Homeschooling: Parents as Educators.

Homeschooling: Parents as Educators M. Mayberry, J.G. Knowles, B. Ray, and S. Marlow 1995 Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press

Homeschooling: Parents as educators is a 110-page volume that reports the findings of a research study originally designed to provide "a detailed account of home schooling". Since home schooling is an educational option that parents of some gifted children consider, this publication offers valuable insights and guidelines for educators and families alike. The authors' state, "Our'intention is to encourage different ways of thinking about home schools and the parents who operate them."

It's unlikely that anyone with previous background in home schooling research will find something here to stimulate new ways of thinking. But the uninitiated may find their assumptions challenged. The book was drawn from a study the authors conducted of parent educators in Washington, Utah and Nevada in 1990-1991. The study comprised three phases, and the book is organized according to these three phases.

The strengths of the work include its brevity, the clarity of writing, and the unbiased presentation of the findings. The seven short chapters are well organized, interesting, and easy to read. They include an overview of homeschooling in America, characteristics of home educators, perspectives of parents, and policies and views of administrators. The authors' history of the home education movement in America covers more than forty years arranged into five phases. Into this discussion the authors gracefully weave the political backdrop that has influenced home schoolers

The researcher will be frustrated by the absence of a literature review and the lack of specifics regarding procedures that were used in the study. Neither the 56-item questionnaire used to collect information from parents, nor the mail survey returned by superintendents are reproduced in the book. Also, there's very limited discussion of the method used in the study. These details are presumably available in the original research publications, but their inclusion in appendices would have been helpful.

Researchers will appreciate the authors' discussion about the dilemmas they faced in attempting such a study. For example, "..no sample of parent educators can be regarded confidently as representative of the total population..." Research is limited to parents who are registered home schoolers and who trust the researchers. The extensive list of references is invaluable, and the novice may be surprised at the number of home schooling publications and organizations mentioned throughout the book.

The trends the authors identify are unlikely to surprise readers with some knowledge in home schooling research. But their description of the multifaceted quality of the home education movement may be very useful in communications with parents and educators whose opinions of home schools are still largely based on stereotype and personal experience. For example, the authors conclude that the beliefs and values that influence parents' decision to home school are very diverse. Although home schoolers are primarily "young, well-educated, and middle-income", they include broad cultural and ideological variations. Parents look at home schooling "...through the lens of both past and present personal and family experiences."

Chapters 3 and 4 are the most fascinating and fun to read because the authors have succeeded in capturing the rich complexities of home school parents. The parents' narratives reflect the private philosophies, perspectives and experiences that motivate them to educate their children at home. This reader was left with a deep appreciation for the very personal and difficult decision it is to home school. It's refreshing to read the parents' account of the commitment, hard work, and intensity home schooling entails. And it is intriguing to get a glimpse into the family life that follows a decision to home school -- how parents find themselves repeatedly evaluating and prioritizing their values and beliefs. This reader was left wanting to hear a lot more about this aspect of home education.

The authors conclude the book with a chapter on issues and implications for further research. Although they do raise several engaging questions, (e.g. "How do home school and conventional school parents' concepts on what constitutes appropriate social and moral climates differ from each other?") their lofty attempt to delve into the larger relationship between personal interests and public practices is much too grandiose for so few pages at the close of such a brief book. They appear to overlook a few obvious trends. For example, it's clear from their findings that the decision to home school for many families is a lifestyle choice, and may have as much to do with their views about parent-child relationships as it does with their beliefs about education. Yet the authors never explore this connection between lifestyle and home education. In addition, they waste words on what have become obvious inquiries by the end of the book (e.g. "More research is needed to examine what goes on inside home schools.")

Implications for students with special needs is not addressed directly, but certainly comes through in the discussion of the legal history of the movement, in the characteristics of home schooling families, and especially in the families' own stories about why and how they chose to home school. Parents and teachers of children with special needs will resonate with the voices of those parents whose decision to home school emerged from concerns that their child could not be served well in their community school, or from frustration that the local school was unable to meet their child's unique needs. Many home schooling parents tend to see themselves as better able to teach their children, either because they are more aware of their child's individual needs, or because they are more effective at making the curriculum relevant and exciting, or because they can provide attention that their local school cannot. The book will provide food for thought for the classroom teacher and administrator and is a useful beginning guide to researchers and scholars interested in examining further the home education movement.

Reviewed by Maureen Neihart, Clinical Psychologist, Billings, Montana, and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the Roeper Review.