In addition, I would like to read what you have to say on this subject. I highly respect everyone's thoughts on this matter. Hopefully, there will be more discussions on this topic, particularly since there will be many students throughout the U.S. who will shortly, or have already resume back to school. In South Carolina, the educational process has already begun in some counties.
It has been my experience that assigning homework to students have redeeming qualities (If the teacher knows what he, or she, is doing) that will eventually pay-off in the end.
There is more to homework than assigning pages to read, and/or answering questions in the textbook. It is about the youngsters having co-dialogue with their peers in the classroom learning as to how they derive with their answer(s). It's about allowing their thoughts on paper to become audible in a classroom, so that each other can learn how each other think - process their thoughts openly in a forum of their peers.
The problem with so many teachers, especially in the public school system, is that they have been duped into believing that their role as a teacher is to basically 'mimic' so-called educational materials that's been assigned for them to follow - in many cases, verbatim. Who said that 'homework' must be an arduous chore that lacks quality and genuine creativity? By whose standards are these rules set?
A myriad of teachers today are standing on the shoulders of “teachers of ‘yesteryear,‘” who did exercise their duties well by using the formula of giving regular homework, and tasking the steps to teach their students without use of fear or prejudice, particularly in Black and Hispanic communities.
However, many of these teachers’ knees have weakened lacking the strength to stand tall on those sturdy shoulders, and have somehow fallen short to do the same in current time teaching ‘whole’ education in the 21st Century.
In fact, I can safely say that the cease of assigning regular homework to youngsters begun to falter in the mid to latter 1970s, and as a result of this tragedy, it has, for the most part, become an obsolete practice throughout many parts of the United States.
'Quality' over 'Quantity' is not the issue here when it is relates to homework. The issue at hand is whether a teacher is willing to put in the 'hours' to assess whether their students are, or are not, grasping what is being taught in school! If not, then the question of 'homework' is moot!
Debating whether assigning homework today tells me that there is something terribly wrong with the educational system as a whole involving both the teachers, and the educational board that determines what should, or should not, be taught in schools. The paranoia theme about homework being non-essential is based on past traditional methodologies often held with negative connotations that lacks substance. Frankly put, to assign homework is mostly problematic to individuals, and/or groups, who prefer to take a 'short-cut' in our children’s educational learning process.
And just to be clear on a few things:
1) Granted, not every child has the inherent ability to grasp literacy as effectively as some other children at the same rate of speed. The same applies to penmanship, spelling, and so forth. However, when 'time-of-self' as a teacher is used to extricate these much needed qualities within a child (And homework assignments is one way to assess this need), then an efficient competent motivational teacher can now choose a suitable route for this child to explore in order to sharpen his, or her, skills in a way that will eventually manifest itself wondrously;
2) Homework is not something you give just to be giving it, nor is to notate a [red] mark when something is 'incorrect' versus being 'correct,' and then let it go. It is a tool to promote and foster future post-secondary educational habits, such as research finding, detailing comprehension of reading, encourage writing themes and outlines, and it is a part of life that perhaps one day, they, too, may have children who'll need their assistance to do the same.
A cry-out call was made, for example, in South Carolina, in 2002-2003 from numerous four-year colleges to two-year colleges (To include technical colleges) insisting that the professors/educators are to be more stringent with their curriculum. In other words, these students who call themselves 'transferring' from a two-year to their four-year college did NOT meet the needed requirements in writing, reading AND its comprehension, just to highlight a couple of these embarrassing notes. In other words, these youngsters could not keep up with the demands of the school’s curriculum, despite the earned college credits they had acquired.
In fact, I saw first hand in an English college class (English 101) when the professor was literally explaining to the class the differences between their, there, and they’re! COLLEGE ENGLISH for crying out loud!
Another example is when an English college class assignment was given on a Friday, and on the following Monday, a young female had the nerve to ask the professor the definition of a particular word! WHAT? This child had the entire weekend to seek the definition of that specific word. Hell, she had a “Spell check” on the computer because mostly, if not, all, have spell-checkers in the software. Worse, there’s the Internet, local library, and of course, a ’thesaurus,’ which is also included on many of the computer softwares.
The point I am attempting to make here is that this young female (And she was not alone in this lunacy) had the ultimate nerve to live her life throughout an entire weekend, and came back on Monday to ask a ridiculous question! And yes, I called her out on that one shaming both the professor, and herself, because it was asinine, to say the least!
[Please Note: I understand the “Uncle Ruckus” mentalities that exist in our ill society. Therefore, I would be remiss if I did not point out that the young female in the English class was Caucasian, as well as the majority of the students at that time. Hopefully, this little bit of revelation will quell the notions and lay to rest the multitude of ignorance that continues to run rampant across many racial, ethnic, class, and cultural lines, who truly believe that “Whites are Bright, and that “Blacks Lack,” and “Brown is Down,’ and “Hispanics Panic!” At least that is my hope.]
Laziness is not an option. Self-preservation of one's own objective and goal is not acceptable. Unruly children in the classroom should not be a factor to deter oneself from teaching. And yes, it is my observation that most teachers (And thank God, not all of them) who seek to heighten their own educational futures by working feverishly to earn their Master's degree, or Doctorate, are the same individuals who choose NOT to assign homework of any kind! Hhmmm, I wonder why?
Plainly put, to be a 'teacher' is an admirable and honorable respected profession, but only if it is carried out in that fashion. Not every teacher is a teacher. Not all homework is a bore, nor boring.
Not everyone take kindly to the word 'homework' due to negative past experiences of receiving it themselves as a child, or as an adult for that matter. Somehow to receive 'homework' is a burden, which in many cases is believed that it deters them from carrying out their usual duties at home (i.e., taking time away from their own children, cuts in on their 'play time' with the guys or gals, or takes them away from their own studies, and so forth).
Hell, the problem is that many of us tend to 'play' first, and 'work' later instead of doing the opposite!
America is a nation filled with playful distractions [with the exception of 'The Arts' (Dance, theater, music lessons, etc.)] that are riddled with glorified celebrities, sport athletes, media news, gossip, and so forth, serving no valuable purpose whatsoever in the elevation of introducing, understanding and applying mathematics, science, reading, etc., into our children's lives, nor ours as adults, as quiet as kept!
In regard to unruly children in the classroom, with all due respect to Brother Sango, as being the excuse for many teachers not giving homework to their students is lame. Once again, the problem of having unruly youngsters in the classroom to dictate how a teacher teaches in classroom is unacceptable.
Again, here we have an age-old excuse for not yielding to the call of using 'common sense.' Such an excuse is equivalent to the politics that are now taking place in Washington, D.C. - somehow the fact that "public servants," who were elected by us, the constituents, actually work for us, and not us working for them, have seemingly got lost in the shuffle!
Like homework, there is no massive public out-cry on this point either. Unless of course, you’re a Tea Party member! But I digress.
Unruly youngsters in the classroom should not deter a qualified teacher from teaching her students in the classroom, nor should it become a factor to prohibit assigning homework to the youngsters who DO want to learn.
Besides, it IS a teacher's job - a ‘call to duty’ - to provide and teach 'whole' education. It is NOT a teacher's job to withhold nor sacrifice educational instruction to youngsters who are there by the Grace of God to learn.
With that said: Is the teacher’s salary being determined, or deducted, based on the amount of children taught in the classroom without disruption, or who is/are unruly in the classroom?
When you give a child a chore to do in the house, more than likely that child is going to complain, but you, as the parent, nonetheless, expect that child to do it. And as a good competent parent, you will show the child how to do said chore. The likelihood of that child completing the chore successfully may range from low to moderately well. And of course, as the parent, you will inspect what the child did, and give either an approval or disapproval rating. But not without pointing out the flaw(s) on how it was done.
Thus, the parent will then determine what to do next that will benefit the child later whenever the same chore is given again to do:
A) The parent will allow the child to do the same chore over again in hopes of doing better, or
B) Give the benefit of the doubt that the child has learned from his or her short-coming(s) in hopes of doing a better job the next time around.
Now, the next time when the child is given the same chore to do, he or she, will more than likely do a better job. However, such a time is based on the length of time it will take to do the job again, such as daily, weekly, or bi-monthly, just to give some examples.
The same principle is used toward 'homework':
If you give a child homework to do in the house, more than likely that child is going to complain, but you, as the teacher, nonetheless, expect that child to do it. And as a good competent teacher, you will either show the child how to do, and/or help them to understand the homework assignment.
The likelihood of that child completing the homework assignment successfully at home may range from low to moderately well, but it got done and was presented to you on the assigned date. And of course, as the teacher, you will inspect what the child did, and give either an approval or disapproval rating. But not without pointing out the flaw(s) on how it was done.
Thus, the teacher will determine what to do next that will benefit the child later whenever the same or similar homework is given again to do:
A) The teacher will allow the child to do the same homework over again that is marked in 'red' for incorrections, or
B) Give the benefit of the doubt that the child has learned from his or her errors in hopes of doing a better job the next time around.
Now, the next time when the child is given the same or similar homework to do, he or she, will more than likely do a better job. However, such a time is based on the length of time it will take to receive the next homework assignment (daily, weekly, or bi-monthly), just to give some examples.
And just so we are on the same page: If a parent has a child who choose not to do his or her chores, and if a teacher has a student who chose not to be cooperative and prefer to be unruly in class, then it is obvious, despite the laws of the educational land, such a child need to be dealt with immediately! Now, you can take it for what it’s worth . . . Let’s just say that my children, two of three who are grown adults, know the meaning of “A world of hurt!” Literally!
With that said, it is BOTH 'quality' and 'quantity' that matters whenever an application of learning is introduced to the child via assigned homework.
Let's face it: America essentially screwed-up royally, educationally wise, when the decision of NOT assigning homework on a regular basis was not warranted to do so. Such evidence is apparent today, and is produced repeatedly, although hidden from the public often, that millions of students who start their first year of college are literally illiterate! Even to the point that so many of these post-secondary educational institutions are 'dumbing-down' their curriculum.
And for the record, to compare U.S.A. educational level with China is moot. China has billions of people, whom for the most part, are a part of the younger generation, who have gotten away from their [own] ancient traditional base of learning, and it has nothing to do with pressures of receiving regular homework assignments, studying around-the-clock, or anything of the ilk, with the belief that such are the driving forces of suicides, and other depressive forms, or states of emotional distresses plaguing the Chinese culture, to put it mildly.
Much of this upheaval of emotional distress stems with many of the younger generation wanting to be so much like the Westerners (America, Europe) to the point that they question their own elders, and the [ancestral] values, rebel against it, thus moving farther away from ‘tradition,‘ hence, becoming more deteriorated as the years go by. Besides, what is going on in China is much deeper than the ‘surface of layers’ it presents to the world. But I digress. Perhaps a discussion on that subject can be tabled for another time.
The bottom line is that laziness is not an option to forego invaluable tools of learning, especially in the 21st Century. Although, I do understand why there is a need to "re-invent the wheel mentality" that many harbor in their minds to do relating to elevate our childrens' quests to seek knowledge, and how to apply them in life. This type of thinking fosters negative patterns of past traditional manners being taught today, which is why America's youngsters are always 'last' academically in an industrialized nation. Especially in the Black and Hispanic communities where literal 'fear' and 'prejudice' are factors as to why so many of our children are NOT receiving 'whole' education, and are made as ‘scape-goats‘ whenever any form of educational structure is questioned, and/or used as a compass to illustrate how dilapidated the American educational school system has faltered.
To put it bluntly, I am sick and tired of Black and Hispanic students being used as ’scapegoats’ to depict America’s educational failures in this regard as if there are no Caucasians who, too, fall into this scenario.
It is time to dispel fables of the past. It is time to not 'dumb-down' our youths of tomorrow.
I read a couple of articles in "The Final Call Newspaper" ( http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/harlem_8091.shtml AND Creating a Supreme Curriculum, Supreme Educators for Students - http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/harlem_8092.shtml ) the other day that highlights many of my beliefs when it comes to teaching our children, especially our Black and Hispanic children, and poor Caucasians.
It is without a doubt that both articles are poignant and accurate.
In addition, the sooner all of us realize that this is NOT a religious issue, nor solely a Black/Caucasian/Hispanic/Asian/Native American issue, nor an issue of battles between the 'haves' and 'have-not,' then hopefully, and prayerfully, we can perhaps, collectively, seek to find and utilize common sense on common ground to provide a common good for all to share and enjoy while living in a common world that is rapidly declining academically, vocationally, financially, economically, mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually!
Lastly, I do not write this to put forth blame to any specific individual, group, state, or region. Frankly, when your children or grandchildren falter in their educational studies, then my children and grandchildren are also affected. And vice versa.
You see, the problem many of us have within and outside our communities is believing the hype of, and living the lie with the ‘You stupid - Me smart‘ sickness.
As a result of this negative backward mentality lurk detrimental stereotypical phraseologies, such as “It’s not happening in my neighborhood,” or “They’re talking about those people,” or “I turned out o.k., let them pull their own bootstraps up” - all of which are typical responses whenever something goes wrong.
I guess a lot of us STILL haven’t learned anything during this economic crises, whereas literally hundreds to thousands to millions of folks have lost their homes due to predatory mortgage lending, had lost their [cushy] jobs, applied for food stamp assistance and sought monetary assistance from the Department of Social Services, rely solely on unemployment benefits, not doing well because they cannot receive unemployment benefits, or do not have life, medical, and/or health insurance, and the list goes on and on!
And you know what? These economic woes AFFECTED EVERY race, class, ethnicity, creed, gender, and age! Even celebrities, and other known (or not known) public figures in the media. How about that one, folks?
Will assigning homework on a regular basis to youngsters remedy the aforementioned woes we face today in our country in the 21st Century, or in the near future? Through some folks eyes, I guess the answer is no. Actually, I believe the answer is a resounding, yes! Well, in a idealistic world perhaps. But it doesn’t hurt to pray on it . . . Amen!
Peace, Miriam.
Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.
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