This book addresses issues around elective home education (EHE- also known as home schooling) discovery, which for too long have been unnecessarily problematic. Three theoretical frames using Kuhn, Foucault and Hirschman, and a policy framework for assessing discovery motivations, are offered to contribute to increased understanding of the difference of EHE. An educational philosophy of EHE is developed. “Educationism” is presented as a term describing a widespread form of educational prejudice operating against the marginality of alternatives such as EHE and thorough-going democratic schoolin ... More

This book addresses issues around elective home education (EHE- also known as home schooling) discovery, which for too long have been unnecessarily problematic. Three theoretical frames using Kuhn, Foucault and Hirschman, and a policy framework for assessing discovery motivations, are offered to contribute to increased understanding of the difference of EHE. An educational philosophy of EHE is developed. “Educationism” is presented as a term describing a widespread form of educational prejudice operating against the marginality of alternatives such as EHE and thorough-going democratic schooling. Empirical data extracts are used from a street survey and from in-depth interviews with adults who have discovered an educational alternative to mainstream schooling attendance. These show surprising insights into the extent to which education is blindly conflated with schooling: finding out that schooling is not the only pathway for education to occur can cause wholesale revelation and personal transformation of the social, political, familial, financial and ethical. The unmet need for parents to have information about alternative educational pathways is highlighted. The ignorance of professionals about EHE difference and a need for greater training is raised. This has wide ranging implications for the concept of education and for the conduct of educational studies around the world. A reconfiguration is suggested of how education is structurally organised: from one field with educational marginalia to multiple equal paradigms of practice. The rise of technology is seen as a key factor in a reconfigured educational studies and increased discovery of EHE as option.