Obsolete Homework practices in our schools

 

“Students, you must complete your science homework by writing down all the answers to the questions in the exercises in Chapter 2. If any of you come to school with incomplete homework tomorrow, you will not be allowed to sit in the classroom”.

The above instructions are part of the usual classroom practices in many traditional Pakistani schools, where teachers pressurize their students to complete their homework within a time limit. Homework is the task or an activity that students usually do at home. According to Merriam-Webster, homework is "an assignment given to a student to be completed outside the regular class period." Assigning of homework to students has been a continuous practice in the teaching-learning process in schools. Studies show varied impacts of homework on students' academic performance. For instance, Harris Cooper, an educational psychologist, and his colleagues found that homework had a strong association with students’ achievement. On the other hand, Alfie Kohn and Sara Bennett, in their book "The Homework Myth", describe that homework time has no association with students’ achievement.

According to Pakistan Economic Survey, 2023-24, we have a national literacy rate of 62.8 with significant regional disparities. In Balochistan, where literacy rate is only 52%, many parents lack understanding of the homework their children are assigned and its impact on their achievement. Even educated parents, unless they have a background in education, find it challenging to distinguish between meaningful homework and mere busywork. Consequently, they place their trust in teachers and schools; and their satisfaction comes from seeing their children busy in homework activities at home, assuming it's contributing to their learning.        

Majority of the government and private schools follow traditional homework methods, where teachers solve exercises on the board, students copy notes in class, and then rewrite them neatly in separate notebooks for each subject. This tedious process is repeated daily for 7-8 subjects at upper primary level, mainly at the start of the academic year when teachers are in a rush to outpace each other in completing the syllabus, often at the expense of students' understanding and engagement. This unnecessary practice leads to students carrying heavy bags (8-10 kg) filled with multiple notebooks, making it a burdensome exercise.

When asked about the negative impact of workload on students, a secondary-level teacher in a private school in Quetta replied, "Our goal is to keep students busy at home." Another teacher echoed a bit different sentiment, saying, "We're required to assign homework (notebook completion) to students, so we can't do anything about it." These responses suggest that teachers either lack professional training or assigning excessive homework is a deliberate policy in their schools. Notably, government schools, despite having trained teachers, also follow similar conventional homework methods, perpetuating the issue.

When students are burdened with excessive writing workload, they are forced to stay up till midnight, disrupting their sleep patterns. Additionally, they must rely on others, such as parents, siblings, or relatives, for assistance with completing their homework. For students who struggle to meet deadlines, skipping school or classes may seem like the only option. Moreover, the constant writing demands leave students with no leisure time, leading to frustration and potentially negatively impacting their overall well-being.

Despite being an outdated practice, notebook-writing practices persist in our institutions as homework assignments. In the past, when teachers were the sole source of guidance and the course books and notebooks were the primary source of knowledge, this practice may have been acceptable, albeit unproductive. However, in today's digital age, where information is readily available through various sources, including AI and online resources; and with numerous guidebooks accessible at bookstores the need for traditional homework has diminished.

Writing practices are beneficial in early classes, where developing children's writing skills is crucial. However, in higher-level classes, this time-consuming work yields little benefit beyond refining writing skills. The true purpose of homework should be to engage students in productive activities like problem-solving, comprehension, analytical and creative practices. Effective homework can be consolidated into a single notebook, reducing unnecessary workload. In today's digital age, where e-notebooks are becoming increasingly prevalent, it's counterintuitive to encumber students with a burdensome pile of physical notebooks.

Both government and private schools need to revamp their approach to homework. A crucial step is establishing a coordination mechanism in schools that enables teachers to share and discuss their homework plans, thereby reducing the burden on students. Furthermore, schools should abandon outdated notebook-completion practices and invest in training teachers on best practices. The Bureau of Curriculum & Extension Centre Balochistan, in collaboration with the Provincial Institute for Teacher Education (PITE), can develop innovative instructional guides and materials with a specific focus on modernizing homework practices that prioritize student learning and engagement.