Understanding the Quality of Effective Homework

Abstract

This chapter discusses the benefits of homework and explores its contradictions and paradoxes from my experiences as a parent and a teacher. While most schools seem to have a commitment to homework in the abstract, homework is exceptionally trying for many children. As a teacher I believe in the need for homework, but I wonder if it is really effective. Most parents and students I spoke with believe that junior primary students should receive homework to help consolidate classroom learning and build good habits for future years. Many families I talked with assist their child with homework, with a set time and a prepared environment for its completion. At the same time, as a teacher I think that homework can contribute to student boredom if it does not engage the student in meaningful learning, reduce their engagement in other activities important for developing life skills, and contribute to social inequities as students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds are less likely to complete homework. It is not just a matter for teachers, since it is counterproductive to treat students as passive consumers of homework, and parents can be influential by creating positive conditions for children to complete homework tasks. Successful use of homework thus appears to depend on teacher preparation and setting ‘real life’ tasks, the motivation of students and the level of parental support available.