HOMEWORK? MAIS NON!
It’s every kid’s dream. Homework. Banned. By the highest office in the land.
French President Francois Hollande is proposing the ban on homework for kids up to the age of 11 as part of a raft of proposed education reforms.
“Work should be done at school rather than at home,” he said in announcing his plans.
French President, Francois Hollande is proposing a ban on school homework. Photo via AFP/Getty.
Some wags have suggested that he’s trying to win the hearts and minds of future voters, but the reason behind Hollande’s call for a ban on schoolwork in the home is the concept of equality.
Egalite. One of the three pillars of French society, the other two being Liberte, and Fraternite.
Hollande believes that it’s not fair that some kids get help with homework and assignments at home, while kids from disadvantaged families don’t. In banning homework altogether and confining schoolwork to school hours, Hollande believes he will even the educational playing field.
He is also proposing an extended school week, from four days to four and a half.
and more teachers in his reforms.
French children already have long school days – from 8.30 to 4.30 – but according to France 24, their test scores are higher than the European average.
Is there a connection?
According to the Wall Street Journal, a German high school is test-running a new homework ban “after an earlier reform lengthened the school day and crowded out time for extra-curriculars such as sports or music.”
In another school in Maryland in the US, an elementary school has banned homework in favour of 30 minutes of general reading at home.
Over the decades, attitudes to homework have changed. To demonstrate how far things have changed The Washington Post, writing about Hollande’s proposal, reported that in the 1930s the influential magazine Ladies’ Home Journal declared homework “barbarous.” In the early 1900s it was believed by some in the medical community to cause tuberculosis and that children were better off playing outside.
In Australia, like everywhere in the developed world, educators and parents have long been divided about the value of homework.
One year you’ll get a teacher who strictly demands primary schoolchildren stay on top of it; the next, you’ll get one who doesn’t seem to care either way.
According to the Aussie Educators website, arguments in favour of homework include: it provides an opportunity for parents and children to interact; it leads to good study patterns for when you are an older student; it promotes good time management and research skills; that there isn’t enough time in the school day to learn what needs to be learned; and that rote learning is important.
Arguments against include: that parents demand it rather than the educators; that parents often end up doing too much of it; that a one size fits all approach doesn’t work; and that a supportive home environment might not be available for every student.
Which neatly brings us back to Francois Hollande.
What do you think of his proposal?
Do you get too involved in your children’s homework, or do you believe that it’s up to schools to be in charge of this part of your child’s life?
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28 Responses to this article
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Lyn October 18, 2012
Wonderful idea. Many teachers will tell you that they only set homework as parents demand it. Parents are so competitive these days that if there was no set homework those who could afford it would just have more afternoons to have their children tutored.
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Janet G October 18, 2012
I watch mothers at dance lessons make sure that the older sibling does her homework when she has already had a full day at school. Learning becomes a drudge rather than a pleasure. There are enough school hours for children in which children can do their schoolwork. After school should be left for personal interests and family time.
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Connie October 18, 2012
I’m unsure if this is a good move. Each to their own opinion (very verbally given at a homework focus group at my daughter’s school last year). I’m of the opinion that a small amount (age appropriate) homework is beneficial in the long term. It helps with time management, allow parents an insight in to how their child is progressing and consolidates what is learnt in class.
I worry about these children suddenly needing to do homework or assignment work age 11/12; at that point they may struggle not being used to allocating their time or working outside the classroom environment.
I’d rather homework over a longer school day! 8 hours is too long for under 11s to be at school each day! -
margaret October 18, 2012
Homework should not be necessary.As a teacher it is obvious that parents often do the homework for the kids. .Wouldn’t it be nice if there were no coaching colleges,no tutoring ,no parental help with corrections.Then ,and only then will teachers really see what the children know.A child who appears to learn something straight away, in class, may have had that drilled for weeks at a coaching school and at home in order to be 2 years ahead.That child is not bright…… on the contrary,the child who still needs help after 30 minutes in class of explaining may, in fact, be brighter…… but who knows…. if there is all this teaching going on outside.I would go a step further…… have no ongoing assessments(causing much anxiety and stress and school avoidance),judge schools on how many students say they enjoy learning there,let parents have time to talk to their kids rather than monitor homework.Homework should be student inspired not teacher nominated.If we can get children to like learning and share what they have learned we can say we are educating the children. Another proposal i would put forward is to get the teens to do voluntary work one day a week instead of school-especially year 8 and 9 and 10.Am i going too far? i wonder what the students would say?
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Jlll October 19, 2012
1f homework 1s the only bond1ng parents and children do we have a problem. How about a conversation or sharing a walk or a dr1nk. Heaven forb1d maybe some unstructured t1me. The 1dea of voluntary work 1s a good one. 1t can be t1ed to a school project thus prov1ding learning research and service; there 1s much writing on this form of project based learn1ng. Apologes for the 1′s the letter does not work on my keyboard at the moment.
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Harriet October 18, 2012
I am a definite MAIS NON! Every night, I have to negotiate, divide, allocate and supervise homework for both my children. We get home just before 6pm, and the kids have to eat, bathe and have some time to relax between then and bedtime at 8pm, and the last thing any of us want to add into that mix is a 20 minute battle about homework, let alone the actual 20 minutes it normally takes to DO the homework on top of that. I would rather there was none, so we could spend time of an evening doing something fun instead of fighting.
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Tony W October 18, 2012
I thought homework was supposed to be done in the bus on the way to school in the morning. Things must have changed since my day.
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The Huntress October 18, 2012
Haha, Tony!
I’m in favour of ruling out formal homework, but I would be for encouraging (not mandatory) 30 minutes of general reading in the home. We forget that kids do learn through play and that free play time they have in the afternoons is important.
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Penny October 18, 2012
I love this initiative. I’ll be sharing this news with my son’s school! As a primary teacher myself, I approached the onset of my son’s homework in year one with naive enthusiasm but it only took a term to break my spirit. My son really just wants to play and rest after school, and it seems ridiculous that our family is feeling this pressure and that I have to be the one to enforce it. Homework is creating negative energy about school which is the last thing I want. Aside from pleasurable nightly reading (and I imagine even that might bring its problems for some kids), I don’t think children need homework till at least 5th grade. A lot of parents feel the same but I’ve observed that largely the parent body is an obedient group. Until more people speak up and say, no, this does not suit our family and it’s not helping our child learn anything except to hate homework, nothing will change. If families want more work for their kids, the newsagents are full of workbooks.
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William Marshall October 18, 2012
If only Francois Hollende was our PM when I was a child!
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Gwen October 19, 2012
I don’t think homework is necessary or particularly useful in primary school. Perhaps “projects” where more creative options can be explored over longer times are ok, and I am in favour of work not finished in class because of mucking around becoming homework but not otherwise. Once in secondary school the game changes……
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Keryn October 19, 2012
Hooray! Hate homework from all perspectives. As a kindergarten teacher I am often questioned at the beginning of the year about when homework will start coming home! Play, I say – get them to help you write the grocery list, read for pleasure, twist words around and make them sound funny, rhyme, walk outside and investigate something etc etc A class newsletter with an outline of concepts to be taught for the term gives parents the info to extend if they choose.
As a parent I have stayed up late with crying teens as they try to finish an assignment and swear at the computer, the book, the topic, the world and me! I have ‘sped-read’ Othello so I could help, written a postcard from Charles Darwin home to his family about his expeditions and crammed about the Khmer Rouge so I could quiz for a quiz!
I also agree with Francois Hollende that homework is not an inclusive practise. I teach in a school with huge socio-economic diversity, some children are lucky to come to school fed and clothed properly and parents are working their behinds off to keep the family going, no time for homework there OR the other end of the spectrum where the child has access to latest technology, spends weekends at the science museum and very willing, available parents.
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sam October 19, 2012
Brilliant idea. my son is in year 1 and he gets about 30 minutes of homework a night, but on monday night he also has to prepare for news on tuesday morning and thursday revise for the spelling test. Bloody ridiculous. It causes so much stress. He is already tired from a long day (which includes after school care, I know, BAD WORKING MOTHER) and the last thing he wants to do is start concerntrating again.
My daughter has just started high school and her maths teacher told us last parent teacher night that she doesn’t set homework because she believes that if they can’t learn what they need to learn in her 75 minute lesson she isn’t doing her job well enough. I loved her! -
kathryn October 19, 2012
I have an 8 year old son who detests reading his Readers but will happily update me with all of the stats on the back of his footy cards and will write out my weekly shopping lists usually with “FOOTY CARDS” at the top!
My husband (who is a teacher) will encourage but not force him to do his weekly homework sheet but believes it is far more important for our son to run around and kick the footy after school, play with friends or go to the beach. I tend to agree.
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Keryn October 19, 2012
Yes Kathryn fantastic! I have many who won’t read the readers but will read the instructions on how to put together a lego something or other or read about Selena Gomez in total girl magazine, it’s still reading! Years ago, when in Canada on exchange, we took our daughter who was in pre-school to one of the museums. She was ‘reading’ the information on dinosaurs and then yelled out loudly – “There’s a period, I can see a period.” She was pointing at a full-stop but was beside herself with joy that she could identify something in the text. Reading is supposed to be joyful, not a chore.
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Alison October 19, 2012
I am very firm in my view that homework in primary school is anti-family. The time spent at home after school should be spent interacting in a positive manner, rather than spent kid-wrangling to get them to do boring, boring, homework!
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KayO'Sullivan October 19, 2012
Anti for primary school. Let them have fun and explore.
A a fact of life from Year 10 if they are going on to tertiary education. -
Carmen October 19, 2012
Homework is the ‘sacred cow’ of education, according to parenting author, educator and former teacher Maggie Dent. She wrote a very lucid argument against homework a couple of years ago which you can read here: http://maggiedent.com/content/real-truth-about-homework … I certainly shared this information with my kids’s school.
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Annie Also October 19, 2012
I do not like homework for children in primary school. If you add up the ‘real’ learning within school hours over a school year it is actually around three months worth. The rest is sport, and other activities ( necessary for socialisation etc). However, reading to your child, or encouraging them to sit quietly to read before bedtime, is far more helpful for; learning quiet time, spelling, grammar, imagination, privacy, calmness and ‘learning’ from doing.
Playing and being with family is far more important than ‘homework’. -
Susan October 19, 2012
I hate homework!! As a parent it is a waste of time. Talking to teachers they agree that homework is set only to appease the demanding parents. I have always said to my children do homework if you wish but I will not enforce it. If the teacher complains I will defend them. Unfortunately, my children seem to do it anyway. Go figure!
I agree with Annie there is so many other things they could do instead, such as reading, daydreaming, craft, sport etc etc. -
Glenis October 19, 2012
I am a high school teacher and hate homework. Some kids do it and others do not. Parents want homework most kids do not. Should we punish kids who do not do homework? In my opinion no but parents do not think it is fair if their kids do homework even though they want it if other kids don’t. Some parents do the homework. I have had a parent tell me that…..” she loves projects”. Kids and parents fight about homework I take the lower classes and those kids often do not do homework. They do not organise themselves to do homework. Once they walk out the school gate at 3.15pm they do not think about school again until they walk in the school gate the next morning. I am including Yrs 10, 11 and 12 students there too. Please don’t start me on…..HOMEWORK!
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Jenny October 19, 2012
I don’t remember whether homework was set by the school when I was in primary school, but I remember well reciting my multiplication tables in the evenings, supervised by our father who was absolutely implacable about it! Consequently I have never had any trouble with mental arithmetic, so I am quite happy about having done that chore. The same thing applied to spelling, and with similar results. And I don’t recall ever feeling hard-done-by about having to do it!
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Monica October 19, 2012
I’m conflicted. See the negatives. See the positives.
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royce October 19, 2012
I’m a teacher…. believe me … .there is no educational reason to set homework. It is often counter productive.
Homework is set due to the expectations of parents or maybe the misguided beliefs of other teacher collegues.
Five hours of schooling in a day.. absolutely NO reason to ask kids to do more.
The idea that a ‘habit’ will be formed or a ‘study pattern’ be learned is so silly.
Sports, hobbies and family are for after school… even in the later years of schooling.
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Fiona October 20, 2012
I’m a Melburnian living in France. We have one son so it’s a very relevant topic to me. I have to say ‘Je suis d’accord Mons Hollande’. Homework is a weight on the shoulders. Lets be more constructive with our time – we already dedicate 13 odd years to being institutionalised. Also…education doesn’t stop at school, actually it begins in the home so the educating doesn’t stop at the end of the school day.
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Layla October 21, 2012
I have two boys in Catholic High School, no homework is a general rule – they simply need to finish uncompleted class work and do assignments when due.
Generally assignments for all subjects fall due around the same three weeks each term so pressure is on and I think they learn time management here. They both have always hated homework, the elder one now enjoys assignments and to be honest who wants to burn them out over school, study and learning before uni and work has even started!
I think school is primarily about learning how to live in a community and establishing some common sense/purpose. I don’t know anyone who’s life ended because they didnt do well at school, if the truth be known I don’t feel high school has any long term impact on career or success, I’d take drive/ambition over intellect any day of the year!
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Julie R October 21, 2012
Yipee!!!! I wish we had Mr Hollende! The stress we went through when our boys were younger, or maybe l should say me, as my husband was away alot for work. Our eldest who had comprehension problems found homework especially difficult. Thanks to the infants mistress, Mrs Flegg, who told me, a young mum, not to stress and only do what l thought he could cope with. Leave the parenting to me and there should be plenty of time to do school work in school time.
