A quick reflection on my inquiry synthesis.

Today, I presented a synthesis of my understanding of assigning homework at the elementary level. My inquiry has felt simultaneously long and short. As the pressures of the semester coming to a close continue to mount, the inquiry remained at the front of my mind. I have really enjoyed reading about and looking into my topic.

For my synthesis I drew from several resources. With respect to “Where I came from”, the paper which really shaped my inquiry was an article by Alfie Kohn titled Re-thinking Homework which can be found on his blog. This article cemented in my mind that homework is not as straight forward as one may think. At the very least, I began to understand that some critical thought was required with respect to it. Currently, I am interested in learning more about homework clubs as described by Lauren Slagter in Homework Club Offers Support Beyond Academics. Finding ways to bridge homework and community is part of the place-based approach to education that is evolving as my teaching philosophy. Homework clubs can create a safe, relaxing, and welcoming environment where students are free to do as much or as little homework as they like. Usually students would have access to help if needed. It is a positive working environment which many students may not have access to at home. Finally, with respect to “where I am going” I think the ultimate resource will be: myself and the classroom I am headed into. By paying close attention to my experiences in the room, I think I will be able to gain new insight about homework.

For my synthesis I chose to do an elevator pitch. It was a relatively quick presentation which explained my journey of understanding homework. I thought the pitch went well. I tried to be brief, which was harder than I had imagined, and entertaining. I find if the audience is having some level of fun they tend to absorb some of the things I am saying. If I can get my message across enough to stimulate some critical responses then I feel I have done my job.

I was trilled with the response from the class. Other TCs seemed to take interest in what I had to say and challenged me with some interesting and thoughtful questions.  Along side this post I have attached the notes which I used for my elevator pitch.

As I go forward with my practicum I am hoping to integrate my inquiry into my practice. By assigning homework through the lens of understanding community rather than “traditional worksheets” students are more likely to make meaningful connections to the content they are learning.

Inquiry Synthesis.pdf

As I continue to think about the role of homework new ideas have come to mind. It seems that the latter part of this semester has largely been focused on outdoor education. This is due, mostly, to the fact that one of our professors Hartley Banack advocates for its use on a regular basis. Getting outside is something that is fairly simple and because walking trips do not generally require a permission slip the barriers to getting outside are not that large.

Looking at The Benefits of Place-Based Education as a resource we can see that outdoor education has many benefits beyond what one’s intuition might be.  For example, most would probably agree that students generally like being outside because of the many opportunities for play. Catching students in this “play” mode is critical to find ways to integrate teachable moments to outdoor education. When children are playing they are, for the most part, participating in exploratory practice. There is a high level of engagement which, generally, means a path to student learning.

Because may inquiry is on homework, I often look at many of the subjects we cover at UBC and wonder how they might relate to my inquiry project. As I have repeated stated: I want to know how to create meaningful homework that is not over burdensome but allows for students to make connections in their world outside of school to what they experience in the classroom. This is where I see amazing potential to integrate place-based learning and outdoor education with student homework.

If, for example, a teacher were to assign homework which ask students to be mindful of their community over the course of a few weeks the class could gather a lot of information about the surrounding neighborhood. From the discoveries of this sort of work, many lessons could emerge. If, a student noticed that a lot of garbage had been dumped in a certain area near the entrance to a community garden a lesson about waste would hold a lot of water with the students. Other students might be encouraged to go explore the are for themselves. They might try to figure out why people are dumping they stuff in that area. If student passion is high enough, a field trip might be possible. Where students not only go and help to clean up the area but might participate in analyzing what the garbage is. Maybe a lot of the materials that were thrown away were recyclable and an awareness initiative could be started to encourage the local residents to recycle.

As you can see, possibilities for teachable moments are increased just by having an understanding of what is happening in the community around the school. Students have the ability to be impactful agents in their communities and make a REAL difference. The learning opportunities are diverse and rich. By integrating this approach with how we assign homework, I believe that we can extend learning in the classroom.

Something worth exploring.

I think.