It is time to review the amount of homework assigned in our schools, writes Dr Michael Carr-Gregg.
EDUCATORS have been arguing about homework’s role in education since it became commonplace in the mid-19th century. Since then, the amount of homework assigned has increased and decreased in keeping with political ideologies.
Whenever there has been widespread public concern about falling standards, schools have responded to the crisis by assigning more homework. After the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the US was warned of its incipient educational mediocrity, and the amount of homework assigned in US schools increased.
Many of my patients and their parents tell me that teachers assign too much homework. They complain that their after-school time has been hijacked for children’s academic needs, undermining sport, music and drama, and all the other useful activities that schools have traditionally offered.
Studies show that this is more than just adolescent hyperbole; their complaints are backed up by research. Researchers from the University of Michigan in the US compared the amount of homework assigned in 1981 with the amount assigned in 1997.They found minimal changes in high school, but were amazed to find that the amount of homework assigned to children aged 6-9 had almost tripled, from about 44 minutes a week to more than 120 minutes a week. For 9-11-year-olds it had increased from about two hours and 50 minutes to more than 3.5 hours a week.
It is time to re-visit our homework policies in Australia for four reasons.
First, it is interfering with family life, which is already rushed and pressured. All over the country, parents are returning home to see children struggling with intimidating amounts of unnecessary, poorly constructed and poorly co-ordinated homework, which often becomes a psychological flashpoint between time-poor parents and exhausted children.
Often the parents end up doing the homework themselves and the children miss out on important quality time with the family, which is crucial to childhood development. Rather than spending time building the child/family relationship, parents and children argue over homework.
Time is also taken away from many important elements of life, including other family activities, meal time, leisure time, music lessons or sports. This time is particularly precious in families with two working parents whose time with their children is limited.
Wouldn’t it be nice to have relaxed after-school conversations with our kids?
Second, there is evidence that homework has limited pedagogical value. Read Dr Etta Kralovec’s book The End of Homework (co-authored by John Buell) and you’ll discover that there is no evidence that homework in primary school leads to higher educational attainment.
A 1999 study led by Steve Timms, of the University of Durham, UK, found there was no evidence that homework in primary schools boosted academic performance, and some evidence that it might even cause harm.
Third, at present in Australia, more than half of the population is overweight or obese and 1.5 million of these are under 18. Almost one-quarter of Australian children are overweight or obese. While there is no guarantee that giving children less homework would increase physical activity, at the moment the sheer amount of homework represents a significant obstacle to them even getting the opportunity to kick a footy, bounce a netball or just run around.
Finally, there is an equity issue. Homework also disadvantages poor children who may not have access to computers and the Internet, which are often used to present polished, information-filled homework assignments. Children from disadvantaged families may have more hectic family lives or have responsibilities for siblings or their own children that distract them from homework.
In 1901 the California civil code forbade homework, citing health risks to children and the recognition that fresh air and sunshine were preferable. Even today in the US, many school districts have banned homework on weekends and introduced strict time limits as to how much homework can legally be assigned in state schools.
The reality is that homework, as currently constituted in primary schools, is a largely ineffective and overly burdensome practice and, for the physical and psychological health of our young people, it is time to reconsider. The problems that homework causes could be eased through structured, well-resourced after-school programs and parents suggesting structured reading time (for pleasure), as Federal Opposition leader Mr Mark Latham and others have suggested.
Eastern Fleurieu public school in Strathalbyn in the Adelaide foothills (http://web.easternfleurieu.sa.edu.au) is one of a growing number of schools that has listened to the pleas of psychologists, and has banned homework for pupils in years seven and eight. It is an experiment the school claims has already improved the children’s marks.
After raising this issue in the press, this writer is pleased to say that at least one state leader, Queensland Premier Mr Peter Beattie, has taken notice and asked Education Queensland to undertake a review of the appropriate level of school homework. Mr Beattie said: “My government is currently overseeing the most radical overhaul of school education in this state and I have asked that homework be included.”
Wouldn’t it be nice if other states followed suit?
Dr Carr-Gregg is a consultant adolescent psychologist working at the Albert Road Centre for Health in South Melbourne. He founded Canteen — the teenage cancer support group — and is a prominent advocate for young people.
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