The pros and cons of homework

There has been much debate over the last few years regarding homework. As an educator and a parent, I feel l have struggled in this area over and over, trying to figure out exactly how beneficial homework could be for learners.

As a student many moons ago, I recall thoroughly enjoying homework for subjects I excelled at and dreaded the ones I was weak in. All in all, the stress behind the whole idea of homework should be assessed fully by the teacher in charge.

At most, this is my opinion. As a young teacher, I taught a foreign language – Spanish. Because I grew up hearing the language at home, as a young student, one can say it should have been familiar territory for me at school. However, my parents and I never went through conjugations of verbs at home. Conjugations of verbs were always a big part of learning a foreign language and it was a side of the subject I honestly didn’t enjoy at school even if my parents spoke Spanish at home.

So when I one day became a Spanish teacher, I decided to try something new. I understood that most of my students, if not almost all, did not have the same background as I did. I realized that giving homework that would take much of their time “fussing” about at home with very little or no help at all from parents would be too stressful and take away valuable family time which to me, was more important.

“Stress” of course is part of life and certainly we do not want to spare our children from this as it too would hinder the growth and strength in their character. However, teachers should be able to assess and understand priorities that would in fact highlight essential values which can be applicable to the learning process.

Homework therefore must be taken into consideration in terms of how this can strengthen the child’s capabilities by making learning applicable. Learning can be challenging but once the child realizes that what he or she learned can be applied into everyday life then it makes the process effective.

My homework back in the day used to be adjusted to some parts of the learner’s everyday routine where mastery of the subject became more essential as compared to memory. That way and in the end, students can actually say “they learned something” because they were able to make the connection. Learning should and must be applicable and teachers should use this as a measure in terms of homework.

If homework is given just to challenge or test a child’s ability without looking into applicability then in the end, homework only becomes a liability, especially at the expense of important family time which is also essential to the child’s growth as a learner.