Why focus on homework and not promote play?
By Ria Uiterloo
Parents and teachers often expect the child to be academically active during the day and continue this activity until after school hours. The tutoring and After-school homework programs for young children from primary schools that are being established on our small island St. Maarten are many and growing. Parents feel the need to enroll their children in those programs.
Why? In a few articles, I would like to explore solutions that can benefit parents, lessen stress, and prevent suffocation for both children and parents.
Homework is defined as tasks given by a teacher that is intended to be finished and carried out outside of school hours (Ramdass and Zimmerman, 2011). Typically, that is the straightforward way to view homework, where a teacher gives it to students to complete at home for practice on the subject of the work without the assistance of teachers to increase understanding and knowledge of the subject.
A primary goal of Education should be to help children develop good habits of mind [1] and think intelligently, creatively, and analytically. Educators are responsible for ensuring that children develop fully as individuals and problem solvers, have ownership of their learning, be responsible and cooperate as expected in each society.
As primary educators and pedagogues in primary education, the focus should not be on giving homework because students spend most of their time at school, where they naturally and efficiently learn through physical-, intellectual- and social-emotional play. Various forms of play benefit physical development, at the same time, cognitive-, social and emotional development [2].
As an Education Specialist, I have read and experienced often that when pressure is placed on children due to the amount, importance, and completion of homework, this often results in childhood stress and demotivation.
A child gains much social-emotional and physical skills during school life. A child learns, and the knowledge a child gains in and outside school is huge. If we overburden a child with homework, we must ask ourselves whether it is healthy for a child to be fed with imposed information all day long. It is extremely important for a child that there is rest built in their day through unstructured play and free choice activities and that the child gets time to process all the information, impressions, and influences. Most of the time, children learn through play. There is power in play.
I reviewed some literature and visited many schools and After-school programs.
Peter Gray American author and psychologist published a series of articles on Play. In the first article [1] he defines Play and the value by first defining characteristics as:
- Play is self-chosen and self-directed.
- Play is activity in which means are more valued than ends.
- Play has structure, or rules, which are not dictated by physical necessity but emanate from the minds of the players.
- Play is imaginative, non-literal, mentally removed in some way from “real” or “serious” life.
- Play involves an active, alert, but non-stressed frame of mind.
Those characteristics I believe fall under “Pure Play”.
I went to a school in New York three years ago and met passionate educator Corinthia Mirasol–Spath, who wrote an article with a parent, psychologist Jill Leibowitz “Re-envisioning the Classroom: Making Time for Students and Teachers to Play” [2] They explained that “Pure play is one of the main bases of civilization.” One of the examples of learning through play described in their article is Project time, whereby children learn to plan, organize ideas, collaborate, communicate work and ideas, discover, and inquire; in other words, they use and develop all skills through the good habits of mind. I compare those to my “required skills or competencies for all children or 21st Century skills”, with the UNESCO described transversal [i] competencies. Learners who can successfully adapt to changes and lead meaningful lives are in high demand and lead productive lives. Transversal competences include:
⮚ Critical and innovative thinking.
⮚ Inter-personal skills (e.g., presentation and communication skills, organizational skills, teamwork, etc.)
⮚ Intra-personal skills (e.g., self-discipline, enthusiasm, perseverance, self-motivation, etc.)
⮚ Global citizenship (e.g., tolerance, openness, respect for diversity, intercultural understanding, etc.)
⮚ Media and information literacy include locating and accessing information and analyzing and evaluating media content.
Knowing this information, should our task not be to make sure that children develop those skills in schools? Are children not developing those skills through Play and Experiential learning in and after school? In part 2 of this blog post, I will give more insight on other perspectives.
Students at the Sr. Regina School practicing Knotting technique sailing before going in the water.
Students during experiential math assignments.
Being with the horses and having fun grooming while being active after school.
[1] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freedom-learn/200811/the-value-play-i-the-definition-play-gives-insights
[2] https://educate.bankstreet.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=&httpsredir=1&article=1107&context=occasional-paper-series
References:
Habits of Mind by L. Costa
Ramdass, Darshanand, and Barry J. Zimmerman. “Developing self-regulation skills: The important role of homework.” Journal of advanced academics 22.2 (2011): 194-218.