This weekend has become the first of the days promoted by the Spanish Confederation of Associations of Parents of Students (CEAPA) to boycott the homework that teachers propose to students. It is not a new debate, it has been discussed on numerous occasions, both by representatives of families and by some educational administrations within the State, as well as in other countries of the European Union. I start from the need to open the debate about the quantity and model of tasks that our students work on based on the educational level and the learning process of each student within the attention to diversity.
All this does not mean that we understand homework as an effective tool to improve and in the study habits of our students while deepening their attitudes towards work attitudes from the culture of effort in any discipline, as we observe, for example, in sports. I have always thought that homework helps to reinforce the autonomy of the child or young person with respect to what has been assimilated in the classroom from a cooperative and teamwork point of view.
Likewise, those of us who live in the dual condition of teachers and parents, know the suitability of homework when learning to better manage and reconcile their study time with leisure time. In this approach, we do not question, however, whether we are overloading our boys and girls with extracurricular activities, and this is not appearing in the debate raised by families. On the other hand, we do know that all of this contributes to the development and maturity necessary to continue facing the following educational stages. Teachers are aware, from our professional autonomy and ethical code, of the moment in which we modify the methodology and the very concept of doing homework, under the criterion of attention to diversity, but always in a constructive way.
We still do not understand the reasons for questioning the teaching work by families when there are channels, spaces and times for attention to them in schools from the autonomy and organization of the same. We should not consider ourselves better or worse teachers based on the task we send to our students, homework is always connected to the specific learning objectives and involves a reasonable amount. Ultimately, they are a very successful and effective strategy to improve student learning.
At no time do we intend with homework to limit students' leisure time shared with their families and friends, our goal is to collaborate with them in their educational process in a rational way. I celebrate that the debate is opened by mothers and fathers, we have always advocated for a shared education between school and families where the fluidity and contact between both falls on the improvement of the conditions of what we are teaching our students and how we are educating them, it is a shared responsibility for which we all bet.
That said, I reject any type of boycott or strike in this sense, I believe that teachers have our own autonomy as any professional has, I would never suggest to my son's pediatrician the number and time of administration of a specific treatment. We must return to deposit the trust, lost in many cases, in teachers and professors. I assure you, and here I address the families, that we want the best for our children and young people, we recognize the good that homework has to consolidate what is taught in the classroom, educate them in the use and management of work habits, promoting the effort of each of them.
In conclusion, I consider that this is a sterile controversy, lacking the true interests of students to achieve the best training and preparation for adult life. Let's agree to restore respect and trust to our work as teachers, without diminishing our ability to know what is best for our students in their learning processes. It does not benefit us at all, neither families, nor teachers, and much less, the students.
Antonio Hernández Lobo, Secondary and High School teacher
