(Ellis, 2012)Over the last two decades there has been an increasing trend for parents to choose home schooling as an alternative to traditional education for their children. Holt (1983) states that for much of history a number of parents have always chosen to teach their own children. In many cases this was because children were unable to attend regular schools due to poverty, geographical isolation or ill-health (Chapman and O'donoghue, 2000). But only recently homeschooling has been considered for other reasons as Josephine Tovey publishes ‘Home Schooling up 65% in four years’ on September 2013. Miss Tovey states that there is an incredible increase in children being home schooled in NSW from 1703 in July 2008 to 2802 in July 2012, reaching 65 percent in 4 years (Tovey, 2013).
Parents’ decision to homeschool their children are due to a number of factors that intermingle. According to Neuman and Aviram (2003), homes are beginning to adapt to a homeschool environment due to the dissatisfaction with the existing public education system for political, economic and ideological reasons.
In the report, Sharyn Grebert, secretary of Home Education Australia, believes this is due to “…culture of bullying within schools. That has had a tremendous impact on a number of home schoolers”. This lead to controversial opinions as Miss Tovey continuous to write, David Zyngier, a senior lecturer, said he was concerned the rise in home schooling was linked to the false perception that public schools were unsafe and the undermining of the professionalism of teachers (Tovey, 2013). On the other hand, Sydney mother chose to educate her five children at home because she did not want to separate from them and believes in a more ‘‘organic, fluid’’ style of learning (Tovey, 2013).
Yet, I still wonder like many others whether there will be any negative impacts of homeschooling… does it work? Will it impact their socialisation and interactions with society? Some believe that the governments have a duty to ensure and provide children the potential to interact with other children of different backgrounds at such a crucial time of their development as active and productive citizens (Debatewise - where great minds differ, 2013).
Therefore there are various
perspectives on whether homeschooling is the best option, but clearly many are
undertaking the homeschooling strategy as previously seen. In my opinion, I would
not personally homeschool my children as I would like them to interact with
many other individuals from different cultures. I feel like that will enhance
their approach to the outside world were interaction with people is a major
aspect of a person's life and future careers.
Chapman, A. and O'donoghue, T. 2000. Home schooling: An emerging research
agenda. Education research and perspectives, 27 (1), pp. 19--36. Debatewise - where great minds differ. 2013. Home schooling should be banned.. [online] Available at: http://debatewise.org/debates/2256-home-schooling-should-be-banned/ [Accessed: 29 Sep 2013].
Ellis, K. 2012. Understanding homeschooling laws. [online] Available at: http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/954877/understanding-homeschooling-laws [Accessed: 20 Oct 2013].
Schools and home schoolers: A fruitful partnership. The Phi Delta Kappan, 64 (6), pp. 391--394.
Tovey, J. 2013. Home schooling up 65% in four years. [online] Available at: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/home-schooling-up-65-in-four-years-20130907-2tcj8.html [Accessed: Sep 2013].
Neuman, A. and Aviram, A. 2003. Homeschooling as a fundamental change in lifestyle. Evaluation \& Research in Education, 17 (2-3), pp. 132--143
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