Thursday, 26th February 2009
Homework
I have written many times about the problem of teachers who pile loads of homework onto their students and make their life as well as that of their parents a misery. The very concept of homework is no longer relevant today but it seems that nothing is being done about this thorn in the side of parents and children sorely pressed for time.
Homework today is an obsolete concept. Everybody knows that to make ends meet, it is no longer possible for several married couples to have one of the spouses at home while the other goes out to work, as in the past. This means that the parents are exhausted when they return home from work and they also have to deal with household chores.
Having to spend hours supervising the kids as they go about working their homework is a pure purgatory for such parents. Yet it seems that some educators have still not woken up to the fact that the world has changed and that homework should be abolished.
If only such educators stop to reflect on the stress and tension they are causing children and their parents through assigning homework, especially in large quantities on a daily basis, they would surely realize that the solution is to abolish homework once and for all. A really condemnable practice is that of assigning a great amount of homework when holidays are approaching. How many times have I heard children complaining that they had to spend most of their Christmas or Easter holidays working because such and such a teacher gave them many tasks to carry out during the holidays. One would be excused thinking that such teachers almost set out to ruin their students’ holidays!
If we are to move ahead with the times, it is imperative that we realize that homework no longer has any place in today’s world. Why should a boy have to miss out on attending a Football Nursery because he has no free time due to the amount of homework allocated by some teachers? Why should a girl have to discard the idea of attending Ballet lessons for the same reason? Why can’t parents who both work get some hours of well-earned rest after work?
Furthermore, homework is socially discriminating. Some students live in a tranquil home atmosphere with supporting parents and with educational resources such as books and educational software readily available. Other students live in much less stable family environments where marriage problems make it impossible for the parents to support their children’s educational work.
There are also cases where children have absolutely no access to educational resources at home because the level of income of both parents is very low and they are unable to purchase any additional educational resources to support their children. Not to mention, of course, the problems faced by children in single-parent families where simply eking out a living is already problematic in itself.
Even the level of education of students’ parents is a very important factor in the case of homework because some parents can help their children when the latter encounter problems in working through their homework while other parents are not qualified enough to do so. This is another aspect of the social discrimination created by homework.
All this leads one to conclude that educational practices which are obsolete such as homework should be abolished once and for all!
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Comments
Your no5 question is the key question.
Formalists are those who rely on memory and are able to absorb information and repeat it without necessarily understanding it.
Our present system addresses these types only.
The informalists are those who are too keen to understand the information. These are still mulling over the first bit of info as the teacher has reached item 5 by which time the informalists are lost. These types are totally ignored by our system of education
The informalists are branded as being slow. Yet they go through life delving deep, gaining deep understanding, making it to operative levels that create wealth through the business process.
The formalists, on the other hand, end up in some well paid job on the crest of their memory qualifications, pushing buttons they do not understand.
Examples? you are surely joking. Try to check basic understanding of our current economic crises with the guys pushing the buttons and you will only find blank minds
1. Do you deny that there are individuals who are slower than others to learn?
2. Do you deny that there are individuals who simply will not learn, howevermuch you try to make them understand the import of learning?
3. Do you deny that there are families who don't give a fickle about education? And by this, I am not in the least branding these families as hailing from any particular social strata?
4. Do you find it in yourself to slow down fast learners for the sake of others?
5. What do YOU understand by 'formal' and 'informal channels'? Please, elucidate.
6. I quote: 'Many of these informalists do poorly at schoole yet go on to become the best in business, while most of the formalists end up in administrative and other national roles, making sure that they mess up the life of a country... ' Would you be so kind as to explain yourself on this? Have you anyone in particular in mind?
7. Is the present (albeit imperfect) system really part of Malta's 'mediocrity'? Could you perhaps tell us why?
8. You write about 'riduculous syllabi ': perhaps you could expound on this?
What happened decades ago is still percolating through today's society and the consequences of the shortsightedness is still felt today.
Articles such as the one DZM wrote, keeps reminding us of the regressive period under Socialist rule. There is much more to be said about that period, but I shall refrain from adding more fuel to the fire.
To get back on the subject of homework, may I say that for every bit of homework given to thirty or so students of one class, amounts to thirty assignments one single teacher has to correct - holidays or not.
So, while we worry about poor Johnny who has to spend several hours of study/homework, we do not seem to give a hoot about the teacher who has to read and correct each assignment and mark it accordingly.
With regards to "children having absolutely no access to educational resources ...because the level of income of both parents", may I ask whether libraries are still lending books and how many such deprived children exist today? Are statistics available?
Surely such children should be helped and resources can be shared with some more affluent students in the same class.
Mintoff is long gone, now. And it is up to us to ensure that we do not repeat his performance or build on what he saw as 'education'. As seen by the ZM's 'social aspect' of HWs.
You seem to find it difficult to discuss detail.
We can all gather here and chatter all day long about how Mintoff was this or that.
Decades have since passed, the nationalists have been in power for donkey's years and our results in the field of eduction (at least) remain very poor and disappointing; well below potential.
How can we come together to improve matters?
I do not think that the the psychological, financial, and whatever distress suffered under a NP regime of a 20 year plus duration or similar anguish under a previous administration has anything to do with the issue under discussion.
What matters is how we can make things better........now
"all we have to do is say 'Mintoff' and the mediocre status quo will be certainly ensured".
Right on! Not only did Mintoff under evaluate the computer's value in education but allowed one of his Ministers to impose on university entrants whatever career the State 'needed' rather than the student's own choice!
I know of at least one case when such a student was made to take a course in a discipline he was least interested in, graduated, worked in the field for a couple of years, abandoned his profession and resorted to jobs which he was overqualified for. He later took other courses which landed him a decent job but not without suffering psychological and financial distress for a number of years.
Of course 'Mintoff' invariably figures in such discussions and, unfortunately, for the wrong reasons!
Unfortunately, emotion always gets the better of logic. The very first reaction went on a totally emotional slant ... hence end of a meaningful discussion.
It is for this reason that Malta remains bottom of the EU learning tables.
learning In civilized societies is a holistic experience through both formal and informal channels of learning.
Malta remains stuck in the middle-ages, ramming info in only a formal way, marking the informally-inclined as 'slow' not wanting to learn, etc.
Many of these informalists do poorly at schoole yet go on to become the best in business, while most of the formalists end up in administrative and other national roles, making sure that they mess up the life of a country...
So, when a debate tries to take off on any subject that marks Malta as the very essence of mediocrity, all we have to do is say 'Mintoff' and the mediocre status quo will be certaily ensured.
Where does Mintoff come into this? The way I see it, Mr Zammit Marmara's article stinks - yes, that's the word! - of that old Socialism that Mintoff used when he was PM.... that same period when the system of education in Malta was at its worst (and we would do well to be careful that history will not repeat itself!) with a Minister of Education who was extremely ill-suited for the job. Indeed, Mr Zammit Marmara's point about the social aspect of homeworks is an excellent example of what I am saying.
So, it is with that in mind that, perhaps, it is not a question of political affiliations, but rather, what political affiliations he had in the past. The very fact that he wrote about Mintoff in such an eulogising manner in a past blog, does not do him honour and is an unhappy background to the terrible article we now have in front of us about education.
I couldn't help but notice that some comments below were written in an angry tone, and one even mentioned Mintoff (???????). DZM has every right to write on whichever subject he chooses...his political affiliations have nothing to do with this particular blog, nor should he be spoken to with such contempt!!
No fact at all! Students 'hate school and all that it stands for' anyway, with or without HW! Now, that's a fact. They don't 'like' school because of a variety of reasons but not due to HW!
The social background has little - if at all! to do with the giving of HW. In class, I have to cater for one and all. The 'slow' and the 'fast'. Otherwise, I wouldn't be fair. Or, shall I measure the extent of progress made with the syllabus on those who are 'slow' for an immense variety of reasons, particular of which is the fact that these pupils simply do not want to learn? Can we agree, at least, that there is a good number of students, in every school, who simply do not want to learn? So, should I use THEM as a measure? No, indeed.
Your 'social' point really sucks!!!!!! There is no better way of expressing myself. So, will you bring all kinds of participants at a race and then, since some of them cannot run too much, you prohibit the fast runners from showing their mettle?????? So that the others who cannot make it at such speed, will not lag behind?
Admittedly, education is not a race but here, what you would have is to stop the bright sparks from going up the ladder at the speed that they want! Is that fair? So, we are respecting the speed of those who are not so academically strong, without giving a sh** about the right of the academically strong to move at their own fast pace! How fair is that?
I know families with one-parent where the child thrives in a healthy atmosphere. I know families where both parents are top-notch professionals and where the child is not at ease! So, let us not generalise.
I stand by my point that, yes, as educators we also have to take into consideration the social environment of our students which is advantageous to some and disadvantageous to others where career prospects and academic achievement are concerned. Indeed, we have to beware of what is sometimes called the "blame the parents syndrome". Some family environments lack stability and some homes are full of tension and we have to be realistic and admit that often it is not the parents' fault. There are several cases in Malta today where both parents have full-time and part-time jobs to make ends meet. Are we going to lay the blame at their door too for such a pathetic social situation? In such circumstances, homework is the straw that breaks the camel's back.
In the 4th 'comment' I wrote: ''Why should a boy have to miss out on attending a Football Nursery because he has no free time due to the amount of homework allocated by some teachers?...' >>>> And why should they not?'
which should have read: 'And why should they indeed?
Apologies!
'All this leads one to conclude that educational practices which are obsolete such as homework should be abolished once and for all!' >>>> I am sorry: but that's what YOU say! I completely disagree with you and with this article that you wrote.
(True: books today are quite expensive, but not all! Some are even ridiculously cheap!)
'Even the level of education of students’ parents is a very important factor..' >>> I am sorry: it shouldn't be, and for 2 reasons - the first being the fact that some parents actually struggle and learn what their children are learning before helping them in their HW; and secondly, that HW is actually directed at the children and not at the parents.
'Other students live in much less stable family environments where marriage problems make it impossible for the parents to support their children’s educational work.' So, let's have all students resemble this unhappy and unfortunate category, shall we?! U hallina!
'There are also cases where children have absolutely no access to ... resources at home ... single-parent families where simply eking out a living is already problematic in itself.' >>>>> Even this paragraph is dangerous, as I will say.
'One would be excused thinking that such teachers almost set out to ruin their students’ holidays!' >>>> Shameful! Quite shameful! Coming from an educator.
'Why should a boy have to miss out on attending a Football Nursery because he has no free time due to the amount of homework allocated by some teachers?...' >>>> And why should they not? As long as they create a balance between such (very important!) activities and their duties which are mainly academic?!
You should rather ask yourself the following: how many hours per day do today's youngsters spend in front of a computer, unprofitably playing dangerous games or chatting with their friends - none of which is a social activity, by the way? A question not to be asked, perhaps!
'Why can’t parents who both work get some hours of well-earned rest after work?' >>>> Because they have kids under their care, that's why! Raising children is not a part-time job, one that you can switch off just like that! Maybe parents should realise this!
'If only such educators stop to reflect on the stress and tension they are causing children and their parents through assigning homework.' >>>>> Excuse me, sir. In my experience, and in that of other colleagues, the stress and tension is not coming from school and teachers, but generally from the homes and families themselves! Contrary to what you would have us believe, students find themselves in a position whereby they come to school and push that stress and tension onto the teacher's desk and that poor teacher has no alternative but to try and deal with that situation, often by speaking with that student, trying to make him understand, etc ... Most often, the student prefers opening his/her heart out to his/her teacher rather than with his/her parents at home ... those parents who are, oh, so busy and 'pressed for time' that you are protecting.
'A really condemnable practice is that of assigning a great amount of homework when holidays are approaching.' >>>>>>> This depends to a large extent to the level of education that particular students have reached. It is one thing doing this to a first former, but quite another to fifths or upper sixths.
How can you teach a subject and cover a syllabus in a strong manner without being backed by an acceptable (admittedly!) period of study at home? HW is exactly that! A means of strengthening what has already been covered in class! If I teach a subject in which I only have a maximum of 2 hours per week of lessons, how am I expected to cover a given syllabus?
Of course, the time given for homeworks has to be examined ... that, I accept, obviously. And according to age and level of education. But Marmara' would have us rid ourselves of HW at all costs?
And why? Because parents are far too busy to look after their children. His words, not mine. So, what are parents for? To give in to every whim that their offspring have? To have their family and home governed by what the children want?
We have even reached a stage where a student 'commands' his parents not to open his results that are sent home????? Is this where educators such as Marmara' would lead us to?
Go on, abolish homeworks. Abolish exams Abolish discipline. Throw everything out and you will see what you get!
I have been teaching for almost 25 years now - 18 of which in the same school, almost the same subject and almost the same age bracket: students preparing themselves for their SEC Exams.
How can you honestly say, and, with all due respect, with what authority and backed by what statistics do you claim that 'homework today is an obsolete concept'?
I really find it so DISGUSTING AND DISCOURAGING that you come claiming that we, teachers, are hurting our students through homeworks, using the words you use.
If we were to discard homeworks, I, as a teacher, would be the first one to be 'happy' because that would entail less stress for myself when it comes to checking if students did their HWs or not, as well as its correction - whether in class or individually.
However, let us see what we are doing, in declaring HW a thing of the past, as Marmara' would have it.
... to be contd.
Kralovec, Etta and Buell, John (2000) The End Of Homework. Boston : Beacon Press.
Bennett, Sara and Kalish, Nancy (2006) The Case Against Homework. New York : Crown Publishing Group.
Naturally I meant ‘apples and pears’ not ‘apples and pairs’ Finger trouble, sorry.
Firstly I offer my condolences’. Friends of your late brother who passed away recently tell me that he was a real gentleman with a heart of gold. May he rest in eternal peace.
I think that the abolition of homework is a very bad suggestion but what has Mintoff got to do with it? Looks like Mintoff made a total mess to your ability to distinguish apples from pairs. A sad case indeed.