After a lively discussion about homework in class today, the girls are on a mission to interview you about your homework experience as a student and as a parent. We hope this prompt brings up a rich and thoughtful discussion of the impact and experience of homework in your family.
To help give some context to this discussion, we thought it would be helpful to share with you our 8th grade philosophy. Bert, Ms. A, and I have a shared approach that we will present at Curriculum Night but here is a preview. Basically, we are in agreement with educational researcher and analyst, Dr. Alfie Kohn, as well as others who question the efficacy of "homework for homework's sake." (See http://www.alfiekohn.org/books/hm.htm if you are not familiar with Dr. Kohn's work and/or if you are interested in learning more). Sally owns "The Homework Myth: Why Our Kids Get Too Much of a Bad Thing" which she would be willing to share with those who want more after investigating the website. According to Kohn's (et al) survey of the research, studies show that prior to high school, homework has, at best, a neutral effect, while other studies indicate that it has a detrimental effect on learning as well as students' intrinsic motivation to learn. There are no studies showing any positive effects of regular homework prior to high school.
As we see it, whether or not a given student will get anything meaningful out of homework depends on three factors:
1. the cognitive/emotional maturity of the student as she seeks to investigate information through homework (usually through an independent learning experience)
2. the meaningfulness/ appropriateness of the type of work assigned as homework (...this is individual as well.) Can the student accomplish the assigned tasks without adult/parental intervention AND does it seem intrinsically meaningful to the student and thus worthy of her after-school energy?
3. the quantity of assigned homework such that it does not detract from other significant areas of life...like family relationships, sleep, exercise, and very important "down time."
Interestingly enough, three types of homework manage to make it through the research gauntlet: independent, student-selected reading (as in the independent reading program that we run in 8th grade through our Reading Workshop), projects that require students to directly and meaningfully interact with family members (as in the interviews you will be doing this week), and the occasional continuation of a process/project begun in class (such as the continuation of peer editing, or the practice or completion of math/science problems that have been thoroughly explained in class, for example...)
Thus, you should not see any amount of "homework for homework's sake" coming home with your 8th grader this year (other than the type of considerations mentioned above.) We believe that in our shared eight hours each day, we should be able to accomplish the academic tasks and intellectual explorations we've assigned ourselves. We echo the Roman physician, Galen's dictum: "Primum non nocere" - "First, do no harm!" with regards to homework, and value not only family time but also family relations (which copious amounts of demanding homework tend to undermine.)
In a moment of teacher heaven today, one student asked me as we began our work on Puzzles of the Week a.k.a. POW's, "My puzzle is so hard, can I work on it more at home?" Another student overheard and said "Yeah, I want to work on mine more too. Maybe we can call each other when we get home and work on it together!" While these problems were not "assigned" as homework, the girls felt compelled and driven to work on it of their own accord.
As always, do feel free to communicate with any or all of us about this or any other issue, concern or appreciation.
Darin
