Who Invented Homework and Why? Reveal the History of Assigning Home Tasks
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Homework is a fundamental part of the studying process nowadays. With its help, students can get more practice, boost their knowledge, and improve their skills.
Practicing more at home enables them to manage their tasks in a faster and more effective way. Getting home tasks on a daily basis, hardly many of us wondered who invented homework and how they came up with this idea. Is there a specific person who believed in the important role of home assignmnets? When particularly was it invented? Did it have the same purposes back then? If you have these or any other questions, read on the article and find out the value and role homework has.
Who Created Homework: Take a Trip Back in History
There exist contradictory views as to whether home tasks are advantageous for students or just consume a lot of time. It is possible to debate on this topic endlessly; still, it might be an even better idea to take a pause and try to find some evidence about the history of homework. Some historical facts prove that homework was originally invented by an Italian teacher Roberto Nevilis. According to the findings, Nevilis brought up the idea of home assignments when he saw that students forgot much of the material after the class.
Nevilis was disappointed at this fact as he made a great input into teaching, but the results were poor. At that point, the idea of assigning home tasks appeared. Initially, it was to be a form of punishment for those students who were not performing well, because physical punishment was not a good option.
Delving Deeper into History: When Was Homework Invented?
With the beginning of formal system of education, the concept of homework was rather formal, too. It was meant to ensure the revision of the learned material and make the studying process more effective.
According to some other sources, the practice of assigning home tasks was popular even in the times of the Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. However, Nevilis made this practice more formalized. With years, homework changed its role from the form of punishment to the way of motivation. Students were thus becoming more interested in engaging into out-of-class activities. Were it not for homework, students would have not been interested in learning at all.
These historical facts highlight that homework became a means of making the learning process more sophisticated and effective. It became not only an alternative way of punishment for not performing well in class but as a efficient means of motivating students to learn beyond in-class activities. Whatever the reasons were, the main motif was to make sure that students do not cease learning behind classroom. Homework enabled students to perform great in the long run and not to forget the learned information fast.
Horace Mann
Another historical figure who played a key role in popularizing home tasks was Horace Mann. He was a reformist in education and a politician who lived in the 19th century. Mann and his contemporaries, Calvin Ellis Stowe and Henry Bernard, were interested in the compulsory system of public education introduced in Germany.
These nation schools (or “Volksschulen” in German) predetermined that students were given obligatory home assignments that were given virtually in all subjects. At that point, these obligatory home tasks signified the power that the state had over an individual. Johann Gottlieb Fichte also played a catalyst role in the popularization of homework, as he supported unified Germany. Specifically, Fichte’s political views boosted the process of making the necessity of home assignments inevitable.
Horace Mann stood at the forefront of developing public education in the USA, which was funded by taxes and regulated by the government. When Mann had a trip to Germany in 1843, he got inspired by the concept of Volksschule and brought this idea to the USA.
The Main Purpose of Homework
The aims and purposes of homework have long been put into discussion not only by those who founded the idea of homework and schooling but also those who wanted to make the learning process more effective. Even nowadays many people view that homework is not essential within the studying process. However, studies conducted on students who were and were not assigned home tasks prove the contrary. According to the findings, homework plays an essential role in boosting the level of students’ knowledge.
The History of Homework
- 1901 – 1917: In California, it was prohibited for students younger than 15 years of age to do homework. Specifically, a certain number of statements against homework were claimed and letters published in The New York Times and The Ladies Home Journal.
- 1930: In the USA, the idea of assigning home tasks were claimed to be child labor by the American Child Health Association.
- 1950: Throughout the period of the Cold War, homework was initiated as a means of helping students to succeed, specifically in scientific disciplines and mathematics.
- 2000 till present times: the idea that homework is harmful or can be considered as child labor is no longer topical. Children are assigned homework on a regular basis, which helps them thrive academically.
Why Was Homework Invented and Who Invented Homework?
According to Nevilis, who was mentioned before, assigning homework provides students with the chances to:
- acquire material in their tempo without a haste;
- learn on their own without estimation from beyond;
- pick a number of hours for studying at home individually;
- plan the studying process on their own;
- find and use different sources of information.
- repetition and revision of the formerly learned material;
- arranging the learnt material in students’ memory;
- consolidation of skills and knowledge required for working in an individual manner.
Thus, the main aims and objectives of homework are:
- to nurture independent learning, strong will, diligence, and responsibility of students;
- to help students master different skills in learning that come from a variety of teaching methods and ways;
- to develop students’ research skills, namely assumption, hypothesis formation, comparison and contrast, analysis, etc.;
- to show students how to seek for credible information and extract it from various primary and secondary sources.
When a teacher organizes a system of effective homework systematically and consistently assigned to students in an individual and class format, it increases students’ chances to master the course and succeed in acquiring the material. Thus, there is a need to utilize different types of homework, taking into consideration the development of different students’ learning styles. It is also essential for a tutor to combine and organize different types of home activities for different classes depending on the level of students. One of the recommended approaches is to involve students in outdoor learning and team work.
Advantages of Doing Homework
One of the popular questions apart from, “When was homework made?” is “Is homework really advantageous?” Surely, there are different viewpoints on this issue, but all in all, homework brings plenty of benefits to students. Take a look at the advantages below.
- It motivates students to be more consistent and disciplined in their studying.
Regular homework enables students to consistent in learning. Usually, students receive similar tasks to those practiced in class, so repetitive practicing of the same type of assignment improves skills and memory. The more a student practices, the clearer it becomes in the process of solving specific problems and tasks within a subject. Even though it may sound boring, but reading the same material for two or three times adds to proper understanding of the subject. Resultantly, being disciplined helps students in their future lives, particularly in careers. - Home assignments motivate students’ parents to participate in their studying process.
Parents can be confused or even perplexed when they see what type of homework their children get. Since students may need extra assistance, usually it comes from parents as these are the people who stay with children at home. Any feelings and emotions parents get are perfectly normal. More so, parents are not required to be brilliant in helping students learn or be good at the subjects. Rather, discussing homework in the home setting helps them establish their bond and making their communication more effective. Also, parents can observe their children’s interests and topics they are passionate about. Discussing homework with children allows parents to understand strengths and weaknesses. Cooperation between parents and children in regards to homework is particularly beneficial to primary students. - Students learn how to manage their time in a proper way and how to develop research skills. It is a common problem for students that they struggle with time management and fail to distribute time among their tasks evenly. With home assignments, they can learn to do it better while planning their time between school activities and free time. When students get to know the importance of their time and that their efficiency directly impacts how much free time for socializing is left, they tackle with procrastination better. In addition, students learn how to make schedules on their own and stick to the planned activities. Proper planning keeps students motivated and stay tuned with the material they have to catch up with. Moreover, since a lot of tasks require analysis and extra research, students thus learn to investigate topics in a variety of sources. Gradually, it becomes easier for them to work on research papers, term papers, coursework project, and dissertations in the future.
- Homework forms a safe and nourishing environment for learning.
Even though the main places for studying and knowledge acquisition are schools, colleges, and universities, students may frequently be distracted there. So, the only place where they can feel relaxed when learning something can be their home. Attention levels may suffer when students are too active or involved in extracurricular activities or simply overwhelmed when communicating with friends. Thus, home can be a calm place where they can concentrate and isolate themselves from distractions.
Conclusion
No matter whether we like home tasks or not, they are an underlying constituent of student life and knowledge acquisition. Whereas some students suffer at the very thought of “who made homework?”, the others are grateful as they have this opportunity to revise material and improve skills. Practicing homework regularly also improves grades. Also, due to the technological revolution, students can receive really interesting types of home assignments and also get help on online homework help platforms.
Specifically, such services as college-homework-help.net assist students manage their home tasks with the help of professionals who specialize in a variety of research fields.
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Who Invented Homework and Why? Reveal the History of Assigning Home Tasks
December 27, 2022 in Students life