{"id":59104,"date":"2021-09-01T17:09:20","date_gmt":"2021-09-01T21:09:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=59104"},"modified":"2021-09-01T17:27:49","modified_gmt":"2021-09-01T21:27:49","slug":"whats-the-point-of-homework","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/whats-the-point-of-homework\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the point of homework?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nHomework hasn\u2019t changed much in the past few decades. Most children are still sent home with about an hour\u2019s worth of homework each day, mostly practising what they were taught in class.<\/p>\n

If we look internationally,\u00a0homework is assigned<\/a>\u00a0in every country that participated in the OECD\u2019s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in 2012.<\/p>\n

Across the participating countries, 15-year-old students reported spending almost five hours per week doing homework in 2012. Australian students spent six hours per week on average on homework. Students in Singapore spent seven hours on homework, and in Shanghai, China they did homework for about 14 hours per week on average.<\/p>\n

Shanghai and Singapore routinely score higher than Australia in the PISA maths, science and reading tests. But homework could just be one of the factors leading to higher results. In Finland, which also scores higher than Australia, students spent less than three hours on homework per week.<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s the purpose of homework and what does the evidence say about whether it fulfils its purpose?<\/p>\n

Why do teachers set homework?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Each school in Australia has its own homework policy developed in consultation with teachers and parents or caregivers, under the guiding principles of state or regional education departments.<\/p>\n

For instance, according to the New South Wales\u00a0homework policy<\/a>\u00a0\u201c\u2026 tasks should be assigned by teachers with a specific, explicit learning purpose\u201d.<\/p>\n

Homework in NSW should also be \u201cpurposeful and designed to meet specific learning goals\u201d, and \u201cbuilt on knowledge, skills and understanding developed in class\u201d. But there is limited, if any, guidance on how often homework should be set.<\/p>\n

Research\u00a0based on teacher interviews<\/a>\u00a0shows they set homework<\/a>\u00a0for a range of reasons. These include to:<\/p>\n