الرحمة يا معلمون
Pressure on children, to excel in order to survive, is tremendous
oversized bags, assignments, detentions, impositions, tests and more tests … does that sound frighteningly familiar? Meena Menezes investigates.
?You can?t go out to play you have a test tomorrow,? ?Stop wasting time and finish your homework.? These are daily conversations that take place in every home of school-going children.
Today homework has in many cases, become a nightmare for both parents and children. In today?s competitive world, the pressure on children to excel and be a super achiever to survive not just academically but otherwise is tremendous. While children have never been enthusiastic about doing homework in the first place, some view it as a major chore while they try to juggle school, tuition classes and other extracurricular activities.
Increasingly, students and their parents are being told that homework must take precedence over music lessons, sports and family and community activities. As the homework load increases these family priorities are neglected. Yet belief in the value of homework is so firmly entrenched that most families accept the sacrifice necessary for their children to complete this daily ritual. Eighteen-year-old university student Kiran James feels that homework is definitely an important aspect of the learning process.
?Bringing home work to do gives us a chance to revise and refresh our minds on what took place in class. However, it should be given in moderation. Many a time, we are loaded with too much and it simply turns into a tedious process. Thus, we merely spend our time attempting to finish it as soon as possible without learning anything at all. This also gives us less time for other activities.?
However Kiran does not feel that assignments should be confined to school hours only.
?If that happened, I think we would conveniently forget all we?ve learned throughout the day, once we get out of class.
?Overall, no matter how boring, frustrating and time-consuming homework may be, it does play an important role, which, we as students, sometimes find it very difficult to understand.?
Her 14-year-old brother Rahul agrees on the importance of homework.
?It helps to refresh our minds with what we have done in school, so that lessons are not easily forgotten. Sometimes the homework given is more than we can handle. It would be nice if we didn?t get homework on a daily basis and it was confined to about twice a week.
?Homework should be given but only for important subjects that will help us in the future, like Maths, English and Science,? he said.
Time spent on homework has increased significantly. Teachers, often overburdened themselves, may assign as homework whatever is left unfinished at the end of the school day. Homework of this sort transfers the responsibility of education from the school to the family.
In fact, perhaps the greatest drawback of homework for many parents is the strain it places on family life. We all know that when a child is struggling to complete homework, the tension that results can affect all members of the family. Parents have been led to believe that homework is a sign of good teaching, or that when their children spend long hours hitting the books at home, they are ?being prepared for the real world.
?If it wasn?t for homework, I feel my children would waste a lot of time watching TV says mother of three Jane D?Sa. I am not in a position to send them for music or dance classes and they really don?t have any place close by to go out and play, so this leaves them with television. At the same time I feel as a parent, supervising all they have to do and helping them with their studies is extremely stressful. There is so much peer pressure these days, it?s hard to keep up.?
For children, deciding whether to watch TV or engage in other pursuits will often depend on the available alternatives. When children are well rested and there is a range of recreational activities available to them ? playing with other kids, singing or doing art projects ? kids will gravitate towards such activities. But a child?s workload is surely one of the greatest limits to such opportunities.
?Assigning homework serves various educational needs,? says schoolteacher Rachna Memon. ?It serves as an intellectual discipline, establishes study habits, eases time constraints on the amount of curricular material that can be covered in class, and supplements and reinforces work done in school. In addition, it fosters student initiative, independence, and responsibility and brings home and school closer together.?
Homework is defined as out-of-class tasks assigned to students as an extension or elaboration of classroom work. There are three types of homework: practice, preparation, and extension.
Practice assignments reinforce newly acquired skills. Preparation assignments help students get ready for activities that will occur in the classroom. Extension assignments are frequently long-term continuing projects that parallel class work. Students must apply previous learning to complete these assignments, which include science fair projects and term papers.
Meeta Nair feels that homework is an unnecessary burden on children. ?Children really have a rough time these days. The workload is just too much. Between school and extra-curricular activities my daughter just can?t cope. I have sat up many nights finishing my daughter?s projects because she just couldn?t keep her eyes open. I think schoolwork should be confined to school hours.?
Students may not always view homework as a pleasant experience, but if the assignment serves a good purpose and parents reinforce the completion of the tasks, students will benefit by gaining higher grades, better study habits, and a more positive attitude towards school and learning. Homework assignments also give parents insight into the school curriculum and offer a greater opportunity for student learning to occur.
However, if one could strike a balance, whereby children are not overburdened to the extent that everything else takes a backseat, they would cope better. By giving them time to involve themselves in other creative activities, spending time with family and friends, yet at the same time ensuring that they manage school work with responsibility, it would be beneficial and reap higher rewards for all concerned
نعم لست انا من كتب الموضوع
لحفظ الحقوق