by
Richard L. Weaver II
It was a sturdy maple desk hidden behind my bedroom door. To my right was a large bulletin board mounted on the wall that held items of current interest; on my desk was a lamp that cast bright light on the writing surface; in my top desk drawer were my pens, pencils, and paper. It was a private, quiet, comfortable place in my basement bedroom where I put in vast and pleasant hours on homework assignments and projects.
In this essay, I want to make a strong case — based on personal experience — for homework — the time students spend outside the classroom in assigned activities to practice, reinforce or apply newly-acquired skills and knowledge and to learn necessary skills of independent study. To me, the value of homework is crystal clear. It has helped me review and practice what I learned in school, get ready for the next day’s classes, learn to use libraries, encyclopedias, and other resource materials, and explore subjects in greater depth than could be accomplished in the classroom. Homework, for me, has always been as routine as mowing the lawn or taking out the garbage.
Homework significantly affected my growth as a student. For example, with a comfortable place to study and a supportive family environment, I found that it established effective study habits. Of course, as a child I looked forward to times when I had none, but the rule was always: first your homework, then you play. And when this routine was established early and reinforced without fail, it taught me that outside of class time, I had to control, regulate, and order my world. With that kind of self-discipline, I could deal with most assignments and solve most problems. Homework became an automatic and expected extension of classes, and classwork and homework were interwoven in the same way as shoes and socks, computers and software, and pencil and paper.
Another way that homework affected my growth as a student was that it encouraged intellectual discipline. Having great teachers throughout my schooling made a difference. To me, my teachers were always interested in my intellectual growth; thus, I never questioned the quality or quantity of the homework they assigned. It had a purpose, clear instructions, matched my abilities, developed my knowledge and skills, and stretched me intellectually. It isn’t that theoretical, analytical, and logical powers cannot be nurtured in the classroom because they can, however, when you are applying these intellectual powers on your own, you are developing self-confidence and self-sufficiency in your intellectual capacities and expanding your ability to make decisions and solve problems. Independence of thought promotes self-determination, autonomy, and freedom.
The reinforcement of study habits and the nurturing of intellectual discipline are two of the important values of homework, and these values foster initiative, independence, and responsibility. Also, they bring home and school closer together. Information acquisition and concentration on ideas should not be confined to the four walls of a school building, and this is a common perception. Learning takes place everywhere, especially in the home, so homework becomes an important learning model that must be established early, highlighted continually, and reinforced at every opportunity. When learning becomes part of a regular, daily schedule, and is developed with an attitude of positive acceptance that relates school success to outside-of-class effort, and when it is performed in a home environment that is consistent, encouraging, and supportive from the outset, there is a greater chance for students to become well-rounded, fully acclimated, lifetime learners. Potential for a lifetime love of learning must always be cultivated.
There is a justification for giving homework that often escapes examination. Because my parents supervised my homework and worked with me when necessary, it helped them keep in contact with what I and the school were doing. What families do is more important to student success than whether they are rich or poor, finished high school or not, or in elementary, junior high, or high school. The partnership among myself, my school, and my parents not only increased my parents’ involvement and participation, but I’m certain it promoted my social, emotional, and academic growth as well. Effective learning depends upon that collaboration among children, parents, and teachers. Family involvement in learning is one of the best investments families can make.
Certainly there are academic reasons that can justify the use of homework just as there are personal reasons. For example, homework eases the time constraints on the amount of curricular material that can be covered in class. Educators can use it to expand, enlarge, and broaden their material. I vividly remember the thrill I had at various times when the point of an in-class presentation became clearer to me—or easier to understand—once I had an opportunity to use a theory or make an application on my own.
Other academic reasons for the use of homework include using it to supplement and reinforce work done in school. For example, I remember numerous times when I was given sample problems to complete at home after new methods of solving a mathematical problem were introduced in class. As a matter of fact, homework is solely responsible for the ease I developed in handling mathematical story problems. In other cases, homework was necessary to do background research on a topic to be discussed later in class.
There is a direct correlation between students who do their homework and succeed in life. Students who do homework graduate from high school at higher rates, are more likely to go on to higher education, are better behaved, and have better attitudes. Look around, people who are well-off are generally well-educated and have worked hard for some portion of their lives. Homework is a way to build the kind of work ethic that will get lower class students out of the lower class and help others develop greater self-discipline, independence, and responsibility — values that will affect a lifetime.
At the website of
The Center for Public Education, , there is a wonderful essay, “Key Lessons: What research says about the value of homework,” along with 25 references, that clearly explains what the research says and doesn’t say about the importance of homework.
Some people reading my essay on the link between homework and success may wonder why such an essay is even necessary. Some of the controversies surrounding homework can be found at the website,
The News & Observer. Patrick Winn, a senior staff writer, has written an essay, “Teachers reassess value of homework: Long hours seen as less productive.” In the essay, Winn discusses the 10-minute rule, the homework myth, and how homework can offer too much help.
Contact Richard L. Weaver II
Thursday’s essay, “On Being a Writer — An Irresistible Compulsion,” is a personal essay that focuses on writing and, specifically, my writing career.
