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.

  • usernamesaredifficul [he/him]
    ·
    1 year ago

    mathematicians do drill but they do so on problems that cover much more breadth and so that they don't lose skills they've already acquired. if you look at the problems in a math textbook not aimed at children you'll immediately see this in effect: no 2 problems can be solved by rote application of the same techniques and the problems escalate in difficulty very quickly

    yeah that's what maths homework is

    you absolutely can learn about algebra this way and maths is never just about memorisation that's a complete bastardisation of the subject

    • bigboopballs [he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      teach it in class instead. that's what those awful 90 minute long classes in high-school should be for.

      • usernamesaredifficul [he/him]
        ·
        1 year ago

        you learn it in class then you get sent to practice what you learned otherwise there would be no time for teaching as it would all be filled up with work on solving problems

        • sawne128 [he/him]
          ·
          1 year ago

          IDK what the fuck you're talking about. I haven't had math homework since 6th grade, but even back then the vast majority of practice was done during the lessons.