Requiring homework on a consistent basis is not an evidence-based practice and actually introduces worse outcomes for kids whose parents/guardians are less present, which disproportionately affects poor kids and kids of color.
Why do we do it? Because there are some parents (you know the ones) who will pester the school and lobby for dropping their funding if they don’t see consistent tangible output from their students. If the kids aren’t coming home with half a dozen papers each day and a bag of books, how can we verify that the teachers aren’t just sitting around on their phones all day not doing shit and collecting a paycheck WITH OUR TAX DOLLARSSSSS?!!!?!?!
So, homework largely serves as busy work to signal to parents that teachers are doing things. And the system is designed for parents to actively encourage and participate in the development of the skills required to regularly complete homework independently by high school. Kids whose parents have less free time are inherently disadvantaged, often labeled as bad kids or lazy early on, and can have a seat on the prison train before they’ve entered middle school. It also harms kids’ self esteem and sets an unhealthy precedent for expectations around work-life balance.
There isn’t a single thing that homework accomplishes by accident which couldn’t be accomplished better on purpose via other methods. Fuck homework.
I don't think sweeping statements about homework being helpful/unhelpful is useful. I think everyone here is pro-homework just from the fact that there's constant encouragement to read theory to become better leftists. There's many examples where homework is useful and many examples where its borderline abusive. I guess I'm a homework centrist.
That's voluntary homework, not enforced busywork at gunpoint homework.
In a communist society there's going to be a curriculum involving leftist theory, and no way for people of any age to read it all in class, meaning there will need to be homework. I think there will always be a place for homework, its just the volume of homework and content and how much time spent at school that needs to change.