Students frequently report that their deepest learning occurs through engaging projects, discussions, and real-world applications—not through hours of isolated homework completion.
I have spoke with many students about this and they have told me the same thing. They learn better through class discussions, and real world applications better than they do when they take homework home. The homework end up being them doing it quick to just put answers down to get it done.
Many progressive educators advocate for less homework but of higher quality—assignments that encourage critical thinking, creativity, and personal connection to the material.
This is my hope for the future when it comes to students having homework. I hope that the homework if any that gets sent home is very minimal to none. We can incorporate higher quality work during the school days, and limit need to send homework home.
As education systems change, the question arises: Is homework helpful for students, or does it just cause stress with little benefit?
My opinion is to try to not send students home with homework. There are some students that enjoy homework and put the work in to learn the material. But, I feel that there are a lot of students who use technology to cheat on assignments, or parents tell them the answers just to have it done to turn in.
The pressure to complete homework often comes at the expense of sleep, physical activity, family time, and other crucial aspects of adolescent development.
I find this to be the authors best sentence.
Teachers have strong beliefs about homework for many reasons. If you ask teachers today, you will hear many different answers about the importance of homework.
Working as a paraprofessional in a small school, I have had the opportunity to talk with a lot of teachers on the subject of homework. There are many different opinions on if students should have homework or not. The majority of teachers say that with everything students need to cover that it is almost impossible for students not to have homework. I have also heard from teachers how it is frustrating that many students dont receive the help they need at home to finish homework so therefore they don't finish homework or homework is not turned in.