers thought it was acceptable to give twenty difficult A* trigonometry questions meant for the following day. I would do it first, neglecting other homework because I give priority to the subjects with most threatening teachers. Then the next day I'd have the maths done, and the teacher didn't even collect it in that day. If I bother to do it, I want them to bother to mark it.
If he set less homework less often, I would probably have actually attempted every one, rather than 'forgetting my book' a few days a week. In theory his method of shoving as much maths on us as possible should have worked, but I don't think it really did.

Although everyone tends to complain about them, projecty type homework where you do your own research are way more productive than worksheets or rote learning tasks. In my Primary school(which I see now was actually an amazing school. I wish I was still there!) we had a project in Year 5 or 6 about the desert or the rainforest. We could choose. I chose the desert and I spent weeks reading books and using the ol' dial-up internet to complete the project. It was really interesting and I enjoyed it. It was good because you could go in any direction you wanted, like, some people concentrated on the animals that lived there etc etc. I still remember stuff about the desert, while I've already forgotten all my GCSE Science, for example. Sadly the system crushed my enthusiasm for geography and deserts and I didn't choose it for GCSE. I wish I had now though because I'm embarrassingly ignorant about where countries are located.

I prefer to learn for the next lesson rather than finish previous work at home.

I'd better finish this post now. Admittedly it's a bit strange I even post on Mumsnet at all. =P

I would support activities which werent internet focussed (avoiding copy/paste homework). I think that children who did the work should be able to get it assessed rather than marked eg explaining how it could have been improved in different ways.

This sort of thing is great for the child who doesnt necessarily get the opportunity to express their enthusiasms or hobbies.

what really winds me up is when my stepkids spend ages on homework and all they get is a tick. or, they rush through it not giving a monkeys and produce something really poor. and still all they get is a sodding tick.

not a great message to send out, is it.

I'm definitely all for no homework which is given for the sake of giving homework and meeting government guidelines.

i HATE HATE HATE hw
woudl rather have superbvised learning as a form group alone in room at end of school

( i say that as a teacher and mum)
utter waste of time and effort and ££
id say 3opm everyone back to tutor rooms
20 mins ( or whatever) to do once bit of study skills or timed essay all together
NO SHEETS no books to lose, no stuff to leave at home.
teacher to help

I think it is a great idea for some subjects and should be up to each dept how they want to use/set hw (with some kind of built in approach to those depts that just can't be bothered). I would want my DS to receive some kind of feedback though - WWW/EBI rather than a grade maybe.
I appreciate your point on not writing but surely there would be some evidence of their research/thought process (in whatever form) that could be assessed/looked at.

In our school we set extended homeworks, usually a couple of weeks to complete with full written feedback. There are on average 2 per half term per subject. To the parent who said she doesn' t like this type, it's great that you are supportive but I really don't care if they are difficult for YOU to keep on top of, hopefully your kids can learn to be organised though. At gcse I tend to give worksheets weekly for pupils to chech they've actually understood the the work we've covered in lesson. Sometimes it is better to go through this in class and explain how the questions should have been answered, not laziness but actually making sure the kids get something out of the work (as a side note I hate marking homework it is the most boring and thankless task ever and much more than putting a tick, it's arranging the consequence for those not doing it and rewards for those that do..... For each of the 200 or so kids who pass through my door weekly)

OP - I would rather stick pins in my eyes than stand over my dc to do their homework. I hate it, and feel enough work has been covered during the day and they need a break.

Obviously if a child chooses to study a little bit extra in the evening through choice then that is great.

I like the supervised work after school idea, but I would still prefer there to still be a little proper homework (in whatever form, but must be done at home) - I think it's important kids learn to prioritise, organise time etc and are able to direct their own study at least part of the time. they'll have to learn to do this as they get older and from the experience of my friends it is very difficult to get used to being self-sufficient at a later age when you're used to being 'spoon-fed' at school.

IMGeekyHomeworkLovingO that is

I think that schools give homework because it is expected of them. They think that parents demand it of them. However most homework (IMHO) is complete waste of time. Children do not learn anything from it and it just creates a negative atmosphere in the home and between school and home.

Children are naturally curious and school somehow knocks that out of them. I'm sure that isn't all down to homework but being given boring, pointless tasks to do every night must have some negative effects.

Just because that's what we've always done doesn't mean that is what we should always do . . .

I would prefer my kids to spend time at home helping out around the house, cooking, doing sport, gardening, or doing something they enjoy.

Homework IMO total waste of time - theres lots more to life.

I am a teacher and completely disagree with homework- how nice to read like minded posts

Set homework extinguishes any desire to learn independently out of school- this is what should be encouraged, students actively reading around a subject because it's interesting and/or it will improve their marks, but doing it under their own steam.