Garrett Swar - Blog 6

One concept regarding the process of socialization in schooling that caused me to have a lot of questions was home schooling and the related learning and social effects of it (p.187). I struggled to relate to the idea of learning without the peer social interactions and shared experiences that contribute to education and my educational experience in particular. I did not grow up knowing any peers that were home schooled, at any level of schooling. My traditional understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling is as follows:

1. Children would develop closer ties to siblings, parents and family, but at the expense of meaningful relationships with peers.
2. The experiences and perspectives of homeschooled children would be limited and unrelatable.
3. That homeschooling would either be too intensive (stunting the development of a love of learning) or too lackadaisical (inadequate learning and poor skills).

Many of these ideas that I’ve held for a long time seem to be based on the assumption that homeschooling equates to reclusive, sheltered environments that prevent social interaction. While there is little research to determine conclusively that homeschooled children acquire the same positive social skills and attitudes as children in the school system, there is also little research to say that their social development is impeded (p.188). Yet, it makes sense that homeschooled children would build “good self-esteem”, “display fewer behavior problems” and become more “socially mature”, as they are not exposed to the multitude of pressures that can exist within the school system and within the classroom. It was also interesting to read that “the home schooled tend to succeed when they attend university and were more likely to have at least some college education compared to the general American population” (p.188). My assumption would be that trying to jump into an open and highly socialized environment, such as post-secondary education, would be very difficult to adjust to, even as a student that was not home schooled!

Discussion question: How would you as a teacher assist a homeschooled child become incorporated back into the public school system? What social, educational and behavioural challenges could you see possibly arising?