Homeschooling In The Context Of Trust In Educational Institutions

Abstract

The article examines the problems of the development of schooling forms in the context of the trust of the subjects of the educational process in educational institutions. The purpose of the study is to consider the development of homeschooling forms in the context of the trust in the educational system. The research is based on theoretical approaches that consider trust as an interpersonal reflection that ensures cooperation and cooperation in social interactions at the interpersonal level, as well as as a social capital of the educational system that ensures the effectiveness of the educational system as an important social institution in general. The author examines the positions of parents in choosing educational trajectories of children's education in the context of the trust in the schooling system. To identify the positions of parents, the analysis of secondary data was used. The author reveals the opinions of parents about trust in school as an element of the educational system and reveals the reasons for choosing homeschooling forms as alternatives to full-time education in the context of trust (institutional trust, interpersonal trust). It is shown that subjective experience is a significant factor in the formation of trust, affecting the formation of both institutional trust in social institutions of education in general, and interpersonal trust in the system of educational communications of participants in the educational process. The author defines the problems of the development of homeschooling forms in the context of trust in school educational institutions.

Keywords: Trust, schooling, homeschooling, part-time schooling, creditability

Introduction

Homeschooling as a form of schooling has different traditions. In a number of countries, the history of homeschooling has a long tradition. However, in Russia, this form of education was interrupted during the Soviet era and has become part of the educational trajectories relatively recently. The possibility of homeschooling was the result of the democratization of public relations, which led to changes in the legislative framework (Federal Law "On Education in the Russian Federation"; 2012). The expansion of homeschooling practices determines the interest in the factors of the development of homeschooling forms of learning, their opportunities and limitations. Brian D. Ray (president of the nonprofit National Home Education Research Institute) notes that homeschooling is becoming mainstream in the United States, gaining popularity in Australia, Canada, France, Hungary, Mexico, Japan, South Korea, Kenya, Thailand, and the United Kingdom (Ray, 2021) At the same time, the new stressful experience gained by a wide group of parents during the lockdown period due to the spread of a new viral infection can become a catalyst for interest in this form of education from different groups of parents in different countries of the world. In the spring of 2020, more than 1.5 billion students were transferred to distance learning in 191 countries of the world, which accounted for 91.3% of all students in the world (Agranovich, 2020). The uniqueness of the experience lies in the large-scale forced transition to the distance learning format, which to a certain extent allowed us to test the homeschooling model in practice. The stress experience received different ratings. Experts predict an increase in interest on the part of parents in homeschooling.

Factors of homeschooling development

In Western literature, the issues of homeschooling, due to the length of the tradition, are covered widely and on various issues. A broad discussion in Western literature began in the 60s of the XXth century, when the results of universal public education began to be discussed. It was noted that universal education made it possible to make a breakthrough in socio-economic development, but at the same time there were negative consequences due to the formalization of education (crisis of family relations, decline in academic performance, bullying, criminalization of adolescent subcultures). It is during this period that the movement for liberation from the formal requirements of the school arises. The program statement was a criticism of Illich (1970), the focus was on the influence of the state on the formation of the child's personality. The author argued that the formalization of education allows you to form a certain type of personality that is in demand by the state and insisted on the abolition of schooling. A parallel direction was the reflections of J. Holt, who believed that education as such interferes with the natural development of the child. R. Moore's research contributed to the popularization of homeschooling, the author noted the importance of the later introduction of the child to the system of formal education (Koshienko & Pokrovskaya, 2016). Homeschooling is becoming widespread.

There is a whole scientific direction for the study of homeschooling forms. Kunzman and Gaither (2020) analyzed a whole layer of publications devoted to the research of homeschooling in the English-language literature (more than 2000 sources were analyzed) from the moment of the spread of homeschooling practices to the present (2020). The authors' work is unique, as it reflects the accumulated research experience of various researchers over the past 50 years. The merit of the authors is that they described the main directions of research in the field of homeschooling, made an attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of the research methodology and identified the directions of research in the field of homeschooling in the future.

According to ICHER (International Center for Home Education Research), homeschooling research covers a wide range of issues: traditions of European home education, its purpose and significance (Christian Beck, University of Oslo, Norway) (Beck, 2010); interaction of educational authorities with families using the form of homeschooling (Christine Brabant, University of Montreal, Canada) (Brabant & Dumond, 2021); homeschooling practices in the UK and the USA, methods of evaluating homeschooling (Eddis Tutorial Services, USA); family education in different ethnic groups (Cheryl Fields, University of Georgia, USA) (Fields-Smith, 2020); history of homeschooling, methods of homeschooling research (Milton Gaither, Messiah College, USA) (Gaither, 2017); legal issues of homeschooling (Glenda Jackson, Australian Home Education Advisory Service) (Jackson, 2021); Homeschooling policy and regulation (Rob Kunzman, Indiana University, USA) (Kunzman, 2016), homeschooling philosophy (Helen Lees, University of Stirling, Scotland) (Lees & Nicholson, 2021); opportunities and risks of homeschooling (Ari Neuman, West Galilee College, Israel) (Neuman, 2019); homeschooling in large families (Melissa Sherfinski, West Virginia University, USA) (Sherfinski, 2014); homeschooling and higher education (Marc Snyder, American Aquinas School, Madrid, Spain) (Snyder, 2013); homeschooling in Germany; motives for choosing homeschooling forms (Thomas Spiegler, Friedensau Adv. University, Germany (Spiegler, 2010).

Kunzman and Gaither (2013), analyzing the models of implementation of homeschooling, distinguish two types of parents who choose homeschooling: "ideologists" and "teachers". The first type of parents reproduces the school scheme of education, filling it with alternative content based on personal beliefs, the second type of parents prefers forms of education that allow them to avoid formalization. Later, this typology was supplemented by another type of pragmatic parents who are focused on the unique educational or medical needs of the child (Coleman, 2010; Neuman & Guterman, 2019). As the motives and reasons for homeschooling for the current stage of schooling development, Brian D. Rey calls the desire of parents for an individual educational trajectory for the child based on his/her individual characteristics; to achieve higher educational results; to reduce conflict in the family on the basis of school problems; to reduce the negative influence of peers; the desire to preserve family traditions and values (Ray, 2021). Homeschooling is understood as an alternative to formal state education, associated with disillusionment with the content and methods of public education.

In the Russian literature, the topic of homeschooling is gradually being considered and covers a wide range of problems, generally coinciding with the research directions in the English-language literature, but having a shorter history of research. The issues of homeschooling in the historical tradition of Russian society are analyzed in the work of Belousov and Yashina (2016). Yashina (2015) also explores the practice of using the words "homeschooling" in the Russian language on the broad basis of empirical material (analyzed over 400,000 texts included in the national corpus of the Russian language and the case of modern media) and notes that "the term "homeschooling" as opposed to "homeschooling" used only the last 15 years, and has a much longer history and broader context". The practice of homeschooling in the Soviet period of Russian history was interrupted. Koshienko and Pokrovskaya (2015) note the growing interest in homeschooling forms in Russia, describe the possibilities and practices of functioning, note that the motivation of parents is determined by the desire to give a quality education to the child. Pronoza (2018) applies a qualitative strategy to identify the motivation for homeschooling of children. Gryaznova et al. (2020) considering the development of homeschooling in the context of digitalization of education, noted that the spread of homeschooling is the result of the family's search for the opportunity to give a child a qualitative education, but the current state of homeschooling is not really an alternative form of qualitative improvement. Sidorov and Maltseva (2020) consider the possibilities, limitations and risks of family education. Stereotypes of homeschooling perception are presented in the study of Karpova and Lyalikova (2020). Legal aspects of homeschooling in Russia are considered by a number of authors (Kasatkin, 2015; Matveev, 2018; Tsomartova & Kachmazova, 2014; Zhukova, 2016).

The author of the present study actualizes the issues of the homeschooling in the context of the mechanisms of trust in the social institutions of schooling, which determines the novelty of the study. The author of the study believes that the destruction of the system of trust context in educational interactions between participants of educational communications creates prerequisites for the destruction of the formal educational system, encourages families to look for learning opportunities outside the formal educational system. The growing distrust of educational institutions is becoming a sustainable sociocultural practice that can be scaled up under the influence of the mass experience of parenthood gained during the lockdown period.

Problem Statement

The expansion of individualized learning practices actualizes the questions: Where and how children will be socialized? How social norms will be transmitted? «Face-to-face» learning maintains the attractiveness of schooling and the credibility of the school system, it reduces the risks of individualized learning practices.

Research Questions

The author of the study supposes that the destruction of the context of trust in the interactions between the participants of educational communications creates the prerequisites for the destruction of the formal education system, stimulates the expansion of practices of individual educational trajectories. This defines the research question: What is the potential of trust in maintaining the attractiveness of the school environment for learning in the context of expanding practices of individualized educational trajectories?

Purpose of the Study

Trust is considered as the most important element of social interactions, ensuring their stability and the possibility of cooperation and cooperation. The purpose of the study: to consider the development of homeschooling forms in the context of the trust in the educational system.

Research Methods

The research is based on theoretical approaches that consider trust as an interpersonal reflection that ensures cooperation and cooperation in social interactions at the interpersonal level, as well as a social capital of the educational system that ensures the effectiveness of the educational system as an important social institution in general.

The application of the concept of trust as an interpersonal reflection underlying cooperation and cooperation in the study of such a complex social object as the institute of education allows us to expand the understanding of the mechanisms of trust as a socio-cultural capital of interacting educational communities.

The growing distrust of educational institutions is a marker of the ill-being of formal education, a point of growing social tension, and the formation of alternative structures. Especially attractive in this aspect is the solution to the problem of trust management in educational communications. Activation and mobilization of the trust resource is a unique resource for the effectiveness of the educational system. To analyze trends in the development of homeschooling, the method of secondary data analysis was used. For the analysis, we used empirical data obtained in earlier studies (2016, 2018, Novosibirsk, Russia) conducted by the author of the article. The composition of respondents is shown in Table 1.

Table 1 - Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents
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In the 2016 study, parents whose children were enrolled in general secondary schools took part, in the 2018 study, parents whose children take homeschooling took part.

Findings

Assessments of parents ' opinions on trust in school educational institutions were analyzed in the positions of trust in educational institutions in general (institutional trust) and trust in the educational institution that was chosen for the child's education (interpersonal depersonalized trust) (Table 2).

Parents were asked questions about institutional and personal depersonalized trust in the school. A comparative analysis of the parents' opinions is presented in Figures 1,2.

Figure 1: Parents' Confidence in the Schooling as a Whole, % of Respondents (2016 Survey Respondents, 2018 Survey Respondents)
Parents' Confidence in the Schooling as a Whole, % of Respondents (2016 Survey Respondents, 2018 Survey Respondents)
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Figure 2: Parents' Trust of the School Organization Where the Child Studies, % of the Number of Respondents (Respondents of the 2016 Survey, Respondents of the 2018 Survey)
Parents' Trust of the School Organization Where the Child Studies, % of the Number of Respondents (Respondents of the 2016 Survey, Respondents of the 2018 Survey)
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Comparison of parents' assessments shows that confidence in the system of education is generally lower in both groups of parents (in position and definitely trust rather trust percent of respondents (the survey 2018) such was 58.7% and 66,3% (the survey 2016)), than trust specific school organization, which educates the child (the definitely trust rather trust percentage of respondents (2018.) such was 96.6% and 83% (survey 2016)). The data obtained show that the institutional trust of parents in the school educational system is significantly lower than the personal depersonalized trust in a particular school. The presence of a significant difference in trust in the educational system in general and specific school institutions in particular, on the one hand, reflects the subjective personal experience of parents as subjects of the educational process and indicates the formation of a culture of distrust, on the other hand, creates conditions for the development of homeschooling forms as an opportunity to overcome the limitations of the formal educational system in the child's education.

Conclusion

Significant changes in educational institutions related to the formalization of educational processes, the widespread introduction of digital technologies, and the scaling up of parents ' experience of learning at home during the lockdown period (91.3% of school-age children worldwide were taught remotely) they update the issues of trust in educational organizations.

It is important to answer the questions of whether there will be a scaling of the distance learning experience in the period after the end of the pandemic and whether in connection with this growth of interest from the parents in family education and the growth of interest from students themselves how and to what extent the growing interest of families in a family learning reflects the state of culture of trust in the public education in particular, and social institutions in General? How is it possible to overcome the negative trends associated with the growing socio-cultural practices of distrust of educational institutions?

Trust is the foundation of all social relations, creates points of cooperation and cooperation in society, creates conditions for preserving the integrity of public life, preserving traditions, and reproducing rules. The credit of trust in the educational system is the society's investment in the future.

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25 September 2021

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Economics, social trends, sustainability, modern society, behavioural sciences, education

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Mikidenko, N. L. (2021). Homeschooling In The Context Of Trust In Educational Institutions. In I. V. Kovalev, A. A. Voroshilova, & A. S. Budagov (Eds.), Economic and Social Trends for Sustainability of Modern Society (ICEST-II 2021), vol 116. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 1125-1132). European Publisher. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.09.02.125