Home Education in the Australian Context

This paper will seek to clarify important key terms such as home schooling and home education as well as the legalities attached to such terms. It will reflect on the recent proposed changes to terminology in NSW, Australia. The various pedagogical approaches to home education will be explored including their prominence in the Australian context. There is a strong focus on literature from Australia. The historical background of home education in Australia will be explained as well as the difference between distance education and home education. The future of home education in Australia will be discussed.

Authors:



References:
[1] ABC News, ‘Opting Out and Staying at Home’, Radio National
Background Briefing, 29/1/12. Retrieved from: http://www.abc.net.au/
radionational/programs/backgroundbriefing/home-schooling/3792578.
[2] Alias, N., Rahman, M. N. A., Siraj, S., & Ibrahim, R. (2013). A Model
of Homeschooling Based on Technology in Malaysia. The Malaysian
Online Journal of Educational Technology, 1(3), 10-55. Retrieved from
http://mojet.net/volume/mojet-volume01-issue03.pdf#page=16.
[3] Allan, S., & Jackson, G. (2010). The What, Whys and Wherefores of
Home Education and Its Regulation in Australia. International Journal of
Law & Education, 15(1), 55-77.
[4] Apple, M. (2006). Education and Godly Technology. Social Analysis,
50(3), 19-37.
[5] Barratt-Peacock, J. (2014). Home Education in NSW Select Committee
on Home Schooling NSW Legislative Council. Retrieved from
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/2e3ce
e18fe7eeb50ca257d330077a75d/$FILE/0054%20Mr%20John%20Barrat
t-Peacock.pdf.
[6] Board of Studies NSW. (2013). Registration for Home Schooling in
NSW – information Package. Retrieved from
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/parents/pdf_doc/home-edu-infopack-
13.pdf.
[7] Board of Studies NSW. (2012). Annual Report 2011/12. Retrieved from
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/administration/pdf_doc/annualreport-
2012.pdf.
[8] Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards, NSW. (2014).
Annual report 2013-2014. Retrieved from
http://www.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/about/pdf_doc/annual-report-
2014.pdf.
[9] Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards, NSW. (2014a).
Inquiry into Home Schooling Submission 139. Retrieved from
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/a569
6afa298323beca257d390019d4b5/$FILE/0139%20Board%20of%20Stu
dies,Teaching%20and%20Educational%20Standards%20NSW%20BOS
TES%20inclusive%20of%20attachments.pdf
[10] Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards, DEC Rural and
Distance Education NSW. (2014a). Distance education enrolment
information. NSW: BOSTES.
[11] Chapman, A., and O’Donoghue, T. A. ‘Home Schooling: An Emerging
Research Agenda’, Education Research and Perspectives, 27(1) June
2000: retrieved from http://www.erpjournal.net/wp-content/uploads/
2012/07/ERPV27-1_Chapman-A.-and-ODonoghue-T.-A.-2000.-Homeschooling-
an-emerging-research-agenda.pdf.
[12] Collom E. (2005). The Ins and Outs of Homeschooling: The
Determinants of Parental Motivation and Student Achievement.
Education and Urban Society; 37(3):307-335.
[13] Drabsch, T (2013). Home Education in NSW. NSW Parliamentary
Research Service. Issue 1/2013.
[14] Education Act 1990 (2015). Government of NSW, Education Act 1990
http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/viewtop/inforce/act+8+1990+cd+0+
N.
[15] English, R. (2014) Inquiry into Home Schooling Submission 9.
Retrieved from http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/parlment/
committee.nsf/0/78c3e8a93a4093e3ca257d2c000fe084/$FILE/0009%20
Dr%20Rebecca%20English.pdf.
[16] Gaither, M. (2008). Homeschool: An American History. New York:
Palgrave MacMillan.
[17] Hanna, L. G. (2012). Homeschooling Education: Longitudinal Study of
Methods, Materials, and Curricula. Education and Urban Society, 44(5),
609-631. Retrieved from http://eus.sagepub.com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/
content/44/5/609.full.pdf+html.
[18] Harding, T. Jr (2011) A Study of Parents’ Conceptions of Their Roles as
Home Educators of Their Children. PhD thesis, Queensland University
of Technology. Retrieved from: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/40931/1/
Terrence_Harding_Thesis.pdf.
[19] Herbert, I. (2012). Eclecticism. Retrieved from http://eclecticeducator.
blogspot.com.au/.
[20] Home Education Association (HEA). (2014). Inquiry into Home
Schooling Submission 145, retrieved from
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/committee.nsf/0/787b
e59c8ed775ebca257d39001c3a12/$FILE/0145%20Home%20Education
%20Association%20(HEA).pdf.
[21] Jackson, G. (2014) ‘Australian Research on Home Education: And how
it can inform legislation and regulation’, (2014), p 8, paper included in
Submission 142, Dr Glenda Jackson, pp 2-31.
[22] Jackson, G. (2014a) Inquiry into home schooling, Submission 142.
Retrieved from http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/
committee.nsf/0/d98a8fff92635cb5ca257d39001beaa5/$FILE/0142%20
Ms%20Glenda%20Jackson%20(PHD).pdf.
[23] Jackson, G. (2009). ‘More than One Way to Learn’: Home Educated
Students’ Transitions between Home and School. Unpublished PhD,
Monash University, Clayton. Retrieved from
http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/83110.
[24] Keenan, C. (2013). Home, sweet school. The Age. Melbourne, The Age.
Retrieved from http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/home-sweet-school-
20130204-2dt7h.html.
[25] Knowles, J. (1988) Understanding Parents who Teach Their Children at
Home: The Value of a Life History Approach, Educational Research:
Scientific or Political? Unpublished papers of the first Joint
AARE/NZARE conference, University of Canterbury, Christchurch 3-6
December, 1987, 43 pages.
[26] Lines, P. (1991) 'Home Instruction: Characteristics, Size and Growth', in
J. Van Galen and M. A. Pitman, Home Schooling: Political, Historical
and Pedagogical Perspectives (eds), Norwood, NJ,: Ablex. [27] Lois, J. (2009). Emotionally Layered Accounts: Homeschoolers’
Justifications for Maternal Deviance. Deviant Behavior, 30(2), 201-234.
Retrieved from http://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.uws.edu.au/
doi/ref/10.1080/01639620802069783#.VQ_qH46UfqE.
[28] New South Wales Office of the Board of Studies (OBOS). (2004). Home
Education Study Report of Findings. Sydney: Office of the Board of
Studies NSW.
[29] North Carolinians for Home Education, NCHE. (2015). Explore
Homeschooling, an Educational Alternative. Retrieved from
http://www.nche.com/explore.
[30] NSW Department of Education and Communities Rural and Distance
Education (2014). Distance Education Enrolment Procedures–2014.
Retrieved from
http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/rde/ruraledu/deenrolproc.
pdf.
[31] NSW Select Committee. Final report Inquiry into Home Schooling.
[32] O’Hara, H. (2014) Inquiry into Home Schooling Submission 8, Ms
Helen O’Hara. Retrieved from http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/Prod/
parlment/committee.nsf/0/1aaa7bb62915bb73ca257d2c000fce80/$FILE/
0008%20Miss%20Helen%20O'Hara.pdf.
[33] Ray, B. D. (2011). 2.04 Million Home School Students in the United
States in 2010. National Home Education Research Institute. Retrieved
from http://www.nheri.org/HomeschoolPopulationReport2010.pdf
[34] Ray, B. D. (2015). Research Facts on Homeschooling. Retrieved from
http://www.nheri.org/ResearchFacts.pdf.
[35] Rothermel, P. (2002). Home-Education: Rationales, Practices and
Outcomes. Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation, University of Durham.
Retrieved from
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/00002197.htm.
[36] Stevens, M. L. (2001). Kingdom of Children: Culture and Controversy
in the Homeschooling Movement. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press.
[37] US National Center for Education Statistics (2008) ‘Fast Facts – Home
Schooling’; National Center for Education Statistics, ‘1.5 million
homeschooled students in the United States in 2007’, Issue Brief,
December 2008.