“Why are we doing this?”An exploration in homework

Sarah Dianesesdianese@gmail.com

BackgroundBeginning of year

Change of placements

Challenging assumptions

Assumptions1. Students’ values come from their parents.

2. Students become more responsible as they mature.

3. Older students understand the purpose of homework.

Assumption #1: Values from parents=values from studentsOnly 26% of 9th grade respondents are forced

to finish their schoolwork before socializing with friends…

…but over 99% of them are either rewarded for good grades are punished for bad grades.

Parents value GRADES

Consequences of Skipping HW

Quotable

“I am thrown into a whirlwind of agony. I feel awful about myself and remorse for my negligence.”

“Nothing.”

“Homework means nothing, teachers

do not even grade it.”

“Loss of preveleges

[sic]”

Assumption #2: Students become more responsible as they mature.

“I mean yeah, [I do my homework] for the most part. Unless I forget or something” –AP Lit student

“Okay, so like freshman year I was like you have to do homework because it’s like what you have to do…now as a senior I kind of understand why I should do homework, but I still don’t really do homework.”-AP Lit student

Reasons for missing assignments:

Responsibilities

“I’m really busy…you see the whole picture of all that you have to do and it just, you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m just gonna watch Doctor Who.’”-10th grade Advanced Honors students

Assumption #3: Older students understand the purpose of homework.

“Is like, like, in life you’re gonna have to do stuff that makes no sense”

“If they said ‘figurethis out so you can dothis,’ I’d be like, ‘great,’but they’re like,‘figure this out for noapparent reason.’”

Which grade does each piece of data come from?

What do you get out of doing homework?

Quotable “I hadn’t spoken to my dad in three days.”

“Nothing.”

“Better grades, less free time.”

“I get good grades which keeps me eligible for sports and will have a greater opportunity to do more things in life.”

“Getting bored in ten seconds.”

Consequencesof

Doing Homework

A word from the experts

“Some perception of the relation of consequences to means applies even with the very young. Otherwise an activity ceases to be educative

because it is blind. With increased maturity, the problem of interrelation becomes more

urgent" (Dewey 84).

Dewey, John. Experience and Education. New York: Macmillan, 1938. Print.

Other Patterns from my Data

Self-Identification

“Me personally, I’m a bad person in that I can not care less in some ways.”-10th grade Advanced Honors student

Revisiting Assumptions1. Students’ values come from their parents.

In the realm of homework, they do.

2. Students become more responsible as they mature.

Respecting students’ other commitments

3. Older students understand the purpose of homework.

Transparency in the classroom

Further QuestionsHow can we separate students’ identity of

themselves as students from their completion of homework?

How can we make sure that students see the purpose of their assigned work?

How can we assign the homework we need to give while respecting our students’ other commitments?