Why I don't give students homework
The Bulletin (Issue 11)
Because homework sucks. Students hate it. Parents hate it. Teachers hate it. If you want to make children develop a loathing for English, assign them homework.1
So why do we English teachers routinely insist on giving homework? (I used to before I knew better). I can think of a few reasons — we think it’s expected of us, or we want to cover more material than we can get through in class, basically we think we are adding value. But we are not. We’re actually doing the opposite.
Let me explain in three scenarios.
Best case, the kids work on the homework, it’s easy for them because they are bright or they understood it quickly in class and they do the exercises, but because it’s easy for them, over time it becomes a boring chore.
Or, they find it challenging and either do a poor job on it or rope in their parents who find the homework equally challenging. Net result, the kids are de-motivated and the parents are stressed.
The worst case, the kid finds the homework really difficult and this causes friction with their parents who wonder why their kid can’t get it, and by extension, why the teacher couldn’t teach it (isn’t that what they are paying you for?) Cue family arguments, resentment and fear and loathing for English.
Parents are parents, they are not English teachers and we shouldn’t push them into that unfamiliar role. Sure, they want to help their kids and the best parents have a genuine interest in what their kids are doing in English class, but there is a better way to teach the kids and show the parents that they are improving.
Here’s what I do these days:
Do any written exercises in class. In a typical 40-minute weekly lesson, this accounts for no more than 10 minutes towards the end of the lesson once the kids should have absorbed enough of the new language to handle the exercises. Here is where you can help out strugglers or reteach something if it appears loads of people didn’t get it.
Once you have taught kids the basic phonics and they are ready to start reading (usually around age 5 or 6), assign one gradedreader book a week as homework. Err on the side of too easy. Parents can help their kids with reading if they so wish (you might want to offer a phonics training session or two for keen mums and dads), or leave it to the teacher because you can read the book given as homework previously at the beginning of the next lesson (as students come in, find a minute or two to read with every kid). I use the Oxford University Biff, Chip and Kipper books. If you buy the lot, that amounts to over 360 titles which is more than enough for kids to take one home every week for the entirety of primary school.
Parents will be able to see progress (or otherwise) by seeing if their little darling can actually write in the answers in the textbook (my textbooks include a worksheet for every lesson) or can actually read. Their job then is just to encourage their kid, as good parents should. And your job is to teach them to read and write, as good teachers should.
You do you, of course, but I’ve found once I removed homework as a pain point, students could get on with learning, I could get on with teaching and parents could get on with being parents.
Now, I’m not talking adult students here, although some have the same negative reactions, but if you assign two or three thought-provoking questions at the end of the lesson for the next lesson (see the “SPEAK” section at the end of this sample adults’ lesson plan by way of example) that can work a treat for retired students with time on their hands to prepare their answers before the next class.