1 4-Accountability Communication Arts IV Ms. Arn Lumabas CORDERO, Rosary
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CUNANAN, Mariz
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GUBAT, Isabelle
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MERCADO, Justine
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The Implementation of the “No Homework Policy” in the Philippines
I. Introduction Homework is part of every academic institution which is known as continuing the school work outside of school. In the book Strategies for Effective Teaching, Ornstein writes, “homeworks are used by teachers to learn about their student‟s achievements” (2000, pp. 460461). In this statement it defines how homework is used by teachers to know more about the learning capacity of their students. Though not well elaborated, it is simply used as an assessment of one‟s intelligence. Homework is also a way to connect school to the student‟s values. An example of this is stated in the news article TGIF: No Homework on WeekendsDepEd, which says “Homeworks develop self discipline, self-learning and management in students without the supervision of teachers.” Because of the policy made by DepEd (Department of Education) regarding the distribution of homeworks to students, this Action Research specifically aims to help the teachers and the school administration to reconsider or to rethink about how the plan would be a bridge to help the teachers and the students alike. As written by the article entitled TGIF: No Homework on Weekends-DepEd, “No Homework Policy” is already practiced on almost all public schools across the nation ever since the year 2010. And last 2011, this policy is proposed in St Scholastica‟s Collge Manila (2011). Based on another article HS Unit Implements Academic Changes these revisions were made to adjust to the new base 60 grading system implemented that same year in the High School Department. In addition, the group specifically aims to help other schools be aware of this policy and to implement it thoroughly in other private schools.
2 Another sub-topic that this Action Research is aiming to trigger is in regards to the problems of some teachers regarding the planning of their class schedules and class management techniques. Because of this evident problem among teachers, this Action Research would be making ways to the revival on the use of timetables. A use of timetable may be an efficient tool for teachers to keep track of their lessons in class and to even manage their own schedule.
II. Review of Related Literature Homework is defined as a gateway for teachers to know more about their students‟ capacity. As referred to in the previous source Strategies for Effective Teaching, Ornstein writes, “It is said that homeworks are used by teachers to learn about their student‟s achievements.” (pp. 460-461). As said in the article The Value of Homework: Is Homework an Important Tool for Learning in the Classroom? “Homework is „seen as a valuable resource for teaching, allowing students to practice, and in doing so, learn the unit material.‟” In different context, homework is the reason for some consequences in the lives of students. As stated in the article The Homework debate, Alfie Kohn writes, “Homework is all pain and no gain,” In articles like Down With Homework by Alfie Kohn, they mention how there hasn‟t been a solid study of how homework would actually boost the intelligence of a student. There have been many government policies implemented for the means of homework. Many students and parents complain about how homework may strain the relationship of the parent and the child. In the article Rethinking Homework by Alfie Kohn, he stated, “Many parents lament the impact of homework on their relationship with their children, they may also resent having to play the role of the enforcer.” This is why one of the policies made for this situation is in the news article TGIF: No Homework on Weekends- DepEd, it says that “Teachers should give a reasonable amount of work to be done at home to give their pupils ample time to rest and relax at home for the rest of the day” and in another statement “The education secretary believes that students need more quantity time with their family.” Even though homeworks are considered an important factor to determine a student‟s performance, there are still two sides into it: whether it is good or bad. Importance of homeworks
3 as stated by Goldstein and Zentall in an internet article is that homeworks are instruments to connect school to home. And it may be used by parents to track down the academic performance of their children while they are in the school premises (2013). But contrary to these statements, the pubishing company Scholastic says in their article Down with Homework that homeworks do not actually measure and test the academic achievements of a student but it brings them a lesser positive attitude to live by. And as the academic degree of a student increases, the value of homeworks by then decreases. Emotionally, homeworks remove happiness and joy from students who are overachievers in their class and overwhelm those who struggle in doing them to comply with the given high standards. They even mentioned that parents often complain on the lack of quality family time. And parents even if they do not intend to, become homework monitors of their children. No homework policy means more quality time with friends and family. A lot of schools from across the world have implemented the no homework policy. Giving homework to students over the weekend or holiday is not commended by schools. According to the Philippines‟ Department of Education, the no homework or assignment policy shall be implemented during weekends for people to enjoy their childhood and spend quality time with their parents without being burdened by doing a lot of homework. The president of France, Francois Hollande, believes that “an education program is, by definition, a societal program. Work should be done at school”. Class management means “managing both student behavior and the physical and learning environment” according to Management Tips for New Teachers. Schools will implement a bill which prohibits homework from counting for more than 10 percent of a student‟s grade. According to a recent interview that was conducted by the Huffington post a principal of a school said that “it was just: we were giving students something because, we felt we had to give them something”.
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Works Cited a)
