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Young World
Heave ho, it's homework
UZMA HYDER
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Teachers, the people behind homework discuss different and novel ways to make it enjoyable for children.
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Having fun with homework?
HYDERABAD:
The recent incident of a girl being chided and hit for not doing her homework by her teacher whereby she had to have a surgery is disturbing. Today the load of homework is rather heavy for small shoulders. And mostly it is the parents who have to help the children out. Do children have to go through the ordeal day after day? Can there be innovative ways of accomplishing the task?
"It's a burden'', cried past generations, "over-burdening'', quip the present one. `Homework is a necessary evil' is the adage now.
The nature and content of homework is debated by the erudite educationist. Homework should be refreshing, is the belief of many. This idea is refuted as utopian by others, for the syllabus has to be completed.
Zenobia Rustomfram, counsellor at Nasr School, believes that homework should be a re-enforcement of what a child learns at school. Homework has become mechanical, she laments, "it should be creative, making the child think and ponder. The nature of work should be of logical deductions and not reproducing verbatim which is what home work has become."
The aim of homework, most schools agree, is to refresh what has been taught in class, and also to stimulate innovative thinking. Unfortunately, over the years this ideal has been overpowered by the constraints of syllabus. Now realising the futility of this overburdening, most teachers try to decrease the load by introducing new and innovative techniques. Veena Singh, Hindi teacher for the high school section at Gitanjali advocates the use of project work. For, projects are not only fun they also create an atmosphere conducive for intelligent learning. Veena Singh also believes that work done in class and adequate revision should suffice as preparations for the exam. "Children do get overburdened, parents are expecting their children to be the best and are sending them for IIT coaching right from class VIII, teachers need to be sensitive and reduce the pressure of home work.''
Parental pressure also burdens a child. The interference of tuition teachers and parents can prove detrimental. Ahmedi Begum, a teacher of Maths and Science at All Saints prefers to get work done under her sole supervision. A teacher with 35 years of experience behind her, she feels, "in today's world, innovative methods should be used to dispel the pressure of home work.'' Her colleague Lakshmi Krishnan, who teaches Std. X agrees, "interesting home work is a challenge that students love''. ``Children are meant to enjoy their childhood, as after Std. 10 the grind starts anyway,'' says Head Mistress Chaitanya Vidyalaya, Kiran, who also teaches biology to Std. X. Their school follows a graded and planned arrangement of homework, where the quantity is strictly controlled, keeping in mind the child's comfort levels. "Maths requires practice,'' she acknowledges, but also states that the number of sums can be limited.
It is imperative for homework to be creative, stimulating and most importantly growth conducive. Shloka School follows a rather unique way of getting homework done. Says Std. VI teacher Jyothi Goud "learning is a practical process. Homework is given but there are no compulsions, for example, the number of sums to be done is left to the child.''
Without limitations, homework seems challenging to a child. Children, she feels, in trying to compete with each other and also in an attempt to appease the teacher do creative work they wouldn't have done otherwise. Indeed, this is a unique formula for homework.
Homwork is important inthe process of learning. But it should be enjoyable, and above all, should augment the intellectual capabilities of a child.
Homework has to be transformed into a fun-filled path of innovative learning.
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