Roov's Full Review: Etta Kralovec and John Buell - The End of Homework...
Homework, and whether or not teachers assign too much of it, and whether or not it actually helps kids learn, and whether or not it's physically or mentally healthy to spend hours a day on it, and whether or not parents should do anything about it--in short, this whole homework issue--is something that has seen some debate in recent years. This book in its original printing, I believe, was one of the opening arguments in that whole debate, so I was interested enough to pick it up and read it as long as I found it for free (I have an inquiring mind, but I'm also cheap).
As I said in the title, I never did homework as a child, so I lack a certain personal perspective. I did it in college, of course, finding it sometimes useful and sometimes incredibly boring (but being enough of a perfectionist grade-grubber to always do it anyway), but being homeschooled by parents with rather informal ideas of education meant I was never actually assigned homework until I started taking adult ed classes at the high school.
This being so, I can't report either that I found homework useful and character-building, or that I found it pointless busywork.
I CAN report, after reading this book, that the authors lean somewhat toward the pointless busywork side of the argument (no big surprise given the subtitle of their volume).
The whole book is essentially a challenge to our ingrained acceptance of homework as an institution, and although the book is rather slim the authors are quite thorough, addressing what little research has been done on the topic and introducing historical information and some questions and theories of their own. They report that the official word on the subject is discouragingly contradictory, with some studies seeming to show a good effect and others no effect at all on children's learning. They also discuss several different aspects of homework, including the time it takes (and how much time it has traditionally taken in other periods since the establishment of the public schools), how parents and children think about it, assumed benefits, political implications and social issues (e.g., if you have a nice computer at home, homework may be easier than if your parents can't afford pencils and paper).
They discuss homework at different grade levels from elementary school through high school (but not into college--I guess you're on your own there), addressing different sorts of challenges that might arise at different times (for example, few 3rd graders have to worry about taking care of their own children while in school, as some high school students do).
The decisive title notwithstanding, I found the book to be relatively even-handed. The authors seem to personally dislike homework and be solidly against it, which undoubtedly colors their view of the situation, but they seemed to be fair in citing the conflicting research results that might indicate that homework can be beneficial after all. Of course, I haven't researched the subject myself so they may have left out all sorts of texts that don't support them, but I refuse to get into that.
The book is necessarily a little dry--I mean, it's full of research and historical studies and theories, and those can come across as uninspiring to many readers--but is fairly cleanly written, straightforward and easy to read. It is also enlivened in places by accounts of various people (children, parents and families) and their experiences with homework, which gives a nice personal touch to the subject.
There's also some pretty interesting (if you like this sort of thing) historical information on theories of education and homework that have been popular in the past, such as the way fresh air used to be seen as so critical to youthful development that classes were frequently held outdoors, or the fact that giving a lot of homework was considered actually inhumane at one point (as labor laws were establishing standards for adults' working hours, so guidelines were thought to be necessary to protect children from spending too much time working).
I found it informative and moderately interesting, and would probably find it even more interesting if I had kids in school. It doesn't really present any clear conclusion, other than that the authors think the amount of homework commonly assigned to elementary and high school students is excessive; there's no decisive plan of action at the end, presenting 'three steps to a homework-free tomorrow.' They don't even specifically advocate protesting your child's homework load if you think it's too much. The authors are apparently trying to draw attention to the issue more than proposing an outright revolution, so if you're more into actions than ideas the lack of specific plans may be unsatisfying.
It's not likely to be of great interest to people just looking for a fun book to read for entertainment's sake, but if you have any interest in schoolwork, the history of homework, etc., it's worth a look.
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