Chloe Morin

Date of Award

2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Hernandez, Sarah

Keywords

Homeschooling, Unschooling, Progressive Education

Area of Concentration

Social Sciences

Abstract

Research on home education shows that it is the fastest-growing alternative to traditional schooling on the school choice spectrum. While the vast majority of home educators are motivated primarily by religious factors, a small and passionate subgroup of the movement, called 'unschoolers,' is motivated almost purely by pedagogical reasons. The current study aimed to explore the unschooling movement in the United States and compare its philosophy to the progressive ideals that influenced its inception. A secure online survey containing 14 multiple-choice and short-answer questions was self-administered by 92 unschooling parents. The guiding questions of the survey were: 1) who chooses unschooling?; 2) what are some of the main factors that influence this decision?; and, 3) how do unschooling parents view their children's exposure to diversity? The findings suggest that there are many reasons for parents to choose unschooling, and also that the population of American unschoolers is largely similar to the national home education population in terms of demographics. A combination analysis of short-answer responses and demographic data suggests that high socioeconomic status is a very important factor in a family's ability to unschool their children. This exclusionary aspect puts unschooling at odds with progressive education.

Rights

The author has granted New College of Florida the nonexclusive right to archive, make accessible, and distribute for educational purposes this work in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. The copyright of this work remains with the author.

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