WARSAW: Ola Kozak is celebrating. The 11-year-old, who loves music and drawing, expects to have more free time for her hobbies after Poland’s govt ordered strict limits on the amount of homework in the lower grades.
The govt of PM Donald Tusk enacted the ban against required homework this month amid a broad discussion about the need to modernise Poland’s education system, which critics say puts too much emphasis on rote learning and homework, and not enough on critical thinking and creativity.Under the decree, teachers are no longer to give required homework to kids in the first to third grades. In grades four to eight, homework is now optional and doesn’t count towards a grade.
Not everyone likes the change – and even Ola’s parents are divided. While her father Pawel says it could be good for students, her mother Magda feels homework is a way to consolidate what was learned.
Debates over the proper amount of homework are common around the globe. While some studies have shown little benefit to homework, other experts say it can help them learn how to develop study habits and academic concepts. Slawomir Broniarz, head of the Polish Teachers’ Union said this was another case of change imposed without adequate consultation with educators.
The rules gained impetus in the runup to elections last year, when a 14-year-old boy, Maciek Matuszewski, told Tusk before a national audience that kids “had no time to rest.”
The govt of PM Donald Tusk enacted the ban against required homework this month amid a broad discussion about the need to modernise Poland’s education system, which critics say puts too much emphasis on rote learning and homework, and not enough on critical thinking and creativity.Under the decree, teachers are no longer to give required homework to kids in the first to third grades. In grades four to eight, homework is now optional and doesn’t count towards a grade.
Not everyone likes the change – and even Ola’s parents are divided. While her father Pawel says it could be good for students, her mother Magda feels homework is a way to consolidate what was learned.
Debates over the proper amount of homework are common around the globe. While some studies have shown little benefit to homework, other experts say it can help them learn how to develop study habits and academic concepts. Slawomir Broniarz, head of the Polish Teachers’ Union said this was another case of change imposed without adequate consultation with educators.
The rules gained impetus in the runup to elections last year, when a 14-year-old boy, Maciek Matuszewski, told Tusk before a national audience that kids “had no time to rest.”