Last month the Tes published my piece on our approach to homework.
I’ve set some pretty appalling homework in my time, from nebulous research tasks to sculpture-making (I’m an English teacher). I once gave an entire Year 9 class the optional homework of baking a visual representation of a book they were reading. The students loved it (who doesn’t love an excuse to eat cake?), but what was the learning value?
What did it achieve (other than upsetting the entire food technology department, who spent the day shooing kids away from their fridge space)?
I was trapped in an apparent paradox: I could either set homework that was worthwhile or I could set homework that I didn’t have to mark. The holy grail of homework that was both valuable and didn’t require marking eluded me for years.
So does win-win English homework exist? Yes. I haven’t marked a piece of homework in years, yet I know that what I’ve been setting is the most worthwhile homework of my career.
You can read the rest here.
The Learning Profession 