In article <2uvu32hv3bm8cuu0t9rds6dso9lnkptvg0@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
Serial Killfiler <alXXhuriyeh@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>On 13 Apr 2006 04:36:52 -0700, "KenG" <kennethgoldberg@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>wrote:
>>I don't know if compulsary education is slavery, but I'm certain that
>>for some kids and their families, homework policy amounts to
>>imprisonment. Although the child is required to spend 6 1/2 or 7 hours
>>each day in school, he's also required to complete assignments at home
>>that are critical to his success. For some, those assignments come
>>with ease. For others, they're hard but tolerable. For a substantial
>>few, they are impossible. Those kids are then trapped in a system that
>>relentlessly feeds them negativity through zeros and essentially turns
>>their home lives into a non-stop battle over what they are expected to
>>do. They can't just go to school and comply without the pressure
>>spilling over into their home lives.
>>Dr. Jay Kuder or Rowan University and I have written a book called The
>>Homework Trap which we expect to release by the end of the year. For
>>more discussion on this topic, please visit our website and blog. Go
>>to www.thehomeworkdoctor.com.
>Ah yes. The hapless children are the victims of cold-hearted,
>slave-driving teachers. How dare we ask them to learn what the
>citizens say they want the kids to learn? How dare we interfere with
>their videogame playing, T-ball and part-time minimum wage job time?
>This particular version of the (left-leaning) theory that asking for
>less means you get more is only slightly more foolish than the idea
>that kids should pick all their lessons. Sure, the theory works...
>but only in university lecture halls or in professors' books.
>Kids who can't or won't do homework will not develop as much
>responsibility or hack it in college. You do not exit the womb
>knowing how to manage time, meet deadlines or take responsibility.
>You cannot read texts and write papers during class periods.
They should read the texts until they learn what they can
from them. They should be asked to write FEW papers, and
not asked to do any problems they know how to do!
Take-home TESTS are legitimate for grading, but if homework
is graded, its educational value is necessarily low. Also,
having someone do assignments just for the purpose of doing
them does no good for someone who can be educated, not just
schooled.
>These "experts" may want to bless the parents and kids for their
>laziness while the nation's ability to complete drains down the toilet
>of apathy and sloth. That's fine. I'll keep on giving the homework,
>knowing that they need it.
The workplace, not the school, is the place for routine work.
Routine work, at any level beyond what MIGHT be a necessary
minimum, detracts from education. Education is knowledge and
understanding, and the ability to use it, including in situations
which are unlike what has been taught.
--
This address is for information only. I do not claim that these views
are those of the Statistics Department or of Purdue University.
Herman Rubin, Department of Statistics, Purdue University
hrubin@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Phone: (765)494-6054 FAX: (765)494-0558
|
