Lessons Learned From Virtual Home Visits: Is It Time to Rethink Homework and Other School-to-Home Engagements?

Lessons Learned From Virtual Home Visits: Is It Time to Rethink Homework and Other School-to-Home Engagements?

Kathy R. Fox
Copyright: © 2022 |Pages: 17
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-4569-3.ch004
OnDemand:
(Individual Chapters)
Available
$37.50
Current Special Offers
No Current Special Offers
TOTAL SAVINGS: $37.50

Abstract

School-to-home engagement has often been seen as a one-way path, with activities designed by teachers and parents and caregivers expected to supervise school-like homework and periodically invited to participate in school events. The benefits of homework, although debated, were assumed to lie with the child. The event of COVID-19 forced many teachers to rapidly switch from face-to-face classroom instruction to entering kitchens, living rooms, and other spaces to deliver virtual instruction. Teachers suddenly found themselves instructing through the virtual window into the homes of their students. In a study of 11 practicing teachers, a new appreciation for family literacy efforts developed. Doors were literally and figuratively opened so that teachers could now be the beneficiaries of cultural and academic practices in the home. As schools opened and teacher, parent, and caregiver relationships returned to a more distant space, what were the lessons learned from this unique period of engagement the authors call the “virtual home visit”?
Chapter Preview
Top

Introduction

My homework response from students is about half do it, usually the ones that don't need the extra practice. Our parents actually have always asked for homework, or complained when we didn't give any, that is why we've been giving it these past few years (we tried to not give it one year and parents freaked). I have not had any complaints about no homework this year though.

What have teachers learned about homework and other family literacy activities in the home from the virtual “home visits” of the previous school year? The above vignette from one teacher shows a range of how homework is debated and the reasons why teachers may assign it, even as they consider its effectiveness. The teacher described homework prior to the COVID-19 pandemic’s closure of her school. She went on to say that currently, as the instruction changed to a blend of face-to-face and virtual delivery, parents had not requested or commented on the lack of independent homework. What before would have been called homework—or school work assigned by the teacher but completed in the home—was now a part of the routine of the virtual instructional day. For parents, the blurring of the lines between traditional homework and virtual work done in the home did not seem problematic. For teachers, they now had access to the child as they worked. The change in delivery models provided teachers with entry into the homes of children where they might not have previously ventured. They could now view and interact firsthand through the virtual window the support systems in the home, what materials were available and the setting for the school work in the home. Importantly, as reported in this chapter, teachers had access to the parent, sibling and other support systems that may not have been available and or known prior to this experience. How the home setting supported academic work within a real-life context was made visible. Likewise, parents and caregivers had more opportunities to interact with teachers over their child’s curriculum, not only asking questions but also adding contexts and knowledge for both the child and the teacher. The potential for parent and caregiver engagement in a “bi-directional”, or two-way manner that informs both the classroom and the home was perhaps the most important learning for teachers. [The term “parents and caregivers” is used to purposefully acknowledge the multiple adults and stakeholders in the home and community of the child.]

Complete Chapter List

Search this Book:
Reset