A principal who has been one of the forerunning voices in the fight against homework has suggested more "meaningful work" be given in place of homework following today’s plea from parents and children to introduce a ban after it was put forward by President Michael D Higgins.
In letters to the minister, kids wrote about how they were being forced to give up hobbies because they were given so much work to do after school.
Various letters were sent to Education Minister Norma Foley from children that explained how they were forced to stop engaging in hobbies due to the level of work piled on after school.
READ MORE: Kids write to Minister Norma Foley pleading with her to ban homework after President comments
However, the department has told children that any ban would not be within its remit: “The department does not issue direct guidelines relating to homework being given in schools. It is a matter for each school, at local level, to arrive at its own homework policy,” they said in an email.
Simon Lewis, who is the first principal of the Carlow Educate Together School, has suggested that homework just be focused on more meaningful tasks that matter to the child, such as nurturing talent or reading.
Speaking to the Irish Mirror, Lewis explained: “We've been looking at homework for the bones of a decade in our school, and we've surveyed parents, we've surveyed the children, we've surveyed the staff, and we've been kind of making moves away from traditional homework, I suppose, since then.
“Generally, we have come to the conclusion that homework has become a dirty word. And we kind of think that if homework is needed in primary schools and we're not convinced that it is, it needs to be meaningful to the children that are doing it.
“We have to make sure that if we're going to give children something, that it's got to mean something to them. So that can be for older kids in primary schools, that can be kind of projects that they're interested in or science that they're interested in.
“For younger children, that's probably things like reading every day. It's meaningful to spend some time with their family, doing things that mean something to them.
“They are our broad findings from speaking to our families, our staff, and other teachers. Out there, things are kind of moving in the direction of the 21st century.
He added that a digital approach is also the best way to engage with schoolwork, explaining how it is “madness” to not engage with such a “valuable resource”.
Lewis explained: “Obviously, technology is such a valuable resource that it's madness not to engage with it. So, you know, again, giving children who work at their own pace, giving them choice. Technology allows us to give children that back.
“I'm sure you're old enough to remember having to put in a homework journal. We got rid of our homework journal about eight or nine years ago. So teachers when they're communicating with parents, they do that digitally, and they're able to differentiate that work as well.”
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