Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 February 2023
109. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education the research her Department has considered in the context of the value or otherwise of homework for students at primary and secondary level; if her Department has studied outcomes for schools that have adopted a no homework policy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5202/23]
View answerI would like to thank the Deputy for his question on the provision of homework.
The Department acknowledges that homework can play an important part in helping students to prepare for forthcoming classwork and in reinforcing work already covered during class time, however, it is a matter for each school, at local level, to arrive at its own homework policy which best serves the school community. In keeping with good practice, the process of drafting a homework policy should involve consultation with teachers, parents and of course the pupils themselves.
One of the agencies under my remit, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) funded a report commissioned by the National Parents Council - Primary into parental involvement, engagement and partnership in their children’s learning during the primary school years. The research was undertaken by the Marino Institute of Education and is available on the NPC's website.
While the broad focus of the report is on features of good parent-school partnerships,there is also a focus on:
- The role of homework
- Homework in the Irish context
- Homework in the international literature
- Homework and achievement
- Parental involvement with homework
- Children’s voice on homework.
The research states that significant gaps have been identified in the literature with regard to the efficacy of homework in Irish primary schools. There is a lack of consensus in the reviewed literature on homework with reports of a large amount of commentary around homework in the media and in popular literature tending to have a negative view of homework whereas “professional” literature contains strong views on the effectiveness and usefulness of homework.
Some of the literature reviewed states that ‘homework connects teachers, students, and parents’ and that purposes of homework include the opportunity or the child to practice or review material already presented in class; nurturing children’s ability to manage their own learning and developing children’s learning dispositions.
Both positive and negative effects of homework are noted, including disagreement on its impact on achievement and its implications for family life.
The report also contains recommendations regarding homework, based on the literature review undertaken which include-
“In setting homework it is recommended that teachers consider giving individualised, project based homework tasks whereby children can draw on their own talents and interests”.
It is also recommended that teachers explicitly engage in discussions with parents about how they can best support their child’s learning through homework.
One conclusion is that it is not the act of the assignment of homework that is important but rather the type of homework that is assigned.
I hope this information is of assistance to the Deputy.
