🔎 HOMESCHOOL RESEARCH & NEWS – April 2024

On the third Tuesday of each month we post a quick roundup of some recent academic publications and news about homeschooling, offered for your interest. These are typically university research papers, and they may have a positive, negative, or neutral outlook on home education. The title links generally point to the full text of each publication, which is often a printable pdf file. In some cases, a paid subscription may be required to read the whole article. The article abstracts or introductions below are quoted in full whenever possible, without editing.

We have three items this month, on homeschooling in Vietnam; homeschooling in the United Arab Emirates; and homeschool support in Canada:

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(1) Insights into Homeschooling in Vietnam: Vietnamese Parents’ Perspectives and Approaches to Cultivating Mother-Language Skills and Literary Appreciation for Their Children — T. Le et al. (2024)

Abstract: In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, homeschooling has emerged as a viable alternative in Vietnam, raising questions about its effectiveness compared to traditional schooling. While offering personalized learning and cultural immersion, concerns remain regarding social development, academic rigor, and systemic recognition. This qualitative study delves into the experiences of Vietnamese homeschooling families, utilizing semi-structured interviews to uncover thematic patterns in parental narratives. We explore how parents navigate curriculum design, resource utilization, and social interaction to foster their children’s Vietnamese language fluency and literary appreciation. By analyzing their strategies and challenges, our findings inform educational policymakers in developing support systems for homeschooling families and guide parents in creating enriching learning environments. This study opens a crucial dialogue on the future of homeschooling in Vietnam, encouraging stakeholders to explore its potential and address its limitations to ensure every child receives a high-quality education.

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(2) Young Children’s Online Homeschooling During Covid-19 Closure in the United Arab Emirates: Parents’ Experiences — R. Shishakly (2024)

Abstract: Parents assume a vital role in supervising young children’s online homeschooling and daily classes. This empirical retrospective study investigates the home supervisors’ influence on young children’s online class attendance and engagement, from the perspective of supervisors’ perceptions of e-learning methods. Using a quantitative research method, this study was conducted post-pandemic, employing survey techniques to collect data from 100 parents supervising their young children’s online classes in the United Arab Emirates. The findings reveal that parent interference, guidance, and involvement during their young children’s online class attendance negatively affected class success. Conversely, supervisors’ cooperation and efforts to control children’s engagement during class positively impacted class attendance and engagement.

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(3) How to Support Parent-Educators Homeschooling by Open Projects? A Case Study of Two Families Developing Strategic Knowledge — E. Tremblay-Wragg et al. (2024)

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic allowed several parents to immerse themselves into homeschooling. In the province of Quebec (Canada), homeschooling is on the rise, increasing from 6,000 children in 2019 to 14,000 in 2021. While integrating learning objectives prescribed by current educational curriculum, parents who act as educators also wish to prioritize pedagogical strategies that are congruent with their preferences and values, such as undertaking open projects involving the whole family. However, these parents face challenges in linking learning goals with their projects. As a result, they require support with project design, among other things, through effective planning, autoregulation, and evaluation mechanisms. Therefore, a study involved six novice families who started homeschooling because of the pandemic impact on the provincial school system. Interviews were conducted with the parent-educators before and after providing them with pedagogical support over a 12-week period, during which a metacognitive guide served as a modelling tool. Our findings reveal that continued support is crucial, particularly for two mother-educators who developed strategic knowledge that set them apart from the other participants. This exploratory study motivates further research on homeschooling, given the renewed interest in this form of education and the need to ensure quality education for all children.

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What interesting homeschool news and academic research have you come across this Leo Term? 🎓

❡ Explore more: If you’d like to investigate the academic literature on homeschooling more extensively, the best place to start is Google Scholar, the special academic search engine from Google. Just enter a search term or phrase of interest (“homeschool,” “unschooling,” “classical homeschooling,” “deschooling,” etc.), and Google Scholar will return a list of research publications that mention your topic. In addition, for research prior to 2020 in particular, see the comprehensive bibliographic essay by Kunzman & Gaither (2020), “Homeschooling: An Updated Comprehensive Survey of the Research.” 🔎

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