110814, 0400hr Shame on Me?: Protest against bad use of homework 2 I am struggling to give feedback to an assignment. Went to bed with a heavy heart after reading a piece of reflection- discourse of her own opposing views to homework. A HOD in my clasd shared a dilemma: while she sees the benefits of giving homework, she admittedly shares a quiet confession that she is one who secretly does some of the homework for her own kid -... just to make sure my boy clears the basic. I really dont have a choice. My P expects us to give meaningful homework so that students have more to fall back on for revision and like it or not, I dont deny that practicing more is a sure way to get better grades. In your xxx class, you speak about the hidden curriculum students experience. As a teacher in the service for the past 8 years, I feel teachers also experience a similar set of hidden curriculum. We are socialised into a set of beliefs that is imposed on us. I remember you asking, do teachers have a voice? Yet as parents, where both my husband and I are teachers, we are caught in this chasm. .... .... I am humbled by her sensitive thoughts but struggle with an equally thoughtful reply. However, I felt the shame one might carry and needed discernment to offer my views. It s not my role to take away the guilt and I struggle with her to elaborate more. Questions I wanna ask- what level is your child? To what extent do you help with the homework?, have you spoken to your sons teachers on this matter?... I admit, I am even tempted to ask, how do you think your child will perform in class- without your help? But these simplistic questions will do no justice to the complexity of the whole problem. At least, I share my own experience as a fellow educator-parent. Yes, I advocate reasonable parental authority and I agree that homework has its place to help our kids learn self-directed discipline in getting basic ideas well consolidated or to train them be responsible to complete assignments on time. But the issue is not about the homework but the amount and thr quality of homework. I felt like asking her- does your kid seem to look to homework as if its the most painful or the most boring thing to do? I can sense the tension building up at home and frustration from angry words flying.... Somewhere in her email, she shared how her sons school seems to differentiate homework and her child is expected to complete assignments thst he cant complete in class time- which she said is usually more than half the class. But what makes teachers think that those who struggle in class will become more competent after completing the assignment at home? Or.... just maybe, would it further make the child feel more incompetent or ... simply, more stupid of himself or herself. In my students sharing, she felt upset as she said sometimes if the teacher do mark the homework, she herself becomes upset when the sons (hers?) assignment returns with even a B grade. I wasnt comfy to reply on this but somehow, I felt I should ask this instead- How has the homework interfered with family life? In my own home, we too are fighting to do a lot with whatever little time we have. For example, while my own kids have still uncompleted homework, I am grateful my wife generously let us play the evening away in Pasir Ris park tonight. I am a strong proponent that kids need opportunities for unstructured play and tonight, we really let our hair down. I am not saying we had totally gave in nor gave up. But I am glad my wife and I recognise the considerable stress homework does bring to the family. Reality is, despite the occasional protests by some parents, if we dont look hard enough, this perennial issue again becomes a form of apathetic inaction. Face it, students who are motivated will drive themselves hard. It is those who are recalcitrants in the classroom that seem to fall under the classic label of underachievers that really needs help. If you visit enough classrooms and gone to enough schools to observe real lessons, take it from me- no amount of homework will help them become more academically inclined. If you look into the eyes of these kids, I suspect, they no longer feel a sense of guilt in not completing their homework. And to the parents, these visible failures or rebellious acts of defiance sure distract them from seeing the child as what he or she is worth. Please dont get me wrong. I am not sharing this to shame the teacher nor her child. In fact, I suspect many of us also live in this shade of grey. No two teachers are alike in their teaching styles. No two children are alike in their learning patterns. I too face my own fair share of headaches and heartaches. My own kids also whine about their homework just as I need to push myself to complete my marking. But I reflect on the following: - do teachers use homework to monitor progress just to show that learning has taken place? - with the necessary energy and commitment to complete homework, how do we ensure kids have sufficient motivation- b it intrinsic or extrinsic- to acquire the intended learning? - how do we as a fraternity, ensure that we dont load kids with monotonous and excessive homework that completely removes the learning from homework? - from this teacher-parents case, the effects of homework has taken a visible toil and if I can suggest, she might be facing a form of educational burnout. If not for her written assignment where I asked them to critique or to problematise curricular issues, where or who else might she be able to turn to? Spore Teachers Union??,
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 20:49:16 +0000
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