She stirred the debate connection “Together for Voluntary Homework in Schools” academician Helena Zidkova from the Faculty of Arts of the University of Pardubice, teacher Martina Hezká from ZŠ Pardubice – Benešovo náměstí, founder of the English portal Marek Vít and professor of prof. Carl Wright.
The petition seeks a regulation from the ministry that clearly states that schools do not have the right to ask for homework. So far, 1,500 people have signed.
With the challenge, the authors want to point out “the unsatisfactory situation in our education about the lack of clarity and ambiguity in the approach to compulsory homework”.
The music never ends. He plows the fields
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Additionally, according to the authors of the petition, compulsory homework is “an instrument of power and does not encourage intrinsic motivation”.
Homework is also discriminatory because “the school cannot and does not guarantee equal conditions for students in their home environment to complete homework”. Also mentioned Legal analysis against their enforcement.
| From the petition we select: | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| “There is no legal regulation in the Czech legislature that allows interference in the leisure time of a school student and his legal representatives.” | |||
| “If completed homework is assigned a grade, it cannot be demonstrated that the level of knowledge and skills of a particular student is being assessed. The homework may have been prepared by someone else, perhaps with the help of someone else.’ | |||
| “Compulsory homework is often implemented under the threat of being given a five for not completing it. According to the Education Law and Decree 48/2005. But the teacher must evaluate the results of the student’s education in relation to the achievement of the educational goals. (…) If the student does not hand in the homework, the teacher has no basis for evaluation. No, therefore the level of mastery of the subject cannot be proved.” |
But the call should not be primarily against homework. “If thinking about the word ‘mandatory’ is replaced with the word ‘voluntary,’ homework can be a useful tool for meaningful learning, and if children are allowed to choose what is meaningful to them,” the authors concluded.
Responsibilities should not be shifted to parents
The Ministry of Education wants to help schools address the situation and send them various recommendations – including the quality of assignments.
“Basic information about the topic will be sent to schools by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports this month. It will be a basic summary of what currently applies and how schools can proceed, so that homework is not misused, for example, overloading students. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports and Science on this topic will continue to work and inform schools,” said Aneta Letnova, spokeswoman for the ministry.
According to the ministry, it is not realistic to shorten the second phase of primary school during this election period
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The Ministry points out that the obligations of the student are regulated by the Education Act, according to which the student is obliged, inter alia, to receive a proper education. “The student’s homework is inextricably linked to education, when he prepares for exams in his free time, completes seminars and other work or completes homework if assigned by the school,” explained representatives of the office.
According to the Ministry of Education, homework is within the competence of individual schools. Since it is a document introduced by both teachers, parents and students, they can recommend fixing this problem in their school regulations.
“However, it is possible to assign homework regardless of whether the school rules specify it. It is true that the range of assigned homework should be sufficient and not be a tool to transfer responsibility for education to the family,” Lednova added. publication Czech school survey.
It is also written that no legal regulation deals with the issue of assigning and assessing homework because it is not a legal issue but primarily a pedagogical one.
Questionnaire
What do you think about homework?
They must be mandatory and evaluated.
At least occasional mandatory homework doesn’t hurt, but not all assignments need to be strictly graded.
Homework must be voluntary or nothing at all. Children should work at school, not at leisure.
A total of 1041 readers voted.
Grades and report cards
At the same time, the Ministry of Education is currently working on a plan to cancel the marks on the report cards of students in grades 1 to 3 of primary schools.
According to the Ministry, constant monitoring of individual progress of students makes evaluation by quality difficult or impossible. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science said it may be associated with lower grades and frequent postponement of school attendance, especially for first-graders. Document For education development till 2027.
This is also a topic of debate. For example, according to Peter Hopffinger, an education expert from the Učitel naživo organization, replacing grades with verbal or scaled assessments only on school students’ report cards, when they are usually graded over the year, would be inappropriate.
Replacing grades with other assessments based solely on a report card is inappropriate, the expert warns
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