What have I done as a teacher with the homework?

I am perplexed. Why is the pupil not following my instructions? What have I done?
It's Monday morning, I'm sitting in a parents' meeting after four lessons. The day before, on Sunday evening, I received a call from an angry mum at 5 pm: «This can't go on!» she told me on the phone. After three and a half hours of maths homework, she had pulled the «rip cord» and taken her son's maths materials away.

We teachers often only find out about these dramas when the situation has already reached a dead end.

Unfortunately, dramas over homework happen far too often. Parents argue with their children, threaten to ban them from watching TV or taking away their mobile phones. Or the whole family spends hours poring over seemingly unsolvable homework problems. The opposite also happens: «Nobody» at home is interested in the homework - the school then contacts the parents or guardians. We teachers often only find out about these dramas when the situation has already reached a dead end. Often, the drama at home then escalates into an argument at the family table with the responsible teachers.
So now I'm sitting with mother and son having this conversation. The mother explains that her son has spent ten hours in the past week «just doing your maths homework, Mr Zingg». She is very angry and I no longer understand the world. I was under the impression that I had given homework for about 20 minutes. What's wrong here?
As a teacher at lower secondary level, I am very concerned about how much and, above all, what kind of homework I give my students. From my own school days, I remember the «finishing off» of tasks, the «catching up». Today, we know from various research studies that this homework does not lead to any learning gains, but rather demotivates the pupils.

Good homework practice looks like this:

• Young people should be able to do their homework independently.
• Exercises may occur, but should be the exception rather than the rule.
• Clever tasks are varied, attractive, action-orientated and are understood independently. It then takes less to achieve the same learning gain.
• In terms of quantity, it is better to give a small amount of homework on a regular basis rather than a lot of homework at certain points.
• In order for homework to be meaningful and effective for learning, regular individual, support-orientated feedback should be given on homework.

Good homework is varied, attractive and can be completed independently.

To come back to the parental interview: What was the nature of said homework that caused the drama?
I don't want students to do more than 20 minutes of maths homework a day. Nevertheless, this pupil worked longer on it. Why? Because he is ambitious and really wants to do it perfectly. That's commendable, but I don't want that.
So I gave the mum the order to stop the homework after 30 minutes at the latest. If the tasks cannot be completed in this time, the fault lies with me, because I have expressed myself unclearly or have given up a homework task that the pupil cannot solve at the moment. The mum was relieved. Further dramas could be averted. Although the pupil still sometimes does homework for more than 30 minutes, the situation has improved considerably. Now and then he even finishes after just 15 minutes.

Above all, parents should create a quiet environment for their child to learn.

As a teacher, what do I generally expect from parents when it comes to homework? It has been shown that interest without constant monitoring is beneficial. I would like parents to ask their offspring about their homework, look at a notebook from time to time and talk to their child about what they are working on. They should offer their help, not technical but organisational help, and above all create a calm environment so that their child can concentrate and therefore learn and work quickly. And last but not least, I expect parents to contact me if there are any problems with homework or school.
Imagine if the mother had not contacted me. As a result, the pupil would have become increasingly frustrated and their performance would probably have dropped. As a teacher, I would then have asked more and more questions and finally, after a month or two, I would have invited the parents to a meeting because their son was performing unsatisfactorily. This parent-teacher conference would certainly have been more unpleasant for everyone. I am happy to organise several meetings with parents like the one just described. So, dear parents, please contact us teachers early on if you have any questions or problems - it helps everyone involved.

Children who are home alone after school should be provided with free childcare after school.

As a teacher, I not only have expectations of parents, but also of schools and communities. There are pupils who are home alone after school hours. Their carers are still at work or asleep as they work shifts. These young people are often unable to cope with the homework situation on their own. For these cases, the school should provide free after-school care. In this way, the skills that we want to promote with homework can be successfully trained and equal opportunities are guaranteed in the best possible way.

Order magazine on the topic:

In our April 2017 issue, we look at the question of how useful homework is in a 25-page dossier. This text is taken from our dossier. Would you like to read the whole dossier? Then order magazine 04/17 now!

Read more in the online topic dossier Homework:

• 8 crisp homework tips for parents
• Interview with Armin Himmelrath: Homework is a waste of time