This book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Licenseuse a new computer program, for example, may be frustrated by waiting for the teacher to explain each step of the
program individually. If a student is already skillful at translating Spanish sentences into English in a language
class, it can be annoying for the teacher to “help” by pointing out minor errors that the student is likely to catch for
herself.
By definition, the purpose of independent practice is to provide more self-regulation of learning than what
comes from guided practice. It implies a different message for students than what is conveyed by guided practice, a
message that goes beyond the earlier one: that it is now time to take more complete responsibility for own learning.
When all goes well, independent practice is the eventual outcome of the zone of proximal development created
during the earlier phase of guided practice described above: the student can now do on his or her own, what
originally required assistance from someone else. Or stated differently, independent practice is a way of
encouraging self-determination about learning, in the sense that we discussed this idea in Chapter 6. In order to
work independently, a student must set his or her own direction and monitor his or her own success; by definition,
no one can do this for the student.
Homework
The chances are that you already have experienced many forms of homework in your own educational career.
The widespread practice of assigning review work to do outside of school is a way of supplementing scarce time in
class and of providing independent practice for students. Homework has generated controversy throughout most of
its history in public education, partly because it encroaches on students’ personal and family-oriented time, and
partly because research finds no consistent benefits of doing homework (Gill & Schlossman, 2004; Kohn, 2004). In
spite of these criticisms, though, parents and teachers tend to favor homework when it is used for two main
purposes. One purpose is to review and practice material that has already been introduced and practiced at school;
a sheet of arithmetic problems might be a classic example. When used for this purpose, the amount of homework is
usually minimal in the earliest grades, if any is assigned at all. One educational expert recommends only ten
minutes per day in first grade at most, and only gradual increases in amount as students get older (Cooper &
Valentine, 2001).
The second purpose for supporting homework is to convey the idea of schoolwork being the “job” of childhood
and youth. Just as on an adult job, students must complete homework tasks with minimal supervision and
sometimes even minimal training. Doing the tasks, furthermore, is a way to get ahead or further along in the work
place (for an adult) or at school (for a child). One study in which researchers interviewed children about these ideas,
in fact, found that children do indeed regard homework as work in the same way that adults think of a job (Cornu &
Xu, 2004). In the children’s minds, homework tasks were not “fun”, in spite of teachers’ frequent efforts to make
them fun. Instead they were jobs that needed doing, much like household chores. When it came to homework,
children regarded parents as the teachers’ assistants—people merely carrying out the wishes of the teacher. Like any
job, the job of doing homework varied in stressfulness; when required at an appropriate amount and level of
difficulty, and when children reported having good “bosses” (parents and teachers), the job of homework could
actually be satisfying in the way that many adults’ jobs can be satisfying when well-done.
Educational Psychology 234 A Global Text