FOR any child, they are the three words they dread to hear at the end of any class in school, here's your homework.
Love it or hate it, we all have to go through it and homework is an integral part of our learning.
Who invented homework?
Homework has been such a big part of many of our lives, but have you ever stopped to think why we do it, and who invented it?
There are many names associated with its invention.
The first mention of homework appears in ancient Rome, in the writings of Pliny the Younger, in 1AD.
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Pliny, a teacher of oratory, is thought to have asked his students to practise their public speaking at home, to help them build confidence.
Homework became common as schooling became compulsory for many people across the world, towards the end of the 19th century.
Who is Roberto Nevelis?
Roberto Nevelis is often accredited with being the most loathed person associated with education, as the person who created homework.
The claims are not true and if you look at them more carefully they are quite laughable.
Quite a few of the articles that can be found online cannot even decide when he allegedly invented homework, in 1095 or 1905.
Those two dates are very different and considering they include photographs of the man they claim to be Roberto Nevelis, that is some achievement considering the technology only became available in the mid 1800s.
It is even questionable as to whether this figure existed at all, let alone leading the life of a teacher based in Venice, Italy.
Was homework meant to be a punishment?
When you look into its origins, many suggest that it was created as a punishment to ensure that underperforming students caught up with the more gifted pupils.
The myth itself was probably dreamed up by children begrudgingly doing homework set by their teacher rather than playing with their friends.
If homework were ever used as punishment, it would create such a negative mindset that when it was an actual necessity, it would make it impossible to get students to apply themselves to it.
I'm scared I've ruined my daughter's life because of her name
The reality is, there is only so much class-time that teachers can offer their pupils so it is important that they put in the hours at home to aid learning.
Who invented school?
Education was first developed in ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome.
Literacy and education became more important as scholars tried to impart their knowledge to others.
In ancient Greece, they had an academy, with the word stemming from the Athenian hero Akademos.
This was where Plato passed on his teachings to others.
Rome introduced a formal tuition-based system but this was only available to those who could pay for it.
In Britain, it is widely believed that St Augustine started the first school in AD 597, when he founded King's School in Canterbury.
Schooling was primarily the responsibility of the church at this time.
It was only after the industrial revolution in 1750, that education was extended to those outside of the upper classes, teaching basic numeracy and literacy.
The Education Act of 1918 made school compulsory for children aged five to fourteen and saw a transformation within the country.