Autonomy, time-management and homework-setting

Following coding data from focus groups according to the three main aspects of self-determination theory (as well as a few other common factors that have arisen through reading the transcript), I have started sub-coding data too. The first sub-code (under the ‘autonomy’ main code) relates to time-management and homework-setting, and I’ll outline how students from the first focus group felt about these factors in this post.

The data from students in the first Year 11 focus group that I have sub-coded as ‘autonomy – time-management and homework’ all relate to each other such that all of the students referred to some sort of lack of control over their own time-management. In many cases, this was through reference to a high workload, often naming specific teachers or subjects, in the form of homework set. For example, one student said “and [English teacher], [their] way of doing it is a bit overwhelming ’cause it’s a lot of work, [they] give us a lot of work to do”. This particular teacher was mentioned multiple times throughout the focus group as a teacher who sets a large volume of homework.

When discussing the issues around homework-setting, several students explained that the unpredictability of not only when homework will be set by a teacher (or when it will be due), but also how long it will take, led to a lack of control over their own time. Since students are having to complete homework for a deadline, if they are not given a sufficient period of time within which to complete their work, they are forced to give up time they had previously expected to be relaxing or doing something else. For example, Heidi said she used to do a lot of dance, so she would “come home, and all the homework would be cramped and I, I would go to my sports, come back, and then I would only actually have … you would have no time for yourself”. The point I think Heidi is trying to make here is that, whilst pointing out she enjoyed dance, the lack of sufficient time to complete homework tasks meant “you won’t do it to actually learn it” which is arguably the point of the homework in the first place; the enjoyment of the extra-curricular activity was not put off by the lack of time to relax.

Additionally, Kenny, who also plays sport outside of school, highlighted that he had less free time than a student who perhaps does not engage in extra-curricular activities: “I like doing sports and … that’s something I have to deal with as well, but like I feel like someone who has nothing to do when they get home has more opportunity to do better”, seemingly referring to overall progress over time. Stan supported this point later in the focus group, pointing out that by playing multiple musical instruments (and having lessons for this regularly) meant he often had to “cram” his homework. Whilst it’s true that students often do play sports or play music and attain highly at school (and indeed there is research to support that playing sport actively improves cognitive function), Kenny is highlighting that the reduced time to make the most of the homework task set may have a negative effect on their long-term attainment, and feels personally disadvantaged as a result of his enjoyment of playing sport.

The setting of large amounts of homework by one subject may also negatively affect the time available to spend on other subject, as highlighted by Kenny saying “you may personally want to like spread out like 30 minutes over three days of all the subjects then if you have to do three hours of one subject, […], you’re maybe having to cut down revision on one subject, because you need to do more of this one because the teachers have set more so you don’t have too much control”. Stan supported this by adding, when referring to inconsistent amounts of homework being set “it could be 3 hours, it could be 10 minutes, and I don’t really know how to manage that”. This distinct lack of autonomy means that students may feel they do not have the sufficient time to complete all of the work that they want to; one could argue it is unreasonable to expect students in KS4 to be improving their time-management for later in life when they are given unrealistically high workloads with insufficient warning to manage their time effectively. Whilst there are some rough guidelines regarding the amount of homework that teachers should be setting per week, this seems to manifest itself with extreme inconsistency between and within different subjects.

Stan, Kenny, Wendy and Heidi all highlighted that in some subjects, however, they are set homework on a regular schedule with pre-determined tasks (often through the use of a homework booklet, though this isn’t always the case). Wendy said “like in geography, I have a timetable for my homework, so I know, like if I’m busy like next week, then I’ll just do it the week before ’cause I know it’s due every Tuesday, where some teachers […] just like unexpectedly throw at you and then you have to do it and you have plans or something”. All four students who have experienced a predetermined homework schedule agreed that the regularity of homework-setting meant they had far more autonomy over their own schedule. Whilst none of the students mentioned the volume of work set as part of these schedules or booklets, one could argue this is less significant an issue as with unexpected homework since the students can plan for the higher workload.

Self-determination theory necessarily requires students to experience autonomy in order to experience self-determined motivation in the task they’re completing (Howard et al., 2020), which in this case is continued academic study. The participants made it clear that there is a distinct lack of autonomy in their time-management, usually through the setting of unexpected or substantial amounts of homework. This is likely to lead to reduced motivation in school in general, but especially in the subjects that are setting homework in this way. One may therefore question the extent to which students are likely to feel like they are able to aim for (or perhaps even meet) their target grades if they are feeling such a distinct lack of autonomy with how they plan to reach it, or how they may reach target grades set by other subjects if the time they have allotted to each subject is interrupted by another.

Analysis of the focus group continues with further coding of each aspect of the data, followed by sub-coding. More blogs to come!