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International research into homeschooling

On the email discussion list HEM-Networking, a list member posted a link to an article in German by Thomas Spiegler, a post-graduate student at the University of Marburg in Germany.

Philipps-Universitt Marburg, Marburg, Germany, Bildung zu Hause (Education at Home) (translation sites)

Inspired by this new (to me) researcher, I Googled Herr Spiegler’s name to see what popped up. Some of the results, both for his name and the results of some of the ‘breadcrumbs,’ are as follows:

Herr Spiegler’s website: Home Education Forschung in Deutschland (Home Education Research in Germany)

Allgemein (General)
International: Situation von Home Education (Home Education Situations); Internationale Forschung (International Research); Links
Deutschland (Germany): Die deutsche Home Education Bewegung (The German Home Education Movement); Rechtliche Situation (Legal Situation); Forschung (Research)Aktuelles Project (Current Project): berblick (Overview)
Zur Person (‘about me’): Biographisches (Biographical information); Publikationene (Publications); Vortrge (Lectures); Lehre (Vocational training); Kontact (Contact)

Home Education in Germany: An Overview of the Contemporary Situation (this same article is included at the link in the section following this one)

Introduction
Compulsory School Attendance in Germany and the Legal Position Regarding Home Education: Compulsory school attendance in Germany; Legal position regarding home education
The Development and Contemporary Situation of Home Education in Germany: Historical development, The parents: Supporting versus demanding; The parents: Taking care versus losing child custody; The parents at the legal dispute: Own freedom versus freedom for all; The authorities: Educational opportunities versus compulsory school attendances; The networks: Freedom of child versus freedom of parents
Conclusion and Prospects: Correspondence; References

(extract)

The Basic Law: Parental rights versus rights of the state

Already in the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany the rights of parents and of the state are in conflict with each other. This has been the starting point of several contradictory cases (for an overview see Avenarius, 2000: 435, 448). The freedom of religion and conscience is based in article 4 paragraph 1. According to article 6 paragraph 2, education and care of children are natural rights of the parents. These are firstly parental duty. But it is added that the state (the community) has the role of a guardian in this parental task.

It should be pointed out that the German word Erziehung, which occurs in this paragraph, and is translated here with education , focuses primarily on the field of upbringing. It includes forming a character and passing on values: but it does not mean teaching.

Multilingual Matters, Clevedon, U.K., Volume 17, Number 2&3, 2003, Evaluation and Research in Education

(the following articles are at the link in this section)

D. Galloway: Special Issue on Home Education

Scott Davies and Janice Aurini: Homeschooling and Canadian Educational Politics: Rights, Pluralism and Pedagogical Individualism

Paula Rothermel: Can We Classify Motives for Home Education?

Mitchell L. Stevens: The Normalisation of Homeschooling in the USA

John Barratt-Peacock: Australian Home Education: A Model

Christine Brabant, Sylvain Bourdon and France Jutras: Home Education in Quebec: Family First

Ari Neuman and Aharon Aviram: Homeschooling as a Fundamental Change in Lifestyle

Esther de Waal and Tinie Theron: Homeschooling as an Alternative Form of Educational Provision in South Africa and the USA

Daniel Monk: Home Education: A Human Right?

Chris Lubienski: A Critical View of Home Education

Thomas Spiegler: Home Education in Germany: An Overview of the Contemporary Situation

Cynthia M. Villalba: Creating Policy from Discursive Exchanges on Compulsory Education and Schooling in Sweden

DMOZ open directory project, World: Deutsch: Wissen: Bildung: Schule: Hausunterricht (World: German: Knowledge: Education: School: Home Instruction)

Education Week, 4 January 2006, U.S. Home Schoolers Push Movement Around the World

“Compulsory school attendance exists in Germany, and home schooling is not allowed,” he writes. Mr. Spiegler estimates that about 500 children are home-schooled in Germany “in secret, with tacit toleration by the local authorities or with legal consequences, ranging from a fine to partial loss of child custody, or even the possibility of a prison sentence.”

…

Officials at the Germany Embassy in Washington defended their governments position on home schooling. “The public has a legitimate interest in countering the rise of parallel societies that are based on religion or motivated by different worldviews,” they said in a statement.

Mr. Klicka said that he and other American home-schooling parents can relate to what the German families are going through, and thats what motivates them to want to help.

School of Education, Durham University, Durham, U.K., 2004, Home-Education: comparison of home and school educated children on PIPS Baseline Assessments

Many studies aim to evaluate children’s learning and attitudes to school, and yet almost unbelievably, none of these studies has ever used as a control, children whose families are electively home-educating.

Other links to writings on home education by Paula Rothermel

International Review of Education/Internationale Zeitschrift fr Erziehungswissenschaft/Revue internationale l’ducation, Volume 41, Numbers 3-4 / May, 1995, Home educators and the law within Europe (conclusion only; subscription required)

In education literature, there is often confusion between compulsory provision of education and compulsory schooling, falsely giving the impression that schooling is compulsory.

(this isn’t how state laws are written in the U.S., but it’s a good point)