abstract: This study investigates the hidden curriculum of home learning, through participant observation of ten families, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), who chose to educate their children at home. The term "hidden curriculum" is typically used to describe the values and behaviors that are taught to students implicitly, through the structure and organization of formal schooling. I used the concept of hidden curriculum as a starting point for understanding how the organization and process of home learning might also convey lessons to its participants, lessons that are not necessarily an explicit object of study in the home. Using naturalistic inquiry and a multiple case study method, I spent a minimum of ten hours each with ten families, five who homeschool and five who unschool. Through questionnaires, taped interviews, and observation, I documented typical home learning practices and purposes. These families were selected through a combination of purposive and snowball sampling to reflect a diversity of approaches to home learning. Key findings were organized into four main categories that incorporated the significant elements of the hidden curriculum of these homes: relationships, time, the learning process, and technology. The study offers three main contributions to the literature on home learning, to families, whether their children attend public schools or not, to policy makers and educators, and to the general public. First, in the case of these LDS families, their religious beliefs significantly shaped the hidden curriculum and specifically impacted relationships, use of time, attitudes about learning, and engagement with technology. Second, lines were blurred between unschooling and homeschooling practices, similar to the overlap found in self-reports and other discussions of home learning. Third, similar to families who do not home school, these families sought to achieve a balance in children's use of technology and other educational approaches. Lastly, I discuss the significant challenges that lay in defining curriculum, overt as well as hidden, in the context of home learning. This research contributes insights into alternative ways of educating children that can inform parents and educators of effective elements of other paradigms. In defining their own educational success, these families model the kind of teaching and learning advocated by professionals but that remain elusive in institutionalized education, inviting a re-thinking of and discussions about the "one best system" approach. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Curriculum and Instruction 2012

L’unschooling (ou la « non-scolarisation ») est une option éducative marginale, mais en constante évolution au Canada et ailleurs dans le monde. Au vu du développement de ce mouvement en éducation, des enjeux concernant le suivi des apprentissages réalisés par les enfants unschoolers prennent de l’importance. La rareté des écrits portant spécifiquement sur le suivi des apprentissages informels et les risques associés à une absence de suivi, particulièrement auprès des enfants plus vulnérables, nous amènent à poser cette question générale de recherche: Quel suivi de l’apprentissage en famille serait souhaitable dans un contexte d’unschooling, en prenant en compte le point de vue des parents unschoolers et le droit de l’enfant à l’éducation ? Pour répondre à cette question, 25 parents unschoolers répartis en quatre groupes, ont réfléchi au type de suivi qu’ils jugent le mieux adapté à leur réalité éducative. L’analyse thématique du contenu de leurs échanges a fait ressortir une proposition globale de suivi constituée de trois approches différentes : 1- l’approche « aucune interaction », visant le respect de l’autonomie des familles; 2- l’approche « offre de soutien », visant la réponse aux besoins exprimés par les familles; et 3- l’approche « appréciation de l’expérience éducative » pouvant viser le dépistage de l’expérience éducative ou l’accompagnement des familles. Cette proposition de suivi a ensuite été analysée à l’aide d’un cadre conceptuel relatif au droit de l’enfant à l’éducation, composé de cinq conditions du respect de ce droit et de leurs indicateurs. Cette analyse a permis d’évaluer le potentiel de chacune des trois approches à protéger le droit à l’éducation des enfants évoluant dans un cadre éducatif de type unschooling. La troisième approche, soit l’appréciation de l’expérience éducative, apparaît à la fois acceptable du point de vue des parents unschoolers et du point de vue du droit de l’enfant à l’éducation. Selon la proposition des parents, elle peut s’effectuer au moyen de l’appréciation d’un portfolio, d’une discussion informelle ou de la visite du domicile, permettant d’apprécier l’expérience éducative de l’enfant par la voie de l’environnement éducatif qui lui est offert ou de son parcours éducatif. / Unschooling is an uncommon but continually evolving educational option in Canada and around the world. Given the development of this movement in education, issues concerning the monitoring of learning by unschooled children are gaining importance. The scarcity of published studies specifically related to the monitoring of informal learning and the risks associated with a lack of follow-up, particularly among the most vulnerable children, lead us to ask this general research question: What follow-up of family-based learning would be desirable in a context of unschooling, respecting the point of view of unschoolers parents and the right of the child to an education? To answer this question, 25 unschooled parents were divided into four groups and reflected on the type of follow-up they consider best suited to their educational reality. By choosing a qualitative methodological approach and using a thematic analysis, the data drawn from these exchanges enabled us to build a follow-up proposal consisting of three approaches: "no interaction", "support offered" and "appreciation of the educational experience ". This follow-up proposal was then analyzed using a conceptual framework of the child's right to education composed of five conditions of respect for the child's right to education, inspired by the United Nations (1999a, 1999b). This analysis assessed the potential of each of the three approaches to protecting the right to an education for all children in an unschooling educational setting. The third approach, "appreciation of the educational experience", appears to be an approach that is both acceptable from the point of view of unschooling parents and from the point of view of the child's right to education.

Vivemos numa sociedade constituída e constituinte de relações marcadas por desigualdades econômicas, sociais, de classe, de raça, de gênero, etc. e produtora de opressões, dominações e assujeitamentos. A educação é um campo atravessado pelas correlações de força, pelos dispositivos de poder vigentes e por tais desigualdades; nesse campo se coloca em disputa práticas que podem servir à manutenção da opressão, da dominação e do assujeitamento ou que se produzem como resistência. A presente dissertação aborda questões relativas a práticas educacionais nomeadas por desescolarização adentrando na experiência de um grupo específico, o Barro Molhado buscando evidenciar tensões, potências e perigos que as compõem. Tendo como embasamento produções de pensadores da Filosofia da Diferença, sobretudo, Deleuze, Guattari, Foucault e foucaultianos, procuramos discorrer sobre as formas e relações de poder que estão em jogo na constituição das práticas educacionais, tanto dentro da escola, como nos formatos que prescindem do sistema regular de ensino, e realizar uma crítica em relação aos processos de subjetivação forjados na atualidade. Procuramos afirmar as lutas que culminaram na instituição da educação como direito e em sua efetivação através da escolarização, assim como, os esgotamentos presentes no sistema regular de ensino e as potências de propostas alternativas que buscam se configurar como educação formal. Não-diretividade e não-intervenção tornaram-se princípios centrais na discussão sobre das maneiras de pensar e de agir dos adultos em relação às crianças. Retomamos pensamentos de Hannah Arendt sobre o campo da educação, sua relação com o domínio da política e sua dimensão pública, buscando problematizar tais princípios e discutí-los na contraposição entre autoritarismo e autoridade. Em nosso tempo, atravessado por ideia de liberdade e autonomia, as formas de aprisionamento, dominação e assujeitamento se tornam veladas, dando margem para o enrijecimento do controle através de aparências libertárias. A noção de governamentalidade, forjada por Foucault, se constitui como uma ferramenta analítica que nos permite adentrar na agonística presente na relação entre governo e liberdade, potencializando rupturas com as naturalizações vigentes e a criação de novos possíveis. Retomamos a afirmação de Foucault (1995b): Minha opinião é que nem tudo é ruim, mas tudo é perigoso, o que não significa exatamente o mesmo que ruim. Se tudo é perigoso, então temos sempre algo a fazer (p.256). Se tudo é perigoso, qualquer uma das formas das práticas educacionais escolhidas, estejam elas dentro ou fora do sistema regular de ensino, envolvem riscos. Se há sempre algo a ser feito, apoiamo-nos no pensamento de Deleuze (1992b) para criar estratégias de enfrentamento no tempo que habitamos. Não basta estar fora da escola para romper com as amarras de nosso tempo; ao mesmo tempo, inventar maneiras de viver e educar que rompam com o que domina no cenário escolar é expressão da potência de criação, resistência, e pode se constituir como máquina de guerra / We live in a society constituted and constituent relations marked by inequalities - economic, social, class, race, gender, etc. - and producer of oppression, domination and subjection. Education is a field crossed by the force relations, the actual power devices and these inequalities; in this field arises in dispute practices that can serve to the maintenance of oppression, domination and subjection or that occur as resistance. The present dissertation addresses questions related to educational practices named by unschooling - entering the experience of a particular group, the Barro Molhado - seeking evidence tensions, potencies and dangers that make them up. With the basement productions philosophy of difference thinkers, above all, Deleuze, Guattari, Foucault and foucaultians, we seek to discuss the forms and power relations that are at stake in the constitution of educational practices, both within the school, as in formats that dispenses with the regular education system, and conduct a review in relation to subjectivation processes forged today. We seek to affirm the struggles that culminated in the institution of education as a right and its effectiveness through schooling, as well as the exhaustion present in the regular school system and the potencies of alternative proposals who seeking to set up as formal education. Non-directivity and nonintervention became central principles in the discussion on the ways of thinking and acting of adults towards children. Resumed thoughts of Hannah Arendt on the field of education, their relationship with the domain of politics and its public dimension, seeking to question these principles and discuss them on the contrast between authoritarianism and authority. In our time, crossed by the idea of freedom and autonomy, forms of imprisonment, domination and subjection become veiled, giving rise to stiffening of the control through libertarian appearances. The notion of governmentality, forged by Foucault, is constituted as an analytical tool that allows us to enter the agonistic present in the relationship between government and freedom, increasing disruptions to current naturalizations and the creation of new possible. We resumed Foucault (1984) statement: \"My point is not that everything is bad, but that everything is dangerous, which is not exactly the same as bad. If everything is dangerous, then we always have something to do\" (p.343). If everything is dangerous, any of the forms of the chosen educational practices, whether they are inside or outside the regular school system, involve risks. If there is always something to be done, we rely on the thought of Deleuze (1992b) to create coping strategies in time we inhabit. Is not enough be out of school to break the bonds of our time; at the same time, inventing ways to live and educate that break with the dominating in the school setting is expression of creating power, resistance, and may constitute as war machine

This diploma thesis deals with the homeschooling of pupils at the first level of primary schools, its rules and history in Czech Republic. It focuses on the reasons that lead to this type of education and describes its positive and negative influences. It also offers insights from teachers who review the child in homeschooling and the views of families who have decided for this type of education.

abstract: Unschooling is a child-centered educational philosophy that eschews teachers, schools, curricula, grades and tests. Unschool practitioners have complete freedom to choose what they want to learn, when, to what level, and for how long. Unschooling families use the World Wide Web to provide a bespoke academic experience at home. This study compares qualitative data collected from questionnaires and semi-structured interviews conducted with 10 unschooling families with quantitative data collected from 5 children within these families using a tracking and monitoring software. The software captured the duration of use, keystrokes, mouseclicks, and screenshots for all programs and websites for 14 days. Children stated they used technology less than 6 hours a day, and parents stated children used them less than 8 hours a day. Quantitative data shows the children use technology at least 10 hours a day, suggesting usage self-reports may not be reliable. The study revealed hardware form factor was the number one determinate of application use. Almost exclusively social media was used on smartphones, internet browsing on tablets, and creative endeavors such as modding, hacking, fan fiction writing, and video game level building all took place exclusively on laptops and desktops. Concurrent use of differing hardware form factors was the norm observed. Participants stated YouTube, Wikipedia and Khan Academy were the websites most used for knowledge gathering. The tracking software verified YouTube and Wikipedia were the most used websites, however when accessed on the PC, those sites were used almost exclusively for video game related purposes. Over 90% of the total PC use was spent on video games. More traditional educational activities were done primarily on tablets and on parent smartphones with parental engagement. Khan Academy was not used by the participants in the 14 day monitoring period. 90 day web browser logs indicated Khan Academy was used by individuals no more than 3 times in a 90 day period, demonstrating the inherent risks in relying upon internet usage self-reports without quantitative software for verification. Unschooling children spent between 30 and 60 hours a week using technology. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Technology 2014

Vivemos numa sociedade constituída e constituinte de relações marcadas por desigualdades econômicas, sociais, de classe, de raça, de gênero, etc. e produtora de opressões, dominações e assujeitamentos. A educação é um campo atravessado pelas correlações de força, pelos dispositivos de poder vigentes e por tais desigualdades; nesse campo se coloca em disputa práticas que podem servir à manutenção da opressão, da dominação e do assujeitamento ou que se produzem como resistência. A presente dissertação aborda questões relativas a práticas educacionais nomeadas por desescolarização adentrando na experiência de um grupo específico, o Barro Molhado buscando evidenciar tensões, potências e perigos que as compõem. Tendo como embasamento produções de pensadores da Filosofia da Diferença, sobretudo, Deleuze, Guattari, Foucault e foucaultianos, procuramos discorrer sobre as formas e relações de poder que estão em jogo na constituição das práticas educacionais, tanto dentro da escola, como nos formatos que prescindem do sistema regular de ensino, e realizar uma crítica em relação aos processos de subjetivação forjados na atualidade. Procuramos afirmar as lutas que culminaram na instituição da educação como direito e em sua efetivação através da escolarização, assim como, os esgotamentos presentes no sistema regular de ensino e as potências de propostas alternativas que buscam se configurar como educação formal. Não-diretividade e não-intervenção tornaram-se princípios centrais na discussão sobre das maneiras de pensar e de agir dos adultos em relação às crianças. Retomamos pensamentos de Hannah Arendt sobre o campo da educação, sua relação com o domínio da política e sua dimensão pública, buscando problematizar tais princípios e discutí-los na contraposição entre autoritarismo e autoridade. Em nosso tempo, atravessado por ideia de liberdade e autonomia, as formas de aprisionamento, dominação e assujeitamento se tornam veladas, dando margem para o enrijecimento do controle através de aparências libertárias. A noção de governamentalidade, forjada por Foucault, se constitui como uma ferramenta analítica que nos permite adentrar na agonística presente na relação entre governo e liberdade, potencializando rupturas com as naturalizações vigentes e a criação de novos possíveis. Retomamos a afirmação de Foucault (1995b): Minha opinião é que nem tudo é ruim, mas tudo é perigoso, o que não significa exatamente o mesmo que ruim. Se tudo é perigoso, então temos sempre algo a fazer (p.256). Se tudo é perigoso, qualquer uma das formas das práticas educacionais escolhidas, estejam elas dentro ou fora do sistema regular de ensino, envolvem riscos. Se há sempre algo a ser feito, apoiamo-nos no pensamento de Deleuze (1992b) para criar estratégias de enfrentamento no tempo que habitamos. Não basta estar fora da escola para romper com as amarras de nosso tempo; ao mesmo tempo, inventar maneiras de viver e educar que rompam com o que domina no cenário escolar é expressão da potência de criação, resistência, e pode se constituir como máquina de guerra / We live in a society constituted and constituent relations marked by inequalities - economic, social, class, race, gender, etc. - and producer of oppression, domination and subjection. Education is a field crossed by the force relations, the actual power devices and these inequalities; in this field arises in dispute practices that can serve to the maintenance of oppression, domination and subjection or that occur as resistance. The present dissertation addresses questions related to educational practices named by unschooling - entering the experience of a particular group, the Barro Molhado - seeking evidence tensions, potencies and dangers that make them up. With the basement productions philosophy of difference thinkers, above all, Deleuze, Guattari, Foucault and foucaultians, we seek to discuss the forms and power relations that are at stake in the constitution of educational practices, both within the school, as in formats that dispenses with the regular education system, and conduct a review in relation to subjectivation processes forged today. We seek to affirm the struggles that culminated in the institution of education as a right and its effectiveness through schooling, as well as the exhaustion present in the regular school system and the potencies of alternative proposals who seeking to set up as formal education. Non-directivity and nonintervention became central principles in the discussion on the ways of thinking and acting of adults towards children. Resumed thoughts of Hannah Arendt on the field of education, their relationship with the domain of politics and its public dimension, seeking to question these principles and discuss them on the contrast between authoritarianism and authority. In our time, crossed by the idea of freedom and autonomy, forms of imprisonment, domination and subjection become veiled, giving rise to stiffening of the control through libertarian appearances. The notion of governmentality, forged by Foucault, is constituted as an analytical tool that allows us to enter the agonistic present in the relationship between government and freedom, increasing disruptions to current naturalizations and the creation of new possible. We resumed Foucault (1984) statement: \"My point is not that everything is bad, but that everything is dangerous, which is not exactly the same as bad. If everything is dangerous, then we always have something to do\" (p.343). If everything is dangerous, any of the forms of the chosen educational practices, whether they are inside or outside the regular school system, involve risks. If there is always something to be done, we rely on the thought of Deleuze (1992b) to create coping strategies in time we inhabit. Is not enough be out of school to break the bonds of our time; at the same time, inventing ways to live and educate that break with the dominating in the school setting is expression of creating power, resistance, and may constitute as war machine

This multi-modal dissertation examines the historical hegemonic making of U.S. education, and how compulsory schooling has framed acceptable notions of culture, language/literacy, and knowledge production. Through this criticism of colonization and education, theoretical and practical alternatives are explored for the opportunities outside mainstream schooling in the US. In examining the literary work on decolonizing education, these efforts can engage in unlearning of coloniality by finding examples from a time before colonization. In contemporary society, the practice of de/unschooling can hold the possibilities for decolonizing education. To demonstrate how families of color in the U.S. engage with unschooling, interview questions serve as the sharing of knowledge and experience so as to ground the research in lived reality. A brief survey of critical education and critical pedagogy broadens those already critical of schools and/or receptive to the criticism of schools and the un/deschooling alternative then places student and family/community as the center of learning and teaching.

No description available.

The diploma thesis deals with the processes taking place in setting up alternative schools and reflects the founders'views on the start-up process as well as their satisfaction with the outcome. The theoretical part introduces the important alternative directions in education, brings forward the principles of how free and democratic schools work, presents some personalities associated with the educational alternative and briefly mentions selected platforms and concepts based on the principles of respect for the individual. The empirical part analyses interviews with the founders of five alternative schools on their reasons for setting up the school and their appreciation of the proces. The main techniques for data collection are in-depth semi-structured interviews. Given the research objective a qualitative approach inspired by phenomenological investigation and grounded theory was used and subsequently the card interpretation technique. There are several reasons for setting up alternative schools, the main one seems to be the need to provide current generation of children a school which would support their talents, gives them the individual approach and where their opinion would be respected. Other reasons include the need for freedom or the need to be professionally implemented. The process of setting up...

The presented thesis deals with topic of unschooling. It specifically focuses on parent's motivation for this untraditional and sort of radical educational approach to children. The major aim of the thesis was to map parent's specific reasons for unschooling and also factors that help them continue with it despite possible difficulties. Bandura's concept of self-efficacy was used as a theoretical frame of the research. We focused on development of motivation in this area as well. The qualitative approach was used for the research; data was collected by in- depth semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analyses. Results of the research show us main motives that lead Czech parents to choice of unschooling as well as supportive factors that motivate them continue with it. The main reasons for unschooling educational choice were for example delimiting against school, child's needs and interests, and child's will. Family well-being and child's happiness turn out to be the strongest keeping factors. Identified motives were set into the concept of self-efficacy which shows the strong connection of those two concepts in researched area. Analysis indicates significant development trend to radicalization of opinions and educational approach connected with longer unschooling practise....