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Should the Victorian Government establish homework guidelines for schools?


The issue
On July 10, 2000, the Victorian Government released guidelines intended to regularise the manner in which homework is given in all State primary schools and secondary colleges. Some 530,000 students are potentially affected from prep through to VCE.
These guidelines have met with a mixed response. There are those who welcome the guidance and the Government's apparent recognition of the importance of homework. However, there are others who see the recommended hours of homework as excessive and the guidelines themselves as intrusive.

What they said ...
'We know ... if you instil in a child the habit of homework from the beginning that it improves their learning, their time management and gives them self-discipline'
Victorian Minister for Education, Ms Mary Delahunty

'I think the government is trying to play big brother or big sister rather than allowing education to take its place where it belongs - with individual children, their parents, schools and teachers'
Victorian Opposition leader, Dr Denis Napthine

Echo Issue Outline 2000 / 30
Copyright © Echo Education Services
First published in The Echo news digest and newspaper sources index.

Issue outline by J M McInerney


Background
1. Under the new guidelines proposed by the Victorian Government students in prep through to grade four would be expected to complete up to 30 minutes homework each week night. Homework for the younger grades may simply involve reading or being read to. For students in this age group homework should not be set over the weekend or during school holidays.
2. For students in years 5 to 9 it is expected that homework will generally take between 45 and 90 minutes a day. Homework may be set for the weekend and over school holidays. Homework should include daily reading as well as classwork, projects, essays and research.
3. For students in years 10 to 12 it is expected that homework will generally take between 90 and 180 minutes each weekday, with up to six hours set over the weekend.

A number of general principles are intended to apply when homework is being set.
* Parents are to be encouraged to help their children develop a homework routine.
* Parents are to be told at the start of each year what the school's homework expectations are and are to be given a copy of the school's homework policy.
* Homework diaries should be used by upper-primary and secondary students.
* Schools should assist students with the completion of homework and should take students' after-school commitments into account when setting homework.
* Homework should be co-ordinated to avoid overload.

Internet links
The Victorian Government may have been influenced by some of the policies of the current British Labor Government. Tony Blair's British Labor Government has put in place a number of programs intended to boost children's learning. The Blair Labor Government is trying to eradicate child poverty and exclusion from opportunity and sees a range of education programs and policies as crucial to this aim.
The Government has introduced early morning booster classes for low achievers, after school homework clubs and summer schools for those who fall behind in English and maths. The Blair Government also introduced homework guidelines similar to those being proposed for Victoria.
Though these programs and guidelines have met with praise from some, they have been regarded as excessive and intrusive by others.
An articles criticising these schemes was published in The New Worker (UK) on April 21, 2000. The article is titled What has happened to play? And was written by Caroline Colebrook.
The article can be found at
http://members.xoom.com/yugo_archive/20000425ccoletnwuk.htm

An article critical of the Blair Government's homework guidelines was published in the Christian Science Monitor on July 14, 1998. The article is titled In Britain, Forget TV, It's Homework Time.
The article was written by Alexander MacLeod. It can be found at http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1998/07/14/p57s1.htm

The Guardian's Internet site Guardian Unlimited also published an article looking at the advantages and disadvantages of homework and of the Blair Government's guidelines.
The report is titled Head warns against too much prep. It was written by John Crave and was published on August 17, 2000.
It can be found at http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,270287,00.html

The BBC's Politics 97 site has a detailed report on the Blair Government's homework policy. The report is titled Blunkett Launches Homework Clubs. The article can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/politics97/news/09/0903/education.shtm

Arguments in favour of the Victorian Government establishing homework guidelines for schools

1. Establishing good study habits early is believed to assist children throughout their school lives.
This point has been made by the Victorian Minister for Education, Ms Mary Delahunty. Ms Delahunty has claimed, 'We know ... if you instil in a child the habit of homework from the beginning that it improves their learning, their time management and gives them self-discipline.'
The same position has been put by Mr Lex Arthurson, the head of the Victorian Primary Principals Association. Mr Arthurson has stated, 'It's an opportunity for students to develop study habits and improve their organisational skills.'

2. Parents will be grateful for the direction provided by the guidelines.
This point has also been made by the Victorian Minister for Education. Ms Delahunty has stated, 'Parents are quite anxious about doing the right thing but sometimes we - and I include myself in this - do not know how to help.
Ms Delahunty has further noted that there will be an obligation upon schools to ensure that the homework that is given can be completed without significant parental direction. It has been claimed that this is necessary because there will be some parents who will not be able to give their children assistance with their homework.
Ms Deahunty has stated that schools will have to be innovative to ensure all students had the support and resources to comply with homework demands.

3. The guidelines are flexible and are intended to be adapted by schools and parents
The Victorian Education Minister, Ms Mary Delahunty, has said that the guidelines would by 'strongly suggested' but are not mandatory.
Ms Delahunty has noted that 'Schools will ... be expected to develop and publish a homework policy consistent with the homework guidelines following consultation with their school community.'
Ms Delahunty further added, 'They are up for discussion with parents, and, of course, it's always up to the parents to decide what their children do at home.'

4. The guidelines should help to ensure that the homework expectations of schools are consistent across the state.
This view has been put by a number of students, including a 17-year-old year 12 student at Footscray City College, Marlon. This student has stated, 'I think it's good to be on the same track, the same level.'

5. The guidelines should reassure parents and stop them pressuring schools to set excessive homework.
This point has been made by professor Marie Emmitt, who heads Deakin University's School of Social and Cultural Studies in Education. Professor Emmitt has suggested that parents were concerned about a perceived drop in education standards and were pressuring teachers to set too much homework. Professor Emmitt has also claimed that many parents equate the amount of homework set with the quality of education their children were receiving. It is hoped that the new guidelines will reassure parents and ensure that their homework expectations are realistic.

Arguments against the Victorian Government establishing homework guidelines for schools

1. These guidelines put excessive demands on students
The president of Parents Victoria has stated, 'I ... think the hours are excessive. Some schools already put too much pressure on kids to do homework.'
Mrs Leonie Edmonds, the mother of three primary school aged children, has stated that her children spend between 15 and 20 minutes a night on homework and in her view 'that's enough ... if I start forcing them they won't wont to do it.'
It has also been suggested that children should be able to pursue sports and hobbies and simply relax in the time available to them after school. It has been suggested that at least in primary schools six hours of formal education a day should be sufficient and that school should not make major homework demands of students.

2. The policy discriminates against children who do not have parents who can support them in the completion of homework
Beth Sheffield, the president of Parents Victoria, has given an example of this. Mrs Sheffield has stated, 'If prep parents are themselves non-English speaking it makes it very difficult for reading to be learned at home and that's a significant issue in a multi-cultural society.'
The Herald Sun, in its editorial of July 11, 2000, also suggested that the guidelines placed unreasonable demands on parents. The editorial notes, 'Many students come home from school to empty houses because both parents work ...'
Beth Sheffield has also suggested that teachers were putting too much pressure on parents to teach children new course work at home.

3. The guidelines are dictatorial because they remove from parents and schools the responsibility for determining the appropriate amount of homework to be completed each night
This point has been made by the leader of the Victorian Opposition, Dr Denis Napthine. Dr Napthine has stated, 'I think the government is trying to play big brother or big sister rather than allowing education to take its place where it belongs - with individual children, their parents, schools and teachers.'

4. The bands of gradation in these guidelines are much too wide
This point was made in The Age in its editorial of July 12, 2000. This editorial states, 'There is an enormous difference in the skill levels (and the late afternoon energy leveles) of prep children compared with a year 4 child. The nearest a not-yet literate preppie can come to homework is curling up on a parent's lap to listen to a story, while a year 4 child may be capable of independent research and detailed projects.'

5. Focussing attention on homework policies can draw attention away from the real issues in education
This point was made in The Age in its editorial of July 12, 2000. The editorial makes the following point, 'Is the government playing to [parental concerns about homework] by way of a quick, cheap publicity exercise? A new focus on homework should not be allowed to obscure the importance of what happens in the classroom. Smaller class sizes at all age levels, well-resourced teachers and adequate accommodation are still priorities for our public education system.'

Further implications
It seems highly likely that the Victorian Government's new homework policy will be put in place. There appears to be sufficient support for its implementation to bring this about. Further, the Government is in a position to reassure schools and parents about any areas of concern they might have. Most particularly, the fact that these guidelines are not obligatory and allow for negotiation between parents and schools when they are being formulated by schools is likely to allay fears of excessive direction from above.
Despite the guidelines' supposed flexibility, however, it seems probable that many school administrations will attempt to implement the guidelines very much as they are written. The proof of the pudding will, however, be in the extent to which these guidelines actually effect teacher practice and student behaviour. So far as student behaviour is concerned, the extent to which these guidelines are followed in schools will depend in large measure on the amount of real parent support they enjoy. There is a significant difference between a parent who believes that more homework would benefit his or her child and a parent who is willing and able to ensure that such homework is completed.
Finally, it is to be hoped, as The Age indicated in its editorial of July 12, 2000, that a pre-occupation with homework policies does not distract the Government from other more substantial issues in education.


Newspaper items used in the preparation of this outline
The Age
25/2/00 page 15 comment by Jenny Heenan, 'Homework doesn't work in our home'
11/7/00 page 7 news item by Manika Naidoo, 'Mother and son bond over books'
11/7/00 page 7 news item by Manika Naidoo, 'Teachers wary on homework rules'
12/7/00 page 18 editorial, 'Homework must not rule, OK?'

The Australian
11/7/00 page 3 news item by Erru Yaman and Guy Healy, 'Homework guidelines set tough standard'

The Herald Sun
10/7/00 page 3 news item by Michelle Edmunds, 'Homework for all'
10/7/00 page 3 news item, 'Teachers know best, mum'
11/7/00 page 14 news item by Michelle Edmunds and Jen Kelly, 'State copies top schools'
11/7/00 page 14 comments, 'Homework: what the kids say'
11/7/00 page 18 editorial, 'Working at home'
11/7/00 page 19 comment by Kevin Donnelly, 'Education begins at home'