So last night, after reflecting on my day and writing down a few thoughts that popped into my head I got tired and went to bed. I had an early vet appointment the following morning so getting tucking-in just before midnight was a good decision. Today is Saturday and I have accomplished a enough to call it a productive day. As I write this post, a loaf of sourdough is cooking in the oven. Bread making is a cathartic practice for me.

Last night I left my blog just before delving into the topic of homework. I was discussing a Freakanomics episode called: Is America’s Education Problem Really Just a Teacher Problem

The episode of Freakanomics solidified in my mind how important a good teacher is. In law, lawyers have a fiduciary duty to always act in the best interest of their clients. In education, teachers owe it to their students. In some sense however, what constitutes “best for the students” is not well understood and is more complicated than one might think. In my inquiry, examining the role of homework is hotly contested. How do I approach this if I want the best for my students in the long term? In some cultures, homework is strongly valued. Children are expected to work at their studies constantly. In my mind, it seems quite possible that through self directed exploration of their environment students can learn a lot. Not everything can be learned in a book.

With this in mind, I took a look at this article:

This journal article, found in British Journal Of Social Education, was published in May of 2013. It asserts that homework is increasingly being assigned to students despite the fact that it is under-researched.  Little attention is placed on how young students think about homework. As this inquiry project does not meet the criteria necessary to allow research I was very excited when I found an academic journal which published child accounts of homework. One question I would love to ask my practicum class, but can not, is: what do YOU think about homework?

Farrell and Danby make three insights about homework:

First, homework is an adult-generated,institutional practice to which children comply (cf. Smith 2000). A second related aspect concerns children’s rights; that is, children’s rights being at odds with those of the adult/adults (Alderson 2002). Third, homework is a technical, instrumental practice of the school, enacted in the home, with its own suite of technical tools, strategies and resources (cf. Hutchison 2011). p. 259

By inviting children’s  own accounts of their everyday lives, rather than relying on adult accounts of children’s lives, the study makes a conceptual and methodological contribution to the field of parent involvement in homework. It shows children taking carriage of their homework, albeit with some evidence of ancillary roles played by parents. p.265

Thursday night I arrived home fairly late. During my practicum class I made the decision to make pizza. If you know anything about the process behind pizza you understand that it takes quite a while to raise the dough, prepare the toppings and sauce, and cook the pizza. By the time the pie came out of the oven it was 11:15pm and with an 8:00am class scheduled at UBC the following morning I ended up leaving a bit of a mess.

I got around to cleaning up the mess I had by Friday afternoon. For me to complete the mundane task of scraping crusty cheese and tomato sauce off of plates that had been resting on the kitchen island for 18hours, some sort of entertainment is required. I decided to go with a podcast.  I love podcasts because so many of them are filled with fascinating content. One of my favourites “Freakanomics” ended up having an episode about teachers and why they are failing. The discussion was focused on the United States but I think many of the criticisms could be equally applied to how things are done in British Columbia.

If you are interested have a listen: Is America’s Teacher Problem Really Just a Teacher Problem?

I recommend listening to it. It sparked lots of interesting ideas in my head; most notably was the difference between admission requirements for teachers in high academically performing countries and the United States. For example in countries like Finland teachers tend to be in the top 10% of their university class. The same can not be said for the United States and (I would assume) Canada.

While I think that UBC, and other schools in British Columbia, are recruiting fabulous teachers I couldn’t help but think about what was being said. The beginning of the podcast focused on the fact that many teachers themselves are under-performers academically. The podcast then stressed the importance  of having excellent teachers. Using economic analysis it was determined that replacing a mediocre teacher with master teacher is equivalent to putting $250,000 cash in the pockets of the class.  This is because students with a good teacher are far more likely to have higher paying careers as they go forward.

President Obama was even quoted as saying:

We know a good teacher can increase the lifetime income of a classroom by over $250,000.  A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance.  Every person in this chamber can point to a teacher who changed the trajectory of their lives.  

Personally, I think I am well suited to be a teacher. I really enjoy working with youth.  The brilliance and enthusiasm for learning that young people constantly demonstrate makes working in this field rewarding beyond what any financial remuneration can offer. On the other hand I also recognize I was not in the top 10% of my class.  I was a good student in subjects that I cared about and often in subjects that I had no interest in but rarely was I in the very top of my class. When I had a teacher who I enjoyed teaching; who shared a passion for a subject with me then I was a generally a high achieving student. It is when I have teachers who are not super engaged, who don’t demonstrate passion, that I lose interest and I think lots of students are the same way.

I am cognizant of the fact that most people have limited attention spans and that this post has already exceeded the point where most will have long since left for another page that offers some moving pictures or music. Seeing as this is a inquiry about homework I want to share what Freakanomics made me think about regarding my topic. This podcast made clear to me the importance of having good teachers in the classroom. Their is a huge societal benefit to turning out well educated citizens. I don’t think that the Freakanomics podcast had a good handle on what actually makes a good teacher but the point is very clear that teachers are incredibly important.

Okay. Homework. It is late and it is Friday.

I think I will continue later.

Thinking about homework

This weekend, as many others, has proven to be very difficult for me to “time manage”. It is not that I am overwhelmed by incredibly difficult tasks but rather there are a number of requirements in order to meet the expectations of this program. Regardless of what is assigned, I will get it done but having a life outside of school and work is a challenge.

Prior to looking at homework for my inquiry project, I would have viewed this problem differently. I normally just have the attitude of “getr’ done”. Considering that I am exploring how work requirements at home affect the lives of our students I am taking a deeper look at the relationship between homework and homelife. Obviously I do not put myself into the same category as a student in elementary or highschool; and I do not bemoan the fact that I have work to at home but I can use this experience to understand some of the pressures that my assignments create. These same sort of pressures are placed onto children and families when gradeschool teachers extend assignments into the student’s home. As an adult, I feel like I can handle most stresses that comes up (at least as a result of my education). Ultimately I am the manager of my own time. Even though their are people in my life who want to do things, go places, and eat foods that take me away from my time to work, I have the agency to make the decision to say: “no, I am not going out… I have work to do”. My students, on the other hand, have no such authority. They are not in a position to control their environment like I am.

Students face all sorts of pressure beyond school. As teachers we have to understand that the pressure of completing homework often puts extra stress on a families (not just students). Creating more stress in the family puts even more upon the student.So, if this sounds like convoluted rambling… it kind of is. This has been a weekend where I have had to be at too many places at too many times (or something like that). Regardless, in the inquiry mindset it has given me a lens to think about how I will think about homework as I continue to study and read up.