Title: Home Education as a Simultaneously Independent and Interdependent Practice
Stream: Learning Experiences, Student Learning & Learner Diversity
Presentation Type: Oral Presentation
Authors:
Amee Parker, University of Otago, New Zealand
Abstract:
Home educating families are simultaneously independent and interdependent. In a New Zealand context, home educators are largely independent from governmental educational authorities and are free to choose their method of education for themselves. Additionally, the children often experience and display a significant degree of independence in terms of their learning and time management. At the same time, however, home educating families are enmeshed in interdependent social structures – most notably with their local home educating groups, but also via online communities. This aspect of home education is under-researched and provides a counter discourse to that of the isolated/disconnected home schooler. This presentation draws on data collected during an ethnographic study of eight home educating families in New Zealand. Through a discourse analysis of interviews conducted with both parents and children it concludes that home educating families value highly both the independence and interdependence they seek and experience. This is significant, not only because of the counter discourse it engages with, but also because it highlights the need to support and legitimise home education focussed groups.
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