Hello, my name is Mr. Malley

I just bought Alfie Kohn’s new book, The Homework Myth. As is usually the case with me and books on education, I skimmed the research for smart quips and quotes and jumped straight-away to the last two chapters - where the author finally says “so what.” I found his argument compelling.

• Schools need to switch their “default” homework setting from ON to OFF. Most teachers (and even several schools) have mandatory homework policies. For example, they are very clear that homework will be given every day. This, according to Kohn, is the root of the problem with homework in schools today.

“What this means … is that the primary commitment, both logically and chronologically, is to make sure students usually have schoolwork to do at home. Only secondarily do teachers figure out what to make them do on a given night” (165)

• What teachers need to concentrate on instead of compulsory homework is the value of the work students are given across the board. If a particular lesson is best suited for the home environment, then it should still be assigned for home (ex: testing chlorine levels at home as comparison to findings at school).
• The fear is that with the default set improperly, teachers are apt to give worksheets and mundane work that is bound to be despised by the highest achieving students and ignored by the lowest.
• Teachers rarely spend the time and effort it would take to create homework assignments that could actually promote learning - that time and effort is already spent on preparing lessons. Rather, teachers who feel compelled to give out homework tend to dole out worksheets as “practice.” According to Kohn, this is largely unnecessary.
• Bad homework actually hurts a student’s inner desire to learn. This is one point I agree with very strongly and is is a big deal to Kohn. If you’ve ever read his other work (namely Punished by Rewards) he spends a great deal of energy on explaining the psychology behind human motivation. Basically, students come to school wanting to learn. Busy work extinguishes that want.

What we ought to do is not give homework unless we have to; unless the material calls for it. We set high expectations in our classrooms. We plan intricate lessons in our classrooms. We communicate our expectations. We provide materials. We monitor progress. We do not make homework mandatory! Studies seem to support that in such an environment, students actually do more meaningful work at home (without our guidance).