"Rethinking Homework" is for those questioning the role homework has in our teaching, and indeed, in our students' very lives. I have always found homework a difficult area to settle effectively, there are many considerations, and not limited to the teacher's own. Parents weigh in on this matter, and the students themselves are a part of the field.
Vatterott writes well. You can feel her own frustrations with homework that led her to begin writing the book. She begins by outlining a little homework history, and within is a reminder of the place of school at the turn of the 20th century. School is a very different place, yet homework, to some degree, remains the same! (p3)
She urges us to confront our own dubiously held beliefs that homework is "sacred", and cannot be altered. Many of these beliefs are held without questions - it is an accepted cultural dogma that exists beyond us. I must admit that I was surprised that I, too, held those beliefs. Here I was, thinking that I was progressive! The "swinging pendulum" (p25) of the homework movement has in itself created a divisive arena of opinions on what homework is best.
Vatterott spends an entire chapter (Ch 2) addressing the role of homework within the family. This is not out of place, considering that homework takes place in the home. I noted a great respect for variation amongst family values - and a great variation exists. Nonetheless, it is important - regardless of any congruence with your own beliefs - to convey this respect when issuing homework. If we are to gain any effective partnership with parents, then this point is underscored.
Another belief is communicated, that of teachers being underprepared to plan, distribute and develop homework themselves. Teachers do not learn about homework when training at university. Teachers learn how to "do" homework from other teachers, or from a school policy. Either way, they are continuations of what happened before. In other words, homework, the "old way" is maintained.
Vatterott provides some excellent surveys and forms to engage parents and students in more productive methods of homework. I have used some of them already, and can see a changing opinion of homework within the year level. Students are beginning to see homework as purposeful, and something that can assist with being more productive with study.
Chapter 3 goes on to look at (mostly) recent homework research, in particular pointing at some of the flaws of this research in educational discussions. In essence, most of the research is either "broken" in some way, or limited in its capacity to assist us as educators. But, thankfully, we are not left there despairing. Vatterott goes on to provide us with some inalienable tenants about learning that can be applied to homework.
Chapter 4 and 5 are practically-minded, and will provide you with enough material to begin your own rethinking on homework. Chapter 5 in particular offers some vignettes of schools and teachers that have made efforts to improve their schools' homework practices.
I found "Rethinking Homework" a timely, hopeful, and useful book, which I will continue to use to inform my own homework procedures. Anyone who wishes to update their own homework practice to a more research-based method, that is modern and more respectful of both students and families, will find this book helpful. What we know about students, and the way they learn, has been transformed in the last 10-20 years. It is time then, that homework is brought into line with this knowledge.
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