Homework and school is the beginning of the narrowing of the human mind. We learn obedience to power and doing the done thing. Ticking off the boxes. No decisions needed, the road to success is preordained!

Listen to mum, dad, teachers. Do your homework, go to Uni, go overseas maybe for a little while, get a steady job, do your time, find a partner, buy a house, have kids, retire, expire.

On a little tangent – Instead of the doctrine of “keeping kids off the street”, the idea should be to “get kids off the couch”. TV is far more poisonous to a kid skipping class or skimping homework.

http://bit.ly/nOUB7Q

Steve.

Steve.

Good grammar and proper use of homophones are signs that someone took the time to read over the résumé, brief, report, whatever before handing it in. Showing care in your work means that I should care about your work.

Students need to learn when to be obedient followers and when to be leaders. Both are qualities that everyone needs and the ability to discern which to be at a given time is invaluable. A student who diligently gets his homework done despite other distractions and responsibilities is the definition of a “self-starter,” which is what all the businesses are looking for these days. Homework teaches independent responsibility and diligence without constant supervision. To say that these things are archaic and unnecessary is patently false.

Many teachers are working hard to come up with new and innovative lesson plans that engage the students and teach “21st century necessities.” They are working hard to mold their classes to the new student, but often the best way to learn is to read, take notes, and practice. That requires homework, if only to ensure that the 8 hours in the classroom can include science labs, dance classes, and woodworking rather than just “someone talking at you.”

Homework is a necessity. Try learning an instrument or a foreign language without doing homework. Many deadlines are fungible, but at the same time a lot of team projects require other people to get their work done and so you are helping out your team immensely if you can get your work done in a timely manner, which is another positive behavior learned by homework.

The unschooling movement is interesting as are the Montessori schools and other alternative learning philosophies. Many schools are moving to a project-based learning system because it is more on par with what is needed in today’s workforce, it helps incorporate the 21st century ideals and teaches to the way that the digital generation’s brains are wired, but you can’t have “project-based learning” without “projects,” and that means, at some point, homework.

It is drilled into kids that they must do their homework and do well at school or else they will stuff up the rest of their lives… but that is such a load of crap! It takes all sorts in this world