Video Chat with Education Author Alfie Kohn
on February 18, 2010
Policy & Technology
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Assessments, grades and homework are hot topics in education right now, and on Monday, 170 educators heard what author and speaker Alfie Kohn had to say about those issues.
In his latest book, "The Homework Myth," Kohn debunks the theory that homework helps students learn, and he shared more of his views during a video discussion hosted by The Educator's PLN Ning Network.
He pointed out that research does not show that homework benefits students. Kids hate homework and can't wait to be done with it so that they can move on to activities that they care about. In effect, people dismiss students' dislike of homework and say that it doesn't matter what they think, which is a behaviorist model that yanks the subjects out of their minds and bodies.
"The reality is that outcomes in education are determined in large part by the attitudes and goals and perspectives of the real living human beings, the learners in our classrooms," Kohn said. "So if they regard homework as pointless, as frustrating, as unlikely to be beneficial, as something they thoroughly detest, it would be extroardinary to find research that finds an achievement effect despite the way they regard it, and in fact the research provides just what would be predicated from a non-behaviorist point of view, namely that it doesn't tend to be beneficial."
Instead of blithely saying that homework helps students learn, educators should form a hypothesis and be open to what they find out as they search for answers.
Find out more of what Kohn has to say in this video and share your responses in the comments.
Alfie Kohn Live Chat from Shelly Terrell on Vimeo.
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