The benefits of homework have long been contested. Some studies highlight its benefits while some discount its importance. A second-grade teacher in Texas seem to side with the latter as she has banned homework for the rest of the year in her subject.
In a letter addressed to parents, Teacher Brandy Young at Godley Elementary School in Texas announced that there will be no formal assignments for the school year. All works that would be done at home are those that the student didn't finish in the classroom, those meals meant to be eaten with the family, books to be read together with parents, games to play outside, etc. (via New York Daily News).
The letter was distributed to parents during the "Meet the Teacher Night" of the school before the new academic year starts. Young's new homework policy fascinated one of the parents, Samantha Gallagher, who was so enthralled with the teacher's scheme that she can't help posting a picture of the letter in Facebook.
The photo has now over 70,000 shares with mostly positive comments directed towards the second-grade teacher and her no-homework approach on teaching. Gallagher even commented that after posting Young's letter in Facebook, she has received messages from Canada, Scotland, Ireland, Polynesia, Africa, Japan, Israel and Australia which she intereprets as the universality of the no-homework concept.
New York Daily News reports that most teachers gauge a student's performance and ability on scores and are now less concerned with student happiness. It is simply repeating what has already been taught in the classroom and is not necessary on the growth of the student who can do other activities at home that would help develop his/her character more.
Meanwhile, pro-homework advocates argue its value of practice that helps the student retain and test his/her ability. It also teaches students to have a sense of responsibility, to manage their time well in order to accomplish homeworks and have time for other things (via New York Daily News).
As per Parent Herald, there are many problems of homeworks which leads people to judge its importance. These reasons include homeworks are not of good quality, homeworks are done at home without immediate feedback and lastly, participants of previous researches may have wrongly reported the time they spent doing their homeworks. This is why if homeworks would be given, its quality should be assured.
Most people hate homework but regardless of personal preference, do you think that this teacher was right to ban homework in her second grade class? We would love to hear from you! Sound off your thoughts in the Comments section and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.
