Making Homework Meaningful

I read an article entitled Making Homework Meaningful. I posted the following comment which the author agreed with. As always, I consider it vitally important to understand the implications of organizational theory when considering homework problems.  Without recognizing that homework is an anomaly that traverses the boundaries between school and home, one misses a key factor in why parent-teacher efforts to resolve homework problems often fall apart.

I would like to point out where the analogy between chores and homework breaks down. Although both activities take place in the home, parents are the authorities when it comes to chores; teachers are the authorities when it comes to homework. There is considerable risk that the enforcement of homework over the parents’ desires creates lessons that are destructive for children to learn. For example, it does not help children to see their parents feeling powerless to make decisions in their own homes. It all depends on the child, the parent, and the assignment. Most parents start with the expectation of supporting the school in what it requires. If it works, it works. But when it does not work, teachers need to defer to parents as the final decision-makers in their own homes.

SPECIAL OFFER: THE HOMEWORK TRAP CAN BE DOWNLOADED FOR FREE, FROM SEPTEMBER 4 THROUGH SEPTEMBER 7 ON YOUR KINDLE. IF YOU HAVE A KINDLE, PLEASE TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS SPECIAL OFFER. PLEASE INFORM THE PRINCIPAL OF YOUR CHILD'S SCHOOL ABOUT THIS OFFER.


Visit The Homewor Trap website

Dr. Kenneth Goldberg, is the author of The Homework Trap: How to Save the Sanity of Parents, Teachers, and Students, published by Wyndmoor Press.