Alfie Kohn Presentation: The Homework Myth

A little over a month ago, I wrote about being intrigued by Alfie Kohn’s book The Homework Myth.  Tonight I had the opportunity to hear Mr. Kohn speak in person about that very topic.

Wow.

Although it’s difficult to recreate the scene, one of the most interesting points was when Kohn explained that homework was just one thread of an intertwined tapestry that shows how we feel about education, learning, and children in general.  From standardized tests to grades to our insatiable push for academic “rigor,” we clearly believe in a “no pain, no gain” theory of education. 

Except that the data don’t support that theory.  Kohn reiterated the point from his book that absolutely no study has proven that homework in the K-8 grades results in any academic improvement whatsoever, and that any high school gains from homework are tenuously proven at best.

So what does matter in determining how much students will learn?  According to Kohn, it’s teacher quality, family affluence, and the most important thing of all: students’ attitudes toward learning.  As a result, Kohn stated that in everything we do and assign, we should ask ourselves, “What impact will this have on my students’ attitudes and excitement toward this topic?”

The one thing I walked away from this meeting with was that our current model of school here in the United States is the absolute opposite of a “child-centered” education.  As Kohn hammered away at the need for a democratic classroom, project-based learning, student choice, differentiation, the elimination of grades (replaced by meaningful feedback), and the elimination of compulsory homework, the disparity between his vision of education and current practice seems to be immeasurably vast.

As for me?  I side with Kohn.