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You make some fair points on homework's fringe benefits, but let's be candid here: None of that is why schools are issuing homework in the vast majority of case

You make some fair points on homework's fringe benefits, but let's be candid here: None of that is why schools are issuing homework in the vast majority of cases. There are other paths to teaching autonomy and delayed gratification, which don't use the most tedious and ineffective way to do so. There's nothing sensible about throwing millions of hours into homework without any evidence that it's actually in any way a constructive use of time. There's more evidence for positive benefits of video games. I don't just doubt that homework is a sub-optimal use of time, I doubt that it's useful at all in at least 90+% of current real life use cases. That ought to horrify teachers, and it doesn't, and that freaks me out a little tbh. Spaced repetition is great, and I'm glad you mention it. Multi modal learning has great evidence behind it too. There are many, many more activities, strategies and methods that produce strong and consistent results - yet are only used by rare individual teachers (the ones who "do their homework"). Conversely, homework [by which I mean the pointless busy work we all know and detest], has virtually no evidence of benefit; practically none. ... So why would anyone put *any* stock in a system that ignores SO MANY proven learning strategies, in favor of something which most children find utterly detestable, and doesn't even work that well? Like, on balance, I would bet any money that homework is net negative. It kills childhood, it kills love of learning, and for no provable tangible benefit other than molding adults who accept what's becoming known as "bullshit jobs".

d1sxeyes 4y ago
I don't think they're 'fringe benefits', but I do agree that for the most part, schools are not assigning homework for these reasons. I also absolutely agree that most homework is assigned primarily as 'busy-work', because the teacher feels that 'children must do homework', rather than because they're trying to achieve a specific educational outcome, and this is the problem. Fundamentally, I think it's better to give no homework than bad homework... but better to give good homework than no homework, and setting good homework is much more difficult for the teacher than setting bad homework - so your conclusion that 'homework is net negative' is probably true on average, but is not necessarily true for any individual child, class, or school - especially if they attend an excellent school with well-informed and caring practitioners who use homework thoughtfully as part of their pedagogical methodology. I think we're both arguing two sides of the same coin though, and we're in agreement that the majority of homework as it is set today is not worth the paper it's written on, and although I perhaps wouldn't be quite as emphatic as saying it 'kills childhood', I agree with the overall point that most people's lives would be better if they a) didn't have to do homework if they're still school-age or b) hadn't had to do homework if they are no longer at school.

d1sxeyes 4y ago

I don't think they're 'fringe benefits', but I do agree that for the most part, schools are not assigning homework for these reasons. I also absolutely agree that most homework is assigned primarily as 'busy-work', because the teacher feels that 'children must do homework', rather than because they're trying to achieve a specific educational outcome, and this is the problem. Fundamentally, I think it's better to give no homework than bad homework... but better to give good homework than no homework, and setting good homework is much more difficult for the teacher than setting bad homework - so your conclusion that 'homework is net negative' is probably true on average, but is not necessarily true for any individual child, class, or school - especially if they attend an excellent school with well-informed and caring practitioners who use homework thoughtfully as part of their pedagogical methodology. I think we're both arguing two sides of the same coin though, and we're in agreement that the majority of homework as it is set today is not worth the paper it's written on, and although I perhaps wouldn't be quite as emphatic as saying it 'kills childhood', I agree with the overall point that most people's lives would be better if they a) didn't have to do homework if they're still school-age or b) hadn't had to do homework if they are no longer at school.