Editorial and cover film in April

Dear readers
After 44 years, I am revealing a secret. I didn't write some of the German essays I wrote in primary school («Mein schönstes Ferienerlebnis», «Ein Tag bei meinem Grossvater») on my own. My mum, a former journalist, helped me with them. We tweaked every sentence until it was just right. My mum did a great job: I received a straight 6 from teacher Niederer for most of the essays and was allowed to enter them in the golden book.
I mention this because we worked intensively on these questions when we were working on this «Homework» dossier. Should parents support their children with their homework? And if so, how? The experts are divided: one message is that homework is for the pupils, not the parents. Another: Parents need to discourage their children from spending too long on homework. A third thesis is that homework is a link between school and home. When parents get involved in their children's homework, they show interest. And they know what their child is doing at school.

The question of how much homework makes sense or whether it would be better to abolish it has been the subject of passionate debate for years. «There is not a single argument in favour of homework in the first six years of school,» says paediatrician and author Remo Largo. «With memorisation, exams and grades, our schools are on a wild goose chase that achieves nothing.» Largo would like to see more individuality in lessons and also in learning. «The challenge for parents and teachers is to find out how the child can be supported in their development with which learning experiences.»

«From an academic point of view, the most important school subjects would be music, sport, theatre, art and handicrafts.»

Manfred Spitzer, German brain researcher and author

Personally, I believe that shifting homework to school is the most suitable measure for better separating school and leisure time and not further increasing inequality of opportunity. Unfortunately, it is a fact that children from less educated backgrounds rarely receive support with their homework. The same applies to pupils with parents who work full-time.
I was happy to accept my mum's help back then. Nevertheless, from a distance and with today's knowledge, I take a critical view of her commitment. As a father of two, I am of course interested in my children's homework - but I will be careful not to do it for them.
Yours sincerely, Nik Niethammer

Take a look at the table of contents of the April issuetoday, or order it in our shop.