Open minded and seeking answers, Jessica Smock, a Boston University doctoral candidate in education policy. has been discussing and learning about homeschooling since she posted her mid-January blog question: 10 Thoughts about Homeschooling by an Educator (And Why I’m Still Worried)
Please let me know what else I should know to understand the homeschooling experience. What do educators and scholars not understand about why families choose homeschooling and about their experiences?
She received numerous, thoughtful responses to that post, did some more research and followed up with another blog post, noting this on the Getting Smart website.
What an Educator Learned From Home Schooling Parents
However, we — as researchers, writers, observers, and reformers of education — cannot ignore the implications of their basic message that schools must respond to their children’s individual needs. In the minds of thousands of the most impassioned, capable, and knowledgeable parents about education — those who could have the most impact as partners in the educational systems as parents — the educational system is no longer acceptable for their child, and they are choosing to leave. Those voices are worth paying attention to.
What I found refreshing was Jessica Smock wasn’t telling homeschoolers what we should do, as many others attempt. Rather, she seems to be trying to unlock the education system’s barriers by observing what works for homeschoolers. She is an educational innovator. There seem to be more and more educators exploring these successes outside the classroom. Welcome to our world!