Homework Stinks

It has existed for decades, suffers from an image problem… and it stinks. Generally parents love it, but students and young people hate it. I believe it is fair to make a comparison between the issue of homework and the dated gentleman’s after shave Old Spice.

Over the course of my teaching career, the lingering odour of homework has remained a persistent problem. The time invested in homework is spent wrestling with the value of the work being produced. There are instances in which the work received is of such poor quality, that the favourable option would be to not set homework at all. I have become increasingly disillusioned with individuals in my teaching groups that regard homework as a lower form of schoolwork, making the decision to opt out of completing homework regardless of benefits or berating. There is a circle of negativity that surrounds homework in the way it is perceived, but also the way it is dealt with it when it is not handed into us on deadline day. Sanctions perpetuate the negativity and students remain cynical about its function. Further examples include tired excuses and simple disengagement from homework at all. The multitude of factors affecting this issue compounds the problem making it a worthwhile sphere to research.

This action research project will attempt to investigate the perception of homework and tackle the problem of getting Year 10 students to engage with Media Studies homework. Through researching the current (and perpetual) negative view of homework, I undertake a range of methods of research and pragmatic approaches in the face of nurturing the ideal of creativity and intrinsic exploration within the students. At the center of this research is the analysis of the student’s approaches to homework, but also considers the contributing factors of my own teaching practice. Therefore in hypothesizing ‘action’ element’s attempts to positively influence my own personal engagement in the long term.

I will ultimately be asking “Are there ways to acclimatize students to the pungency of homework or should we substitute the issue with an altogether different bouquet?”