So I've been on a bit of an educational theory kick lately. Long story short, my professional life took a dramatic turn this year, which forced me to really evaluate public education. As part of this evaluation, which included a lot of self-evaluation, I started blogging about my thoughts on education in general.
One of the topics I talked about was homework. Specifically, why do kids today turn in so little homework? We have data that shows the amount of homework turned in is decreasing every year. Most solutions to this problem involve adding more work or trying some sort of reward and/or punishment system. Regardless of the methods tried, nothing seems to help.
Drawing on my barefoot running experiences (less is more), I started considering the possibility that teachers are assigning too much homework. I half-jokingly planned a National No Homework Week. After thinking it over and consulting the literature, I decided to make it a serious endeavor. I wrote about it here:
http://hs-survival.blogspot.com/2010/11/national-no-homework-week-revolution-to.html
Needless to say, other teachers DO NOT like to hear someone suggest that their methods may be the cause of their problems, even if it comes from one of their own. I received a warmer response when I posted about "why barefoot running is better" in the Shoes forum at RW a few years ago. I've received many really inflamatory emails from teachers, including some that bordered on scary.
Anyway, I came to a realization. I spend wayyyyy too much time communicating with barefoot/minimalist shoe runners, and we happen to be a very open, accepting group. This experience was a reminder- the rest of the world isn't nearly as cool as you guys.
One of the topics I talked about was homework. Specifically, why do kids today turn in so little homework? We have data that shows the amount of homework turned in is decreasing every year. Most solutions to this problem involve adding more work or trying some sort of reward and/or punishment system. Regardless of the methods tried, nothing seems to help.
Drawing on my barefoot running experiences (less is more), I started considering the possibility that teachers are assigning too much homework. I half-jokingly planned a National No Homework Week. After thinking it over and consulting the literature, I decided to make it a serious endeavor. I wrote about it here:
http://hs-survival.blogspot.com/2010/11/national-no-homework-week-revolution-to.html
Needless to say, other teachers DO NOT like to hear someone suggest that their methods may be the cause of their problems, even if it comes from one of their own. I received a warmer response when I posted about "why barefoot running is better" in the Shoes forum at RW a few years ago. I've received many really inflamatory emails from teachers, including some that bordered on scary.
Anyway, I came to a realization. I spend wayyyyy too much time communicating with barefoot/minimalist shoe runners, and we happen to be a very open, accepting group. This experience was a reminder- the rest of the world isn't nearly as cool as you guys.