Colman Noctor: Should we stop homework, especially for primary school children?
The removal of homework for a week made a huge difference to the collective wellbeing of my family
The principal of my children’s school recently announced that all homework would be cancelled during its wellbeing week. The children were encouraged to use the time to engage in activities that enhanced their physical and mental health. There were no specific guidelines about what this entailed, so it was left up to each family to fill the time as they saw fit. My three children were delighted. I shared some of their excitement as homework tends to require significant parental involvement in our house to ensure that everyone stays on task, minimise distraction levels and coordinate the use of the one rubber between all three.
The first evening was a bit of a novelty, but there was a busy evening of extracurricular activities, so it was not that noticeable. However, the absence of the need to cram homework in before heading off to various sports pitches helped to reduce the stress levels at home, mostly mine.
On the second night, their football training was cancelled due to the apocalyptic rain showers, so there was no need to run off to activities and it was all very calm at home. We ended up watching a movie together, which was unusual on a weeknight but very enjoyable nonetheless.
On night three, the absence of homework became more noticeable. We had a lovely unrushed dinner, I took my daughter to her soccer training, and when we returned, the atmosphere in the house was again quite chilled. We watched the Champions League match on the TV, and they all headed off to bed calmly.
My daughter has gymnastics on Thursdays at 5 pm, so it is always a hectic evening with lots of stress trying to get dinners eaten and homework completed in that short time frame. But on this occasion, it was fine. Without the pressure of homework, we had plenty of time to get ready and out the door.
At this point, I realised that maybe it was not my excellent parenting skills that were nailing this wellbeing week but the absence of homework. Not only is homework a drain on the time restraints to get all the other stuff done, but it often leads to negativity and disgruntlement, affecting the atmosphere of our home.
Two of my children have dyspraxia and dyslexia, which means homework is rarely easy. They dread it, and so do I. They are both tired after a day in school and having to do more study when they get home seems deeply unfair to them. They need support to complete their homework and a lot of cajoling to stay with it until it can be signed off. The dyspraxia also compromises their ability to self-organise, so extra support is needed to get through the tasks in the journal. My eldest child is in sixth class, so the list of homework is getting longer in preparation for secondary school. It can take well over an hour to get through it all.
The weeklong removal of homework had a profoundly positive impact on our collective wellbeing. The ability to do more with our time in the evenings and the absence of that stress was remarkable. It also struck me that it was not only the absence of homework but there was a noticeable difference in the atmosphere. The homework battle on a typical weekday has a knock-on effect on the rest of the evening and night, with tension often setting the emotional tone.
Our homework-free week proved to me, yet again, that the cost/benefit analysis of the exercise does not add up, especially in primary school children.
The research on the benefits of homework for children’s learning is sketchy. While some will argue that it plays a role in forming good study habits in later years, whether this is worth the cost of homework in the lives of families for the primary school years would merit some examination.
Alfie Kohn is an American lecturer and a proponent of progressive education. His extensive evidence-based ongoing review of the literature over the last 15 years consistently finds that the negative effects of homework, like increasing children’s frustration and exhaustion, lack of time for other activities, and loss of interest in learning are well known. He also says the positive effects of homework are mythical. “There is absolutely no evidence of any academic benefit from assigning homework to younger children. There isn’t even a correlation between the children who do homework (or how much they do) and any meaningful measure of achievement”. He also contends that the correlation in older students is also weak and no study has ever substantiated the belief that homework builds character or teaches good study habits.
Many teachers doubt the value of homework, but they feel pressured by parents who mistakenly believe that a lack of afterschool assignments reflects an insufficient commitment to academic achievement. As Kohn states: “such parents seem to reason that as long as their kids have lots of stuff to do every night, never mind what it is, then learning must be taking place”.
When you think about it, the repetition of workbook filling that has already occurred in school that day is nonsensical, especially when you experience what a difference could be made to family life without homework.
When I have explored the need for homework in the past, I have been told that the official position from the Dept of Education is that parents can opt out of homework if they prefer. But one wonders how many parents would choose to opt-out given the risk of reputational ramifications for their children, many of whom do not want to stand out or be ‘different’ to their peers. As long as the onus is on the individual to opt-out of homework, it will remain in situ. Perhaps a collective movement is necessary for any meaningful change to happen.
The removal of homework for a week made a huge difference to the collective wellbeing of my family, far more than trying to bribe a crying child to complete their ‘wellbeing homework’ by filling out a worksheet asking them to list the things that make them happy. The irony of having to complete ‘wellbeing homework’ captures this contradiction.
Perhaps we need to reconsider our approach and incorporate more effective ways of nurturing our children’s social and emotional health. Removing the tradition of daily homework would be a good start. As Kohn suggests: “If we’re making 12-year-olds, much less five-year-olds, do homework, it’s either because we’re misinformed about what the evidence says or because we think kids ought to have to do homework despite what the evidence says”.
- Dr Colman Noctor is a child psychotherapist
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