1 00:00:06,040 --> 00:00:08,920 Speaker 1: On the Happy Families podcast, we love to slay sacred 2 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 1: cows and one of my favorites to take potshots at 3 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:16,439 Speaker 1: is homework, particularly homework in primary school. Today in the 4 00:00:16,480 --> 00:00:22,319 Speaker 1: pod ten reasons your children don't need homework at least 5 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:27,080 Speaker 1: in primary school, stay with us. Hello and welcome to 6 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:29,240 Speaker 1: the Happy Families podcast, where you get real parenting solutions 7 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 1: every single day. This is Australia's most downloaded parenting podcast, 8 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:35,920 Speaker 1: where Justin and Kylie Coulson. Kylie received the following voice 9 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: note via Happy Families dot com dot Au. 10 00:00:39,600 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 2: My name's Maxine and I've got a question about homework. 11 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 2: I am a teacher and I am a parent, and 12 00:00:48,720 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 2: sometimes I have difficulty articulating why I feel so strongly 13 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,600 Speaker 2: about not giving homework. As a teacher, I find it 14 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:04,039 Speaker 2: easy to advocate for children and have strong opinions about 15 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:07,559 Speaker 2: why homework is not effective up until a certain age, 16 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:12,319 Speaker 2: much like yours, the ones that you've talked about before. However, 17 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:16,400 Speaker 2: when I'm in a professional capacity, I find it difficult 18 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 2: to articulate why homework is not beneficial to a lot 19 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:26,119 Speaker 2: of children at a young age. And I'm talking primary school. 20 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,600 Speaker 2: I wonder if you can help me to find a 21 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:33,039 Speaker 2: way of sharing with my colleagues in a professional but 22 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:38,320 Speaker 2: assertive way, why homework might not be what we think 23 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:40,479 Speaker 2: it is. Thank you. 24 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: Can we help with this question? Kylie? Can we help? 25 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:45,119 Speaker 1: I've had a lot to say about homework over the years. 26 00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,800 Speaker 1: I was just online hunt and twenty seventeen we posted 27 00:01:48,840 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: something called his Homework Helpful, the homework letter I send 28 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: to school each year. Just google Happy Families Doctor Justin 29 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,000 Speaker 1: Coulson homework letter and you'll find it. We will link 30 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: to it in the show notes Today, Kylie, We're going 31 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: to talk about ten reasons that I think homework is 32 00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 1: not helpful. All of them are evidence backed. But what's 33 00:02:05,200 --> 00:02:06,800 Speaker 1: your initial response when you hear the question. 34 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 3: I love that she's acknowledged not only is she a teacher, 35 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 3: she's a mum and she would go to the hill 36 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:16,680 Speaker 3: to defend her child, but as a teacher is struggling 37 00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 3: to be the minority voice in the room as a 38 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:23,120 Speaker 3: really tough place to be for anyone, and homeworks seems 39 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 3: to be I don't understand why, but it seems to 40 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 3: be one of those conversation pieces in the classroom that 41 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 3: really gets people's heckles up. 42 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,840 Speaker 1: Yeah, people love homework, parents love homework. Most teachers actually don't, 43 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:37,680 Speaker 1: although in Maxine's case, she's right in the staff. And 44 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:41,079 Speaker 1: there's this expectation that, well, we've always had homework, so 45 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,720 Speaker 1: therefore it's institutionalized, so therefore it must work, it must matter. 46 00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:46,760 Speaker 1: Before we jump into my ten reasons, I want to 47 00:02:46,840 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: quickly highlight. First off, there's a book by Alfie Kohen, 48 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: who is a podcast favorite. Alfie Can't wrote a book 49 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,239 Speaker 1: called The Homework Myth. It's exceptionally well researched. There's so 50 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 1: much in there. It's probably about ten twelve years old now, 51 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:01,080 Speaker 1: maybe even more, but it's a very very strong book 52 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:03,920 Speaker 1: in this area. There is also a parliamentary inquiry that 53 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:06,560 Speaker 1: was conducted by the Victorian government around about I think 54 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,399 Speaker 1: it was twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen something like that. They 55 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,600 Speaker 1: found that homework has absolutely no benefit, none whatsoever to 56 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: children in primary school. And yet, and yet you're not 57 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:19,880 Speaker 1: going to say the Education Department said, well, we think 58 00:03:19,919 --> 00:03:23,359 Speaker 1: that it's still worth doing. Just struggle with this. 59 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 3: We actually have knowledge, right, it's not speculation. We actually 60 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 3: have proven knowledge that this doesn't work, that this actually 61 00:03:33,800 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 3: is not a beneficial. If you want to do homework. 62 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 3: Give kids projects that bring them to life. They don't 63 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 3: even realize they're doing homework because they're having so much fun. 64 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:45,000 Speaker 2: Yeah. 65 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: In other words, let them play. In other words, let 66 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:50,480 Speaker 1: them play quickly. I should add as well, homework is 67 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: better than sitting there scrolling TikTok or Instagram reels, or 68 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 1: playing rogublocks or Fortnight or something like that. So I 69 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: mean there is a hierarchy. There are some stuff that's 70 00:04:01,000 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: just not good for kids, full stop, end of story. 71 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: But this is a discussion today about homework. Let's go 72 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: through it. Honey, I've got ten things. Kick me off, 73 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: let's get it going. 74 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:09,880 Speaker 3: Number one. 75 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 1: Okay, there's no academic benefit decades of research, so homework 76 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:15,320 Speaker 1: in primary school has zero correlation with academic achievement. Let 77 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:17,000 Speaker 1: me say it again. It doesn't matter where you look, 78 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 1: it doesn't matter what data you pull up, you will 79 00:04:19,279 --> 00:04:24,520 Speaker 1: not find research that supports any relationship between doing homework 80 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: in primary school and your child's academic achievement. The only 81 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 1: evidence that we've got about homework being positively related to 82 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,040 Speaker 1: academic achievement is doing a little bit of homework in 83 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:38,920 Speaker 1: high school. But even then, the relationship between academic outcomes 84 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,000 Speaker 1: and homework is small. Now, there's probably two things that 85 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:43,880 Speaker 1: we need to talk about here. We need to talk 86 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: about tutoring, and we need to talk about reading. 87 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 3: Reading has been a non negotiable in our house, but 88 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:50,920 Speaker 3: not in the way that everybody would think. 89 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:52,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, because it's not homework. 90 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 3: It's not about how many pages she reads. It's not 91 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,720 Speaker 3: about how long she reads for. It's finding text that 92 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:03,040 Speaker 3: her to light perfect and then letting her read for 93 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 3: as long as you want. 94 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:05,720 Speaker 1: And you don't bribe them unless you're going to say, 95 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:06,920 Speaker 1: once you finish, that will get your line. 96 00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:08,479 Speaker 3: She doesn't have to color in a square at the 97 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:08,920 Speaker 3: end of it. 98 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: No, don't worry. 99 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:12,360 Speaker 3: Just and if she doesn't want to read, then you 100 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:14,919 Speaker 3: read to her, and you read and you read and 101 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 3: you read. 102 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: Yep, totally sorry. 103 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:17,320 Speaker 3: I've got six girls. 104 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 2: I know. 105 00:05:17,960 --> 00:05:20,360 Speaker 1: The other thing is tutoring. So I don't have a 106 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:22,159 Speaker 1: problem with tutoring. If you've got a child who's struggling. 107 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:23,839 Speaker 1: Here's the thing. If you've got a child who's struggling, 108 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:27,080 Speaker 1: doing homework will only make them struggle more because they 109 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:28,920 Speaker 1: are already struggling, and now they're doing it on their 110 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:31,279 Speaker 1: own rather than in a classroom where there's support. So 111 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:35,279 Speaker 1: homework will not help a struggling student, But tutoring is different. 112 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 1: Why because tutoring means that you've got somebody who's died 113 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:41,840 Speaker 1: in individual correctness process as practice, and so that's helpful. 114 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:45,479 Speaker 3: If you think about what we're actually sharing in the classroom. 115 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:49,440 Speaker 3: It's supposed to be a personalized program, but then homework 116 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 3: goes home and it's the same for twenty five, thirty 117 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:55,560 Speaker 3: two kids, whatever. How does that become personalized. 118 00:05:55,600 --> 00:05:58,479 Speaker 1: Well, that's actually one of my ten things, and that 119 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,120 Speaker 1: is that it assumes one size fits all. This is 120 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:04,360 Speaker 1: the second thing that I want to highlight. Homework ignores 121 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:09,360 Speaker 1: the individual characteristics and difference as educationally of each student. 122 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 3: We've got one child who's like flying ahead and they're 123 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 3: totally bored and can't understand why they have to go 124 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 3: through this again. And then you've got the other end 125 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:20,480 Speaker 3: of the spectrum with a child who is struggling desperately 126 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:22,720 Speaker 3: and none of this makes sense and they just go 127 00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,719 Speaker 3: home and every night gets reinforced that they're not good enough. 128 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: Yeah, whether they're slower learning, like you said, sometimes it's ability, 129 00:06:31,400 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: sometimes it's just interest, and sometimes you've got to consider 130 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: the home circumstances as well. Not every child goes home 131 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:38,640 Speaker 1: to a supportive environment where they could sit down at 132 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:41,800 Speaker 1: the dining table and do it. And Kyle, as you've said, 133 00:06:42,080 --> 00:06:44,120 Speaker 1: sometimes it takes one kid twenty minutes, might take another 134 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:46,720 Speaker 1: kid two hours, which does not go well. 135 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 3: Number three. 136 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:50,159 Speaker 1: The third one that I jotted down was this, I 137 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:54,039 Speaker 1: think that it displays more important activities. So there's play, 138 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,800 Speaker 1: particularly unstructured play. I'm like, that's what we want more 139 00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:01,080 Speaker 1: than anything. But there's also family time home, there's just 140 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: moving your body, there's getting enough sleep, unstructured exploration. These 141 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: are all the developmentally required, developmentally important elements of childhood 142 00:07:09,880 --> 00:07:13,200 Speaker 1: that homework sometimes replaces and crowds out, meaning that they're 143 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:16,480 Speaker 1: not getting the social skills, the creativity, the physical health benefits. 144 00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:19,800 Speaker 1: Homework doesn't provide those benefits. 145 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:22,680 Speaker 3: One of the skills that our children went to One 146 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 3: of our children brought home a biingo sheet for homework 147 00:07:25,600 --> 00:07:29,120 Speaker 3: and it was you know, do twenty skips and some 148 00:07:29,200 --> 00:07:32,680 Speaker 3: of the activities they were physically based. Can you skip 149 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,000 Speaker 3: twenty times down the road? Can you take the dog 150 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:37,400 Speaker 3: for a walk, Can you jump on the trampoline? Can 151 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 3: you go for a swing have a swim, like just 152 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:42,240 Speaker 3: active things where the kids are getting out. There's no 153 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:45,120 Speaker 3: timeframe around it. It's just getting them to move their bodies. 154 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:46,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, and there were some stuff about going to the 155 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:47,600 Speaker 1: shops with your parents and. 156 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 3: Reading a book, having cuddle time with mum and dad. 157 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: And those things aren't homework. Those are just called being 158 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: a child. But the teacher was prescribing it because those 159 00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 1: things are going to be helpful and maybe parents might 160 00:07:57,000 --> 00:07:59,520 Speaker 1: get on board with those things. So I do like 161 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:02,600 Speaker 1: that before. Yeah, I don't think it's good for parent 162 00:08:02,680 --> 00:08:05,920 Speaker 1: child relationships. The research does indicate that all too often 163 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:09,800 Speaker 1: parents and children start having battles because parents become enforces 164 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:13,280 Speaker 1: and become nags, and they become coaches, and it creates 165 00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:17,480 Speaker 1: conflict and stress and it kind of can transfer the 166 00:08:17,680 --> 00:08:19,760 Speaker 1: home into an extension of school, which is not good 167 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: for relationships. And anyone who lived through COVID will remember 168 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:23,239 Speaker 1: that well. 169 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:25,920 Speaker 3: And you think about it, Mom and dad, they've got 170 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 3: a whole lot of other things they're doing, and then 171 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 3: we're trying to add that to witching hour. 172 00:08:30,280 --> 00:08:33,440 Speaker 1: Yeah, let's be honest, Like, no parent needs the extra stress. 173 00:08:33,480 --> 00:08:36,000 Speaker 1: And yet parents, when you talk to teachers, they will 174 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: tell you it's the parents that are. 175 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 3: Actually pushing for it. 176 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:40,800 Speaker 1: Banging and banging and banging that drama. What about homework? 177 00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:44,480 Speaker 1: Just stop it, seriously, just stop it. Number five, this 178 00:08:44,520 --> 00:08:47,480 Speaker 1: is the last one before the break. Research shows that 179 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:54,000 Speaker 1: giving kids homework kills intrinsic motivation to learn, because when 180 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: you force children to do academic work at home when 181 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:00,440 Speaker 1: they're often tired, and often that not in truest in. 182 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: What it does is it teaches them that learning is 183 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: a chore that they have to endure. It's not about enjoyment. 184 00:09:06,880 --> 00:09:09,400 Speaker 1: They've just got to get it done. So it will 185 00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:12,800 Speaker 1: extinguish that flame of curiosity, that love of learning. After 186 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: the break, another five reasons that homework will not help 187 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 1: your child in primary school. Stay with us, We're back. 188 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:27,480 Speaker 1: It's the Happy Families podcast. Let's keep going. The next 189 00:09:27,480 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: one around homework is quite a social justice one, and 190 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:32,760 Speaker 1: that is that it exacerbates inequality. What do I mean 191 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:35,240 Speaker 1: by that? We've sort of touched on this earlier, Kylie. 192 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:40,240 Speaker 1: Children from disadvantaged homes are usually going to lack the 193 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,760 Speaker 1: quiet study space that they need. They're going to probably 194 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: have a lack of parental help and resources and support, 195 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 1: which means that giving homework if it did work, and 196 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,120 Speaker 1: it doesn't. But let's take the alternate view for a second. 197 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: Imagine that there was a relationship between doing homework and 198 00:09:54,880 --> 00:09:58,200 Speaker 1: academic consequences. Homework would then become a tool that widened 199 00:09:58,240 --> 00:10:00,280 Speaker 1: the achievement gap, which is exactly the op sort of 200 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:02,440 Speaker 1: what we're trying to do. Homework would punish kids for 201 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:04,840 Speaker 1: circumstances that are be on their control. And even if 202 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:07,480 Speaker 1: it's not having a relationship with academic outcomes, which it doesn't, 203 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:09,880 Speaker 1: kids still do get punished because when they show up 204 00:10:09,880 --> 00:10:11,880 Speaker 1: at school the next day and they haven't done their homework, 205 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:14,000 Speaker 1: the teacher gets them in trouble for not having done it. 206 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: So not a fan from that point of view. Number seven, Yeah, 207 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:23,080 Speaker 1: we kind of touched on this, but let's just recognize 208 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:25,920 Speaker 1: we've got higher levels of mental health challenge than ever before. 209 00:10:26,320 --> 00:10:29,679 Speaker 1: And my experience, our experience with homework has been that 210 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:33,720 Speaker 1: it creates additional stress and anxiety for children and for parents, 211 00:10:33,880 --> 00:10:36,400 Speaker 1: like it just adds to the cognitive load. It adds 212 00:10:36,440 --> 00:10:38,559 Speaker 1: to the burden that everyone's carrying. You've got a child 213 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:40,480 Speaker 1: who's just done six hours or more at school. Now 214 00:10:40,520 --> 00:10:42,120 Speaker 1: you're going to get them to do overtime when they 215 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:45,880 Speaker 1: come home do an extra shift. It's burnout, Its anxiety, 216 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:49,080 Speaker 1: the sense of being overwhelmed. There's no downtime there for 217 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: the kids. I just I don't see how it advantages them. 218 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:54,319 Speaker 1: And the stress, the stress that it puts on to 219 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 1: parents who quite often double and come homes or both 220 00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:01,880 Speaker 1: parents are working dealing with so much already. The last 221 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:05,360 Speaker 1: thing that you want to do in between loads of washing, cooking, cleaning, 222 00:11:05,559 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 1: changing sheets, ironing. 223 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:08,720 Speaker 3: And getting ready for tomorrow, getting ready for. 224 00:11:08,720 --> 00:11:11,120 Speaker 1: The school uniforms and things for tomorrow, is to say, oh, 225 00:11:11,200 --> 00:11:13,400 Speaker 1: and by the way, let's have a look at your homework, like, 226 00:11:13,440 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 1: come on, give me a break. I just I don't 227 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 1: think that it's helpful at all. 228 00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:17,400 Speaker 3: What's number eight? 229 00:11:17,679 --> 00:11:22,320 Speaker 1: This is the compliance idea. So as we've already said, 230 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 1: the Victorian government in twenty nineteen did their parliamentary inquiry 231 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 1: and acknowledged they recognize that homework doesn't appear to have 232 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: any benefits for children in primary school. I mean they 233 00:11:32,800 --> 00:11:37,280 Speaker 1: literally this government would not budge on it in spite 234 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:39,160 Speaker 1: of it, and the reason that they decided to keep 235 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:43,559 Speaker 1: homework as an education imperative was and I'm not directly quoting, 236 00:11:43,559 --> 00:11:47,480 Speaker 1: I'm paraphrasing because it teaches kids work ethic, and they're 237 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:49,120 Speaker 1: going to have homework later in life, so they might 238 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: as well get used to it now. It doesn't teach 239 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:54,560 Speaker 1: time management, it doesn't teach work ethic. There is no 240 00:11:54,720 --> 00:11:58,280 Speaker 1: research to support this idea at all. Responsibility if you 241 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:00,520 Speaker 1: want your kids to be responsible and to stand time 242 00:12:00,559 --> 00:12:03,840 Speaker 1: management and work ethic. First of all, this just happens developmentally. 243 00:12:04,280 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 1: But secondly, it happens through age appropriate, real world tasks 244 00:12:09,200 --> 00:12:13,480 Speaker 1: and not contrived academic exercises. This is just madness. 245 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:18,080 Speaker 3: Why are we asking our children to learn adult lessons 246 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:20,840 Speaker 3: as five, six, seven, and eight year olds? 247 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:23,400 Speaker 1: See you five six, and then you did six seven, 248 00:12:23,480 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: You did six seven and six seven. So there's two 249 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:29,160 Speaker 1: more that I want to touch on just quickly. Most 250 00:12:29,200 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: primary homework is not really beneficial. It's just worksheets, it's 251 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:38,000 Speaker 1: just learning. It's busy work. And what it does is 252 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:43,640 Speaker 1: it rewards compliance and completion much more than rewards creativity 253 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:48,200 Speaker 1: or critical thinking. There's no growth in homework. It's just 254 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:51,720 Speaker 1: about following instructions. There's nothing there about intellectual curiosity. You 255 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 1: talked about projects before, When the kids have got a 256 00:12:55,720 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 1: model that they're building, or they're designing a home, or 257 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: they're well, they're coming. 258 00:12:59,880 --> 00:13:03,240 Speaker 3: Home to help mum cook dinner, or who can they help. 259 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:05,720 Speaker 1: Yeah, all of those things will make a difference, and 260 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:09,319 Speaker 1: homework doesn't do it. The last one, this one's actually 261 00:13:09,320 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 1: one for the teachers. It undermines teacher autonomy. And what 262 00:13:13,200 --> 00:13:15,760 Speaker 1: don't we mo with that? A lot of teachers are 263 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:19,960 Speaker 1: assigning homework not because they want to or because they 264 00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:22,920 Speaker 1: believe it's valuable. They're assigning it because the school and 265 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:25,200 Speaker 1: the department expects it of them, and parents expected of them, 266 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:28,840 Speaker 1: which means that educators are being forced to practice and 267 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:34,199 Speaker 1: enforce and defend policies and practices that most of them 268 00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:39,640 Speaker 1: know don't benefit children at all. So hopefully that's helpful maccine. 269 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 1: If I was to prescribe anything for kids after school, 270 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:44,719 Speaker 1: the bottom of the list would be homework. Well, no, 271 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:46,440 Speaker 1: the bottom of the list would be time on screens. 272 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 1: But next to that would be homework. I'd be saying, 273 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:52,360 Speaker 1: get the kids outside, get them moving their bodies, get 274 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:54,440 Speaker 1: them spending time with each other, get them playing, get 275 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: them being creative, give them art supplies, give them anything 276 00:13:59,040 --> 00:14:01,720 Speaker 1: resource wise that they need to be moving their bodies 277 00:14:01,800 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: or spending time with each other, or reading to a 278 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: younger sibling, dicking their head in a book. Yep, that's 279 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 1: the stuff that matters. And you can prescribe that as 280 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:12,200 Speaker 1: homework if you need to, and I would imagine that 281 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:14,680 Speaker 1: that's probably going to have a better impact on academic 282 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:18,000 Speaker 1: outcomes and the well being of kids than anything that 283 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 1: you can send home on a busy sheet, Sorry, on 284 00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: a worksheet. I think that's rant over. We'll link in 285 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:27,120 Speaker 1: the show notes the homework letter. But Maxine, thanks so 286 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:29,040 Speaker 1: much for sending the question through. If you have a 287 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: tricky question or anything you're curious about, let us know 288 00:14:32,280 --> 00:14:34,400 Speaker 1: via Happy families dot com dot you just scroll down 289 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:37,560 Speaker 1: to the bit where it says record and start talking. Well, 290 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:39,760 Speaker 1: you've got press a record button first and then start talking, 291 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 1: or send us a voice note to podcasts at Happy 292 00:14:42,640 --> 00:14:45,320 Speaker 1: families dot com dot au. Hey, tomorrow on the pod, 293 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,720 Speaker 1: we're going to be getting in depth with missus Happy Families. 294 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: Kylie's been on a healthcack. You've been hearing about it 295 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:51,440 Speaker 1: bit by bit on the podcast, and we're going to 296 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:52,960 Speaker 1: give you an update. The first of what we hope 297 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:56,880 Speaker 1: will be many updates as Kylie shares what's working, what's not, 298 00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 1: and what she's learning on this big adventure called Training 299 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: for Old Age. Can't wait for that one tomorrow on 300 00:15:07,080 --> 00:15:08,480 Speaker 1: the pod. Thanks so much for listening.