Movie Review: Race to Nowhere
Should schools assign homework? I believe they should, but the 2009 documentary film Race to Nowhere definitely challenged me to expand my thinking on this question. The film highlights the immense toll on kids’ mental health when they are overscheduled, staying up late at night completing homework, and cramming for tests. The fundamental questions of the film are the questions of pros and cons: are the demands of our school system (particularly homework) actually producing useful learning, or is this just a race to nowhere? And, what cost are we paying for entering our children in this race?
On the first question of whether our school system is producing useful learning, I held preconceived agreement with the film that it often isn’t. I found myself unhappily nodding along to the kids talking about cramming for tests and forgetting everything a few days later, as well as their laser focus on grades and university entrance rather than curiosity and authentic learning. Indeed, these concerns were among the big motivations for starting VISST. What challenged my views more was the latter question about the cons, or tolls, of homework. The film depicts starkly contrasting images of kids doing homework in bed at 1 am by dim lamplight vs. kids playing outdoors and spending quality time with their families (the proposed no-homework paradise). This raises an important question that the film provoked me to ask: What might my students be doing with their time otherwise, if I didn’t assign this homework?
Of course I can’t know for sure, but I can guess, and herein lies the difficulty: I think the answer varies hugely from student to student, and also over time. I know VISST students have stayed up late doing homework, and I wish they could have gotten enough sleep those nights instead. I also know some students spend hours playing video games or scrolling social media, activities which are unproductive at best and damaging at worst. There is so much to think about here.
Whatever the approach, I wish for VISST students to be part of the conversation by asking themselves important questions as well. For example, “Could I have managed my time differently to get more sleep this week?” Or, “If I’m late or don’t complete this assignment, am I letting anyone down?” Or even, “Do I really need to complete this homework at all, or is it time to let go and get some sleep?” The last question is one that I observed many UBC students struggle with, because they were used to completing everything, always. (At one point I even assigned an utterly unreasonable homework question to emphasize this point about letting go: “Do 400 push-ups, 300 sit-ups, recite the alphabet backwards 200 times, and memorize the names of 100 countries.” After a few years, a student actually did it, with video evidence and all! I didn’t know whether to applaud, laugh or cry.)
Watching Race to Nowhere raised another homework question for me: if we are going to have homework, what types of work are best done at home? Indeed, a common paradigm at school is that whatever work you don’t finish in class is assigned for homework. But maybe this is backwards? The students who work more slowly might be precisely the students who need more help from the teacher, and should not be the ones left to struggle at home without help. Perhaps homework shouldn’t be about learning a new concept, but about practice and fluency. For example, reading for half an hour seems like a great homework assignment. Or in my domain of math, perhaps exercises in practice and fluency, rather than the latest topic that students are still wrapping their heads around? On the other hand, we do want kids to spend time figuring things out on their own, as long as it’s a productive struggle.
Part of the issue depends on the kids’ lives outside of school and home environments. Are family members or friends available to help with homework? Does the student have free time outside of school? Is there a quiet study space at home? The variation between home environments raises equity issues here as well, though the film didn’t address them. I believe these equity issues are important to consider on a system-wide scale. At VISST in particular, we are in the fortunate situation of working with families who are committed to education, and kids who do have the support and environment that allows for productive study outside of school.
The film did a great job of also bringing the parents’ perspective into the conversation. For example, several interviewed parents discussed the pressure and anxiety they feel surrounding their kids’ academic performance. One parent talked about how their relationship with their kids was altered from supportive to adversarial because they were constantly monitoring their kids’ completion of homework. I think these are important discussions, and that they transcend the issue of homework, to the more general question of what happens when parents’ tie their happiness to the mast of their kids’ academic success.
Overall, I enjoyed Race to Nowhere, more so for the questions it raised than for the solutions it provided. The film certainly succeeded in engendering a strong sense of empathy for the kids lost in the race to nowhere.
Race to Nowhere ends with advice to four key stakeholder groups: students, parents, teachers and administrators. You can find the advice on pages 37-40 here. I was glad to see that VISST is onside with several points there, including “Consider a later start time for the school day in high school.” With our 10am start, we have that one covered!
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