Timeless Alfie Kohn "Self Discipline is Overrated"
Alfie Kohn spoke about the role of homework in schools at the University of Calgary on May 10. Hooking his audience with a quote from a 'Administrative Leadership' document questioning the benefits of homework, he then revealed it was written in 1951...a grand metaphor of the sluggish pace of change in education.
His foundation of the need to rethink homework is a as follows:
After spending most of the day in school, children are typically given additional assignments to be completed at home. This is a rather curious fact when you stop to think about it, but not as curious as the fact that few people ever stop to think about it. It becomes even more curious, for that matter, in light of three other facts:
1. The negative effects of homework are well known. They include children’s frustration and exhaustion, lack of time for other activities, and possible loss of interest in learning. Many parents lament the impact of homework on their relationship with their children; they may also resent having to play the role of enforcer and worry that they will be criticized either for not being involved enough with the homework or for becoming too involved.
2. The positive effects of homework are largely mythical. In preparation for a book on the topic, I’ve spent a lot of time sifting through the research. The results are nothing short of stunning. For starters, there is absolutely no evidence of any academic benefit from assigning homework in elementary or middle school. For younger students, in fact, there isn’t even a correlation between whether children do homework (or how much they do) and any meaningful measure of achievement. At the high school level, the correlation is weak and tends to disappear when more sophisticated statistical measures are applied. Meanwhile, no study has ever substantiated the belief that homework builds character or teaches good study habits.
3. More homework is being piled on children despite the absence of its value. Over the last quarter-century the burden has increased most for the youngest children, for whom the evidence of positive effects isn’t just dubious; it’s nonexistent.
A highlight of the night was when a high school student asked him what she can say to her teachers who are comfortable assigning debilitating homework amounts. His well polished answer spoke to "being strategic" get others on board, parents, and craft a mindful retort to avoid confrontation or an appearance of defiance.
He happily pointed people to his website where he proudly stated all of his articles are posted and are free to steal, in order to support his audience with the data to distribute to colleagues or perhaps a parent who challenges a lack of homework. He sharply pointed to data driven decisions to argue his point, calling teachers who 'believe' in homework are a drawing a 'hypothesis' not supported by research, just assumptions of character building. Of note is one of his latest on the issue of an over-emphasis on teachers instructing self discipline when true charater is determined by age and personality: Why Self Discipline is Overrated
One to invite challenges from the audience, a secondary teacher who may have doubted his stance took advantage of questions at the end to ask all in attendance (mainly teachers) "Who here BELIEVES they could possibly cover all of the program of studies without assigning homework". After a hesitant lot of raised hands Kohn quickly quipped that the question that needs to be asked is who BELIEVES a prescribed core & standardized learning undermines genuine learning, citing a Howard Gardner quote:
"Coverage is the enemy of understanding"
Other quotes of note:
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