A majority of parents of primary and secondary school students believe homework should be kept, a new Newstalk survey finds.
The latest in a series of polls carried out by Amárach Research for Newstalk examines all things Back to School from voluntary contributions?to?transport and divestment.
The survey finds 56% of parents at primary level believe homework should not be banned, while 9% don't know.
A majority of parents of second-level students - 76% - believe homework should not be banned.
Just under 20% believe it should be banned for secondary school children, while 6% don't know.
Principal of Rathcoole Educate Together Gemma Maher told The Hard Shoulder she can't understand the need for it.
"From day one, we decided that we weren't going to do homework," she said.
"I came from a school where we had tried to bring in no homework, but the parents were so up in arms that we tried other things instead.
"When I started this new school, we thought we'd start as we meant to go on.
"The parents are loving it, and the kids are loving it, and we think it's great."
'Filling that gap'
Ms Maher said opposition from parents usually stems from "the age-old thing: How will I know what my child is doing in school?"
"They want to know what's going on in their child's day; for some schools, that's the only communication they give to the parents.
"For us, we wanted to make sure that because of that issue, we would fill that gap.
"So in Rathcoole Educate Together, we do a monthly newsletter for the parents... and it covers everything we're going to do that month.
"It also includes things that parents can do at home that would enhance the teaching, but it's all hands-on active things."
'Stress and pressure'
Ms Maher said parents trying to fill the teacher's roles at home can often be counter-productive.
"Parents aren't teachers unless you're lucky like my kids, and you've got two of them at home," she said.
"Most parents can't sit down and teach a child how to do multiplication; they end up making the kid hate the subject more because it creates stress and pressure that doesn't need to be there."
Ms Maher said she believes homework can negatively impact family life.
"I come home every day at 4pm/4.30pm and the last thing I want to be doing is sitting down doing homework in a book with my child.
"We go out for a walk on the scooters, or we cook dinner together, or we sit down and have a chat about our day.
"A lot of that's missed because homework gets in the way, and it creates this negative relationship between parent and child.
"That's not what any schoolteacher wants - we want to re-enforce the learning and the full part of it."
A father and son struggle with homework. Picture by: sakkmesterke / Alamy Stock PhotoMs Maher said homework ultimately won't change academic outcomes.
"There is no document that says that homework works," she said.
"To me, any child who's doing well in school will do well at homework, but any child who's not doing well at school won't do well at homework.
"It doesn't change the results you're going to get.
"The homework schools traditionally set are things that children should be able to manage by themselves at home, so what's the point of it?" she added.
