Some time ago, the topic of "homework meltdown" in a primary school in Changzhou caused controversy in the society. So how exactly should homework be arranged to maximize educational effect? Behind the "chicken flying dog jumping", can't it really be "mother and son filial piety"? Zheng Gang, principal of Shanghai Jincai Middle School East School, gave specific guidance based on his own educational reality.
Wen 丨 Zheng Gang ed
Homework is one of the core areas of parent-child relationships in the minor's family. Since the birth of homework, the topic of homework has appeared in the court of public opinion from time to time.
"Don't mention homework, mother and son filial piety; As soon as you write your homework, chickens fly and dogs jump", this sentence directly hits the deep vulnerability of many parents. Children's homework has become an unbearable educational task for many parents.
Every year before and after the start of the new semester, the topic of homework will be brushed again and again. Some parents used the poetic explanation of football commentator He Wei to recreate the scene of their baby's make-up homework before the start of school: "Please don't believe that the night of Chinese New Year's Eve is a sleepless night, but please believe that the last night before school starts is the real lights of ten thousand homes." "Many parents helplessly said that this is the construction of the unfinished building project.
At the beginning of the new semester, the topic of "homework meltdown" in a primary school in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province rushed to the hot search, which is not difficult to see the sensitivity of parents to homework, and also reflects parents' anxiety about their children's academic level and learning ability.
The school announced that this semester the "nine-point circuit breaker" mechanism for homework will be activated, that is, the homework will be stopped unconditionally after 9 p.m., and the unfinished homework will not need to be done the next day, in order to provide students with sufficient sleep and ensure good health.
The school explained that this move is intended to allow teachers to improve classroom efficiency, focus on improving the quality and making up for the gap, let the problem be solved in the school, and reduce the burden on students and ensure students' sleep time.
The circuit breaker mechanism is not just a circuit breaker
In response to this topic, the WeChat public account of China Education Daily launched an investigation. In the survey, 68% of parents expressed support for the homework "circuit breaker" mechanism. In addition, 33% of parents said that the problem of children's homework is mainly manifested in the "very procrastinating process of homework", so they are worried that their children will take this opportunity to deliberately be lazy and grind. At the same time, the survey showed that 38% of parents believe that the homework "circuit breaker" mechanism may cause children to deliberately delay homework.
The seemingly simple operation 'circuit breaker' mechanism is not simple, but a complex system. How to analyze and evaluate the students who did not complete the homework at the point of 'circuit breaker' determines the effectiveness of the implementation of the 'circuit breaker' mechanism.
The reasons why children can't get their homework done are extremely complex.
Some are problems with the operation itself, such as the amount of work far exceeding the amount it should be, the difficulty of the operation, and too many mechanical operations;
There are also problems with children's interest in learning, such as children who are not interested in a certain subject or have resistance to a certain teacher;
There are also problems with the foundation and level of learning, such as not serious or mastered in class, unable to complete the homework assigned by the teacher;
There are also problems with homework habits, such as children's lack of concentration, homework inattention, "stuffing" some other activities from time to time, eating snacks, playing with mobile phones, etc.;
There are also problems with self-management ability, such as poor organization, no planning and no order in doing homework.
Parents need to work with teachers to analyze and improve the problems in their children's homework, so as to effectively help children develop good homework habits.
If the child uses the "circuit breaker" as an exemption for evading or rubbing homework for subjective reasons, it will undoubtedly lead to the "circuit breaker" being counterproductive. Whether to implement the "circuit breaker mechanism" depends on the full judgment of factors such as the child's effort, the state of homework, and the amount of homework, and is decided by parents, children and teachers.
The "10" minute rule for assignments
When it comes to the conflict between students' healthy growth and learning burden, it usually begs the question, how much homework is too much?
For the issue of homework, the "double reduction" document makes it very clear that there are rigid regulations, such as the first and second grades of primary school do not assign written homework, the completion time of written homework in grades three to sixth should not exceed 60 minutes, and the completion time of homework in junior high school should not exceed 90 minutes.
Similar regulations exist in the United States, where the standard homework guidelines recommended by the National Association of Parent-Teacher Teachers and the National Education Association are the "10-minute rule" — 10 minutes of homework per night for each grade. For example, a fourth-grader receives a total of 40 minutes of homework each night, and by twelfth grade it takes 2 hours a day.
From the requirements for the number of jobs at home and abroad, we can see the "necessity" and "appropriateness" of the work. There really isn't a single field of human ability that doesn't require practice, even if it's a genius.
The writer Gladwell pointed out the famous "10,000-hour rule" in his book "Alien": the reason why people see genius as extraordinary is not that they are superior in talent, but that they have made continuous efforts. 10,000 hours of tempering is a necessary condition for anyone to go from ordinary to extraordinary."
That is, to become an expert in a certain field, it takes ten thousand hours. British neuroscientist Daniel Levitin believes that the human brain does take this long to understand and absorb a knowledge or skill before it can reach the level of a master.
Moreover, from the laws of human memory, students can usually only remember 50% or less of what they hear, read, or see in class; Additional interaction with course content helps improve memory. From a cognitive point of view, a certain amount of homework is necessary.
However, everything is counterproductive, not that the more homework, the better the effect, too much homework will reduce its effectiveness, or even counterproductive.
The results of many studies are disturbing: too much homework is associated with high stress levels, physical health problems, and a lack of balance in children's lives. According to CNN, 56% of the students in the study considered homework to be the main stressor in their lives. Those who may have more homework — are particularly prone to stress-related health problems, including lack of sleep, weight loss, stomach problems, and headaches.
Moreover, too much homework can take away time from activities that promote students' social-emotional development, such as extracurricular activities, hobbies, and socializing, and fail to meet their developmental needs or develop other important life skills. These are very important things for a person's mental and emotional health.
The child's performance is all written in the workbook
Homework is also the most frequent intersection between school and home, and it is also a source of real feelings for parents about what is happening at school, and one of the main channels for parents to learn about school. However, there is no one model for all families when it comes to parents dealing with student homework.
There have been studies abroad that examined the relationship between homework help and social class, and described parents' experiences and feelings about whether and how they helped eighth-graders with homework. Based on interviews with working-class and middle-class parents, they found that there are three ways parents can get involved with homework:
1) substantial help,
2) supervision,
3) Develop independence.
Cooper, a scholar who has been deeply engaged in the field of work for a long time, is mainly divided into three aspects according to the mode and content of participation:
Direct participation, i.e. parents accept the invitation of teachers or children to participate in homework to promote children's understanding;
Self-directed support, that is, parents let their children complete homework alone, if parents intervene more in their children's homework, that is, lack of self-directed support;
Eliminate distractions, i.e. whether parents create a good learning environment for their children during the homework process.
It can be seen that parents' participation in children's homework is mainly reflected in academic guidance, independent cultivation and environmental creation.
Homework can be a powerful tool to help parents become more involved in their children's learning. It can provide insight into your child's strengths and interests, or it can encourage conversations about your child's school life. If parents have a positive attitude towards homework, their children are more likely to share the same values that promote academic success.
Many parents are always concerned about their children's school status or learning: is class serious? Will you actively raise your hand to speak? Did you listen to the lecture and understand it in class? ......
In fact, to find out how your child is doing in school, you don't have to contact or consult a teacher every day. The child's performance is all written in the workbook.
As long as parents pay attention and carefully flip through their children's homework books and books, they will know what their children's daily homework tasks are, what their children have recently learned at school, and know which of their children's recent learning or homework difficulties, as well as understand the problems they may encounter; I also know which subject my child is more interested in, and homework allows parents to enter the child's life in this way, which plays a role as a bridge.
The quality of homework completion is closely related to self-regulation
The key to the alienation of homework is that many people only use homework as a tool to consolidate knowledge and improve test scores.
Therefore, many parents, including teachers, will continue to increase the amount of homework for their children, trying to achieve the purpose of grades and scores simply through the increase in the amount. Homework does provide an opportunity for children to practice or consolidate what they have learned in school and connect students with their learning. Homework is important because it helps students practice organizational skills, time management, following instructions, critical thinking, and independent problem solving.
In his book Making Idiots: How Electronics Threaten the Next Generation, French neuroscientist Demirge argues that there is no problem that illustrates the dominance of entertainment over effort more than homework problems. He also said that homework is an important part of learning, and in the short term, the role of homework is mainly to promote students' mastery and memorization of relevant content, and in the long run, homework helps students in certain abilities in self-discipline and self-regulation, which are critical to academic success.
In fact, to put it simply, we are not born hard, diligent or able to sacrifice our recreational time, we gradually become like this, and homework is one of the elements of this change.
Many parents will be concerned about the amount of homework, whether it is excessive, and pay attention to factors such as the child's management of distractions, self-efficacy and responsibility for learning, setting goals, self-reflection, managing time, and setting a place to complete homework, which are more effective than just looking at the time spent on homework.
During assignments, students self-regulate by motivating themselves, suppressing distractions, using strategies to complete assignments, managing time, setting goals, self-reflecting on their performance, and delaying gratification. Self-regulation is closely linked to a child's later academic and professional success, and is usually manifested in self-management and self-discipline.
Habit becomes nature, less becomes nature
We usually say that when a person has a bad habit, there must be a lack of a good habit and vice versa. Homework is not only a process of testing knowledge, but also a process of cultivating good study habits.
Parents are far more concerned about homework habits than homework accuracy, and from the first grade, parents work with their children to set clear and specific rules. Obeying the rules is much more effective than bitter preaching and nagging.
For example, before writing homework, prepare for work and avoid doing things unrelated to homework during homework; Before writing homework, make a rough list of plans, what to write first and what to write later, and estimate the time; Review, prep and check should be included in the homework content; Do not leave your seat casually when writing homework, etc.
Of course, children can also be allowed to have habits that are suitable for themselves but do not affect the completion of homework, such as listening to music, exercising appropriately between homework and so on.
The cultivation of habits and the establishment of rules are to help children establish a self-learning system. American teaching expert Mazano designed a learning behavior model, he believes that when students face a new learning task, the self-system first judges the meaning of the task and the degree of their willingness to invest, which is related to the student's learning motivation; After being motivated and deciding to engage in learning, students will decide how and strategies to learn, and whether they will be able to identify goals, adjust behaviors, and reflect on adjustments in the process of completion. Whether the self-system runs efficiently determines the learning effectiveness of people, and the same is true for homework.
After long-term persistence, children will develop habits and experience the high efficiency brought by good habits, which in turn will be more conducive to children's persistence. In the end, it naturally becomes a habit, which will be internalized into the child's good learning quality and ability.
For example, doing things independently: Homework can develop the habit of doing things independently. It is also a great opportunity for them to train themselves to be independent and responsible in their future lives. Homework allows students to learn how to set priorities and become more organized.
Also, learn how to solve problems: Homework allows students to solve problems by finding workable solutions. Children with good study habits and gritty qualities will keep trying until they find a solution. If they can understand what is taught in school and how it is applied to everyday life, their sense of efficacy will be further enhanced.
Another example is understanding that learning is rewarding: when students do homework, they usually need to spend a lot of energy. In this way, students will know that hard work is rewarded and will be more motivated to work harder in school because they know that the effort is worth it.
Another example is to manage your time wisely: homework is more than just the task itself; It also helps children improve their time management skills. Homework has a deadline, and mastering this deadline helps them think independently and develop problem-solving skills. This is a prime example of why homework is important, as time management is an important life skill that will help later in your studies and career.