Swedish Lower Secondary School Teachers' Perceptions and Experiences Regarding Homework

This study investigates homework in Swedish lower secondary schools: teachers' perceptions and experiences about it and their understanding of its potentials and challenges for students' learning and development. Data collected through an online survey (N = 201) mixed standardized questions and open questions. Descriptive statistics and qualitative interpretive principles fueled data processing and analysis. The main result indicated that most teachers assign homework and believe it will benefit students' learning when it addresses consolidating and reinforcing knowledge already taught and increases skills through repetition. They regard appropriation and variation of homework and feedback as important to homework activities and effects. The teachers experience uneven attitudes to and outcomes of homework among students. Most schools organize homework assistance activities to smooth out this unevenness and to improve homework completion and quality. The findings highlight the educational implications of critical reflections on the design of homework and the quality of homework assignments.