The Value of Homework - Literature Review Sample

The value of homework has been a frequently asked question. We have seen various School board members struggling with the same question in their attempt to implement policies in the school which will help towards supporting the learning of the students. On the other hand, we as well find some parents getting worried that their children are having too much work as homework while others worry that the homework is too little for their children. The teachers get a hard time on the issue as they tend to be criticized for both.

According to Gill and Schlossman (1996) views homework to be of great importance in a child towards raising his standards and grades at School. According to them through education children will get a higher academic achievement. It will also help towards improving the quality of work done by an individual. The homework given to the students will act as a link between family and the School in that there will be a common mission of teaching since even while at home the child will get to learn something new.

According to other researchers such as Corno and XU (2004) through homework, students can develop the ability to be responsible for the tasks that they undertake and acquire relevant life skills. It also provides experiential learning, enables them to become more motivated. According to these scholars homework also helps in the creation of opportunities to learn on how to overcome and deal with distractions and difficulties when faced with them. It is because while at home one will face a lot of distractions such as watching the T.V or even cooking but the distraction is not a hindrance for one to be able to finish up his homework. Hence homework should be considered to be of great importance rather than being harmful.

According to Cooper (2001) homework should be considered as beneficial in a situation whereby the teachers will use their acquired knowledge of development towards guiding the policies and expectations of a student. Cooper claims that the older students will tend to benefit more from homework than the young ones. It is because the studying habits of the younger students are less efficient and they are easily distracted by what is happening in their surroundings. According to him, homework will tend to have a positive and as well as negative impact on the life of a student. He considers that homework will be of benefit to a student only under a particular condition. For instance, in a situation where the parent will be involved to help the student in doing the homework, will find that a student who is from a low-income family may not receive the required support while at home as compared to a student who is from an affluent family. Students who have learning disabilities will tend to benefit more through the doing of homework. It is through the right supervision and monitoring of what they are doing (Rosenberg & Elsbree, 1989).

Other reviews claim that students will tend to receive a higher grade by not subjecting them to do the homework. They claim that the level of a childs academic achievement is not related in any way to the time that he spends while doing homework (Kohn, 2006).According to him, there is no enough evidence to prove that homework will increase the achievement of a student. When teachers give too much homework, it will diminish its effectiveness and the purpose that it was required to achieve.

References

Brian P. Gill, & Steven L. Schlossman. (2004). Villain or Savior? The American Discourse on Homework, 1850-2003. Ohio State University College of Education.

Cooper, T., & In Thiel, U. (2001). Philosophical writings of Thomas Cooper. Bristol Angleterre: Thoemmes Press.

Kohn, A. (2006). Unconditional parenting: Moving from rewards and punishments to love and reason.

Lyn Corno, & Jianzhong Xu. (2004). Homework as the Job of Childhood. Ohio State University College of Education.

Rosenberg, K. C., & Elsbree, J. J. (1989). Dictionary of library and educational technology. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.