What are teachers’ reasons for using differentiated homework, and what prevents them from doing so? A qualitative interview study

An important quality criterion of homework is fit, i.e. the optimal relationship between task requirements and the students’ abilities and interests. Fit can be achieved through differentiation. It has been found that few teachers give differentiated homework despite knowledge of its advantages. In light of this finding, the study conducted 23 semi-structured qualitative interviews with Swiss secondary school teachers to investigate whether teachers use differentiation measures for homework – and if so, which ones. The interviews explored teachers’ arguments and challenges surrounding the differentiation of homework, including the conditions required for the successful differentiation of homework. The results showed that only six teachers assigned differentiated homework regularly. In addition, the authors found that the interviewed teachers mentioned a variety of arguments and associated challenges and reported conditions for success that occur both at the individual teacher level and the structural level.