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POPULISM HAS TAKEN the world by storm.
Donald Trump. Brexit. Etc.
I have watched with dismay. In that light, I’m a little uncomfortable proposing what could be considered the most populist proposal ever.
No more homework.
It’s a wish I’m sure we all heard throughout our school lives.
Just thinking back to the mountains of work gives me a feeling akin to hearing fingernails on a blackboard.
As a wannabe politician, this one is definitely from the Napoleon Dynamite playbook.
As a campaign it has potential though.
A single sentence encapsulates the position clearly. In this age of slogans and chants, that seems to be important. So, really Bart Simpson’s Down with Homework t-shirt could be dusted off.
We wouldn’t even need to be very original with chants, a quick search of YouTube provides more than we could ever use.
All the ingredients are there.
So with the catch sorted, we move onto the detail.
Like all good populist campaigns, the devil will be in the detail. The campaign will really be No Homework for Primary School Students. Numerous studies have shown the benefits of homework for secondary school students.
There is an argument to be made that primary school homework gets students into the habit and increases from there. I don’t think years of practice are required. On the
contrary, it seems that six years of secondary school homework, often followed by
college is more than enough.
Why though?
Childhood obesity is a major problem in Ireland. The Childhood Obesity Surveillance
Initiative carried out by the Health Service Executive in conjunction with the National
Nutrition Surveillance Centre in UCD this year makes for worrying reading.
One in five of our children are overweight or obese. Schools have come a long way in terms of healthy eating campaigns and there is an emphasis on physical activity but more is needed.
The point of schooling is to learn and much of the time is inevitably spent sitting.
The Irish weather hasn’t improved since my time either. Often, it’s not possible to go outside during break. Technological improvements mean the TV-on-wheels no longer needs to be wheeled in but the projector provides the same result. After a day like this, our children are sent home with homework to do.
More time sitting – after a whole day of it.
Removing homework won’t be a magic bullet. Parents would need to ensure the homework time isn’t simply replaced with screen time. A strong campaign would be needed to encourage evening exercise.
Increased provision of walking and cycle ways as well as playgrounds would help too. Not all would comply, but many would. With such worrying obesity stats, it’s time to change our priorities.
There have been many studies carried out on the value of exercise.
Researchers at the Georgia Health Sciences University tested the effects of aerobic exercise on 171 sedentary, overweight kids between the ages of 7 and 11. They found improvements in IQ scores, as well as Maths ability, where physical activity levels were increased.
Canadian author and public policy contributor André Picard has also argued that homework is counterproductive.
He says research shows clearly that children being active is more important than homework for improving learning and test scores and health.
As a working parent, I find these arguments compelling.
Life during school term is a whirlwind.
Once I’ve collected my kids, made dinner, helped to get the homework done and taken them to an after-school activity (if there is one that day), it is bedtime. And we are all tired.
We are all busier these days. Quality time is at a premium. Let’s get rid of the
homework and build in more family activity time.
Instead of spending their early years teaching them to sit and do homework, we could be teaching them the joy of an active lifestyle.
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Totally agree. Although I get a sense that maybe our primary curriculum is so massive that it could not be covered without the extra time at home – so that’s another thing we need to change. Give the teachers back more control over their curriculum.
@Maggie OSullivan Graham: the curriculum is so massive because they have filled it with farcical subjects that include teaching children about politics, the importance of democracy and why its good to watch the news. All 100% brainwashing horsesh*t that dont belong in any educational system
@Maggie OSullivan Graham: Why not just copy Finland they are awesome,no homework ,teachers with a masters degree ,top of Europe if not the world
@Maggie OSullivan Graham: Keep home work. But limit to 30 min or 45 max per day and do it in school under supervision. Homework is there to make sure that kids understand what is being taught and teachers understand the kids.
@Robert Harris: Id love if we could copy Finland..smaller class sizes, teaching assistants, proper investment and funding of schools and highly paid and valued teachers. Trust me, homework is the least of our problems in Ireland.
@Sorcha Ní Shúilleabháin: according to the OECD Irish teachers are paid above average salaries,80% of our education budget goes into teachers pockets
@Robert Harris: The OECD also points out that Irish teachers teach for more hours than many of their European counterparts. I have no issue whatsoever with less or no homework, however it’s a populist motion that will have no positive effect on learning outcomes. No homework is not what makes the Finnish system successful. If Ireland wants to do better then what’s needed is investment in schools, funding for resources and highly educated and motivated staff. Teaching within the current system is for many demoralising, yet Ireland still ranks highly by international standards. One can only imagine what could be achieved if the system was improved.
@Gillian Weir Scully: So teachers should do the homework in school and parents should do ——— nothing. How are parents supposed to keep track of how their children are managing in school? I do agree that homework should only happen about twice a week in primary school with reading practice every night. Please give teachers a break it’s not their job to raise your children.
That’s the way I went through school. I rarely if ever did my homework, until I got to 5th year in secondary school. I got in trouble for it but didnt care. Evenings were spent outside playing football etc. I got a 1st class hons degree in college in 2004 & have a good career so far. No way should national school kids be doing any more than 30 mins homework per night.
@James Brown: https://othmarstrombone.wordpress.com/2015/08/13/jt-airlines-were-a-great-way-to-fall/ You’re an outlier James. It’s good that you got an excellent degree and now have a satisfying career, but the majority of children who do not do well in school tend not to flourish at university or in their career. This is a generalisation of course, and there are plenty of exceptions, but to deny this correlation is to discourage young people from making the most of the educational opportunities they have.
@Kate Barry: Apples and oranges, Kate. James didn’t say he didn’t work hard in school, just that he didn’t do homework. Your cited article is also comparing apples to oranges, nowhere doe it mention that Vesna suffered a fractured skull, three broken vertebrae, two broken legs, several broken ribs and a fractured pelvis. Oh, and the coma that lasted for 10 days. Maybe James’ parachute was hard work between the hours of 9 and 3…
As a person who works in education, primary school kids shouldn’t be giving any more than 20 minutes and secondary school students 45 minutes.
@Daithi Gazeley: genuine question, why do you think they should have any homework at all in primary education?
@Paul Fahey: well paul,I believe 20 minutes maths,English and irish in the evening will help.that’s my opinion im sure others would disagree.
@Daithi Gazeley: as a person involved in education as you say you are, I hope you’re not teaching any children punctuation or spelling!
@Daithi Gazeley: As a person who works in education as you say you do, I hope you’re not teaching children punctuation or spelling!
@Una Murphy: yes because you can tell what type of teacher he is with a short few lines. Seen you had to post twice yourself.
Parents say yhat homework should not be given to kids because they are in school to long, dont have any family time, parents working. I live in an estate & there are a number of kids in the estate, but it’s the same kids out playing on the green every day. Where are the rest of thei kids, in the house on the ipad, laptop, watching tv. If they have time for tv, ipad they have 30 mins to do homework. Homework should be a short revision of what is done in schools during the day. It gives parents an idea of what their child is learning. When their kids goes to secondary school & colleges will we tell them that no homework is to be given.
@bings:
God forbid a kid wants to relax after a hard day at school! Would you want to bring work home and sit and do it for 30 mins to an hour? Or do you unwind?
Some days my kids don’t want to go out and play, other days they want to stay out until dark.
Homework is like torture to one of mine. He hates it. Even since juniors. He sees home as home and school as school the two aren’t interchangeable.
That said, I didn’t mind homework, I got home had it done in 15 minutes, my brother on the other hand took well over an hour because he would fight it, complain and lost the ability to calculate or write. Very similar to my youngest. Mom sometimes ended up doing the homework for him.
Less homework i wouldn’t stop it altogether.how about less bloody books to bring to and from school.they weigh a ton these days.
There are many reasons why homework could be reduced, but blaming it for obesity isn’t one of them. We all had homework growing up in the 80′s and 90′s and obesity levels were not what they are now. There was less obesity then because we ate differently, spent less time on gadgets and spent more time running around playing. Our parents also spent more time doing things with us rather than carting us off to endless afterschool activities. Some primary school children have afterschol timetables that rival any busy business person.
This is the first time I have seen an attempt made to link homework with obesity among other things, and is sadly typical of either/or journalism , where you can only have one without the other. The truth is we can have what we need through balance and common sense. An active healthy lifestyle can permeate our day if we allow it to with the promotion of active learning in school and active living outside of it. A populist commentary to remove homework does not look at the underlying causes of a decline in quality family time, one of which is a more self indulgent culture where we don’t always make more time for others in our lives and on the other hand a failure to make quality time for our own wellbeing.
@Michael Maher: stop being so sensible, I want the quick fix blame someone else solution
@Michael Maher:
I can understand the link. My eldest is 18 and studying for the leaving cert. she goes to school at 8.30am. She goes to study straight after school witch doesn’t finish till 7. That’s 4 days a week. On Wednesday she does her extra subject out of school from 7-9. So doesn’t get home till 9.30.
On Saturday she works 10-6
Sunday she is at study from 12-6.
That’s a hell of a lot of time being stationary.
She did that all last year too (minus the extra subject).
@Lily: With a schedule like that, she really shouldn’t be working all day Saturday.
@Dr Richard DeWitt:
She has worked there since age 16, since her TY work experience. It gives her a bit of pocket money and is good on her CV. Also when she goes to college next year, she will need to have a job.
Great idea lets turn the next generation into even bigger snowflakes who have no idea what hard work looks like and think the world is all rosey and friendly so anytime they are met with a challenge or hardship they hide in a corner
@Ian McNally: was waiting for someone to use the idiot snowflake comment……..so u think kids will be soft when they are older cos of not doing homework?????
@Tom Newell: No i think kids will be soft when older cus parents are wrapping them in bubble wrap and removing anything remotely challenging from their lives. Unless little johnny can be guaranteed 100% to succeed and get a medal then he’s not gonna be allowed try anything. Kids need to learn that failure is a possibility and nothing to be ashamed of.
@Ian McNally: As long they work all day in school whats the issue with not having homework? I don’t get ‘homework’ from my job. I put in the hours then I can go home and do what I like. You talk as if not having homework will result in kids sitting around on bean bags in school all day. Having no homework to correct everyday gives teachers more time to cover more topics and get more work done. Dump religious education out of primary school and they’d have even more
Homework offers the parent to chance to be involved with kid and help them if need be. Can get an insight into how the kid dims developing. It’s the foundation of work ethic and responsibility also. Should be 30 to an hour depending on age. Removing it is ridiculous. The transition to secondary would be much harder if a new concept of homework was added
@lavbeer: I am involved with my children, I talk to them, and know what goes on during school. I know when they’re struggling. Doing homework in my house is more about forcing kids to sit down, usually with at least one in tears, while I cook dinner and clean up after the breakfast mess we had to leave that morning..
I don’t need prescribed time to ‘be involved’ with my children.
@EvieXVI: But without homework would you have daily involvement with their formal education?
@lavbeer: education comes from all aspects of life. Not just formal school stuff.
Them giving the cashier money and getting change is maths.
Going to a friends house/beech/park is geography and nature studies.
Talking about grandparents when they were younger is history.
TV can be educational too. Mine love horrible histories. And they will tell me, oh we learned this in school.
We have a few board games, trivial pursuit, scrabble, battleship, taboo, cranium, Othello. All of these are great as learning tools, fun enjoyable learning tools.
So even without homework one does get feedback on their child’s formal education.
@lavbeer: yes – as I said, I know what’s going at school. I talk to my kids. I know how well they can read and spell, and what level of maths they’re capable of. And I sign tests weekly. Homework offers me little insight.
@lavbeer: I agree with you. A certain amount of homework also connects the learning outside of the classroom. Can I do this work when my teacher is not here? Did the information move from short term to long term memory?
Primary school homework should not exceed 45 minutes to an hour for the senior levels and certainly should not be on the weekends.
@EvieXVI: Homework should be consistent with the test results you sign every week. When you see them doing the work themselves it is validation of what they are learning in the class. A chance for you to correct their thoughts on subjects. Each to their own I suppose – but I can see the benefit of it. Anyway I had to do homework so why should they get a pass. The tendency to games rather than physical exercise is a constant battle
@Seeking Truth: mine only had exercise mon to thu – Friday and weekends free. Secondary school difference is huge and introducing homework at that point would be very difficult for kids.
The Last thing they want to do is open a book or copy when they get home, mine would rather walk the dog and get out of the house and chill
@WynnnerZ: Not every child is like your kids Most are in the house on the ipad, tv
@bings: well take the tablet/ds/phone/laptop or whatever off them! It’s the joy of being a parent, you tell the little feckers what’s what!
Totally agree with the article, it’s the biggest cause of stress in our house. And when it’s finished we’re all wrecked and it’s time for bed. They don’t have homework in Finland yet have a famed educational system. I blame the large classrooms which is really hard for any teacher to teach, then they are sent home with tonnes of homework effectively putting the onus on parents to be the teachers. But let’s be real of course they won’t do away with homework in Ireland, we are not that forward thinking
@Phil Keenan: what’s tonnes of homework? In primary school ?
@Phil Keenan: In Finland, teaching is an aspirational profession which gets the best school-leavers, and where they are educated to a proper masters level. They are professional educators rather than education professionals. That’s the difference in a nutshell.
@lavbeer: What’s constitutes tonnes of homework in primary school? 30 minutes to an hour! I’m hearing more and more teachers saying homework is pointless. One local primary school was going to drop it but the parents disagreed. When it comes to a parent’s engagement in a child’s education, a disengaged parent will always be be disengaged.
Im delighted to see the debate finally happen. My oldest is in 2nd year and hes 14. Ive 3 kids. And even since ive become a stay at home parent i find the evenings stressful trying to supervise the 3 of them. As a result over the years ive cursed homework. However ive considered lately that if there was no homework i would have absolutely no idea how my kids are doing in school. Which subjects they struggle with….and which subjects they like. Some parents wil hand over all control and then curse the system when little johnny dosent get into his sports therapy course from CAO.
We need to be careful here i think.
@Dearbhla Russell:
You don’t talk to your kids?
I don’t help mine with homework because I work evenings. Yet I know my kids are good at maths, especially mental maths. One teacher has nicknamed my son a human calculator, because he is quick and accurate with his maths.
However the same son struggles with Irish and hates it, he is ok with English especially since he was diagnosed with a severe speech and language disorder at 5.
I know they love history .
They play mental games with their cousin with a PhD in philosophy and Ancient Greek and do world geography quizzes with him.
So even without my help with homework I know how my kids are doing. And to be honest their mental well being is more important than last nights homework!!
@Lily: yep. As i said. I dont talk to my kids.
Jesus wept….
@Dearbhla Russell:
Obviously you don’t, if you only know how they are getting on at school, is by doing homework with them.
@Lily: what a nasty little man you are? How can you possibly make an arguement from my comment about homework? Thats pretty sad tbh. Bet the kids are glad you work evenings eh?
@Dearbhla Russell:
@Dearbhla Russell:
I’ve quoted exactly what you wrote, so therefore, if you talk to your kids you will know how they are getting on at school without doing homework with them.
I’m not being nasty, just basically rubbished your quote.
You however did turn it nasty by saying that my kids must be glad I work evenings. That says more about YOU than it does about me!
If Finland have the no. 1 students why can’t we mimic https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5OvVPg3y_ug. Homework can have a negative impact on homelife and does limit outdoor/activity time. With 4 kids I have 2 who fly homework and 2 that struggle.
@CarlAnne Greene: Finland also have class sizes of 15, classroom asdistants and learning support available for a third of children. We have double the sized classes here, a jam packed curriculum and little or no time to give one-to-one attention to children.
@Sorcha Ní Shúilleabháin: average is 20 in Finland and Finland rank midway in terms of class sizes when you look at schools from around the world. But they are still the top students. As I said if we could take just some of the Finnish ideas on board.
@CarlAnne Greene: I agree with you 100%..I’d only love if the Finnish system was adopted here..however what makes that system great and keeps them top of the tables is not the fact that they give little or no homework. It’s the fact that their education system properly financed, class sizes are appropriate, teachers are valued and well supported and those with additional needs are catered for without having to fight for it. Of all the things that need sorting out in the Irish education system homework in not on the critical list. It’s a populist argument that’s used as a stick to beat teachers with and deflects from the real problems with the system.
No to homewerk ,no to Skool detenshun ,let em play it done me no arm.
I disagree strongly with this article. I have 3 boys under 7. Two in primary and one at pre-school. Homework is essential. And it over crowded classes, is vital that they get that one to one learning.
You’re familiar with the expression practice makes perfect, it’s wrong practise makes permanence.
Homework is practise. It’s how human beings learn through practise.
That article said more about societal issues than homework. No homework is just an excuse.
If you want quality time the. You make quality time. Instead of taking them to the after school activity drop the activity and do something with them.
If they want to play football, you play football with them. If they want to learn the piano, you learn it with them.
Don’t use homework as an excuse for lack of quality time.
@Clive Hand: come back and say this when your kids are in secondary school and given 3 to 4 hours homework a night!
@Sarah Clifford: article only suggests for primary school not secondary school. I can’t see the end July 6th class to start sept secondary school with extra 2 hours most days plus new concept of homework going too well.
With 4 kids, 2 very capable and 2 who struggle with homework….homework can have a negative impact on family time. I understand not all families would utilise ‘no homework’ to get kids more physically active but we certainly would. Food for thought if Finland has the no. 1 students why can’t we mimic at least some of their ideas?? https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5OvVPg3y_ug
Homework also sends the wrong message to kids about work life balance. We shouldn’t be bringing too much work home and they should learn from young about spending quality time with family, not a stressful homework environment
If you’re doing guitar lessons and you get half a hour a week then the homework is where you get the real work done. It’s different with school though where you are there for eight hours – does a pupil really need to come home and take out the books again? With maths though I think it might be important to get the confidence of working through the problem alone and unaided. In school children tend to copy off each other.
And there should be more physical activities outside of the classroom. A minimum of 3 days a week. Other countries have a specialized person employed full time to do this.
No kid should be forced to work after their day’s work at school, while adults are free to enjoy their leisure time after their day’s work.
Of course homework should be banned in any civilised society.
Can only imagine all those ‘trumping’ homework don’t have kids with difficulties! With 2 who do home work within adequate time and 2 that struggle, homework is so hard and takes much longer on the 2 struggling. Leads to frustration. The amount of time it takes teachers to dole out the homework, correct the homework and then hand out consequences to those who didn’t do it….this work could be done at school. All teachers give varying amounts, would help if this was standardised.
I totally agree, kids should be able to go out and play with friends after school instead of facin another hour of school work at home……
Maybe some posters should take step back.
Why does cause so much stress in people’s houshold. Isn’t homework the job of our kids? I understand helping if a child struggles but posters here are supervising their kids homework even at secondary school age?
I have three kids myself that are now in secondary school and from the beginning on I gave them the message that I’m there to help if needed but homework was their responsibility (reading exersices aside).
If they didn’t do their homework they got into trouble (detention) and they learnt from that.
@Katrin Elzmann: @Katrin Elzmann: agreed. But kids shouldn’t get homework until they are capable of doing it by themselves. However from junior infants our kids have homework. Secondary school is soon enough
Interesting reading here http://www.sedl.org/pubs/sedl-letter/v20n02/homework.html
Get rid of the stupid school books first ! And make them all available online
The point of homework is to reinforce what you learned through the day which increases your retention of the information. It’s very necessary.
In most schools homework should take less than 20 minutes with the right support at home. The argument that not giving homework so as children can get more exercise is absolutely ludicrous. Children would still be inside playing on their Xbox or PlayStation not outside playing with other children. Children learn from what they see, over to you parents of Ireland.
I completely agree.i work full time and by the time I’ve collected them, completed homework and made and eat dinner it’s late and they are tired..not much fir quality time. Down with homework
Homework should be done by kids before they leave school. Every school should have a homework class at 3 o clock or whatever time the child finishes at. These special after school moments should be held out in the playgrounds or whereever your child chooses. Not at home fighting over sums english homework. Kids aren’t young for long enough
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