Why Are We Still Assigning Homework? #IMMOOC

I went to a workshop recently and we got assigned “pre-work”, which is just another way to say homework for adults. Right before the workshop started you would have thought that we were a bunch of high school students if you just heard the conversations.

Did you do the pre-work?

What?! We had to do pre-work?

Someone else chimed in- I just did it 5 minutes ago…

Another person offered that they spent hours reading all the articles and completing the assignments. This person was in the minority.

The facilitators asked us to take out the pre-work as we launched into an activity and there was an audible tension in the room because the majority of people hadn’t completed it.  Just to be clear, this was a group of dedicated educators who are deeply invested in this work but likely got busy, missed the (multiple) emails that mentioned this assignment or just were too busy to get to it.  Thankfully, none of us were forced to miss our break or publicly humiliated for not doing our homework. But, it makes me think that if dedicated and passionate educators aren’t doing homework, why in the world are we expecting kids to spend their precious free time out of school doing more work?

It’s not really a secret that I am not a fan of homework or pre-work or whatever you want to call it.  I didn’t like it as a student. I didn’t assign it as a teacher and I really don’t like it as a parent. It’s not that I am against hard work at all.  I probably do more work at home than I have ever done but it is because I want to do and it is what I am inspired to do, not because someone is making me do it for a grade. This isn’t really about me though.  I am writing this because I want to have a conversation about why we are still assigning homework. Not just what research says (by the way it’s not in favor of it) but why we as a culture expect it, continue to assign it, and what we could do instead.

The live #IMMOOC chats with both Jo Boaler and Alice Keeler really resonated with me and helped me move from venting about homework and it’s lack of purpose (especially for elementary school kids) to thinking about some constructive ways to talk about it. So, here are three ways that I think can help me (and hopefully you) have productive conversations about homework and talk about why we are still assigning it.

Let’s Talk About Our Goals

One of my neighbors who is a teacher and who I admire greatly was telling me about the homework she assigned and how she felt this made her a really rigorous teacher.  As we got to talking about the impact that is had at home and how it took time away from the family and that there was very little research showing its effectiveness, she began to reconsider her approach. As a dedicated teacher, she thought that she was supposed to be assigning homework and this is what everyone expected of her. After our conversation, she went home and did a little more research on her own and the next day told me that she had decided to stop giving homework and shared her reasons with her students’ families.  Guess what, they were thrilled about it!

I think there are a lot of assumptions that we hold about homework and because it has always been part of school, we think it is what we are supposed to do.  Many believe that it’s the responsibility of the teacher to assign homework, and as parents, we are good parents if we set time aside to do the homework, some are so invested they even do it for the kids:). I am asking that teachers who are assigning homework really think about why you are assigning it. I want parents to think about why they push for it.  As I have talked to parents, teachers, kids, administrators I have never heard anyone say, “I love homework. My kids get so much out of it!” Most teachers don’t love grading it or putting all those packets together, but for some reason they do. Many parents that I have talked to (myself included) loathe arguing with kids and spending the precious moments we have at home nagging kids to get their homework done.  Lots of administrators tell me they are in favor of no homework. Yet, most kids are still coming home with lots of homework and I think we (parents, teachers, administrators) need to talk more about our goals for learners and reassess the value of homework to move towards practices that align with what we want for our kids.

Reorganize Your Class Time  

It is no secret that there is a lot to “get through” so sometimes we assign homework in an attempt to cover it all.  I firmly believe that if it is important we have to make time to do it in class.  When I had half of my class turning in homework and their grades were suffering because they weren’t doing homework, it didn’t take long for me to figure out that something had to change if I wanted all of my students to be successful. This aligns with Jo Boaler’s acknowledgment of the inequities are caused by homework practices. Without knowing what kinds of support or resources exist at home, we put many kids at a disadvantage unnecessarily, especially when it is graded.

If we move past this assumption that we have to give homework and look at what the learners need, we can think about how to organize our time better in class to ensure that we are supporting learning not assigning and evaluating homework. Alice Keeler argues that it’s individual practice that learners need and we need to make time for that during class so that we can give real-time, meaningful feedback to actually meet learners where they are.

Here is a simple example of how one teacher chose to restructure her time:

She was spending 30 minutes daily teaching isolated grammar skills and an additional 30 minutes practicing spelling words. When she reorganized the class time to allow students to write about their own ideas and incorporated spelling and grammar practice in authentic writing tasks together, she created a 30 minute block each day for students to get personal support and practice based on their needs.  When the time in class was used for more personal support that allowed students time to practice and learn with peers and the teacher for support, the need for homework was eliminated.

Make it Meaningful

At home, I would much rather have my kids spend time reading or exploring and investigating their own ideas, playing sports, and just enjoy being a kid. To be honest, my kids learn more from some youtube channels than they learn from bubbling in multiple choice questions about the moral of an excerpt from a story or practicing editing a sentence in a worksheet because they are just going through the motions and it isn’t relevant or meaningful, at all. As a teacher, this also takes a lot of time to grade and record and too often it is just evaluation of what kids know, not true opportunities to learn and practice or revise. Sending home a packet of practice problems and reading passages that you have used for years, isn’t personal or connected to what specific learners need to know.  Instead, it feels like busy work. If you have to give homework, or any work, think about how to make it meaningful and connected to the learning and learning goals.

Going back to the 1st day of the workshop I mentioned where very few people completed the pre-work because they had little context, and therefore it wasn’t meaningful, it was a task and many opted not to do it. The irony is by the second and third day of the workshop there was no homework assigned but we were so inspired by all we had learned that our dinner conversations were all about processing and going deeper into the content.  Because we learned valuable tools and practiced throughout the day, we continued making connections and read more on our own because we were inspired and wanted to learn more.

Moving Forward

As we think about what it means to be “smart” and what we will value, we have to acknowledge that information is abundant and rather memorizing and regurgitating content, we need students and educators who can learn, think, and act in ways that create new and better opportunities for those we serve. This requires that we examine traditions in education, like homework that may actually get in the way of learning and innovation.

Studying all night should not be a badge of honor, more homework does not make your class more rigorous, good grades don’t guarantee you will make a difference in the world. With the increased amount of stress that kids are under as we try to cram it all in, I hope these three ideas can provide some points for reflection and be conversation starters to talk about what we want for our kids and think about traditional practices and how they help move towards our desired goals (or not). We can’t just keep adding more for our kids and teachers, it’s time to look at what we value and how we can use our time differently to meet the desired goals.

Adobe Spark (6).jpg

18 Comments

  1. William Burdick

    I have never ever gotten a complaint from either students or their parents about having a NO homework policy. The ONLY ones who give me grief are other teachers who feel like “standards are being let down” for not doing so. The only “standards being let down” is I’m not buying into the traditions many have accepted without question. When I CONSIDERED everything, I found giving homework was counter productive to learning and goes against one of my life philosophies; “Let The Main Thing Be The Main Thing”

    Reply
    • Katie Martin

      I love this! I never got complaints either, which is why I think we need to move past assumptions and what’s always been done to what’s more effective and humane. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
  2. Curtis Howe

    Sage advice Katie….. unfortunately I fear we may still in the minority. I think many are hard wired now to equate homework with grit and rigour (two more misunderstood educational ideas). I feel homework is often used as a means of communication by educators to parents…. “hey look how much we are doing in class!” It can then become much less about learning and more about justification. The irony being that often the more homework there is the less time for learning there might be. Conversely it is expected by some parents as glimpse into the classroom. I personally feel there are much better ways of communicating what’s happening in class (blogs, positive calls, digital portfolios, good old fashion conversations). If parents are engaged in positive ways, I have found that justification is not necessary in any form. As well, when students are engaged and empowered they will let parents know what they are learning in much more profound ways than worksheets and practice questions ever could. Long story short, homework can be a lowest common denominator way of communication and justification that, in my opinion, is just not needed! Always a pleasure to read your blog: So much to build on!

    Reply
    • Katie Martin

      You are absolutely right! So many better ways to communicate what is happening in the classroom.

      Reply
  3. nicolefahey

    Thank you for this post. Our ES moved away from homework and we are finding that it’s the parents who are having a hard time adjusting. The kids are overjoyed and the teachers are happier b/c they don’t have to dole out consequences.
    The most dangerous phrase in the English language is “we’ve always done it this way.” – Grace Hopper

    Reply
    • Art

      I’ve had the same experience that parents are not pleased when there is no homework. That is why communication is SO important.

      Reply
    • teacherdebra

      I believe the parents have a hard time adjusting because it’s what they know from their own experience; homework = school. I can remember being at back to school night and a parent asked why we are not still having the students write their papers in cursive (and why the kids were not expected to use it). When they were in school, they had to write in cursive- it was a big deal. That’s why parent engagement and education is so important. Sharing the learning experiences from the classroom via blogs, teacher websites, Twitter is a good way to keep parents informed and involved. We need to be the ones to tell the stories we want shared.

      Reply
  4. Vivek yadav

    You are absolutely right! And so impressive lecture for teachers and also for students

    Reply
  5. prospectivepedagogy

    There are schools in our side of the world where assigning homework is a must. Teachers have to mention h.w in their lesson plans! And trust me, I am talking about schools with so called international standards; “highly educated and trained teachers” and “dynamic leadership”. So people like me and you will suffer unless and until the education policy makers shift their paradigm.
    Great piece of writing! I thoroughly enjoyed it.

    Reply
  6. johnwawczak

    Unfortunately, the word that I hear most often when talking about homework is ‘practice’. Unfortunately, I have never known a student who takes home an assignment and then magically learns it. When the student leaves the classroom, I should know exactly what he/she does and does not know. that is what drives my instruction – not the homework.
    If my parents do not know what is going on in my classroom, homework isn’t the way of letting them know. There are a variety of wonderful tools to use for communication with home.
    Another common issue I have is taking away things, such as recess, for not having homework. What is the correlation between those two exactly?
    Finally, a lot of times I hear that ‘homework teachers responsibility’. I never saw that standard (for responsibility) in any listing of curriculum standards.

    Reply
    • Katie Martin

      Such great points! If we really want to communicate what students know, there are better options and other ways to help students learn to take responsibility for their work and manage their time. Homework rarely does any of these things well. Thanks for sharing!!

      Reply
  7. Sumit Rai (@MrRaiAOMEnglish)

    There is research that shows just about anything you want it to. There is solid research on homework as effective and important for LIFE skills. Anyhow, my “homework” is to finish assignments when they are due (in my English 8 Honors course). There are students that have more and those that have less based on their time management in class. ANOTHER IMPORTANT SKILL. It is important to teach responsibility!

    Reply
  8. Sue

    Are you actually preparing students for the realization of how to do homework in high school to college? I’ve heard parents say elementary did a disservice to prepare their child for the studying & rigor of homework that was definitely coming. High schools & colleges certainly don’t agree with new found, glorious idea. Neither do I. It’s my job to prepare students for the 21st century & beyond. Homework skills are still vital today for their academic careers.

    Reply
    • johnwawczak

      I agree that our job is to ‘prepare students for the 21st century and beyond’ but I just wonder what homework’s place is in doing that. I think one of the biggest things that this article points out is to ‘make it meaningful’. A worksheet, for example, with 20 math problems doesn’t make anything meaningful or really have much of an impact and that is regardless of grade level.

      Reply
  9. mrcameron14

    Hi Katie,
    I enjoyed your blog post and the many great points you make. I actually saw little benefit to traditional (busy) homework for my students. I’ve now moved from homework to homeSHARE where kids and encouraged to explore a “real world” math concept or problem with parents or share a piece of writing or something that they’ve read. The results have been positive and parents and students alike LOVE it! Here a blog post I’ve written on the subject, WHAT IF Homework Looked Like THIS? https://mrcshareseaseblog.wordpress.com/2016/06/09/what-if-homework-looked-like-this/

    Reply
  10. m karbowski

    Interesting article. I am not opposed to homework in any level of education. As a parent the only concern was how much was given out to a student. When my children were in elementary time was set aside to work on homework but it was done after they had a chance to burn off energy from sitting all day long and being quiet in a classroom all day. It is exhausting for a young child to sit for hours all day long and be still. It is exhausting for an adult to sit all day as well. Coming home should be a time for relaxing and spending time with family. I am not against homework but there should be a limit.

    Reply
  11. Tracy

    I am curious if completing essays, projects, etc. are considered part of homework? I teach language arts and started ditching homework after my 2nd year teaching when I realized it wasn’t useful. However, I have continued to assign reading novels and completing summative assessments like finalizing essays.

    Reply
  12. Vanishree R

    I agree! I feel assigning homework is an obstacle in the path of ‘independent’ learning. Time at home is when children need to spend time building on their passion, assigning homework I feel is only turning them into machines! I feel they get tortured ‘coz they are worried to meet deadlines, etc etc! I am not assigning homework and have seen mixed results, but it’s a good thing ‘coz kids are realising they are free to learn what inspires them!

    Reply

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. OTR Links 10/23/2017 – doug — off the record - […] Why Are We Still Assigning Homework? #IMMOOC – Katie Martin […]
  2. 26th October , 2017 – Raveena Joytishna Lal - […] homework an outdated https://katielmartin.com/2017/10/21/why-are-we-still-assigning-homework/ notion/ […]
  3. #eduawesome #IMMOOC blog posts – Aubrey Innovating 4 Littles - […] think Katie Martin’s homework blog post won #IMMOOC this season. Everyone connected with it. Everyone shared it – even…
  4. Moments to Find Your People and Your Beat – Words Grow - […] Kristin Houston’s As Elsa would say, “Let it Go”, Katie Martin’s Why Are We Still Assigning Homework?, or Annick Rauch’s Not Easy…
  5. 3 Myths About Personalized Professional Learning – KATIE MARTIN - […] to read articles or watch videos outside of the workday, we communicate it is not that important (see my…
  6. My Top 7 Posts of 2017 #LCInnovation – KATIE MARTIN - […] Why Are We Still Assigning Homework? #IMMOOC […]

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Dr. Katie Martin

Dr. Katie Martin is the author of Learner-Centered Innovation and VP of Leadership and Learning at Altitude Learning. She teaches in the graduate school of Education at High Tech High and is on the board of Real World Scholars. Learn More.

LEARNER-CENTERED INNOVATION

Subscribe

Sign up here to get the latest from Katie.
* indicates required
Favortie Posts

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This