Why I hate homework
I have a confession to make. I haven’t done my homework in lifetime. In fact I
do at school in the morning. You all know we had study hour from 8.30 to 9.15
in the morning. But we use that time for all Math homework and assignments.
No, I am not a responsible student. I am just a cool guy, like many others, can
neither complete at home. Easy or hard.
We are conformists at heart. We like to do what the others are doing. “Home
work copying”. And most of us are the same. While some have admitted they find
the homework stressful, none has been as rebellious and erratic as me.
Naturally, Iam happy to ignore it. However, when the homework ‘project’ came
home, I was keen to take part, so I followed suit. We were asked to design and
make something and then evaluate it. We were encouraged to keep it simple. Like
that of Herbarium. This is cool.
"This is such fun. I’ve always wanted to go out," while we go collect
some flowers and leaves we end up in some theatres and forget the whole thing for
3 hrs. During the show-and-tell display there was a tacit acknowledgment that
most of us had lent a hand, for others to help collecting these. Applause was
for us rather than individual effort. I’m not sure how much we learned from it,
but I learned that even at this level, we were doing as team, few guys are
confident enough to let go it alone. A friend and former teacher says that’s
one reason that homework is often fun-. Driven. But sometime monotonous and not
practical…. so I don’t favor the concept of homework. I prefer interactive.
Something you really ignite interest to do to explain yourself in the class.
But I am not the only one who doubts the effectiveness of homework at this age.
Many, who have studied the history and effectiveness of homework in Indian
education, found that homework raised student achievement in the higher levels
but had no discernible effect in the lower grades. In fact overall, they found
that homework could have negative as well as positive effects on children’s
learning. I argue that not enough is known about how pupils do homework or how
effective it is in the learning process.
As for us, unless I want to do it, I plan to ignore the homework until I think
Iam ready for it – except for the excellent advice on Homework Sheet Four,
which I am encouraging all to follow studiously. It says: "Remember to go
outside and play."