Week 9:Final Paper

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    There are numerous, and continuous, reports of failings and problems within the traditional education system. Some parents have chosen private school education, but this operates with the same fundamental methods, and goals, of the public school system. With very clear indications that the public school system, and the traditional educational system in general are failing, alternative methods of education need to be evaluated to determine if they are more effective. The oldest, and most well established form of education is home schooling. Home schooling has the potential of providing numerous advantages over its traditional school counterpart; especially in the areas of time, attention, curriculum, children's interests, purpose, values, and socialization.
    One of the key advantages that home school has over the traditional educational system is time, both in the sense of the ability to be flexible and in the sense of not being constrained.  Michael Romanowski in Common Arguments About the Strengths and Limitations of Home Schooling notes:
Traditional time constraints are removed within home schools. Instruction is not pitted against the clock and children are not forced to stop what they are doing, pack away their project, change gears, and think about a new subject. If a child is interested in reading a story, the home school educator can adjust the schedule to allow the student to continue. Also, teachers can easily develop units of study using an integrated approach and making the student's interests the basis of unit studies. As we know, learning occurs when interest is high. (p. 79)
This is radically significant because no child is the same, and as such will not operate ideally within a tight structure because it will either be too slow or too fast.  Furthermore, as noted above, the forcing of students to "change gears," is very inefficient and results in either more work for the child or results in items that do not get completed or forgotten because they were stopped while in the middle of the assignment.  Paul Jones notes in A study of home school graduates and traditional school graduates "that the average first-year GPAs, credits earned in the first year, ACT Composite test scores, and ACT English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science and Reasoning subtests for home school graduates were all higher than traditional high school graduates (p. 20)." 
    Another key element in considering the effectiveness of home schooling is the additional attention they receive.  Even in the largest of families, classes will always be much smaller than their traditional school counterpart.  This provides a greater opportunity for the child to actively participate in their education, ask questions, and have very close oversight by the teacher. Home educators do not have to contend with large classes, so the teacher can easily tailor the curriculum, and instruction, to meet the needs and interests of the student, and the parent can pace the learning according to the student's level of understanding. In addition, the one-on-one teaching style provides the student with undivided attention, allows for quicker diagnosis of problems, offers more opportunities to ask questions, and allows the student to develop a deeper understanding of subject matter.
Home school teachers enjoy a benefit that many public school teachers would cherish: flexibility. The home school teacher can make spontaneous decisions as needed without all the red tape and administrative constraints. (Romanowski, p. 79)
Another key factor in the success of home educated is the parental attention:
...research indicates that when parental involvement in children's education is high, students are more likely to become academically successful and reach their potential. That is the essence of home schooling. Parents are intimately involved not only in their child's education but in the details of their child's life. More important, that involvement takes place in a sustained and continuous relationship rather than serving simply a supplemental role. (Romanowski, p. 79)
The parental involvement even goes much deeper because home schooling fundamentally alters the parental role.  Home schooling gets the parent much more personally involved in the child's education in a way that is simply not possible within the traditional educational system.  Furthermore, a traditionally educated child cannot possibly get the level of intimate attention and involvement from their parents that a home schooled child receives.
    Another key advantage of home schooling is the ability to make education fun, and pursue the child's innate interests. Traditional education focuses on raw memorization and learning of facts; primarily through a very structured, text based curriculum. The traditional system is dry, non-interactive, and can quickly lead to burnout and boredom. Importantly, this sets a bad example for children that education is not fun, and it does not encourage them to learn things on their own.  Dori Staehle in Taking a different path: A mother's reflections on homeschooling began to notice the incredible toll traditional education was taking on her children. Their natural desires and passions were rapidly fading amid the rigid structure of the traditional education system.  Once moved into a home school system, the children began to flourish with the new opportunities to be creative (p. 270).  Furthermore, the lack of a strict structure within the home school environment allows a student to pursue additional interests.  A practical example would be fostering a child's interest in animals by spending some additional time at the zoo or veterinarian's office.  Judy Aron noted in her Letter to the Editor:
Homeschoolers strive to identify their true calling or passion, and then pursue these interests even if it doesn’t meet the typical criteria of success. These kids are different from the children who may graduate from an outstanding high school with all kinds of achievements, while still not having a clear sense of who they are or what their mission in life is. Homeschooled kids are excited by what they are doing and will truly follow their dreams to create personal success and lifelong achievement. (p. 4)
Mia Kang also notes a similar frustration, in Refusing to take the TAKS, with traditional education after coming out of a home school environment: "Teachers are forced to use 'drill and kill' methods of teaching that cover the TAKS in the given amount of time but that consequently bore students and turn school into an endless chore" (p. 6P).
    Another dividing line, which ultimately affects the eduction, is the purpose within the educational environment.  Traditional education is focused on grades and performance, as well as passing of standardized tests.  This contrasts with home schooling which focuses on pursuing things out of enjoyment and desire.  Judy Aron in her Letter to the Editor highlights one of the great dangers within a traditional educational environment of pushing performance hard as a metric of success:
A meritocratic system rewards achievement for achievement’s sake. It is an environment that fosters kids not to take risks because success is so important, and failure is so detrimental. Students learn that if they stick to subjects or skills they are good at, rather than those they have a passion for or an interest in, then it is easier for them to succeed. This thought process produces students who pursue professions that may make them money or bring them status, but that they ultimately don’t enjoy or that limit their ability and time to do the things they love. Organized schooling makes a great mistake by rewarding good students rather than those with a passion for what is being learned. Anyone can learn to be a good student and play the game of pleasing the teacher to get the coveted “A.” (p. 4)
Ultimately the grades based success damages the student as it rewards them for pursuing what is easy rather than what they truly enjoy.  The traditional education system eventually leads to mediocrity because there is no deep desire to push and learn.  Home school, conversely, covets the attitude of pursing items of interest; as well as striving to make all subjects interesting through practical application: "for example, a math lesson on measurement might start with a textbook or a worksheet and end with mixing and baking a cake" (Romanowski, p. 79).  The other, more insidious, danger with traditional education is the vast effort to excel, or just pass, on standardized tests.  In fact the core curriculum in most schools has now shifted to focus on the standardized tests instead of a full grasp of the material.  Mia Kang in Refusing to take the TAKS highlights some of the problems of a standardized test mentality:
 Education should be about learning to think and to exercise one's intelligence in constructive and creative ways. Students in the public school system should become enthusiastic, engaged learners able to formulate their own well-considered opinions. Where is the benefit to memorizing facts and rules unless you know what they mean and what to do with them? I value understanding concepts and exploring the reasons behind events or processes. (p. 6P)
There is no way to avoid the "meritocratic" mentality and a curriculum based on standardized tests within the traditional educational system.  In fact, as the schools continue to perform worse, the focus on those ideals tends to grow, and thus perpetuates one of that system's greatest weaknesses.
    Another weakness of traditional school is the problem of instilling values, a critical component of a child's upbringing but completely neglected within the traditional education system.  There are three main aspects to the instruction of values which the traditional school system completely fails. The first is that the child gets a very limited opportunity to learn values through example, primarily since the majority of time is spent sitting in a classroom or affiliating with the child's peers.  There is virtually no interaction with the child's elders, which limits the opportunities the child has to learn how to handle various situations, by example. The time spent away then leaves a much smaller window of opportunity at home for the child to interact with adults.  Secondly, there is absolutely no direction within the traditional framework to provide value based instruction.  Finally, many controversial topics, and situations, are presented to the student within the traditional framework with little to no conversation in regards to morals, ethics, and values. The latter has the potential for being more than neglected education to being detrimental as the child is presented with an amoral view of everything.  Conversely, home school has the exact opposite effect in all of these areas. It provides a forum where the student gets to see, and interact, with an adult and get to see values, ethics, and morals at work.  Furthermore, the child will receive direction in regards to their values, especially as material is presented without the sterile, amoral technique of the traditional school system.  Finally, home school has an additional positive impact by encouraging and strengthening family relationships:
The time that parents spend home schooling their children "produces more meaningful communication, emotional intimacy, and a closer family life." In homes where there are several siblings being home schooled, that unique bond extends to the sibling relationships. No other factor in life will have more of an effect on a child's life than the family, and home schooling enables the family to play its important role more actively. (Romanowski, p. 79)
    One of the key arguments against home school is that children will not get adequate socialization. Richard Median highlights that there are three aspects to this socialization: social activity, social influence, and social exposure (p.107). In reality home schooled students are on average involved in "5.2 activities outside the home" (Romanowski, p. 79) and are in no way in a secluded environment.  Furthermore, Romanowski contends that home schooled students are frequently better socialized because they are not strictly confined to a school room of their peers (p. 79). Richard Median goes on to conclude that home schooled students tend to socialize better because it better mimics the real world where there is not an "unnatural" age segregation (p. 119).  He also goes on to add: "because they are not peer-grouped in school, home-schooled children learn to get along with a variety of people, making them socially mature and able to adjust to new and challenging situations" (p. 119). Regardless of the test, home school students consistently out rank their peers in socialization skills, and are better prepared to enter the "real world."
    Home school provides advantages in every area when compared to a traditional school system.  Home school provides a much more flexible environment which allows the curriculum and daily activities to be tailer made to the student's advantage. Furthermore, the special levels of attention and the ability to pursue the child's innate interests are not feasible  within the traditional system. The purpose, and side effects, of a "meritocratic system" within the traditional structure may do permanent damage to the child, and their lifelong goals. Also, the traditional education system is not equipped to properly instill values, and is in many cases counter productive. Finally, the type of socialization in the public school environment does not prepare the student for the "real world."  Ultimately, if the parents are able and dedicated, home school provides the best educational environment for a child.

References
Aron, J. (2004). Letter to the editor. The Journal of College Admission, 185, 4. Retrieved February 27, 2005, from EBSCOhost database
Jones, P. & Gloeckner, G. (2004). First year college performance: A study of home school graduates and traditional school graduates. The Journal of College Admission, 183, 17-21.  Retrieved January 1, 2005, from EBSCOhost database
Kang, M. (2005, March 13). Refusing to take the TAKS. The Dallas Morning News, p. 6P.
Medlin, R. G. (2000). Home schooling and the question of socialization. Peabody Journal of Education, 17(1/2), 107-124.  Retrieved January 1, 2005, from EBSCOhost database
Romanowski, M. H. (2001).  Common arguments about the strengths and limitations of home schooling. Clearing House, 75(2). Retrieved January 1, 2005, from EBSCOhost database
Sheehan, M. (2002). Dancing with Monica: Personal perceptions of a home-school mom.  Roeper Review, 24(4). Retrieved January 1, 2005, from EBSCOhost database
Staelhe, D. (2000). Taking a different path a mother’s reflections on homeschooling. Roeper Review, 22(4), 270-271. Retrieved January 1, 2005, from EBSCOhost database


© Erik Smith 2005
Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License