Becoming a Home-Educator in a Networked World: Towards the Democratisation of Education Alternatives?

The internet is assumed to play a special role for Elective Home Education (EHE) in the UK and has anecdotally fuelled an increase in its prevalence. Yet little is known about the how the internet features in experiences of discovering EHE. This study reports on the ways in which a predominantly middle-class and highly educated faction have appropriated the internet to develop networks and communities to support the informational, social and emotional needs of new families. The research formed part of a mixed-method doctoral study that included: an online survey of 242 home-educators; 52 individual and group interviews with 85 parents, children and young people and a week-long participant observation with families. In the absence of any "official discourse" for them, initiating contact with existing home-educators online socialised prospective families into a normalised "Do It Yourself" education culture. However, access was a complex achievement that predicated the demonstration of allegiances and commitment. The modalities of power mirrored online left some families on the periphery indefinitely, while others used the internet to cultivate self-selecting communities elsewhere. The conclusions paint a paradoxical picture for the illusive promise of the democratisation of education

Gypsy and Traveller education : engaging families : a research report

The research aimed to identify what works in engaging Gypsy and Traveller families in education with a specific focus on attainment, attendance, transition and retention. The research provides an account of good practice by drawing on the experiences of Traveller Education Service (TES) workers. It draws upon literature, a survey of Local Authorities and in-depth interviews with staff working in Traveller Education Services. It also offers a deeper insight into the complexities of engaging with families to inform other providers, practitioners and policy makers

New technologies, knowledge, networks and communities in home-education

A promising, yet relatively small, body of academic scholarship on UK home-education has emerged in recent years. However, it persists as an area of research marked by partisanship. The digital age is often heralded as an era of liberation; empowering disparate groups to network, exchange practice, and learn from one another. However, few have considered what this might mean for home-education. This study sought to answer the overdue call for research in this area. This thesis is a mixed methods study; based on an online survey of 242 home-educators and 52 individual and group interviews with 85 parents, children and young people who used a range of new technologies. These families resided in different localities across England, Wales and Scotland. The analyses explored the role of new technologies, knowledge and learning within the themes of community, pedagogy and identity. The findings indicated that home-educating families participate in a diverse landscape of online networks and offline communities. New technologies have been effective in mobilising support at times of ‘threat’. It was also found that participation in this landscape has given new home-educators access to resources and confidence in their practice. The use of these resources and networks over time suggests a pedagogical journey that strengthens the transmission of values and production of identity, as learners get older. It concluded that home-education invites ideological conflict and internal struggle and that the appropriation of new technologies has both freed families from the old structures of school and placed them into new ones. This study sheds light on how some learning communities are transforming and being transformed by the tools used to reach an alternative destination in education. For home-education, the mixed role of new technologies surfaces a series of unresolved tensions, paradoxes and unanswered questions

Invisible pedagogies in home education: Freedom, power and control

Home-schooling, or ‘elective home education’ (EHE) as it is more commonly known in the UK, invites contestation and controversies. Drawing on a UK-wide study of 242 families this paper explores a collection of EHE pedagogic practices within the socially situated contexts of doing everyday life. Through an application of Bernsteinian ideas, the findings surface some of the ways in which invisible pedagogies afforded children greater autonomy over the sequence and pace over their learning. It also considers how community development has helped some parents to harness the forms of capital which extend and remake new structures to strengthen the transmission of their social values. Contrary to the messages of EHE advocates, it shows that approaches inspired by unschooling are not devoid of power and control altogether. In considering the experiences of children and young people, the findings highlight the relative challenges and opportunities of transitioning from invisible pedagogies to formal qualifications in a context where access to public examinations can be difficult to achieve. Considering the tensions that these pedagogies reveal in the socialisation towards individualism, the author suggests solutions for questioning, challenging and bridging divides

A view through the looking glass: co-creation and innovation for student voice and wellbeing in distance education

This paper showcases innovative co-creation practice undertaken by a Student Voice and Wellbeing Group (SVWG) created in the School of Education, Childhood, Youth and Sport, Open University (OU). Ways of doing, seeing, being and believing student voice are discussed alongside the inception of the SVWG, sharing the whys and how's of its strategic approach and the depth and breadth of its student members′ participation. Underpinning this work is the concept that student voice and wellbeing are inextricably connected and are everyone's responsibility (Mander, 2021). The impactful student-staff partnership established through this model illustrates an authentic and dialogic practice that centres students as the drivers, rather than the passengers, for enacting change. As an artefact of innovative practice, the authors showcase a newly published bilingual digital student wellbeing handbook. This example is of interest to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) seeking innovative models for promoting marginalised voices through co-production. The authors′ reflections and recommendations invite policymakers to re-evaluate existing student voice and wellbeing strategies and practices

Vegetation responses to the first 20 years of cattle grazing in an Australian desert

Existing theoretical frameworks suggest three predictions relevant to grazing effects in Australian aridlands: grazing has a negative but moderate effect on plant species richness; a separate "state" resulting from degradation caused by extreme grazing will be evident; some plant species will have a strong association with grazing relief refuges that have only ever been subject to light grazing. These predictions were examined in the dune swales of an Australian desert, with data on herbaceous species collected along transects up to 14 km from artificial water points between four and 33 years old. A cumulative grazing index was constructed utilizing both the spatial occupation patterns of cattle and the length of exposure. Despite restricting sampling to a narrow habitat, silt/clay content and soil pH influence floristic patterns independent of grazing. The analysis of quadrat data in relation to grazing revealed almost no patterns in plant cover, species richness (at two different scales), or abundance across plant life-form groups. Five species had an increasing response, and seven a decreasing response, while the only species restricted to areas of extremely low grazing pressure was sufficiently rare that it could have occurred there by chance. The dominant annual grass, the most common shrub, and a perennial tussock-forming sedge all decrease with high levels of grazing. Most species exhibit an ephemeral life strategy in response to unreliable rainfall, and this boom and bust strategy effectively doubles as an adaptation to grazing. After 20 years of exposure to managed grazing with domestic stock in Australian dune swales, patterns in species richness have not emerged in response to grazing pressure, the ecosystem has not been transformed to another degradation "state," and there is no evidence that grazing relief refuges provide havens for species highly sensitive to grazing