And then you hear the famous words from the front of the classroom: "We've got christmas presents for you!"
On cue, a groan rises up from the collective. Some are joking. Others resentful. And me? Mostly resentful.
Christmas presents? Everyone knows that it can only mean one thing: Math holiday homework. Lots of it. Oh, and guess what? It's not just math. It's every other other subject in our curriculum as well. Most of them major assignments, to boot.
You know what I want for Christmas? A holiday. And I mean a REAL holiday. It'll be the first real holiday any of us have had in YEARS. Literally years. Let us revisit the dictionary definition of a holiday: (noun) A day of festivity or recreation when no work is done. Doesn't that sound lovely? Yes, yes it does.
So why is that every holiday we have is packed to the brim with a higher density of assigned homework than there is during term time? Pardon me, but I would have thought there'd be LESS stress during the holidays. Nobody wants to spend their holiday (especially overseas) constantly worrying about the the 5 projects due in 4 weeks' time that are worth 20% each. Pardon my french, but that's fucking senseless.
Now, I'm not saying that we ought to spend our month-long June holidays wasting away in front of the TV or computer. Just because it's the holidays doesn't mean it has to be devoid of learning. In fact, I wholly support the idea of learning. And I mean learning of the MEANINGFUL variety.
Instead of academic learning, shouldn't we be using this time to discover ourselves, and explore things that interest us and actually matter to us for once? And more than likely have fun in the process? If assigning homework is Education's way of ensuring we don't squander our holiday free-time, then here's a newsflash for you: Holidays are MEANT to give us slack time, no? And if we choose to use that time for learning, then good-for-us. What Education should NOT be doing, is obstructing our ability to make meaningful use of our time by filling it up with work that should be done during TERM TIME.
If school really wants to MAKE SURE we're learning, then they could always set an assignment whereby we record a journal of one new thing we learnt every day during the holidays. Freedom to explore, space to have fun. Self-learning is the most meaningful. So stop shoving things down our holidaying throats that will not likely have the slightest of mention in our future careers.
And then we have some others who just aren't interested in learning during the holidays. That's fine too. That's FINE. And it SHOULD BE FINE. We need to unwind. Why is that a crime? Why is it some devestating sin to relax during the holidays? Why is there the need to fill it up with homework? I can see no difference between term time and the holidays, with the exception of holidays being more stressful.
You know what I want for Christmas? A holiday. And I mean a REAL holiday. It'll be the first real holiday any of us have had in YEARS. Literally years. Let us revisit the dictionary definition of a holiday: (noun) A day of festivity or recreation when no work is done. Doesn't that sound lovely? Yes, yes it does.
So why is that every holiday we have is packed to the brim with a higher density of assigned homework than there is during term time? Pardon me, but I would have thought there'd be LESS stress during the holidays. Nobody wants to spend their holiday (especially overseas) constantly worrying about the the 5 projects due in 4 weeks' time that are worth 20% each. Pardon my french, but that's fucking senseless.
Now, I'm not saying that we ought to spend our month-long June holidays wasting away in front of the TV or computer. Just because it's the holidays doesn't mean it has to be devoid of learning. In fact, I wholly support the idea of learning. And I mean learning of the MEANINGFUL variety.
Instead of academic learning, shouldn't we be using this time to discover ourselves, and explore things that interest us and actually matter to us for once? And more than likely have fun in the process? If assigning homework is Education's way of ensuring we don't squander our holiday free-time, then here's a newsflash for you: Holidays are MEANT to give us slack time, no? And if we choose to use that time for learning, then good-for-us. What Education should NOT be doing, is obstructing our ability to make meaningful use of our time by filling it up with work that should be done during TERM TIME.
If school really wants to MAKE SURE we're learning, then they could always set an assignment whereby we record a journal of one new thing we learnt every day during the holidays. Freedom to explore, space to have fun. Self-learning is the most meaningful. So stop shoving things down our holidaying throats that will not likely have the slightest of mention in our future careers.
And then we have some others who just aren't interested in learning during the holidays. That's fine too. That's FINE. And it SHOULD BE FINE. We need to unwind. Why is that a crime? Why is it some devestating sin to relax during the holidays? Why is there the need to fill it up with homework? I can see no difference between term time and the holidays, with the exception of holidays being more stressful.
That is all.
