Abstract
The current study seeks to examine the perception of the three main populations that have a part in the educational and pedagogic domain: teachers, parents, and elementary school students, while comparing between religious and secular schools. The major hypothesis of the study is that teachers, parents, and students do not have congruent views on the aims and effectiveness of homework. Another hypothesis was that differences would be found between parents’ views of homework by religiosity. In addition, a negative association will be found between the teacher’s years on the job and attitude towards homework assignment–such that the more years of experience the more negative their attitudes towards homework assignment. Finally, differences will be found in the respondents’ views on homework assignment by the school’s geographic location. The research findings show that the first hypothesis was partially confirmed. Teachers are the most positive about homework, followed by students and finally parents. The confirmation was only partial, as the hypothesis was that students’ views would be the least supportive. The second hypothesis was not confirmed, as no significant differences were found between the views of religious and secular parents on homework. The findings concerning the third hypothesis found a significant negative correlation; such that the more experienced the teacher the more negative his or her attitude to homework, confirming the hypothesis. The conclusions of this study indicate that the homework format is in dispute and there is no consensus on this topic. It appears, at times, that it may be customary to act by force of habit in formal education, as in other areas. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct further research on the subject and to explore whether there is a need for change in the educational world, following the many changes that society has undergone over the years.
Highlights
Homework is an inseparable part of the contemporary educational environment, a common educational activity in many cultures and varied study levels (Xu & Yuan, 2003)
Homework was not done during school hours, rather given to students as an assignment to complete at home in their spare time
Three different questionnaires were administered to three different populations: parents, teachers, and students, divided by two area of residence: a religious school in the town of Elkana and a secular school in Kibbutz Yahel, in order to form a comparison between a secular school and a religious school
Summary
Homework is an inseparable part of the contemporary educational environment, a common educational activity in many cultures and varied study levels (Xu & Yuan, 2003). Homework was not done during school hours, rather given to students as an assignment to complete at home in their spare time. Homework is defined as “all study activities, tasks, and assignments that students perform outside the formal setting of the classroom, normally not in the presence of a teacher. These tasks can be performed within the school environment (in the school library, in a study center, or in class), but to begin with these are tasks that students complete at home, in a time and space of their own choice” (Oshrat et al, 2007). According to Butler (1987), a more universal definition of homework describes it as time that students spend outside the classroom in activities allocated for the training, enhancement, and implementation of knowledge, as well as learning new capabilities involved in independent research (Alanne & Macgregor, 2007)
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