Primary Homework - reflecting on the 'Alphabet Quiz'

Recently I was reflecting on homework in primary schools and whether it was a good idea or not.

According to the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), the evidence suggests that, on average, it may be more helpful for primary schools to set homework than not, albeit perhaps less so than in secondary schools (+3 months progress on average, compared with +5 months on average in secondary schools). As a limitation, the strength of the evidence on homework is the EEF's lowest security rating and only 11 of the 43 studies in the EEF review are primary-specific. Also, as with all averages of this kind, there is a lot that sits behind the statistics, and the individual studies often describe quite different approaches. The EEF acknowledge this and has drawn together some useful advice for those considering implementing homework in either primary or secondary schools.

However, when it comes to being a social leveller, homework presents a problem. Children who are from disadvantaged backgrounds typically spend less time on homework (OECD, 2014), are less likely to focus their time on homework that doesn't have immediate gratification (Sugarman, 1970 as cited by Jones, 2020) and are less likely to be supported by their parents (Jerrim, 2017).

The primary school I attended as a child in the 1980s had a high proportion of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Although I don't know what the view of the profession was in the UK around primary homework at the time (I was only 10 when I left primary school!), regular homework wasn't something that seemed to be expected at my primary school, or indeed any of the other primary schools that my friends attended.

The reason I was reflecting on primary homework was that I was asked recently whether I was set homework at primary school. Initially, I said no, but later added that I was set an 'Alphabet Quiz' weekly.

The Alphabet Quiz

The Alphabet Quiz seemed to be coordinated by a teacher called Mr Tweddle. He was the class teacher in my third year at the school and was a teacher I had a huge amount of respect for. I had the good fortune to meet him again at the start of my teaching career as my first placement school was at my old primary school and I taught my first lessons as a trainee when completing the placement in his class.

Being an Alphabet Quiz, perhaps it won't surprise you that there were 26 general knowledge questions, the answers to which began with each letter of the alphabet. Each correct answer scored a point. Some clues were straightforward, some more cryptic. Many were words or phrases that a child of that age might know, for example: names of countries, types of dance and types of transport. Some of the answers, you could look up in a dictionary or atlas. For some questions, you would ask an adult and for others, you would guess. You would find out about countries, capital cities, currencies, languages, phobias, wildlife, celebrities, famous historical figures, musical notation, measurement systems, and medical imaging (I think 'x-ray', 'xenophobia' and 'xylophone' did all appear more than once).

In the days before the internet, and with not a lot of written material to draw upon other than a few fact books that I'd been given as Christmas presents over the years, I had to be quite inventive to get the answers. There were a few TV programmes like documentaries that I would watch. I had to ask family members for help from time to time; some answers they knew, some they didn't, but they always tried to help. I might have called in at the local library once or twice too to get the odd answer that proved more elusive.

It was a long time ago, but from memory, there was a high competition rate for the Alphabet Quiz. And because there was a competition element to it, copying answers wasn't something that happened. I did lots of extra work at home to get these answers.

But we didn't have 'homework'.

Flipped Learning / Prep

Reflecting now, I see this would be best described as a 'flipped learning' approach. The idea of flipped learning is to This approach is referred to in the EEF site on homework listed above and much of the evidence base that underpins their rating involves flipped learning approaches. Flipped learning is listed in over half of the studies that they used to compile the review (Kenyon, 2023). Back in the 1980s, I doubt that this would have been referred to by teachers as 'flipped learning' as the Alphabet Quiz pre-dates the first references to similar approaches by at least a decade, if not more (Agirman & Ercoskun, 2022). Saying that, the idea is not new as 'prep' homework was commonly (and arguably, successfully) used in independent schools for many years before that.

A key component of 'flipped learning' or 'prep' is that this involves preparation and/or research ahead of the lessons. The aim is to help the pupil gain some key knowledge (e.g. vocabulary) that would be later used in lessons, and therefore making the lesson itself more efficient. This allows the teacher to provide more support with more difficult application of the knowledge. For the Alphabet Quiz, some of these facts would also appear in lessons. I'm not sure it was immediate, but many of these facts would be part of the curriculum over time.

Motivational Compliance

It is also an example of 'motivational compliance'. The idea is that it encourages people to want to do well. This is one of the key components of the EnlightenEd Leadership programme, which was developed many years later as a school improvement model that supports teacher retention.

A key component of the Alphabet Quiz is sparking curiosity in the child (in this case, mine). I wanted to know the answer and I wanted to get all 26 questions right. This particular approach also created the opportunity for incidental reading and gaining knowledge. This would happen as you would have to do a bit of digging to get the answer and read quite a lot more as you went. The 'less is more' element is another feature that is embedded in EnlightenEd Leadership.

Some of these facts certainly stuck in my mind and probably helped out in later schooling and the odd pub quiz and Trivial Pursuit game later in life.

I didn't ever get a chance to thank Mr Tweddle in person for this, as it took some reflection in late life to think about the impact that this had, but it certainly made me (and many others at my school with a high proportion of disadvantaged pupils) learn more than might have happened otherwise.

References:

Agirman, N & Ercoskun, M. H., (2022) History of the Flipped Classroom Model and Uses of the Flipped Classroom Concept International Journal of Curriculum and Instructional Studies, 12(1), 2022, 71-88, available at: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1349598.pdf (last accessed 05/02/2024)

Teaching & Learning Toolkit (EEF, 2021) https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/education-evidence/teaching-learning-toolkit/homework (last accessed 05/02/2024)

Jerrim, J (2017) Extra Time: Private tuition and out-of-school study, new international evidence, Sutton Trust, available at: https://www.suttontrust.com/our-research/extra-time-private-tuition/ as cited in https://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2017/sep/poorer-pupils-get-less-help-better-classmates-homework

Kenyon, J (2023) The Pros and Cons of Homework: What Does the Research?Say?, available at https://inquestion.co.uk/2023/04/05/homework-pros-and-cons/ (last accessed 05/02/2024)

OECD (2014). Does homework perpetuate inequities in education??PISA in Focus, No. 46, OECD, available at: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/does-homework-perpetuate-inequities-in-education_5jxrhqhtx2xt-en

Sugarman, B. (1970) Sociology. Heinemann Educational Books, London. as cited by Jones, A (2020) Inequality ate my homework: A brief discussion on the effects of socio -economics on?homework, available at: https://hertsandbuckstsablog.wordpress.com/2020/12/03/inequality-ate-my-homework-a-brief-discussion-on-the-effects-of-socio-economics-on-homework/ (last accessed 05/02/2024)