the social adjustment of home schooled children
TRANSCRIPT
THE SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT OF HOME SCHOOLED
CHILDREN
BY
TRACY-LEE KINNEAR
MINI-DISSERTATION
submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
MAGISTER EDUCATIONIS
in
EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
in the
FACULTY OF EDUCATION AND NURSING
at the
RAND AFRIKAANS UNIVERSITY
Supervisor: Dr IE Walters
Co-supervisors: Dr CF Viljoen
Dr JH Botha
July 1999
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My thanks are expressed to the following, who made the completion of this study possible:
Our Heavenly Father. May all that we do begin with Your inspiration, continue with Your help, and
reach perfection under Your guidance. .
My supervisor, Dr IE Walters, and my co-supervisors, Dr CF Viljoen and Dr JH Botha
(posthumously), for your continuous encouragement and support.
Mrs Kathy le Cordeur who set me off on the right path.
The home school families who were more than eager to co-operate and assist me in this research.
To my family, especially my mother, for their constant support and encouragement.
To all my friends for their assistance and support.
SINOPSIS
As gevolg van die groeiende ontevredenheid in die publieke skoolsisteem in Suid-Afrika is daar 'n
groot groep ouers wat besluit het om hulle kinders deur middel van tuisskool te onderrig. Sedert die
wetgewing in 1994, is tuisonderrig 'n nuwe alternatief in Suid-Afrika en 'n redelike onbekende
verskynsel.
Opvoeders wat teen tuisonderrig gekant is, kan in twee groepe geklassifiseer word. Eerstens is daar
die wat voel dat tuisonderrig onderwysstandaarde ondermyn en tweedens, diegene wat voel dat
kinders normale sosialisering ontneem word; hierdie groep is ook bekommerd oor die isolasie van
hierdie leerlinge. Hoewel daar reeds uitgebreide navorsing in die buiteland onderneem is, sal hierdie
studie op die sosialisering van die tuis geskoolde kind in die Suid-Afrikaanse konteks fokus,
aangesien daar betreklik min narvorsing in die verband beskikbaar is.
Die doel van hierdie studie is tweerlei. Eerstens, om ondersoek in te stel na die probleme wat
tuisgeskoolde kinders ondervind ten opsigte van hulle sosialisering en dit te beskryf, en tweedens,
om riglyne op te stel vir ouers van hierdie kinders ter ondersteuning van die fasilitering van die
sosiale ontwikkeling van hulle kinders.
Die data vir hierdie kwalitatiewe studie is deur middel van semi-gestruktureerde onderhoude met
die ouers, fokusgroep onderhoude met die tuisgeskoolde kinders en waarneming verkry. Die ouers
is gevra hoe hulle die tuisonderrig ervaar, hoe tuisonderrig die sosiale vaardighede en sosiale
ontwikkeling van hulle kinders beinvloed en hoe hulle die sosiale ontwikkeling van hulle kinders
bevorder. Die ouers wat in hierdie onderhoude betrokke was, het almal reeds hul kinders vir 'n
tydperk van een jaar tuis onderrig en die kinders se ouderdomme het gewissel van ses tot twaalf jaar.
Die respondente wat gebruik is, was 'n homogene groep. Die inligting wat gekry is, is geInterpreteer
teen die agtergrond van die teoretiese raamwerk.
Die volgende gevolgtrekkings is gebaseer op die inligting verkry:
Die negatiewe persepsies van kinders wat tuis onderrig is ten opsigte van die skool
omgewing was as gevolg van intimidasie, stres en druk. Dit het 'n negatiewe invloed op
hulle sosiale en emosionele ontwikkeling gehad.
In teenstelling hiermee word die huislike omstandighede ervaar as veilig en beskermend.
Ouers het meer geleenthede om positiewe terugvoer aan hulle kinders te gee en is daarom
in staat om hulle kind se sosiale en emosionele ontwikkeling te bevorder.
Die portuurgroep word as problematies beskou as gevolg van die oorweldigende druk op
die kind om te konformeer. Hierdie behoefte vir aanvaarding kan lei tot
groepsafhanklikheid. Dit belenuner die kind se individualiteit en persoonlikheid. In
tuisonderrig is die kinders nie onder die konstante druk om te verander nie; hulle kan
daarom vryelik hulle eie individualiteit ontwikkel.
Die ouderdomsgroepering binne die skoolsisteem beperk die kind se venno•om sy sosiale
vaardighede en kommunikasievermod met ander ouderdomsgroepe te ontwikkel.
Tuisgeskoolde kinders is nie so gebonde nie en kom in kontak met verskeie
ouderdomsgroepe.
Die verhouding tussen die ouer en kind is sterker en persoonliker van aard. Dit bevorder
die kind se sosiale en emosionele ontwikkeling.
Tuisonderrig voorsien die kind van geleenthede om sy potensiaal ten voile te ontwikkel
deurdat by intellektueel meer gestimuleer word en die vryheid het om sy eie individualiteit
te ontwikkel.
Tuisskool-ouers is deeglik bewus van die kind se sosiale behoeftes en voorsien die nodige
geleenthede vir hulle kinders om met ander kinders kontak te maak.
Teen die agtergrond van hierdie inligting is daar uit opvoedkundige sielkindige raamwerk riglyne
saamgestel vir ouers ter ondersteuning van die ouers in die bevordering van die sosialisering van hul
kinders.
nnu
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
S inopsis ii
Table of contents iv
List of tables viii
CHAPTER 1: RATIONALE, PROBLEM AND AIM OF RESEARCH, ii
AND CLARIFICATION OF CONCEPTS
1.1 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY 1
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 2
1.3 AIM OF STUDY 2
1.4 CENTRAL THEORETICAL STATEMENT 2
1.5 PARADIGMATIC PERSPECTIVE 3
1.5.1 Meta-theoretical assumptions 3
1.5.2 Theoretical assumptions 3
1.5.2.1 Home schooling 4
1.5.2.2 Socialisation 4
1.5.2.3 Social adjustment 5
1.5.2.4 Social skills 5
1.5.2.5 Self-concept 5
1.5.2.6 Self-esteem 5
1.5.3 Methodological assumptions 5
1.6 RESEARCH DESIGN 6
1.6.1 Phase 1: Data collection and analysis 6
1.6.1.1 Pilot study 6
1 .6 .1 .2 Sampling 7
1.6.1.3 Theoretical framework 7
1.6.1.4 Data collection 7
1.6.1.5 Data analysis and literature review 8
v
1.6.2 Phase 2: Developmental guidelines: Integration of research
findings with literature 8
1.7 TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE STUDY
8
1.8 PLAN OF STUDY
9
CHAPTER 2: CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 10
2.1 INTRODUCTION 10
2.2 HISTORY OF HOME SCHOOLING 10
2.3 HOME EDUCATION UNDER THE SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS ACT
OF 1996 11
2.4 REASONS FOR HOME SCHOOLING 12
2.4.1 Ideologues 12
2.4.2 Pedagogues 13
2.4.3 Social reasons 13
2.4.4 New Age orientation 14
2.5 RESISTANCE TO HOME SCHOOLING 14
2.6 AREAS OF CONCERN REGARDING HOME SCHOOLING 15
2.6.1 Academic achievement 15
2.6.2 Socialisation 18
2.7 SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT 19
2.7.1 Erikson's psychosocial theory 19
2.7.1.1 The teacher 21
2.7.1.2 The parents 21
2.7.1.3 The peer group 22
2.7.1.4 Self-concept 23
2.8 CONCLUSION 23
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHOD AND DESIGN 25
3.1 INTRODUCTION 25
3.2 RESEARCH METHOD 25
3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN 26
3.3.1 Phase 1: Data analysis and collection 26
3.3.1.1 Sample 26
3.3.1.2 Pilot study 27
3.3.1.3 Data collection 27
Interviews 28
Observation 28
Focus group interview 29
Field notes 29
3.3.1.4 Data analysis 29
3.3.1.5 Report 30
3.3.2 Phase 2: Development of guidelines: Integration of research
fmdings with literature 30
3.4 TRUSTWORTHINESS 31
3.5 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 33
3.6 CONCLUSION 34
CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND GUIDELINES 35
4.1 INTRODUCTION 35
4.2 THEME 1: THE CHILD'S ENVIRONMENT 37
4.2.1 Category one: School environment 37
4.2.2 Category two: Home environment 41
4.3 THEME 2: PEER GROUPS 42
4.3.1 Category one: Negative influence 43
4.3.2 Category two: Dependence versus independence 44
4.3.3 Category three: Self-esteem 47
4.3.4 Category four: Negative attitudes towards other age groups 50
4.3.5 Category five: Breakdown of the family unit and values 52
4.4 THEME 3: REALISATION OF POTENTIAL 54
4.5 THEME 4: PARTICIPATION AND INTERACTION TECHNIQUES 56
4.6 GUIDELINES 59
4.6.1 THEME 1: The child's environment 59
4.6.2 THEME 2: Peer groups 60
4.6.3 THEME 3: Realisation of potential 60
vi
4.6.4 THEME 4: Participation and interaction techniques 61
4.7 SUMMARISING COMMENTS 62
CHAPTER 5: SUMMARY, RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 64
5.1 INTRODUCTION 64
5.2 SUMMARY 64
5.3 RESULTS 65
5.4 LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY 67
5.5 RECOMMENDATIONS WITH REGARD TO FUTURE RESEARCH 67
5.6 CONCLUSION 68
vii
LIST OF TABLES
TABLE 4.1 SUMMARY OF THEMES AND CATEGORIES IDENTIFIED 36
THROUGH DATA ANALYSIS
Vila
CHAPTER 1
MOTIVATION, RESEARCH PROBLEM, AIM OF STUDY
AND CLARIFICATION OF CONCEPTS
1.1 RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY
Home schooling is a fairly new alternative to schooling in South Africa and has been growing in
popularity since it was legalised in 1994. Parents choose to home school for various reasons. Some
parents choose to home school due to religious reasons because there are real threats or events that
are perceived as threats to the moral integrity of their children (LaRue & LaRue, 1991: 35; Knowles,
1988a: 8; Knowles, Muchmore & Spaulding, 1994: 240-242). Other parents choose to home school
due to political or financial concerns (Durham, 1996: 76).
Furthermore, home schooling seems to have grown in popularity due to the growing dissatisfaction
with the South African educational system. Parents are somewhat uncertain about the new
outcomes based educational system, Curriculum 2005, that was implemented in grade one in 1998
(Badenhorst, 1998: 21). Some other concerns are that their children are not performing well
academically (LaRue & LaRue, 1991: 35), the teacher-pupil ratio is too high, not enough attention
is given to the quality of education and there is dissatisfaction with public school learning outcomes.
Personality clashes between the child and teacher, lack of discipline in the classrooms, and the
growing violence and gangsterism in the schools also contribute to the growing lack of confidence
in the public school system. In the past, private schools seemed to be the solution to these problems.
However, due to the increase in costs of attending these schools, parents are no longer able to afford
this option (Durham, 1996: 76; Knowles, et st. 1994: 241; Williamson, 1995: vii). As a result,
parents are beginning to look more and more towards home schooling as the solution (Knowles,
et al. 1994: 241).
Those who object to home schooling do so for two main reasons. Firstly, they argue that home
schooling compromises educational standards. Secondly, that home schooled children are deprived
of "normal" socialisation as there is concern about the "isolation" of home schooled children
(Durham, 1996: 77; LaRue & LaRue, 1991: 35/36; Knowles, 1988a: 10; Badenhorst, 1998: 21).
Not much research has been done in South Africa concerning home schooling to ascertain the
advantages and disadvantages concerning the academic and socialisation aspects of home schooling
Il
within the South African context. In this study, the researcher will focus on the social adaptation
and socialisation of home schooled children.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Since home schooling is still a fairly new educational alternative in South Africa, more research
needs to be conducted concerning the socialisation implications so that a greater understanding of
this aspect of home schooling by the educational psychologist can be achieved. By expanding our
knowledge, guidelines can be developed that could aid parents in developing any areas that may
need improving. For the purpose of this mini-dissertation, the following questions are asked:
How do home schooled children experience their home school education?
What opportunities are home schooled children presented with to socialise?
What guidelines can be developed for parents to help promote the socialisation of their
children?
1.3 AIM OF STUDY
The goal of educational research is to extend the researcher's understanding and knowledge so that
this may be used to benefit and improve education (Donald, Lazarus & Lolwana, 1997: 98). The
educational psychologist uses this newly acquired knowledge by interpreting it and translating it
into practice. Therefore, by presenting the new knowledge on a practical level, they make it more
accessible so that it may lead to the improvement of educational practice.
In this specific context, the aim of this study serves two purposes. Firstly, the researcher intends
to explore and describe how home schooled children experience home schooling and the impact that
it has on their socialisation and furthermore gain an understanding of the opportunities that they are
presented with to socialise. Secondly, to develop guidelines for the educational psychologist to aid
parents of home schooled children to facilitate their children's socialisation.
1.4 CENTRAL THEORETICAL STATEMENT
Knowledge obtained about socialisation problems experienced by home schooled children will
enable the educational psychologist to develop guidelines for parents to empower them in enhancing
the socialisation skills of their home schooled children.
2
1.5 PARADIGMATIC PERSPECTIVE
No research is value-free; therefore, it is necessary for the researcher to explicitly state her
assumptions (Mouton & Marais, 1994: 192; Botes, 1993 : 12) as the values of the researcher may
impact on the interpretation of the research findings. Therefore, the assumptions' of the researcher
are expressed in statements which reflect her own paradigmatic perspective concerning her
conception or interpretation of an issue.
1.5.1 Meta-theoretical assumptions
Meta-theoretical assumptions concern the researcher's philosophy regarding the human being and
his society (Botes, 1993: 12), more specifically, in the context of this study, the researcher's
philosophy regarding education, the educator and the educand.
Education is the right of every person and it does not begin when the child enters school. The
child's education begins on the day he is born (Donald, et al. 1997: 48). He learns by interacting
with his environment physically, cognitively, emotionally and socially. Active participation on all
these levels enhances his learning experience more than if he were a passive recipient (Donald, tt
a 1997: 47,61). The exposure that the child initially receives is greatly determined by his parents
as they are responsible for choosing what the child may and may not be exposed to. The
experiences that a child is exposed to will determine his cognitive, physical, emotional and social
development. The primary role of the educator, in the case of home schooling the parents, is to
facilitate the optimal development of the child (Donald, IL]. 1997: 61). It is important to remember
that the focus is not only on the cognitive development of the child as the aim is to promote the
development of the whole child, cognitively, emotionally, physically, morally, and socially.
1.5.2 Theoretical assumptions
Theoretical assumptions concern and "reflects the researcher's view about what is considered as true
or valid knowledge in existing theoretical or conceptual frameworks and which relate to his research
subject" (Botes, 1993: 17). Therefore, this study will be interpreted within the context of the field
of educational psychology. The educational psychologist looks at the child in a holistic manner as
she sees the child's intellectual, cognitive, behavioural and physical beings as not being single
entities, but as interacting and influencing the whole development of the child. The educational
3
psychologist not only strives to address problems that children encounter in a curative manner
through using curative intervention, whereby she helps children to cope better with their difficulties
and problems, as she would rather apply preventative intervention, whereby she treats the cause of
the problem and tries to contain the problem so that it does not worsen (Donald, flat 1997: 25).
This may either be achieved by working directly or indirectly with the child as well as his parents
through parental guidance. Consequently, the child's physical, cognitive, behavioural and emotional
being will be taken into consideration with regard to the socialisation of the home schooled child.
For the purposes of this study, a qualitative research approach has been adopted as the focus will
be on the person's own written or spoken words and observable behaviour. The intention is to
produce descriptive data that may expand our knowledge and understanding (MacKay & Schuh,
1991: 424-425; Taylor & Bogdan, 1984: 5-8; Krefting, 1991: 214; Strauss & Corbin, 1990: 17),
in the context of this study, the socialisation of home schooled children. Therefore, it is necessary
to clarify a few relevant concepts that are present in the formulation of the research topic in order
to understand and obtain clarity of the meanings and definitions of the concepts and terms as they
are used in this study.
1.5.2.1 Home schooling
Home schooling refers to the process of children being educated at home by their parent or parents
(Durham, 1996: 76; Knowles, et al. 1994: 238). Learners that are educated in a home by an adult,
other than their parent, is not being home schooled. They are classified as attending a private
school. Therefore, a child can only be regarded as being home schooled if he is taught by one of his
parents within his own home.
1.5.2.2 Socialisation
Socialisation refers to the process of learning behaviours that are considered to be appropriate to
one's culture, thereby producing functioning members of society (Papalia & Olds, 1989:632;
Vander Zanden, 1989: 270, 297; Kunutu, 1996: 264). Therefore, it is the process whereby an
individual learns the skills, knowledge, motives, behaviours and attitudes of his given culture.
Socialisation can thus be summarised as being a "synonym of acculturation and a parallel to
enculturation" (Kunutu, 1996: 264). Within this, there are two sub-goals, namely individuation and
social connection (Durkin, 1995: 13). Individuation is the determination of a person's uniqueness
and social connection is discovering how to relate to, learn from, and function with other people.
4
1.5.2.3 Social adjustment
Social adjustment refers to the success with which people are able to adjust to interacting with other
people in general and, more particularly, with the group with which they identify (Hurlock, 1978:
260; Kapp, 1991:49). People that are well adjusted have well developed social skills.
1.5.2.4 Social skills
Social skills include all the communication skills at the disposal of a person that aid him in
interacting with others in a given social context in specific ways that are socially acceptable (Hargie,
1991: 10) . The focus is, therefore, on the interpersonal interaction, both verbal and non-verbal,
between individuals.
1.5.2.5 Self-concept
Self-concept is what people believe and think about themselves. This includes their important
attributes as well as the value that they attach to these attributes (Donald, eta'. 1997:148; Swann
& Brown, 1990: 151; Schaffer, 1996: 159; Hoffman, Paris, Hall & Schell, 1988: 406).
1.5.2.6 Self-esteem
Self-esteem refers to an individual's feelings of his or her own worthiness or competence (Schaffer,
1996: 164; Clarke-Stewart, Friedman & Koch, 1985: 607). Self-concept is the key objective
indicator for establishing children's self-esteem (Klicka, 1995: 142). Children's self-esteem is one
of the best measurements of their ability to successfully interact on a social level. If children have
a positive self-esteem, they will have the confidence to interact with other children in various
settings (Donald, eLd. 1997: 148).
1.5.3 Methodological assumptions
Methodological assumptions concerns the researcher's own opinions with regards to research in
general (Botes, 1993: 17). This reflects the researcher's view of good research which includes the
researcher's "view of the purpose of research, the methods which lead to justifiable research and
the criteria for validity or justifiability" (Botes, 1993:17). According to Donald et al. (1997: 98), the
purpose of educational research should be to improve educational practice. Therefore, a particular
problem in the field of education should be identified and thoroughly researched with the ultimate
aim of gaining insight and knowledge that may contribute to the improvement of that problem area.
5
Since home schooling is a fairly new educational alternative in South Africa, relatively little is
known about this phenomenon. Therefore, research needs to be generated to expand and enrich our
knowledge and understanding of this phenomenon. To better understand the socialisation of the
home schooled child, descriptive data will need to be gathered from participants from their
perspective within their own context (MacKay & Schuh, 1991: 424; Taylor & Bogdan, 1984: 5;
Gorman & Clayton, 1997: 23; Hittleman & Simon, 1997: 42; Wilson, 1993: 216-217). Therefore,
qualitative research was chosen; from the data gathered, concepts, insights and understanding will
be gathered from the patterns that emerge (Mason, 1996: 6; MacLeod, 1994: 77).
1.6. RESEARCH DESIGN
This study will be conducted in two phases. The research method and design of this study will be
discussed in greater detail in chapter three.
1.6.1 Phase 1: Data collection and analysis
In this section the following will be discussed: pilot study, sampling, theoretical framework, data
collection, data analysis and a literature review.
1.6.1.1 Pilot study
A pilot study is a scaled-down version of the intended research project (Hittleman & Simon, 1997:
171; Gorman & Clayton, 1997: 99; Sieber, 1992: 11; Wilson, 1993: 15; Allison, O'Sullivan, Owen,
Rice, Rothwell & Saunders, 1996: 51). The aim of the pilot study is to assist the researcher in
ironing out any potential problem areas so that appropriate modifications to the research design can
be made to gather the necessary information and to ensure the validity of the research project
(Neuman, 1997: 141; Huysamen, 1994: 197-198).
A parent who home schools her children will be chosen for the pilot study. She will be asked how
she experiences home schooling, in what way home schooling has impacted on her children's
socialisation and social skills, and how she actively promotes her children's socialisation. From the
data gathered in this interview, which will be tape recorded and transcribed, it will be decided
whether the questions asked will be suitable for the research.
6
1.6.1.2 Sampling
The research sample is comprised of the participants that actually take part in this study (MacLeod,
1994: 32). A purposeful sample (Huysamen, 1994: 44; Neuman, 1997: 206; Rubin & Babbie, 1993:
369) will be used involving parents that have home schooled their children for a period of at least
one year and whose children are between the ages of six and twelve. This age group was chosen
for the sample as these participants were more readily available for the purposes of this study.
Parents who home school their children constitute the population from which the sample will be
chosen.
1.6.1.3 Theoretical framework
The social and emotional development of the home schooled child will be discussed in chapter 2.
This study is placed in context by looking at the development of the home school in general and then
more specifically within the South African context. The reasons why parents choose to home school
are discussed. Both criticism against home schooling and supportive evidence in favour of home
schooling will be presented. The social and emotional development of middle childhood will be
discussed in relation to the psychosocial theory of Erikson and the role that the child's parents,
teachers and peers play in relation to this. Lastly, the development of the child's self-concept will
be discussed as this impacts on the child's social and emotional development (Slavin,1991: 74;
Donald, et al. 1997: 148).
1.6.1.4 Data collection
The data for this study will be collected by various means. To explore whether home schooled
children learn to socialise adequately, use will be made of semi-structured interviews with parents
who home school their children and a focus group interview with their children. Furthermore,
observation of their children's interaction with others within the home and within a focus group
interview will be made. The data that is gathered by these means will be incorporated with the
theory gathered in the literature study. Field notes (Merriam, 1988: 98) will also be used in
recording all observations and conversations.
7
1.6.1.5 Data analysis and literature review
Tesch's (1990: 118, 122) method of data analysis will be used for the purpose of this study. Data
analysis will be conducted simultaneously while the data is being collected. The data analysis will
be based on data reduction and interpretation. The volume of information will be reduced to certain
patterns, categories or themes which will be interpreted according to a specific schema (Creswell,
1994: 153-154). Tesch (1990: 118, 122) refers to this process as "de-contextualization" which is
the separating of relevant portions of data from the text, and "re-contextualization" which is the
reassembling of data that belongs in one category once the data has been coded. The important
emerging themes will be noted for further analysis. From this, conceptual and theoretical
propositions can be concluded. This will then be further consolidated when the literature review
is integrated with the research data (Taylor & Bogdan, 1984: 130-136).
1.6.2 Phase 2: Developmental guidelines: Integration of research findings with literature
Once sufficient understanding has been obtained - through identification of themes and categories
in data analysis - about the difficulties encountered with regards to the socialisation of home
schooled children and integrating this with already established knowledge by means of a literature
review, guidelines can be developed for the educational psychologist to assist parents with their
children's socialisation.
1.7 TRUSTWORTHINESS OF THE STUDY
All research should satisfy the demands of scientific rigour as this will determine the worth of a
research study (Krefting, 1991: 214). This concern about the achievement of rigour is common to
all forms of research, therefore, the qualitative researcher must give careful consideration to the
trustworthiness of her research. This concerns the confidence that can be placed in the outcomes
of the study and whether what the researcher has reported can be believed (Maykut & Morehouse,
1994: 145). To increase the trustworthiness of the study, use will be made of triangulation so that
the data and interpretation thereof can be cross checked by collecting information from several
sources about the socialisation of home schooled children (Hittleman & Simon, 1997:232; Neuman,
1997:151; Rubin & Babbie, 1993: 165; Silverman, 1993: 156). Triangulation of data and of
sources will be used (Krefting, 1991: 219; Taylor & Bogdan, 1984: 68-70; Mouton & Marais, 1994:
91-92; Creswell, 1994: 156). The data will be collected by conducting semi-structured interviews,
8
a focus group interview and through observation. The various sources that will be used are parents
who home school, their children who are home schooled by them, as well as theory obtained through
the literature study.
The trustworthiness of the study will be further enhanced by peer supervision and by consulting the
original source to validate whether their viewpoints have been accurately interpreted and translated
into data so that they are able to recognise their own experiences in the research fmdings (Krefting,
1991: 219). Therefore, peer evaluation and member checking is used to aid in determining and
promoting the trustworthiness of this study (Maykut & Morehouse, 1994: 147).
1.8 PLAN OF STUDY
The following is a short summary of the stages of the inquiry as they are set out in the research
report.
In Chapter One an explanation of the background, context, research problem and aim, and rationale
is presented, as well as the research method and the researcher's assumptions and presuppositions.
In Chapter Two the theoretical framework is discussed. It will include the background and
development of home schooling. The social and emotional development of middle childhood and
the role of self-concept within this will be discussed.
In Chapter Three the specific research method used in this study is further explained, and the
research design will be presented.
In Chapter Four the research data gathered is discussed and analysed. This is interpreted against
the theoretical background and the guidelines will also be discussed.
In Chapter Five a summary of this study concerning the social adjustment of home schooled
children is given. Conclusions will be made from the data gathered, attention will be given to
limitations of this study and recommendations will be made with regard to further research.
9
CHAPTER 2
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 INTRODUCTION
As has been discussed in chapter one, the conceptual framework will focus on two areas, namely
home schooling and the emotional and social development of a child in middle childhood (six to
twelve years). The discussion will begin with the history of home schooling and how it developed
in order to explain why certain parents choose home schooling as an educational alternative.. The
problems that may be encountered in home schooling and the advantages to home schooling will
be further discussed. The emotional and social development of the child will be discussed in greater
detail to obtain an understanding of how his social interactions with his parents, teachers and peers
influence his social and emotional development. This conceptual framework will be discussed from
an educational psychology frame of reference as the educational psychologists needs to understand
how all these elements impact on each other and how this will influence the social development of
the child.
2.2 HISTORY OF HOME SCHOOLING
Before the onset of public schooling in the mid-nineteenth century, home-based learning was the
primary means of educating children of the colonists and pioneers in the United States (Knowles,
1988a: 6; Knowles, et al, . 1994: 238-239). Most of the children of the upper classes in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries were educated at home either by their parents or by tutors.
The change in perceptions and attitudes towards informal and home-based education began with
the onset of public schooling when the authority and responsibility of education shifted from the
parents to the state. Consequently, relatively few children were educated at home during the years
between 1850 and 1970.
Home education began to reemerge and spread as an alternative to institutional schooling in the
United States in the late 1960's and early 1970's (Knowles, et al. 1994 :240; Knowles, 1988a: 7).
The reemergence and movement towards home schooling was greatly fuelled by liberal educational
reformers such as John Holt, Ivan Illich, Jonathon Kozol, Allen Graubard, and Herbert Kohl. This
early period in the reemergence of home schooling was often marked by confrontations between
10
home school parents and the public school administrators as it was viewed as a negative criticism
towards American society and was perceived as the "ultimate slap in the face for public education"
(Natale, 1992: 26). This seemed to force many home schools "underground" which made it difficult
to obtain accurate estimations of how many families chose to home school.
Through change in legislation and the amendments in regulation, home schooling has gradually
become recognised and accepted. The courts have often advised the school boards to explore the
ways in which they can be of assistance to home schools and to develop a cooperative relationship
between the two (Knowles, 1988a:10). Initially, home schooling was broadly regarded to be
predominantly a rural phenomenon but with the growing dissatisfaction with public school
education, home schools have become increasingly urban. With the increasing acceptance of home
education as an alternative to public education, the number of parents who choose to home school
has grown. Organizations and networks have been established to provide assistance and information
to parents who home school. This growing interest in home schooling has begun to take root in
South Africa.
2.3 HOME EDUCATION UNDER THE SOUTH AFRICAN SCHOOLS ACT OF 1996
The South African Schools Act of 1996 acknowledges home schooling as a schooling option, which
can be regarded as a step in the right direction for home schoolers as it acknowledges home
schooling as a schooling option (Durham, 1996: 77; Van Oostrum & Van Oostrum, 1997: 33).
According to the South African Schools Bill of 1996, clause 39, parents who decide that they want
to home school their child or children have to apply to the provincial Head of Department for
exemption from compulsory school attendance (Durham, 1996: 77). The Head of Department may
only register a learner for home education if he is satisfied that home schooling will be in the interest
of the child, that the minimum requirements of the curriculum in public schools will be met, and that
the home education will at least match the minimum standard of education in public schools.
Even though home schooling has thus been recognised as a legitimate educational alternative, the
ultimate decision whether or not to register a child for home schooling rests with the Head of
Department (Durham, 1996: 77). The Head of Department is not obliged to register the child for
home education and there is no procedurally fair administrative action for appeal should the Head
of Department refuse to register a learner for home schooling. Durham (1996: 77), therefore,
regards the South African Schools Act to be mere "window dressing" and recommends that the
power to determine conditions for home schooling should rest with the Member of the Executive
Council (MEC) for education in the province and that the conditions should be published in the
Provincial Gazette so that they may become equally applicable to all home schoolers.
Van Oostrum and Van Oostrum (1997: 33-34) also find the South African Schools Act to be
problematic as the decision as to what is best for the child is taken out of the parents' hands and is
placed in the hands of the Head of Department. Taking the decision out of the parents' hands is
regarded to be infringing upon the child's right to family and parental care under the new
constitution. It may also be infringing upon the constitutionally and universally recognised rights
of parents to choose their children's education and to educate their children according to their own
convictions. These convictions are reflected in reasons for home schooling.
2.4 REASONS FOR HOME SCHOOLING
Parents choose to home school for a number of reasons. Most of these seem to fall into one of two
categories identified by Van Galen (1988: 54-55), which she refers to as Ideologues and
Pedagogues. Mayberry (1988: 38) identified a further two categories: those who home school for
social reasons and those who desire a New Age orientation.
2.4.1 Ideologues
Families who choose to home school their children based on ideologies believe that schools teach
a curriculum that may contradict their own values and beliefs (Van Galen, 1988:55; Mayberry,
1988: 37; Natale, 1992:26; Knowles, gam. 1994:240-241; Marlow, 1994: 441). Therefore, their
reasons are mainly religious; these parents can be regarded as fundamentalists who believe that it
is their religious duty to educate their own children as God has given them the responsibility and
the authority to do so (Van Oostrum & Van Oostrum, 1997:2; Klicka, 1988: 89). These parents
have transferred the activities of the public school to the environment of the home where they have
removed those elements of institutionalised education that they regard as being undesirable. They
will thus emphasise the values and religious beliefs that they consider to be important as they don't
believe that these are being adequately taught in schools. Furthermore, they want to teach their
children the importance of family values and to strongly emphasise individual freedom (Knowles,
1988b: 73).
12
2.4.2 Pedagogues
Parents who choose to home school their children based on pedagogical reasons believe that the
public schools do not adequately address the special academic needs of their children (Van Galen,
1988:55; LaRue & LaRue, 1991:35; Mayberry, 1988: 31; Klicka, 1988:89; Marlow, 1994: 441).
They are of the opinion that they are able to improve on the quality of education their children
receive in institutionalised schools and that they can create an environment that is more conducive
to learning. These parents respect their children's intellect, individuality and creativity and believe
that children learn best when the pedagogy taps into an innate desire to learn and is adapted to
individual learning styles (Knowles, 1988b: 73). Therefore, they contend that home-based education
is the best method to ensure their children's academic achievement.
Some of these parents consider the educational standards in public schools to be too lenient. They
argue that home-based education provides more rigorous standards and this in turn motivates
children to learn more. Some parents have children with special needs, such as gifted children or
children with learning and developmental barriers, and they claim that home schooling is the
solution as public schools do not have the sufficient resources for providing appropriate programs.
Home schoolers believe that one-on-one instruction is the most important component of educational
achievement (Klicka, 1995: 145; Jeub, 1994: 52) as parents become more personally involved in
their child's education and allow their children to develop at their own pace. Finally, they believe
that they are more able to be sensitive towards the developmental stages of their children.
2.4.3 Social reasons
Parents who choose to home school due to social reasons are concerned about the negative
environment in which their children are socialising (Knowles, 1988b: 73; Divoky, 1983: 397).
Furthermore, they do not believe that their children's social contact should be limited to their peers
as this does not reflect the "real world" because adults are expected to be able to interact across
various age groups and across various social strata (Pike, 1992: 564). Home school parents,
therefore, believe that they are able to create a superior social environment as they wish to provide
better protection from peer pressure and the negative social influences that institutionalised schools
provide (Van Oostrum & Van Oostrum, 1997:2; Mayberry, 1988: 38). Usually these parents also
desire to strengthen the cohesion of the family unit as a social structure as they become more
personally involved in their children's education.
13
2.4.4 New Age Orientation
Families that are New Age orientated who choose to home school merely wish to include a New
Age orientation in their children's schooling (Mayberry, 1988:38). These parents are of the opinion
that public schools are ill equipped to provide cultural beliefs and values that are consistent with
their New Age philosophy which "emphasizes the interrelatedness of all life, presents a global view,
and nurtures a spirituality that emphasizes peaceful coexistence with others" (Mayberry, 1988: 38).
These above mentioned reasons why parents choose to home school their children, whether for
ideological, pedagogical, social or New Age reasons, are not mutually exclusive as they may often
overlap. However, religious people tend to reject the New Age movement although they both have
the same aim, which is to educate and nurture their children within their own value system. Parents
who choose to home school often get criticised as they are perceived as making a negative criticism
against the public schooling system whereas they are only choosing what they believe is the best
option for their children. Therefore, home schoolers are often faced with criticism, suspicion and
resistance.
2.5 RESISTANCE TO HOME SCHOOLING
As pointed out in chapter one, home-based education was initially met with resistance by public
schools, as they interpreted home education as being a direct criticism against public schools
(Knowles,1988a:10; Simmons, 1994: 47). Many members of the public regarded home-based
education with great suspicion as they found the "subtle message conveyed by home schooling that
the public schools are in a dismal state and past all remedy" (Simmons, 1994: 47) to be most
offensive. Home schooling was also regarded with suspicion as it was a radical departure from the
norm (Knowles, et al . 1994: 240).
There are two further issues that concern the public schools' resistance with regard to home
schooling (Durham, 1996: 77; LaRue & LaRue, 1991: 35-36). Firstly, they question whether home
schooling will compromise educational standards and secondly, whether home schoolers will be
adequately socialised. The issue of whether home schoolers are adequately socialised will be
discussed in greater detail later in this chapter (2.5.2). There are a number of areas regarding home
schooling that the public schools are concerned about and they may use these as justifying their
resistance against home schooling.
14
2.6 AREAS OF CONCERN REGARDING HOME SCHOOLING
A number of concerns involving home schooling in the United States of America has been identified
by Simmons (1994: 47-48). These concerns regarding home schooling can be placed into two broad
categories; academic achievement and socialisation. Those parents who are in a position to be able
to home school their children are choosing to do so as they find that the benefits of home schooling
outweigh any of its disadvantages (Klicka, 1995: 126). In this section, these advantages and
disadvantages of home schooling will be discussed in greater detail as they may possibly come
forward in South Africa. A closer look will also be taken at research done on home schooling as
supporting evidence.
2.6.1 Academic achievement
Education authorities criticise home schools as they are concerned that it will compromise
educational standards (Durham, 1996: 77; LaRue & LaRue, 1991: 35-36). Consequently, many
studies have been conducted with home school children in the United States to ascertain the level
of academic achievement. The studies concluded that the academic achievement of home school
children is generally higher than that of their public school peers (Van Oostrum & Van Oostrum,
1997:12; Klicka, 1988: 90-91; Durham, 1996:78; LaRue & LaRue, 1991:35; Natale, 1992:29;
Harris, 1995: 53; Ray, 1997:3, Klicka, 1995:131). There are a number of factors that contribute
towards this. One of the main contributing factors is the one-on-one instruction that home schoolers
receive (Harris, 1995: 57). Unlike public schools, where the teacher-pupil ratio is usually too high
for the teacher to have any opportunity to give individual attention, home schools have the
opportunity to give continual individual attention to those who need it and in the areas in which they
need it.
Harris (1995:57) further argues that home school children perform academically higher than their
public peers as home school parents, as the educators, can give more attention and encouragement
to the children who are encountering difficulty in meeting the academic demands placed on them.
This does not happen in public schools as the children who demand the teacher's attention are not
always those with the greatest academic needs; children who are regarded as being a discipline
problem within the class tend to gain most of the teacher's attention as opposed to those who are
battling academically. Individual attention provides a much better foundation for teaching and
learning as one-to-one tutoring "creates an atmosphere that is healthy, productive, and conducive
15
to a student's academic success" (Jeub, 1994: 52). It provides an opportunity for the teacher, in
the case of the home school, the parent, to get to know the child's strengths and weaknesses.
Therefore, parents can diagnose problem areas more quickly. They can discover where their
child's needs lie and how best to go about motivating the child. The parent is also then better
equipped to know at what pace to progress through the work, which approach to the work would
be the best for the child and adapt the content of study to suit the child's interests and abilities. This
approach is more difficult to accomplish in a mainstream school as the teacher is required to divide
her attention between 35 or more pupils (Ray, 1988: 20). Furthermore, in a home school, if a child
works hard on a task and it does not take him too long to complete, he may be rewarded for his
diligence. The child in mainstream education, however, has to patiently wait for his classmates to
complete the task. If the home school child encounters difficulty with certain tasks or a subject, he
has the time available to continue working on it with the emotional support of a caring and patient
"teacher" until he has mastered it. In the mainstream class, where the schedules are rigid and other
pupils have to be taken into consideration, the child is forced to hurry up; this could affect the
quality of his understanding.
The most important element that may contribute toward the high academic achievement in home
schooled children is the intense parental involvement (Simmons, 1994: 48). It has become generally
recognised that the more parental involvement there is, the higher the academic achievement is.
Therefore, according to research conducted by Cotton and Wikelund (cited by Van Oorstrum & Van
Oorstrum, 1997: 25), parental involvement acts as a predictor of academic achievement. Even
mainstream schools have recognised this and are calling for more parental involvement in the
schools. Home schooled children, therefore, benefit greatly as their parents are intensely involved.
Furthermore, for children to be able to learn they have to feel secure because when they feel insecure
they may hold back and "play it safe" (Harris, 1995: 58). They will not attempt new skills out of
fear of being ridiculed. The home is often seen as being the least stressful environment for a child
as it is more intimate and conducive to nurturing scholastic development (Knowles, et al. 1994:
241). Therefore, the home environment may provide the sense of safety children need in order to
take risks in their learning.
Educators are further concerned about the actual amount of instructional time that takes place within
the home school as it is easy to be distracted by the telephone and be interrupted by neighbours
(Simmons, 1994:47). Klicka (1995:145), however, argues that since home schoolers are receiving
one-on-one instruction they need fewer hours in the day that involve formal instruction than
16
children in public schools. Consequently, home school children can spend more of their time
performing tasks, such as projects, "hands-on" experiences, and field trips. Thus, it would seem
that home school children can enrich their education by experiencing it first hand instead of
receiving their education mainly through the medium of books.
Simmons (1994: 47) argues that home schoolers may lack the resources or facilities to adequately
deliver a well rounded educational experience. This would include enrichment activities such as
choir, drama, sport and so forth which also provide opportunities for children to socialise.
Furthermore, some important aspects in the curriculum may also be very difficult to teach in the
home. This would include subjects such as science where they may not have access to a laboratory
and learning the intricacies of another language without greater exposure to a trained instructor.
Acquiring a greater understanding of cultural awareness and multicultural perspectives when they
do not receive opportunities to work and study with those of different backgrounds may negatively
impact on their ability to socialise across cultural barriers. Simmons ( 1994: 48) and Riemer (1994:
53), however, found that the home school does provide constant learning opportunities as home
schooled children can attend enrichment activities presented in their communities which broadens
their horizons. Furthermore, they have a greater opportunity to attend more field trips where they
are able to learn from first hand experience instead of in a classroom laboratory. Due to the various
field trips and excursions that the home school children are exposed to, they come into contact and
learn from people of differing age groups and cultures. This provides better motivation and more
time and opportunities to encourage the child. The is made possible through the flexibility in the
educational process which involves flexibility in the curriculum and flexibility in the schedule which
home schooling allows (Harris, 1995: 61). Unlike home schooling, the mainstream schools have
to adhere to a set curriculum, classroom setting and prescribed hours of attendance.
Simmons (1994: 47) claims that even though home school parents are highly motivated, it does not
mean that they have an innate ability or the necessary professional preparation needed for effective
instruction. However, based on research conducted by Wartes (1988: 47) and Ray (1997: 4), it was
concluded that there is no correlation between the home school parents' level of education and
training in relation to their children's level of academic achievement. Ray (1997: 5) further found
that the education level of parents of public school students, however, does affect their children's
academic performance as it was found that the more educated the parent was, the higher their
children's academic achievement would be. This study refers to parents of public school children
that are actively involved in promoting their children's academic achievement.
17
Another problem area is evaluation (Simmons, 1994: 48). Clearly defined instructional goals and
expected outcomes need to be established in order to assess whether they have been attained.
According to Van Oorstrum and Van Oorstrum (1997:50) there are various options available to
home schools. In public schools there has been a movement towards "continuous evaluation" which
is embodied in the new South African curriculum, Curriculum 2005, which stresses the concept of
continuous assessment. The home school parent is able to do so with greater ease than public
school teachers as they deal with their children in one-on-one instruction on a daily basis.
Therefore, they become well aware of what their children are capable of and what their limitations
are. Furthermore, they have access to test and examination material which is provided by home
school organisations. In addition to this, if parents wish to compare their children's academic
progress with that of his public school peer, they may acquire test and exam material from their local
school. Therefore, the home school approach to teaching could also fit in well with the new
outcomes based educational system which is being introduced in South Africa (Durham, 1996: 78)
as home school parents, to some extent, try to structure the content of work around the child's
interest in order to maintain motivation. It could also provide the opportunity for the child to develop
and learn at his own pace (Jeub, 1994:52).
2.6.2 Socialisation
Besides the academic concerns that are voiced regarding home schooling, the second main area of
concern is the perceived "isolation" of the home schoolers and that they are not exposed to the
necessary interactions that foster social development, which is likely to be felt more as they grow
older (Simmons, 1994: 48; Webb, 1989: 122; Knowles & Muchmore, 1995: 35). Some authors
argue that home schooling provides a healthier socialisation process for children than the typical
mainstream classroom as home schooled children are generally more mature and better socialised
as they are able to apply their social skills across different age groups (Harris, 1995: 59; Durham,
1996:78; Klicka, 1995: 143; Webb, 1989: 124).
Educators that criticise home schooling will often comment on the lack of opportunities that home
school children have to interact with their peers. Furthermore, they often criticise home schoolers
for isolating their children from the "real world" (Klicka, 1995: 141). It is important to keep in
mind that home schooled children do not necessarily stay at home with their families the whole day.
Instead they may become involved in community activities such as sport, field trips, scouts, dance
classes, music classes and so forth where they then have the opportunity to interact with other
18
children (Ray, 1997:9; Divoky, 1983: 397).
Lastly, the most serious concern for some home school critics is that of parental abuse and neglect
in the home school (Simmons, 1994: 48). Though most parents choose to home school out of
genuine concern for the children, some parents may choose to home school so that no one may
become aware of any bruises or cuts which these children may have as a result of abuse. The
education authorities that ensure that home schooled children are being adequately educated will
have to ensure that is being done in a non-abusive home environment.
Besides the academic concerns that are voiced regarding home schooling, the second main area of
concern is the perceived "isolation" of home schoolers which the critics believe may have some
influence on the child's social and emotional development.
2.7 SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
For the purpose of this study, the focus will be on the social and emotional development in middle
childhood as the sample used in this study consisted of home schooled children between the ages
of six and twelve. Specific attention will be paid to the psychosocial development theory of Erikson
(Wolff, 1989: 141; Donald, et al. 1997: 53) so that a theoretical background can be established
against which the socialisation of the child in middle childhood can be understood. Therefore,
particular attention will be paid to Erikson's stage of industry versus inferiority in middle childhood
(Erikson, 1973: 250). Furthermore, Erikson views the social and emotional development of the
child as a succession of stages which takes place within a social context (Wolff, 1989:141). The
role of the teacher, parent and peers will be discussed as they influence the child's social and
emotional development. Furthermore, specific attention will be given to the development of the
child's self-concept as this impacts on his self-esteem which influences his social and emotional
development (Donald, et al. 1997: 148).
2.7.1 Erikson's psychosocial theory
Erikson proposed that people pass through eight psychosocial stages in their lifetime. These eights
stages do not have fixed borders, with regard to when each stage begins and ends, for they serve as
a guideline as the pace of individual development needs to be taken into account. Each stage relates
to the "notion of progressively emerging emotional needs in interaction with expanding social
19
relationships" (Donald, g.A. 1997: 53). Therefore, each stage of childhood brings with it a new set
of alternative patterns for social interaction, together with the capacity for new emotions (Wolff,
1989: 142). In each stage there is a crisis or a critical moment that needs to be resolved (Papalia &
Olds, 1989:17; Nadien, 1980:29; Gage & Berliner, 1988: 143; Slavin, 1991: 40; Vander Zanden,
1989: 39). The successful resolution of each of the eight crisis stages requires the balancing of a
positive and a corresponding negative trait. For the successful mastering of each crisis stage the
person needs to learn skills that will help him to adapt to each new stage in life.
The first stage of Erikson's psychosocial theory (1973: 239-266) is basic trust versus mistrust. This
stage occurs from birth to eighteen months of age. The second stage spans between the ages of
eighteen months and three years. This stage that takes place in early childhood is referred to as
autonomy versus shame and doubt. The third stage, initiative versus guilt, lasts between the ages
of three to six years. Within this stage, children learn to initiate activities and to enjoy their
accomplishments, thereby acquiring direction and purpose. However, if they are not allowed to
show initiative, they feel guilty for their attempts at independence (Clarke-Stewart, et al.1985: 15).
The fourth stage occurs in middle childhood and is referred to as industry versus inferiority. The
fifth stage, identity versus role confusion, which happens in adolescence, is concerned with
adolescents acquiring a feeling of identity, which consists of their certainty about their own ability,
social identity and their values and ideals (Louw, 1991: 61). However, if this is not met with much
success, they become confused about who they are and what they want out of life. Intimacy versus
isolation is the sixth stage which takes place approximately between the age of twenty and forty.
This is followed by generativity versus stagnation that occurs between forty and sixty years of age.
The final stage, from sixty years onwards, is integrity versus despair.
According to Erikson's psychosocial theory, the child in middle childhood (between the ages of six
and twelve) will be progressing through the stage known as industry versus inferiority (Erikson,
1973: 250; Papalia & Olds, 1989:305; Nadien, 1980:90-91; Gage & Berliner, 1988: 144; Slavin,
1991: 41; Vander Zanden, 1989: 41; Louw, 1991:341). In this stage of development, the child is
introduced to the school environment and his social world expands dramatically. His teachers and
peers exert a greater influence over him than before while the parents' influence over him begins
to decrease. The success that the child may experience in class and the recognition he may receive
for his achievements will develop a sense of industry. However, if the child experiences failure, this
will lead to a negative self-image and a sense of inferiority that may hinder future learning.
20
This stage in a child's development, therefore, is crucial as it can determine his attitude towards
learning and the way in which he may see himself. As teachers, parents and peers play an important
role in the social and emotional development of the child, the role of each of these groups will be
discussed in the next section.
2.7.1.1 The teacher
The teacher plays an important role in developing the child's sense of industry or inferiority
(Nadien, 1980: 91; Louw, 1991: 341) . The teacher can create opportunities for the child to
experience success so that the child's self-image may be bolstered, which may keep him motivated
to learn (Donald, et al. 1997: 245). This can be accomplished through recognising the child's
abilities and giving special attention to developing them. The teacher is also largely responsible for
fostering a positive and healthy classroom environment which is conducive to learning. Donald gt
J. (1997:116) discuss teacher characteristics identified by MacAuley and Hamachek that are
generally found to provide a positive influence in the classroom. These included warmth,
friendliness, being supportive, having good communication skills (in particularly being a good
listener), being empathetic, being orderly and in control, having respect for the learners, providing
positive feedback to learners, rewarding learners for positive behaviour, and being fair. It was
further found that when teachers used a democratic style of leadership and management, it promoted
a positive class environment. It must furthermore be considered that teachers are also role models
to the child (Nadien, 1980:91). Therefore, if the teacher models these behaviours, the child will
learn and acquire positive social behaviours that may benefit him in and out of the classroom.
Besides teachers, parents also have influence over their children. The parent as educator may fulfil
all these roles.
2.7.1.2 The parents
In addition to the teachers, the parents also influence the development of their children's sense of
industry or inferiority. When parents expect their children to achieve well and positively reinforce
these achievements, it may contribute towards the success that the children achieve in school (Louw,
1991: 341). This success in school then leads to the development of a positive self-image and of
self-worth which in turn may motivate children to seek further success. It is also important to note
that the type of relationship that exists between parents and their children may be of some
influence. Warm, loving and positive parental relationships may lead to more friendly, cooperative
21
and attentive behaviour in children (Common & MacMullen, 1986: 6-7; Donald, fajd. 1997: 149;
Trower, Bryant & Argyle, 1978: 38). Parents are also important role models in their children's
lives. However, in middle childhood, peers begin to exert a greater influence over children.
2.7.13 The peer group
With the onset of middle childhood, children become inclined to interact and socialise with other
children of the same age and of the same sex (Louw, 1991: 361). Peers can exert both a positive
and a negative influence over a child (Donald, tt_ st. 1997: 186). Whether the peer group has a
positive or negative influence on a child depends on the values held by the peer group and the sort
of identity and acceptance needs of the child.
The peer group can serve a number of positive functions (Louw, 1991: 361). It can provide
companionship and can offer emotional security as it provides opportunities for trying out new
behaviours within the acceptance of the peer group. Therefore, an atmosphere based on different
values and standards to that of the parents is created by peer groups. Children thus get to test their
opinions, feelings and attitudes against those of other children. Consequently, this provides an
opportunity for children to evaluate their parents' values which they previously accepted
unquestioningly. The peer group also facilitates the transfer of knowledge and information and it
further teaches obedience to rules and regulations (Schaffer, 1996: 328). Peer groups may teach L
children how to get along in society as they learn how and when to adjust their needs and desires
to those of others. Furthermore, peer groups help to reinforce sex roles (Hoffman, et al , . 1988: 353).
Lastly, the peer group provides its members with the experience of relationships in which they can
compete with others on an equal footing.
Peer groups can have a positive influence on an individual but they can also become very
problematic and have a negative influence on a child when there is excessive conformity and
attachment, as this impedes the child's ability to establish his own individual identity (Louw, 1991:
365; Papalia & Olds, 1989: 308). The child is expected to change his perceptions and attitudes if
they conflict with the norms of his peer group (Hoffman, et al. 1988: 253). Therefore, the peer
group may impose certain values or behaviours on a child which may harm or hamper his own
development. Furthermore, the attachment to the group may be so strong that the child is unable
to form his own identity or develop the necessary degree of self-reliance and independence.
Therefore, a child's positive self-concept will be determined and influenced by whether he gains
22
acceptance by his peers or whether he experiences rejection by them, which in turn also influences
the child's self-esteem. Children's self-esteem is one of the best measurements of their ability to
successfully interact on a social level. If children have a positive self-esteem, they will have the
confidence to interact with other children in various settings (Donald, et al. 1997: 148). Kaplan
(cited by Skager & Kerst, 1989: 269) argues that children who are not accepted by their peers will
develop a negative attitude about themselves. Consequently, this low self-esteem may lead to
deviant behaviour in children. The peer group also tends to contribute towards the weakening of the
emotional bond between the child and his parents (Boyer, 1995: 39). In addition, the peer group
does not necessarily foster healthy social development as it restricts children from interacting with
other age groups (Boyer, 1995:32). Boyer, however, tends to have a one sided view as he strongly
opposes the social interaction that occurs within the public school system.
2.7.1.4 Self -concept
Self-concept is shaped by the social interactions with the people we come into contact with
(Worchel, Cooper & Goethals, 1991:70; Hurlock, 1978: 372-373; Slavin, 1991: 74; Saks & Krupat,
1988:85-86). The formulation of the self-concept is based on what the child believes the significant
persons in his life (parents, teachers, peers) think of him. If the child believes that they feel positive
and favourable towards him, he will feel positive and favourable about himself and vice versa.
However, if the child believes that the significant persons in his life feel negatively towards him, he
will begin to feel negative about himself which may lead to a negative self-concept and a negative
self-esteem. Educators should take note of this because a person's self-concept helps him to
understand himself and to help regulate his behaviour. Furthermore, a positive self-concept and
self-esteem allows a child to engage actively and positively with others (Donald, et al. 1997: 148).
This self-concept includes the child's physical, psychological, social and emotional characteristics
as well as his perceived strengths, weaknesses, abilities, attitudes, and values (Hurlock, 1978:372;
Slavin, 1991: 74). However, a negative self-concept may affect a person's achievement (Gage &
Berliner, 1988: 164) and can severely damage a child's social development (Slavin, 1991: 74).
2.8 CONCLUSION
In this chapter, the conceptual framework for this study has been established. Attention has been
given to the background and development of home schooling, as well as the criticism against home
schooling and evidence in favour of it. The psychosocial developmental theory of Erikson has been
23
discussed so that the social and emotional development of the child in middle childhood can be
understood and placed in perspective. Furthermore, attention was given to the role of teachers,
parents and peers as they impact on and influence the development of the child's self-concept,
which in turn influences his social and emotional well being. This has been discussed from the
educational psychology frame of reference. The educational psychologist needs to understand how
these elements interact and impact on each other in order to compile guidelines that will promote
the socialisation of home school children. Therefore, the knowledge that the educational
psychologist gains will be interpreted into practice in a practical manner which will make it
accessible to others.
In chapter three, the research method and design used in this study will be further explained. This
includes data collection and analysis, the trustworthiness of this study and ethical considerations.
24
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHOD AND DESIGN
3.1 INTRODUCTION
In this chapter the research design employed in this study will be described and motivated. The
research design is a well thought out, systematic and structured plan or "blue print" for finding
answers to research questions (Huysamen, 1994: 10). The objective of the research design is to
plan, structure and execute the research project in such a way that the validity of the findings will
be maximised (Mouton, 1996: 107; Wilson, 1993: 14; Mouton & Marais, 1994: 32-33, 193). The
research method and design will be discussed. Within this, the pilot study, sample, means of data
collection and data analysis will be described. Lastly, attention will be given to the trustworthiness
and ethical considerations of this study.
3.2 RESEARCH METHOD
Qualitative research seeks answers to questions by examining various social settings and the
individuals who inhabit these settings (Mason, 1996: 4; MacLeod, 1994: 77-78; Taylor & Bogdan,
1984: 6-7; Creswell, 1998: 15; Hammersley, 1993: 17). This approach to research generates
descriptive data from people's own written or spoken words and observable behaviour within their
natural context. The ultimate goal of qualitative research is thus to understand those being studied
from their perspective, from their point of view ( MacKay & Schuh, 1991: 424; Taylor & Bogdan,
1984: 5; Gorman & Clayton, 1997: 23; Hittleman & Simon, 1997: 42; Wilson, 1993: 216-217).
For the purposes of this research, the qualitative approach was chosen for the phenomenon to be
studied, namely the socialisation of home schooled children, as relatively little is known about home
schooled children in South Africa (Badenhorst, 1998: 21) and this is difficult to measure through
formal statistical procedures. Therefore, qualitative methods will be used in gathering descriptive
data from participants to gain an understanding from their perspective within their own context.
The particular qualitative methods that are to be used will be discussed in greater detail in 3.3.
25
This research study is explorative in nature as it intends to explore the socialisation of home
schooled children as it is a relatively unknown area of research within the South African context.
From this explanatory study, new insight into this phenomenon is hoped to be gained (Mouton &
Marais, 1994: 43).
Descriptive data will be gathered as the intent of this research is to accurately describe the
phenomenon to be studied (Mouton & Marais, 1994: 44; Neuman, 1997: 19-20), in this research,
the socialisation of the home schooled child. Once data analysis has been completed, the emerging
patterns and themes can be described and incorporated with existing literature so that a
comprehensive description of the phenomenon can be attained.
The nature of this research study is also contextual as the data is gathered and analysed within its
social context (Mason, 1996:119-120; Mouton & Marais, 1994: 49-50). Therefore, the researcher
will gather data which will be analysed within the context of home schooling and the particular
situations in which the respondents find themselves, as it is the context of this study that will
provide the meaning and understanding which is sought (Taylor & Bogdan, 1984: 6).
3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN
In this section the researcher will explain in detail how the study will be conducted. This study is
to be conducted in two phases.
3.3.1 Phase 1 - Data collection and analysis
In this section the following will be discussed: the sample, pilot study, data collection, data analysis
and the report.
3.3.1.1 Sample
The nature of sampling within qualitative research is a purposeful selection as the intent is to
identify information-rich informants who can supply the data required to answer the research
question (Crowley, 1994/95: 59; Huysamen, 1994: 44; Neuman, 1997: 206; Rubin & Babbie, 1993:
369). Therefore, families that have chosen to home school their children constitute the population
from which the sample will be chosen. These parents should have home schooled their children for
26
at least one full year and their children's ages should fall within the middle childhood years, namely
between the ages of six and twelve. This age group was chosen for the sample as these participants
were more readily available for the purposes of this study.
Snowball sampling (Rubin & Babbie, 1993: 367-368; Neuman, 1997: 207; Huysamen, 1994: 44-
45) is used in identifying the sample that will be used in this research study. Snowball sampling
is a type of convenience sampling as it uses respondents that are available and involves respondents
suggesting other respondents to the researcher (Wilson, 1993: 178; Leedy, 1997: 204). In this way
the sample was chosen and defined as the researcher has no personal knowledge of parents who
home school and home school support groups are unable to give out lists of home school parents
due to legal constraints of confidentiality.
3.3.1.2 Pilot study
A pilot study is a scaled-down version of the intended research project (Hittleman & Simon, 1997:
171; Gorman & Clayton, 1997: 99; Sieber, 1992: 11; Wilson, 1993: 15; Allison, fg_al. 1996: 51).
The aim of the pilot study is to assist the researcher in ironing out any potential problem areas so
that appropriate modifications to the research design can be made to gather the necessary
information and to ensure the validity of the research project. .
33.13 Data collection
Qualitative data is primarily obtained through published documents, transcriptions of interviews,
observations of practice, field notes, tape recordings of oral presentations, and written statements
(Sowden & Keeves, 1988: 513). The qualitative data gathered through these means are rich,
personal, and contain the depth of meaning that more abstract forms of evidence lack. Qualitative
data thus essentially consists of a text or a narrative as the qualitative techniques used involve the
gathering of descriptions, accounts or stories that people create and share in relation to their
experience (MacLeod, 1994: 89).
The data to be collected for this study will be gathered through semi-structured interviews with
parents who home school their children and through observation of these children within their home
environment and their interactions with other children within a focus group interview. The data will
be collected until it is saturated and no new themes or information is found (Merriam, 1988: 125-
27
126). During the research process, the researcher will "bracket" her assumptions about what is
being studied so that a rich and detailed description of how the phenomenon is experienced can be
obtained (MacLeod, 1994: 90). Bracketing entails that the researcher puts aside all preconceived
notions about the phenomenon to be studied and focus on information as the respondents disclose
it.
a) Interviews
Semi-structured interviews will be conducted (Rubin & Rubin, 1995: 5; Huysamen, 1994: 145;
Smith, 1995: 9,12). The interviews will be helpful in answering the question of how and why
people behave as they do (Folch-Lyon & Trost, 1981:443). Furthermore, it provides a flexible
manner of gathering research data that is detailed and personal (MacLeod, 1994: 79). This provides
the researcher with the opportunity to monitor the relevance of the information being collected and
allows her to check out her understanding of what is being said. Most importantly, the interview
gives the researcher access into the other person's perspective so that an understanding of the
phenomenon being studied can be gained from their frame of reference (Merriam, 1988: 72).
For the purposes of this study, parents who home school their children will be interviewed. They
primarily consist of the mothers, who will be interviewed in their homes. The semi-structured
interviews will be tape recorded and subsequently transcribed. The following open-ended questions
will be used to invite the respondents to participate in the conversation as they are not easily
answered with a discrete response, such as 'yes' or 'no', or a brief word or phrase (Maykut &
Morehouse, 1994:88).
The parents who home school their children will be asked:
How do you experience home schooling?
In what way does home schooling impact on and influence the socialisation and social
skills of your children?
In what way do you actively promote the socialisation of your children?
b) Observation
The children who are being home schooled will be informally observed within their home
environment. Their interaction with their siblings, parents and the researcher will be noted.
Observational notes, which will form part of the field notes, will be taken which will describe
events experienced through watching and listening. These will contain the information of the who,
28
the what, the where, and the how of a situation and contain as little interpretation as possible
(Wilson, 1993: 222). Furthermore, the children's social interactions with other children will be
observed within a focus group interview that consists of home schooled children between the ages
of six and twelve.
Focus group interview
A focus group interview will be conducted with home schooled children; they will be asked how
they experience home schooling and how it has affected their social life. Therefore, by conducting
the focus group interviews, not only will the children's social interactions with other children be
observed, but their own opinions, beliefs and attitudes concerning their socialisation will be directly
discussed and it can thus be ascertained whether they are in agreement with their parents' opinions
(MacLeod, 1994: 83-84).
Field notes
Field notes consist of descriptions of people, the setting and the activities (Merriam, 1988: 98).
Furthermore, direct quotations or at least the substance of what is said is recorded. These field notes
may also contain the observer's own comments with regard to her feelings, reactions, hunches and
initial interpretations. Therefore, field notes are important and essential as they contribute to the
raw data that needs to be analysed so that a comprehensive understanding of the research subject
may be gained. For the purposes of this study, brief field notes will be written during the interviews
and this will be added to after the completion of the interview so that no essential information is
discarded. Additional field notes will be made on the observations of the home schooled children's
interactions within the home environment and within the focus group interview. These observations
will be recorded outside of the situation so as not to make the children feel self-conscious as this
may influence or inhibit their social interaction with others.
3.3.1.4 Data analysis
Since data analysis is an ongoing procedure in qualitative research, the data analysis will be
conducted simultaneously while the data is being collected (MacLeod, 1994: 39). The data analysis
will be based on data reduction and interpretation. The volume of information will be reduced to
certain patterns, categories or themes which will be interpreted according to some schema (Creswell,
1994: 153-154). Tesch (1990: 118, 122) refers to this process as "de-contextualization" which is
the separating of relevant portions of data from the text, and "re-contextualization" which is the
29
reassembling of data that belongs in one category once the data has been coded so that it will form
a larger consolidated picture.
The data will be analysed according to the following coding procedure when analysing both the
interview data and the field notes (Mason, 1996: 121). All the data will be read in its entirety so
that a sense of the whole may be obtained. One document will be chosen and the underlying
meaning will be investigated. Notes will be written in the margin. This process will be repeated
with the remaining data. A list of all topics will be made and any similar topics will be clustered
together. They will then be grouped in columns of major topics, unique topics, and leftovers. The
topics will be abbreviated in codes and listed in the margin next to the appropriate segments in the
text. Those that relate to each other will be grouped into categories using the most descriptive word.
A final decision will be made on the abbreviation for the categories. The data belonging to each
category will be assembled in one place so that a preliminary analysis may be done. This coding
procedure is a systematic process of analysing textual data. The categories are to reflect major and
minor themes and patterns in the data (Creswell, 1994:155). This process of data analysis will be
validated through the use of an independent coder. The independent coder replicates the steps taken
by the researcher in analysing the data. The purpose of the independent coder is to gain consensus
on the themes and categories deduced from the data analysis. Therefore, the process of data analysis
will be done in an objective manner and limit the possible influence of the researcher's own personal
values and biases.
3.3.1.5 Report
Once the data has been collected and analysed, the findings can be presented. This will be done in
conjunction with a literature review which will be incorporated with the data obtained from the
interviews and through observation.
3.3.2 Phase 2 - Development of guidelines: Integration of research findings with literature
Once understanding has been obtained - through the identification of themes and categories in data
analysis - about the dynamics contributing to the socialisation of home schooled children and
integrating this with already established knowledge by means of a literature review - guidelines can
be developed to aid parents in promoting the socialisation of their home schooled children. These
guidelines will be described in chapter 4.
30
3.4 TRUSTWORTHINESS
Concerns about the achievement of rigour -are common to all forms of research, therefore, the
qualitative researcher must give careful consideration to the trustworthiness of her research. The
researcher has to thus take into consideration the credibility, transferability, dependability and
confirmability of her research (Krefting, 1991: 217). This concerns the confidence that can be
placed in the outcomes of the study and whether what the researcher has reported can be believed
(Maykut & Morehouse, 1994: 145).
In this study, Guba's model of trustworthiness as outlined by Krefting (1991: 215-221) will be
used Guba (cited by Krefting, 1991: 217) identified four aspects to enhance the trustworthiness
of data within qualitative research. According to Guba's model, these four aspects are truth value,
applicability, consistency, and neutrality (Krefting, 1991: 215). Truth value establishes how
confident the researcher is with the truth of the findings based on the research design, informants
and context. This is obtained through the discovery of human experiences as they are lived and
perceived by the informants. Therefore, truth value is subject orientated.
Applicability refers to the degree to which the research findings can be applied to other contexts
and settings or with other groups (Krefting, 1991: 216). Therefore, it is the ability to generalise
or transfer the research findings to larger populations. The applicability of the study will thus be
determined by the extent to which the fmdings of this study can be applied to other home school
families. However, with regard to qualitative research, the research is often contextually bound as
it is unique in focus. Therefore, the findings of this research may not necessarily apply to other
home school families.
Consistency concerns whether the fmdings would remain consistent if the research process were
to be repeated or duplicated with the same respondents or in a similar context (Krefting, 1991: 216).
The findings of this research can be considered consistent if the research process were to be repeated
with the same respondents and the same data were to be gathered regarding the socialisation of the
home schooled child.
Lastly, neutrality concerns the freedom from bias in the research procedure and results (Krefting,
1991: 216-217). Therefore, neutrality refers to the degree to which the findings regarding the
socialisation of home schooled children is solely based on information provided by the informants
311
and the research methods and not on other biases, motivations or perspectives that may interfere.
The neutrality of the data, therefore, needs to be considered. Consistency of the data can act as
confirmation of the data neutrality. This is achieved when truth value and applicability is
established.
To increase the trustworthiness of the study, use will be made of triangulation so that the data and
interpretation thereof can be cross checked. Triangulation in this study refers to the fact that
information from several sources about the socialisation of home schooled children will be collected
(Hittleman & Simon, 1997:232; Krefting, 1991: 219; Taylor & Bogdan, 1984: 68-70; Mouton &
Marais, 1994: 91-92; Gorman & Clayton, 1997: 186). Furthermore, convergence between the
different sources of information and different methods of data collection will be sought (Creswell,
1994: 156). The various sources that will be used are parents who home school, their children who
are home schooled by them and literature. The various means of data collection to be used is
literature, semi-structured interviews, a focus group interview, observation and field notes.
Furthermore, an independent coder is used in coding the data collected into themes. The role of
observations, field notes, interviews and the independent coder have previously been discussed in
3.3.1.3 and 3.3.1.4.
The trustworthiness of the study will be further enhanced by peer supervision and member checking
(Gorman & Clayton, 1997: 186). Peer supervision involves the checking of whether the emerging
results appear to be consistent with the data collected (Krefting, 1991: 219). This is done by
impartial supervisors that are not involved with conducting the research. Member checking consists
of "testing with the informants the researcher's data, analytic categories, interpretations, and
conclusions" (Krefting, 1991: 219). Therefore, the respondents will be consulted to validate
whether their viewpoints have been accurately interpreted and translated into data so that they are
able to recognise their own experiences in the research fmdings. For the purpose of this study, the
data that has been analysed will be discussed with the respondents in an interview so that they can
ascertain whether the research findings are accurate representations of their experience, and that the
researcher's analysis reflects their intent.
Lastly, an audit trail will enhance the trustworthiness of this study. The audit trail documents the
steps the researcher followed throughout the research process (Maykut & Morehouse, 1994: 146).
These steps may be followed by consulting the research design discussed in 1.6 and 3.3. This audit
trail is comprised of all the field notes that were taken during the interviews with the parents within
32
their home, the observations made of their children during this time and during the focus group
interview with these children, tape recordings of interviews with the parents and the focus group
interview with their children, the transcribed interviews with these parents and the children, and
other types of documentation used, such as the bibliography documenting all the resources that were
used in the research process. Therefore, the research design for this study can be replicated by
another researcher to confirm the findings of this study.
3.5 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
It is important to acknowledge that all research participants have ethical rights to be consulted, to
give or with-hold consent, and to confidentiality (Gorman & Clayton,1997: 46). These rights are
crucial in qualitative research as the researcher investigates her participants in a more in-depth
manner which often gives her access to highly personal information.
The following ethical considerations will guide the researcher:
The researcher will maintain scientific objectivity. She will report all data, including that which
may be unsupportive of the research problem. In this way she will not influence the study's
outcome through her personal values or biases (Wilson, 1993: 245; Leedy, 1997; 116).
The researcher will cooperate with authorised institutions, namely the Rand Afrikaans University.
She will submit the proposed research to the appropriate committee in charge of the study
(supervisors and co-supervisors) and will be willing to comply with their recommendations (Wilson,
1993: 245).
The researcher will acknowledge the contributions of others thereby giving credit where it is due
(Wilson, 1993: 245; Leedy, 1997:116). This would prevent plagiarism where the researcher receives
acknowledgement and recognition for someone else's work.
The researcher will avoid causing harm to the participants in any way by acknowledging that
they are entitled to the right of privacy and dignity of treatment. The researcher will therefore avoid
any form of deception and be transparent in all of her dealings with the participants. Furthermore,
she will ensure the confidentiality of the participants (Rubin & Rubin,1995:94-95; Wilson, 1993:
245; Leedy, 1997: 116; Huysamen, 1994: 181; Rubin & Babbie, 1993: 59).
33
The researcher will, therefore, only use informants that have given voluntary and informed
consent to take part in the research process (Merriam, 1988: 178; Rubin & Babbie, 1993: 57;
Huysamen, 1994: 179; Neuman, 1997: 450). Respondents may also withdraw from the research
at any time should they wish to do so. Furthermore, all information gathered from the informants
will be reported truthfully.
3.6 CONCLUSION
In this chapter, the research design and method has been explained and justified. The
trustworthiness and the ethical consideration which will guide the research has been discussed.
Chapter four will deal with the data that has been gathered, the interpretation thereof and the
suggested guidelines that will aid home school parents in facilitating the socialisation of their
children
34
CHAPTER 4
DATA ANALYSIS AND GUIDELINES
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Snowball sampling (Rubin & Babbie, 1993: 367-368; Neuman, 1997: 207; Huysamen, 1994: 44-
45) was applied in identifying the sample that was used in this research study. Snowball sampling
is a type of convenience sampling as it uses respondents that are available and involves respondents
suggesting other respondents to the researcher (Wilson, 1993: 178; Leedy, 1997: 204). As a result,
the sample used in this study consisted of five home school families. In each family, the mother was
the primary educator, with the father assisting. Of the five families used in this study, one family
had two children, two families had three children, one family had four children and the last family
had five children. Of these seventeen children, eleven were between six and twelve years of age and
from these eleven children, seven were used in the focus group interview. Since respondents were
suggesting other respondents to participate in this study, the respondents were white, had a
Christian background and the parents had home schooled their children for at least a period of one
full year.
The following discussion is structured according to themes and categories identified through data
analysis. The data analysis was conducted according to Tesch's method of data analysis (Creswell,
1994: 153-154; Tesch, 1990: 118, 122) as previously discussed in 3.3.1.4. The data has been
interpreted against the existing theoretical framework discussed in chapter two.
The main themes that were identified through data analysis are:
The impact that the child's environment has on his social development. A negative social
environment may impact negatively on the realisation of the child's social and intellectual
potential which could influence his social competence.
The influence of the peer group on the child. The peer group may influence the social
development of the child in a positive or negative manner.
The realisation of the child's potential. If the child is able to realise his potential,
intellectually and personally, he will gain the confidence and acquire the social skills to
interact socially. If the child's potential is not realised, it may act as an impediment to his
social interaction with others.
35
• The participation and interaction techniques used to promote socialisation.
It must be noted that respondents were constantly comparing their experiences in public schools
with their home school experiences.
For the purposes of clarification and referencing, a summary is given in table 4.1 of the main
themes, categories and sub-categories.
TABLE 4.1: THEMES AND CATEGORIES IDENTIFIED THROUGH DATA ANALYSIS
THEME I CATEGORY I SUB-CATEGORIES
Child's environment School environment
Home environment
Play time Socialisation Pressure and stress
Parents' responsibility Positive feedback
Peer groups Negative influence
Dependence versus independence
Self-esteem
Negative attitudes towards other age groups
Breakdown of the family unit and values
Development of individuality
Social withdrawal Unrealistic self-esteem Self-confidence
Realisation of potential
Participation and interaction techniques
The data that will be presented will be supported by the words that the respondents used. However,
irrelevant phrases and sentences have been edited out while maintaining the essence of the quotation
(Morse, 1994: 232).
36
4.2 THEME 1: THE CHILD'S ENVIRONMENT
The environment in which children interact influences their academic and social development. It
is important for children to feel that they are in a safe, secure and nurturing environment because
when they feel insecure they may hold back and "play it safe" instead of taking a risk (Harris, 1995:
58). Two types of environments in which children interact were mentioned in this study, namely
the school environment and the home environment.
4.2.1 Category one: School environment
Socialisation in the school environment has been experienced negatively by respondents in this
research. Three aspects of the school environment were mentioned by the parents; play time,
socialisation, and pressure and stress. According to the parents, play time was perceived as being
a negative and traumatic time as their children would become involved in fights, were being
intimidated and constantly in trouble. Some children even had the experience of being put into
dustbins and having their limbs stretched. Consequently, they seem to have lost their sense of self-
confidence as they don't make eye contact anymore. The parents said:
"In the classroom environment he's always getting into fights, being intimidated. He's always
in trouble for speaking and disrupting the class."
"He had some bad experiences of being in dustbins and generally a very negative experience."
"My daughter went through a stage where some boys took it upon themselves to stretch her
because she was so short. Every alternate day she had four youngsters, two at the arms and two
at the legs, to stretch her and it was a devastating experience for her."
"When he went back to school, after being home schooled for a year, we had just built his
confidence up to a place where he was making eye contact confidently. Since he 's been back at
school this year, he isn't anymore." (This respondent's child had been home schooled for just over
a year before he returned to a remedial school where he would benefit from remedial, occupational
and speech therapy)
The children were in agreement with their parents for they experienced their play time at school to
37
be a negative experience as they were being beaten up, teased, bullied, being shoved in dustbins and
had to listen to the other children swearing. As a result they have developed strong negative feelings
with regard to public schools. The children said:
"I'd rather be at home than at school because at school I get beaten up and teased."
"I got shoved in a dustbin."
"I'd rather be an ant and get squashed than stay at school."
"I was being bullied because I am like the shortest in the class."
"I don't like the boys in my class because they just swear, that's all we hear."
"At school I was lucky because I was fast so I could run away from the bullies."
Children who are being exposed to negative experiences such as these and to this type of
socialisation, may develop a negative attitude towards school and lose any sense of confidence
through this intimidation. These negative experiences will also have a negative impact on the
development of their self-concept and self-esteem because children's self-concept and self-esteem
are developed through their social interactions with others (Van Oostrum & Van Oostrum, 1997:
17; Harris, 1995: 60; Wolff, 1989: 155). It has been pointed out in chapter two that self-concept
and self-esteem influence the development of children's social competency. Furthermore, these
children may begin to exhibit negative behaviours themselves as it has been modelled to them.
The parents further questioned the amount of socialisation that the children actually receive. They
argued that when children are given the opportunity to socialise, it is not experienced positively by
their children. According to the parents, little time is given to socialise within the class as their
attention is focused on work; so the only time they have to socialise is at break. Play time is spent
fighting to be the leader or being unhappy as they feel left out. One respondent referred to her own
experiences as a child.
"In the classroom situation I don't know haw much socialising really goes on. Okay, you're with
the guys but you're very much directed and busy. The main thing is break time which is fifteen
38
minutes for first break and half-an-hour for second break so you've got that play. But then often
that play is quite an unhappy time because ' He wouldn't play with me (the child)' and Veit left
out' and there's a lot of that which goes on because you have thirty-three kids and there's no one
who is really caring for the group dynamic."
"When I (parent) was at school I didn't mix with the whole class even though there might have
been twenty odd kids in the class. I was friends with two or three of them so I didn't really
communicate with the rest of them. The rest of the kids were just there. I spoke to my friends."
"But haw constructive is that dynamic in the school playground with thirty-three guys all fighting
for their lives to be the top dog. Forget about the guy who is being left out. You have to get a
very special child who's interested in the child who is being left out."
According to the children, the time spent with their peers at school were not always experienced
positively.
"They're a problem because sometimes this friend fights with the other friend, or she doesn't
want to play with me at break. So my friends are more of a problem because they are always
fighting."
"I don't have any best friends because they always fight."
"Its nicer to just be with your best friend alone so then you don't have to worry about your other
friends because they usually end up fighting with each other."
The parents believe that the school system places too much pressure and stress on the child. High
levels of stress can act as an inhibitor due to the feelings of fear, anger or anxiety which it could
evoke (Baron & Byrne, 1987: 424). Children mainly experience this stress through peer pressure
(which will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter), the work demands and excessive
amounts of homework. The parents maintained that children spend too much time on doing
homework, which puts stress on the children and leads to burn out. Therefore, children are given
little opportunity to be children. The parents said:
39
"My daughter's best friend is in standard five. She sits until half-past ten every night doing her
homework That is not a we for a twelve, thirteen-year old child, it's not a life. This is stressing
her out. It's the incredible amount of homework they have to do. I don't know why the teachers
have to give them so much homework. I think it's because the classrooms are so much bigger so
she gets less work done. I also find that with the full program from a very early age, the pressure,
, a lot of homework, they are burnt out, the kids are tired."
" I think that sometimes the stress of school can be quite an event for kids that they don't really
have time to be children and play. The little girl from next door comes to play every now and
then, she can only really play on a Friday and a Tuesday because school ends at two, then she's
got something on at school that is keeping her, then when she gets home she has to do homework.
So she literally is finished by about half-past-four ... it's a very long day for little kids. For a
seven-year old that's a lot."
"It's the homework situation, the lack of time for themselves. And it's not just that. It's the
amount of work that they get bombarded with."
"With home schooling they get time to be kids because they don't have homework. They've had
time to complete everything. But they do get time to be children and I think that sometimes the
stress of school can be quite an event for kids that they don't really have time to be children and
play."
The children found that the teacher would place unnecessary pressure onto them by giving them too
much homework so that their syllabus would be completed. According to the children, the amount
of work covered at home is more substantial than the work covered at school. However, this work
is done in a less stressful environment as they are able to do more of the work in the home situation
than they were able to cover in the school situation. The children said:
"The teacher at school doesn't do all the work that she is meant to do with you so she pushes it
onto you as homework."
"If I compare what I do now in the mornings to what I did the other mornings at public school
with the teacher, its far, far more and I am not sitting with any extra work or tons of homework."
40
It is important to note that children's ability to cope and perform well, both socially and
academically, could be inhibited by high stress levels. A stressful school environment would thus
be counterproductive (Sylwester, 1994: 65). The feelings of anger, fear and anxiety that children
report as part of their school experience may, according to Baron & Byrne (1987: 424) be generated
by high levels of stress. An environment that reduces stress, may therefore, lead to better coping
and enhance academic achievement and social interaction.
4.2.2 Category two: Home environment
The parents mentioned that they are primarily responsible for their child's education, that this is
what God intended for parents to do and therefore, home schooling is seen as the way God intended
for children to be educated. The parents stated:
"I honestly believe that God intended for parents to educate their own children as they can be
better guided and nurtured this way. I remember this quote, 'Parents are the gatekeepers of their
children's experiences.' I think this sums it up quite aptly."
"I personally believe home schooling is the way God intended it to be. I really believe that our
children's education has been taken out of our hands by the government and I don't believe that's
supposed to be. Parents are the ones that are held responsible for training and equipping their
children for life. And equipping your child for life means that educating your child is not just
academics."
"I think the system is so geared and it is getting more and more so, to keep my child away from
me. So you have less control over them and then there's more outside influence."
No literature could be found to support this aspect.
The parents regard the home environment to be less stressful and more conducive to nurturing
children as parents have more opportunities than teachers to provide positive feedback to their
children. According to the parents, their children are more relaxed, are not so tense most of the time
as they generally have a less stressed life style and receive positive feedback from them, their
parents.
41
"Since my boy has been home with me, he seems to be more relaxed, almost relieved to be away
from the school."
"We lead a much more relaxed and have a less stressed lifestyle since we've been at home. My
children no longer seem to be so tense most of the time."
"Where as in the home situation you tell your child that he is just wonderful and there are
moments all day long that he is receiving that message of wonder ... that you wonder at who he
is. I find it very powerful for them as individuals. I think that their self-worth, their self-
knowledge and their happiness with themselves that develop out of this will be a good thing."
The children agreed that they would rather be taught within the home environment than at a public
school. They regarded the school environment to be unfair and embarrassing at times. They said:
"The teacher shouts at you and it wasn't even you who was being naughty but other children."
"When you're in a small class the teacher can see who actually did it (shouted out in class) and
won't blame somebody who didn't do it."
"Sometimes if you do something wrong you get shouted at and then they are nice to you. It is
better for my mom to shout at me than a teacher because at school everyone would then look at
me and I'd, you know, be very embarrassed."
The home is thus often seen as being the least stressful environment for a child as it is more intimate
and conducive to nurturing the child and his scholastic development (Knowles, et al . 1994: 241).
Parents have more opportunities to interact, teach, share and nurture their children (Klicka, 1995:
129).
43 THEME 2: PEER GROUPS
Five aspects regarding the peer group were mentioned by the respondents, namely the negative
influence of the peer group, peer dependence, the influence that the peer group has on the child's
self-esteem, limited interaction with other age groups and deterioration of the relationship between
parent and child. The parents regard the peer group to be age-related.
42
4.3.1 Category one: Negative influence
The parents expressed that they had a big problem with the peer group. They believe that the peer
pressure exerted has a negative influence on children and that it creates a "rotten social life" for their
children. Furthermore, parents do not agree with the competitiveness within the peer group and
believe that man himself created peer pressure by placing children together according to age groups.
They said the following:
"I've got a real problem with peer group, the environment of the peer group. Having thirty-three
seven year olds all in the same classroom all day together, all teaching one another at that level,
interacting with one adult, I do have a big problem with that. It's a social aberration."
"I needed, especially maybe for my one daughter, needed to be 'desocialised' because the
socialisation in her life as far as I was concerned, was not a positive one. I'm talking about peer
pressure. R's because of the rotten social life out there that I want my daughters out of it."
"I don't know if I am in full agreement with the competitiveness of being in a class with thirty kids
your own age."
"We create their peer pressure group by placing children of the same age within one group."
Most critics of home schooling will often comment on the lack of opportunities for home school
children to interact with their peers. However, Jeub (1994: 51) comments that not all socialisation
is good for a child. Common and MacMullen (1986: 6-7) draw attention to the fact that a "child's
social-emotional development is best fostered, not by increased peer contact, but by the sense of
self-worth and a stable value system. These attributes are acquired from a home in which the child
knows he is needed and wanted and in which he shares responsibilities." The authors further argue
that if children are exposed too early and for extended periods of time to their peers, they will
become peer dependent. According to Common and MacMullen (1986: 6-7), this could ultimately
result in negative sociability due to the lack of self-worth, learning failure, delinquency, and a loss
of motivation which they perceive as being the result of negative peer pressure. If peer interaction
is perceived as having a negative influence on children it would thus seem that the longer children
stay at home, the more likely children will demonstrate emotional well-being. Consequently,
children who are home schooled and thus spend more of their time within the home environment
43
would have the advantage in fostering their emotional development as the home school environment
is able to protect children from the possible negative socialisation associated with public schools
which would include peer pressure, rebellious attitudes, immaturity, immorality, drugs, violence and
so forth (Klicka, 1995: 143; Durham, 1996: 78).
Boyer (1995: 3) reports about a myth of our day where modern society assumes that peer groups
are healthy for children and that this is why children are grouped by age in school. It is assumed
that children need a lot of peer exposure. According to the myth, children need to spend large
amounts of time with children their own age in order to learn to relate properly to other people.
Boyer (1995: 32) states further that an age peer group is about the worst age arrangement for
healthy social development as it restricts children from interacting with other age groups. The
parents were in agreement with this statement as they were quite concerned with the peer pressure
that their children are exposed to at school. Boyer, however, tends to present a one sided view as
he strongly opposes the social interaction that occurs within the public school system. Furthermore,
peer groups are not necessarily constructed of children of the same age as their ages may vary by
a few years and the peer group may have been formed based on a shared common interest rather
than being based on the same age group.
4.3.2 Category two: Dependence versus independence
The parents were concerned about the time that their children socialise with their peers and the
influence that they have over their children because the desire to receive recognition and acceptance
from their peers may lead to peer dependency. The children feel dysfunctional if they are not able
to fit into the peer group. This is problematic for the parents as they believe that this interferes with
the development of their children's individuality as it restricts the development of their personal
opinions. It may further restrict their participation in activities that are not considered to be
acceptable by the peer group which may limit their opportunities to realise their potential and
negatively influence their social development. The parents stated:
"The kids have to conform to the group norm, basically being one another's teachers. I just feel
that it is very hard to be an individual and see yourself as apart from the group. That is a
terrible thing because what we are called to is that individuality. The tremendous peer pressure
which those kids experience is a debilitating thing where you cannot be an individual because
you're not worth it, your individuality is not worth anything unless it is an individuality that the
44
school celebrates."
"You (the child) have less and less opportunity to develop your own thoughts about something."
"The rest (children who do not conform) feel almost socially dysfunctional if they don't do what
everybody's doing. I've got quite a strong thing against this. How are you going to cope in
society if you can't stand for what you believe in ?"
"Since we started home schooling, my children are now free to enjoy things whether they are
considered 'cool ' or not."
The more time that the child spends with his peers, the more he will become orientated towards his
peers (Van Oorstrum & Van Oorstrum, 1997: 17; Harris, 1995: 60). This seems to be mainly due
to a child's need for a sense of social identity or social self-concept which is developed through his
social interactions with others (Bhatti, Derezotes, Kim & Specht, 1989: 33; Schaffer, 1996: 159).
According to Hoffman fall. (1988: 253), Lippa (1994: 582) and deMarrais & LeCompte (1995:
87) the danger in this is that the child may change his identity and adapt his behaviour in order to
fit into and become part of the peer group instead of developing his own individuality. This could
lead to peer dependence instead of becoming an independent individual in his own right. Common
and MacMullen (1986: 6-7) also argue that if children are exposed too early and for extended
periods of time to their peers, they will become peer dependent. However, the peer group does assist
the individual to become less dependent on his parents and thus learn to be independent (Louw,
1991: 361).
The parents expressed the wish for their children not to be peer dependent but rather have the
opportunity to develop their individuality as this would enable them to realise their full emotional
and social potential. They want their children to have the opportunity and freedom to be themselves.
This may be stifled by negative peer pressure that they may experience in public schools as the peer
group expects conformity. Therefore, the peer group in this way may actually inhibit children's true
social and emotional potential. The parents are of the opinion that since their children have been
home, they have had the opportunity to discover their real selves. The parents said:
"I'm trying to get them to set a standard, not follow one."
45
"I'd rather bring up a child independent of peer pressure and of peer approval and all that sort
of stuff, to stand on their own feet and say, 'Okay, it's nice to fit in, it's nice to be part of the
group, but I don't have to be and I can stand alone.' I want my children to know that very
definitely. That they are each individuals called to a specific vocation themselves, to achieve
something particular for themselves."
"Now that I've had them at home for a while, away from their peer group, they are starting to
become individuals, they seem to be stronger in making their own decisions and following their
own judgements free of their peer group."
"She has more freedom. She gets to build her own character so to speak without having people
to judge her by their standards."
"My daughter doesn't have to be fake; put up an act. She can do what she wants to do as she is
no longer limited by what her friends consider to be acceptable."
The children concurred with their parents. They believe that while they were attending public
school, they had been dependent on their peers and were concerned about what their peers thought
of them. Therefore, they would conform to their peers' way of thinking. As a result their own
individuality was not being developed. They found that since they have been home schooled, this
dependency on their peer group has lessened and as a result their own individuality has developed.
The children stated:
"I never used to be the type that made friends very easily. I can be picky but I am not the social
butterfly. So I'm more at ease about that now as I have really got a few good friends. I'm not
really worried about friends because I'm no longer worried about what people think about me
anymore."
"You have far more freedom being home schooled because my mom's not a peer to me, she's
(sister) not a peer to me, my dad's not a peer to me, so you have no peer pressure. So everything
is just lightened. You can just be yourself "
"Your character at school becomes just like everyone else's character. You don't really have
your own character at school. Your character is just based on what everyone else thinks and
46
does."
"At school you are especially worried about what other people think of you and now (since home
schooling) making friends is easier because you don't care what people think of you."
"If I had to choose between the two (public school and home school), it would definitely be home
schooling because I have more freedom as I get to build my own character, so to speak, without
having people judge me, you know, by their standards."
"You know I'm not so bothered about friends any more. It used to be like a necessity in my life.
I was dependent on them and after three terms of home schooling I realised that I could cope
without them."
"You don't have to be fake, be false. You can do what you want to do. Your friends' ideas limit
your own ideas. What they think is cool actually begins starting to influencing what you think is
right or not."
"You have less and less opportunity with your peers to develop your own thoughts about
something."
Children who are peer dependent are concerned with conforming to the peer group's values and
behaviours (deMarrais & LeCompte, 1995: 87). In the process, children may begin to lose the
ability to see themselves as individuals and to act as individuals. Therefore, the more independent
children are of the peer group, the more they will be able to develop their individuality. According
to a study conducted by Delahooke (cited by Ray, 1988: 25; Van Oorstrum & Van Oorstrum, 1997:
18), children who are home schooled are significantly less peer orientated and peer dependent than
institutionalised learners.
4.3.3 Category three: Self-esteem
Some children are unable to cope with the peer pressure that they are exposed to; they become
overwhelmed by it, lose their confidence and may socially withdraw. This will negatively influence
their socialisation and interaction if they do not feel confident or secure within social situations. The
respondents believe that their children's confidence and self-esteem is continually being undermined
47
by the peer group due to the competitiveness where the peer group members are continually being
compared to each other. The children's self-esteem is further undermined if they fail to conform
to the peer group and stand out in some way contrary to the norm of the peer group as they then get
labelled; this can be a devastating experience for them. The parents stated:
"He's not competitive. He would rather withdraw than actually compete."
"If you don't fall in with the masses then there is something wrong with you. I tell you that could
have a profound influence on a child's life."
"What happens at the school is that you have to fall in with the group or you get a label. You get
a label right from day one. There is no mercy as far as age is concerned."
"This whole year at school has been traumatic. He's never adjusted to the peer pressure of the
class. The regression in this year has been large."
Self-concept is shaped by the social interactions with the people we come into contact with
(Worchel, fag 1991:70; Hurlock, 1978: 372-373; Slavin, 1991: 74; Saks & Krupat, 1988:85-86).
Boyer (1995: 35) points out.that the peer group constantly creates opportunities for children to
develop opinions of themselves based on how they compare with others. However, if this self-
concept is negative, it may harm a child's development. The development of the self-concept is
based on what the child believes the significant persons in his life (parents, teachers, peers) think
of him. If the child believes that they feel positive and favourable towards him, he will feel positive
and favourable about himself and vice versa. The person's self-concept therefore helps him to
understand himself and to help regulate his behaviour.
Some parents believe that the comparison and the competitiveness of the peer group may create an
unrealistic self-esteem and expectations within the child. The parents said:
"Now ifyou take my second son, he would go to school, never drop an A. He is incredibly bright.
He was brilliant on the sports field, just stunning and very popular with the kids. So school for
him would have given him an ego that would really be unrealistic."
"I think that sort of competition thing of 'I am better because I achieve' sets you up for when you
48
leave school because you have to go on proving it all your life."
"My whole self-esteem has rested on the fact that I'm better than other people."
"A child who conquers school and really beats the system and is very successful, he comes out
with this ego based on the competitive thing."
Some parents said that their children's self-esteem had been positively promoted within the family
environment since their children had been removed from their peer environment and were no longer
constantly being bombarded with the negative peer pressure and opinions. Therefore, the parents
claim that since they have started home schooling, their children have been a lot happier, more
content, confident, relaxed and less stressed. This has had a beneficial affect on their children's
social and emotional development as they have grown in self-confidence and therefore their children
now find it easier to socialise. They said:
"They are able to chat more easily, fit in better and come across as being more confident."
"Their social and emotional areas benefitted the most."
"They were quite happy when they learnt that they were going to be home schooled."
"I can't say that we had any problems with mixing or socialising with people at all. In fact,
actually they virtually oozed confidence in this area."
Self-concept is the key objective indicator for establishing children's self-esteem (Klicka, 1995:
142). Children's self-esteem is one of the best measurements of their ability to successfully interact
on a social level. If children have a positive self-esteem, they will have the confidence to interact
with other children and adults in various settings (Donald, fa it. 1997: 148). A study was conducted
by Taylor (cited by Klicka, 1995: 142; Van Oorstrum & Van Oorstrum, 1997: 17) to measure the
self-concept of home schoolers. According to this study, the home schoolers scored higher than
institutionalised learners. This would indicate that the development of children's self-concept, and
consequently their self-esteem, may be better fostered within a warm and loving home environment.
49
Based on observations made by the researcher, the home school children seemed to have a well
developed self-esteem as they seemed to be quite confident. The children spontaneously engaged
in conversation with the researcher. Their communication skills were well developed as they were
capable of initiating and maintaining a conversation. They maintained eye contact and could
accurately read non-verbal cues. Therefore, it would seem that these children have the confidence
and the necessary skills to engage an adult in conversation and were able to maintain this
conversation. This social competency may be due to a well developed self-esteem and a sense of
self-concept which could have been fostered within the home environment.
Smedley (cited by Klicka, 1995: 143; Van Oorstrum & Van Oortstrum, 1997: 18) conducted a
study to ascertain the social maturity of home schooled children by evaluating their communication
skills, socialisation and daily living skills. According to the results obtained in this study, Smedley
concluded that home schooled children are better socialied and more mature than children in public
schools. Furthermore, home schooled children exhibit fewer behavioural problems (Klicka,
1995:143; Durham 1996: 78) as they are exposed to less undesirable behaviours than public school
children. Home schooled children can be protected from the negative socialisation associated with
public schools which would include peer pressure, rebellious attitudes, immaturity, immorality,
drugs, violence and so forth. According to a study conducted by Shyers (cited by Klicka, 1995: 143;
Van Oorstrum & Van Oorstrum, 1997: 19), it was found that home schooled children exhibited
significantly greater social maturity and adaptability. Furthermore, Shyers also found that home
schooled children exhibited substantially fewer behavioural problems.
4.3.4 Category four: Negative attitudes towards other age groups
The parents consider the age stratification within the schools to be problematic as they believe that
this is not a true reflection of society which interacts and relates across the age boundaries. As a
result, children often do not know how to communicate with other age groups and they lack the
confidence to do so. The parents regarded socialisation as being more than just interacting with the
peer group; it also involves interaction with parents and other age groups. Their children were too
shy and lacked confidence in interacting with different age groups because they would mainly
interact with their peers within the school environment. However, since they have been home
schooling, their children's confidence in this area has grown. The parents said:
50
"I believe in being able to interact with your own age group, with parents, and with older and
younger people."
"It's important for me to stress that socialisation is broader than just the peer group."
"Before I home schooled, I found that they would only relate to their peers as they were too shy
around the other age groups. They lacked that confidence."
"They go with me everywhere which means that they are more exposed to adult socialisation and
conversation in a way and to some extent. Which almost I can say, because they're more exposed
to adult conversation, there's a certain maturity input which they don't have amongst their
peers."
"I can 't say that we had any problem mixing or socialising with people at all. In fact they
virtually oozed confidence in this area."
"I spent some time in America before I had kids. The children that were home schooled were not
precocious or sneaky brats. They were not shy. They would have conversations with you. They
would consider you, consider an adult as a person, where as others would ignore you or blow you of "
"They are so keen to socialise and they love everybody. It doesn't matter what age, gender, or
what race. They are pleased to welcome anybody."
Based on observations made by the researcher, home school children were able to spontaneously
engage in conversation with children of various ages. They showed interest in what the children of
other ages had to say and actively participated in a discussion. Each child seemed to accept the other
children without hesitation. Their communication skills were well developed as they could
communicate to the other children of various ages what they wanted to say and provided the other
children with the opportunity to have their say.
Klicka (1995: 141) comments that children in public schools are trapped with a group of children
their own age with little chance to relate to children of other ages and adults. Boyer (1995: 41)
mentions that school children have no idea of how to socialise with anyone outside of their peer
51
group. In fact, the very idea of them having to socialise with anyone not from their peer group is
appalling to these children. The author further argues that by the time that they leave school and
enter society, they have to spend several years readjusting their attitudes towards other age groups
until they can fit in by being able to relate with others across age boundaries. However, Boyer may
not take into consideration that children who attend public schools may have interests that allow
them to come into contact with other age groups and, therefore, their interactions with others are
not only restricted to their specific age group.
The home schooled children on the other hand, seem to acquire the ability to relate and interact with
people from all age groups (Durham, 1996: 78; Klicka, 1995: 141). According to a study
conducted by Ray (1997: 10), home schoolers interact with people of all ages, from all sorts of
backgrounds and in all types of social settings which is a truer reflection of the "real world" than
the public school classroom. Therefore, home schoolers argue that they are able to equip their
children for the real world unlike the children who are confined to a classroom and who have little
opportunity of being exposed to the workplace or of going on field trips, although some schools do
make provision for this (Klicka, 1995:141). Harris (1995: 59-60) argues that the more time that
is spend with the families in a loving and warm atmosphere, the more the children will want to
interact with all age groups as they are not confined to interacting only with their peer group, which
they do within the school environment. The more children observe others within the home
environment, the more they may learn politeness and to express themselves confidently with good
conversational skills as this had been modelled to them. Therefore, it would seem that home
schooled children are given the opportunity to fully develop their social and communication skills.
4.3.5 Category five: Breakdown of the family unit and values
The parents found that the peer group in the schools wedged themselves between them as parents
and their children. They believed that they were becoming less important in their children's eyes
as their peer group grew in importance. Their children were beginning to reject the parent's morals
and values while they adopted the norms of the peer group.
"I think the system is so geared and is getting more and more so, to keeping my children away
from me so that I have less control over them and there is more outside influence instead."
52
"If you're not sitting with your child helping them with their homework and getting involved in
their lives, there's this gap that develops that can't be filled."
"They become more and more independent from us (the parents) , almost at a too early age."
"There's also the spiritual side to it. Obviously I can pass on my values, my morals and my
principles. But instead they tend to take on the general tone of whatever the school was. I think
that's when the peer pressure comes in reverse."
"My little bit of experience so far, coupled with my opinion is that children, especially between
the age of nine to twelve, are so easily influenced and they tend to form their almost social
opinions, their opinions, according to the norm and the norm is not the parent's norm to the
extent that it swings heavily over to the norm that they are with five hours a day."
"Then she would come again and again (to ask her parents' permission to go to a disco) because
all her friends are doing it. Then the question is, "What's wrong with mom and dad?" You see
that in a child's mind the masses are doing the correct thing. They are all doing it, so what's with
you that you are not lining up with all the rest."
Boyer (1995: 39) agrees with the parents that peer dependency separates children both from their
siblings and their parents through time commitments, interests and emotional bonding. The more
children conform and identify with the peer group, the more they will reject their parent's values.
This strengthens the gap that then develops between parents and their children.
The parents stated that the gap between them as parents and their children that is created by the peer
group in the school environment is eliminated when the children are home schooled. The home
school, according to the parents, helped to improve their relationship between them and their
children.
"The interaction between me and my children has improved. We work well together and
understand each other. The fact that we share the same interests makes it easier."
"I found I knew my children, that there was a bonding and closeness that you absolutely lose
when they go to school."
53
"I think that children enjoy having their mother's attention one-hundred percent of the time. I
would imagine that other children don't get so much attention from their mother."
"I found it (home schooling) to be a tremendous relationship builder. The depth of the
relationship is very deep because you are encountering (interacting) all the time."
"It's a good thing (home schooling) and I can feel that it's been good for my relationship with
the kids."
"A child who is more thoroughly grounded in the family life will be able to handle that outside
world better. I have read that in some books on home schooling. And I am experiencing that as
well. I have seen that."
This belief that home school improves the relationship between parent and child is supported by
Klicka (1995: 128) who states that the home school promotes family closeness and cohesiveness
due to the increased time spent together. Parents are thus able to spend more time interacting,
teaching, sharing and nurturing their children. This in turn, may positively promote the children's
social and emotional well being and equip them better for real life. Common and MacMullen (1986:
6-7) draw attention to the fact that a "child's social-emotional development is best fostered, not by
increased peer contact, but by the sense of self-worth and a stable value system. These attributes
are acquired from a home in which the child knows he is needed and wanted and in which he shares
responsibilities." The home school parents are given more opportunities to promote this with
decreased peer interference. The authors further argue that the longer a child stays at home, the
more likely it is that the child will demonstrate emotional well-being. According to research
conducted by Moore (cited by Common & MacMullen, 1994: 6), children who stay at home longer
before entering into school demonstrate higher levels of leadership, motivation, academic
achievement, and social and emotional development. Consequently, it would seem that children who
are home schooled and thus spend more of their time within the home environment would have the
advantage of fostering their emotional and social development.
4.4 THEME 3: REALISATION OF POTENTIAL
In order for children to be well adjusted socially and emotionally, they need to be challenged
intellectually so that they may achieve and realise their full potential. If children are able to realise
54
their potential, they acquire the social confidence and necessary social skills to enable them to
successfully interact with others. Therefore, by promoting the realisation of the children's' potential,
their social competency may be enhanced.
The quality of education that children receive may influence their self-esteem and self-concept
which could impact on their self-confidence to interact with others socially. The parents believe that
large classroom sizes affect the quality of their children's education and that the schools are unable
to provide the intellectual challenge their children need. In their opinion, they are able to witness
their children's learning progress and any difficulties they may encounter first hand. Furthermore,
they are able to cover more learning material than the schools and the content that the children have
learnt has been acquired for life. Lastly, the parents state that because the learning material is more
practically orientated, the children are able to learn more. The parents said:
"There are thirty-three kids in the class. I feel that the numbers make an incredible impact on
the quality of education and that was a problem."
"You know initially you are very careful to do the right thing because here you've got your child's
education in your hands. As time goes on you realise that you cover far more than your school
anyway."
"When you teach your children you know where they are at. You know if they have problems with
the material that is being covered."
"Another benefit is that I can see immediately if the child has understood or not understood and
I can change my tack i fI can see they haven't picked up on what I was doing."
"I am aware of them actually learning. I know that they have learnt. I know that they have learnt
for life and not just for the moment." (This respondent believes that through home schooling she
is instilling the culture of learning in her children by teaching them that learning is a life long
process by not limiting learning to the school environment only)
"The school had assessed him and he was reading at an eleven year old level . So that was when
he'd just turned seven. Therefore, I really don't think the classroom context could have supplied
what he needs from the intellectual point of view."
55
"I challenge him a lot which I don't think he would get at school."
"I believe that children learn and experience more if they are doing something. Therefore, they
have a more practical schooling."
It is well acknowledged that the academic achievement of home school children is generally higher
than that of their public school peers (Van Oostrtun & Van Oostrum, 1997:12; Klicka, 1988: 90-91;
Durham, 1996:78; Large & Large, 1991:35; Natale, 1992:29; Harris, 1995: 53; Ray, 1997:3,
Klicka, 1995:131). There are a number of factors that contribute towards this. One of the main
contributing factors is the one-on-one instruction that home schoolers receive. Unlike public
schools, where the teacher-pupil ratio is too high for the teacher to have any opportunity to give
individual attention, home schools have the opportunity to give continual individual attention to
those who need it and with the areas in which they need it. Another important element that
contributes toward the high academic achievement of home school children is the intense parental
involvement (Simmons, 1994:48). Consequently, home school children are able to spend more of
their time performing tasks, such as projects, "hands-on" experiences, and field trips. Therefore,
the home school may be in a better position than the public schools to adequately address the
educational needs of children so that they are given the opportunity to realise their full potential. The
home school parent as the educator is thus able to fulfill the role of the teacher in promoting their
children's' sense of industry as discussed in 2.7.1.1.
4.5 THEME 4: PARTICIPATION AND INTERACTION TECHNIQUES
One of the main aspects about home schooling that is constantly criticised is the socialisation of the
child. The parents are well aware of their children's socialisation needs and actively try to provide
opportunities for them to interact with others. The parents promote the social interaction of their
children by getting them involved in sporting and cultural activities, community involvement
through local community centres, home school support groups, going on excursions, becoming
involved in church activities and making use of their neighbourhood library.
"Jam very conscious of their need for socialisation. No day goes past that they do not interact
with other children. I believe in that very strongly."
56
"We usually interact twice a week in the mornings and then every afternoon we've got some sort
of activity with our community group which we've been incredibly lucky to have. My neighbour's
got six kids so we have a lot of people to interact with.. We've got pottery on a Thursday. About
twenty kids gather at my neighbour , doing the self-help pottery thing which I started because I
couldn't send five kids to pottery."
"My neighbour is Spanish and she's been teaching us Spanish. And they have a big vocab now.
And I do too which has been so lovely for us all, you know, learning to speak a new language."
"And having four of them of course at home is not a problem as there is always company. They're
all company for each other, especially with their ages being so close."
"The girls do ballet, we take them up to the recreation centre not just to the library, but if there
are other things happening we would join in sports wise. They did all the swimming lessons."
"They all swim for a swimming school, they all go to a children 's ' club that is not attached to our
church so they see a whole range of other kids. So they're interacting with a wide range of ages
and getting instruction from other adults which I also really like because they are not only
learning to take instruction from me. My son goes to the cricket club. We are with other families
that home school so there are other ladies with skills which I don't have so there's somebody who
teaches them ball skills, sort of the beginning of tennis. Then they go to Sunday school and of
course church, and when ever we travel they are always meeting new people."
"So I think they have enough friends. And we do other things like pottery, fabric painting, in fact
a nice wide range of things that a child would never do at school."
"I think our lifestyle, because we travel a lot, we'll go to people where there are children, so they
are mixing with children of various cultures. Sometimes even American children because we were
going to a place where there were other American missionaries, black children, and sometimes
Portuguese children when we go to Mozambique. And then they're getting used to adjusting to
various situations. Like staying in a house which is not quite like our house and they make
friends with kids just like that."
"They do extra-murals. That I thought is really important for them and they can do more.."
57
The children are in agreement with their parents as they believe that they are given sufficient
opportunities to socialise with other children. They do not feel that they are at any disadvantage
socially since they have been home schooled. In addition, they have discovered the enjoyment of
spending time with their siblings. They said:
" you're always seeing your brothers and sisters. I like that. You also go on a lot more
outings."
" I see lots of friends at church on Sundays and sometimes on Saturdays."
"We go to a lot of fun places on our outings. There we meet people and play with them. You
become their friends, get their phone numbers and they become your best friend."
"We often go to our friend's house to go visit and play with him."
"I go to swimming everyday."
According to Klicka (1995: 142), home schooled children appear to be more involved in social
activities than average school children and that their parents show a higher level of commitment in
getting their children to these activities. Home school children are generally heavily involved in
community activities such as church youth eoups, community activities, activities with
neighbourhood children, sporting activities, regular involvement in field trips and so forth where
they then have the opportunity to interact with other children (Harris, 1995: 133; Klicka, 1995: 142;
Ray, 1997: 9; Divoky, 1983: 397). A study that was conducted by Motgomery (cited by Klicka,
1995: 143) concluded that home schooled children are not isolated from social activities with other
youth. Therefore, they are not regarded as being socially deprived (Charvoz, 1988: 87). In addition,
most home schoolers have registered with home school organizations and developed a home school
support group network (Klicka, 1995: 142). The different home schoolers usually gather once a
week to share information, classes for specialised subjects, such as music and art, and to afford the
children the opportunity to socialise with other children of various ages and backgrounds with
whom they share common interests. These home school networks tend to develop their own close
bonds that they become a close knit family (Holt, 1983: 394).
58
With the data analysis being completed, guidelines have been compiled based on the information
gained from the data analysis and from the conceptual framework discussed in chapter two. These
guidelines will be discussed in the next section.
4.6 GUIDELINES
Home school children seem to be fairly well adjusted socially and emotionally. However, the
following guidelines are suggested to help promote the socialisation of home schooled children.
These guidelines have been based on and arranged according to the themes and literature that have
been previously discussed. As was mentioned in chapter two., the guidelines are developed from
an educational psychological point of view with the aim of interpreting the information gained into
practise.
4.6.1 THEME 1: The child's environment
Parents should actively promote a positive home environment in which they can nurture
their children's development (Klicka, 1995: 129). This would promote a positive self-
esteem and self-concept within their children. With the confidence they gain through this,
children will be able to handle social situations with greater ease.
Feelings of anger, fear and anxiety may be generated by high levels of stress (Baron &
Byrne, 1987: 424). Children's ability to cope and perform well, both socially and
academically, could be inhibited by high stress levels. Therefore, a positive and stress free
environment would promote children's social competence. Through promoting a positive
home environment, the parents should be able to limit the amount of stress their children
experience, as the home is regarded as being the least stressful environment (Knowles, At
Al. 1994: 241).
With regard to academics, the parents should ensure that the work given to their children
is within their academic ability so as not to place unnecessary pressure on their children
which could inhibit their academic and social performance. A selection of home school
programmes are available for parents to choose from (Van Oorstrum & Van Oorstrum,
1997: 3-5). The home school programmes use different methods in approaching the
curriculum. The parent would thus have to choose which approach is best for their child.
59
4.6.2 THEME 2: Peer groups
The socialisation that children are exposed to should be monitored by parents so that they
can be assured that the social interaction that their children experience is of a positive
nature. Therefore, they may be reassured that their children are not socialising with friends
that may have a negative influence over their children (Klicka, 1995: 143; Durham, 1996:
78). The friends that home school children socialise with should preferably have similar
values to that of the home school parents. Thereby, parents will ensure that they are
limiting the negative socialisation that their children will be exposed to.
Parents should encourage and provide opportunities for their children to meet and interact
with children of various ages. This may help their children develop the ability and
confidence to interact with people of various ages (Durham, 1996: 78; Klicka, 1995: 1'41).
Children should be encouraged to socialise with their friends on a regular basis by having
them over at their house, going to visit them at their's or to go out together to some activity
(Harris, 1995:61). This may be done by organising such activities such as an outing to the
cinema, a concert, or a weekend camping trip. Theses activities will be determined by the
interests that the children share.
Children may be encouraged to become more involved in Sunday school and other church
activities where they are given the opportunity to interact with and relate to others (Harris,
1995: 133; Klicka, 1995: 142). The children may participate more in Sunday school by
preparing and presenting lessons. Other church activities that the children may become
more involved in is the youth groups, holiday clubs, church band and choir, bible study
lessons and other activities presented by the church, such as camps and picnics.
4.6.3 THEME 3: Realisation of potential
Parents should insure that they set realistic goals for their children so that they may
experience success in what they do which in turn will bolster their self-esteem (Wolff,
1989: 157). Parents should further promote and stress the individual uniqueness of their
children as this will promote their sense of self-worth and increase their self-esteem
60
(Klicka, 1995: 142; Van Oorstrum & Van Oorstrum, 1997: 17). By increasing their
children's self-esteem they will give them the confidence to engage actively and positively
with others (Donald, et al. 1997: 148).
The child's sense of self-worth, importance and sense of responsibility can be promoted by
the parents within the home (Common & MacMullen, 1986: 7). They should give the
children the responsibility of performing certain tasks around the house as it will give them
the sense of accomplishment and the feeling that they are able to cope. By promoting the
child's sense of self-worth, their self-esteem may be bolstered which in turn may give them
the confidence to interact socially with more competence.
4.6.4 THEME 4: Participation and interaction techniques
It is suggested that parents who home school their children should affiliate themselves to
a home school support group as they serve a number of beneficial functions (Holt, 1983:
394; Van Oorstrum & Van Oorstrtun, 1997: 49; Klicka, 1995: 142). They provide support
to the parents in the sharing of experiences and ideas that may assist them in overcoming
any problems that they may encounter. Furthermore, with social gatherings and excursions
that are organised for the support group, the children are given the opportunity to interact
and socialise with other children that are being home schooled. These home school support
groups may further enlist the aid of an educational psychologist who could help identify
any problem areas, both social and academic, that they may encounter in home schooling
and suggest practical interventions that may aid and promote the social and emotional
development of their children.
Parents should encourage their children to participate in some form of outside extra-mural
activity, be it either a sporting activity or a cultural activity (Harris, 1995: 133; Van
Oorstrum & Van Oorstrum, 1997: 51; Klicka, 1995: 142). This may be accomplished
through joining in extra-mural activities at their local schools, where the schools permit
them to. They may also participate in the activities offered at local sport and cultural clubs.
These extra-mural activities will provide the opportunity for the children to interact with
both children and adults.
61
Parents could encourage their children to become more involved within their community
(Klicka, 1995: 142). This may be achieved by becoming involved in activities offered by
their local community centres. Local community centres may offer various lessons 'and
courses in sporting activities, first aid, drama, flower arranging and so forth. Children
should be encouraged to participate in any competitions or tournaments being presented
at their community centre. Some community centres present a drama production that is
produced and acted by members from the community which children could be encourage
to become involved in. Children may be given the opportunity to become more involved
in their community by becoming involved in community service. This may be organised
through the community centre whereby they would participate in activities such as visiting
the elderly members of their community.
Parents may investigate the option of dual enrolment whereby the home school children
may participate in various activities presented by their local public school (Terpstra, 1994:
57; Lamson, 1992: 27; Shepard, 1994: 56; Common & MacMullen, 1986: 7). Home
school children may then participate in academic programmes, extra-mural activities, and
make use of and have access to the services and assistance available at that school. Home
school children will thus be provided with the opportunity to meet and interact with other
children. However, the majority of their time would not be spent at the public school and
the parent would have more control in determining what their children are exposed to in
this environment.
Home schoolers' participation in their local schools may be increased by using them' as
tutors (Shepard, 1994: 56). They would thus be giving teachers added assistance within
the classroom. Both the school pupils and the home schoolers would benefit from this type
of interaction although the time that they would spend together would be limited.
4.7 SUMMARISING COMMENTS
The parents who home school their children generally believe that their children and their family has
benefitted in a number of ways from home schooling. In their opinion, the socialisation of their
children has not been negatively affected since they have been home schooled. In fact, they believe
that it has improved now that they are not constantly around their peer group which seemed to exert
more of a negative influence over their children and expose them to numerous negative experiences.
62
However, the parents should not discount or misjudge the value of these negative experiences as the
children may also learn from these. Since home schooled children are no longer exposed to the
influence of peer group for extended periods of time, they now have the opportunity to develop their
own individuality. Furthermore, they are no longer limited to interacting only with their peer group
but now have the opportunity to interact with various people from various age groups. Therefore,
two areas of socialisation, namely individuation (determining one's own personal uniqueness) and
social connection (discovering how to relate to, learn from, and function with other people) have
been positively promoted within the home environment (Durkin, 1995:13).
The children who are being home schooled by their parents are in agreement with the opinions of
their parents. They also experienced the socialisation that occurs within the school environment as
being negative and problematic. They believe that their peers regulated too much of their behaviour
and thoughts and since they have been home schooled, they experience the freedom to develop their
own individuality. Therefore, the home schooled children experience their home schooling
positively and make this their choice of being educated.
Lastly, based on the conceptual framework discussed in chapter two and the data gathered,
guidelines have been suggested for the educational psychologist to aid the parents in facilitating and
promoting the socialisation of their children.
The data that was gathered from the respondents, both parents and their children, is the personal
opinions and feelings that they have regarding the socialisation of home schooled children.
Therefore, these expressed opinions may be of a biased nature as the parents may be prejudiced
regarding their children's socialisation as they want home schooling to work for their children, both
academically and socially.
63
CHAPTER 5
SUMMARY, RESULTS, LIMITATIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 INTRODUCTION
Chapter five is a summary of this study concerning the social adjustment of home schooled children.
The problem statement, research method and design, and findings are summarised. Conclusions
are drawn, attention is given to limitations of this study and recommendations are made with regard
to further research.
5.2 SUMMARY
Chapter one serves as an introduction to this research study and presents the rationale for this study
concerning the socialisation of home schooled children which is interpreted within the context of
the field of educational psychology. Since home schooling is a fairly new educational alternative in
South Africa since it was legalised in 1994, little is known about this phenomenon in the South
African context. Therefore, the need for research in this particular field is fairly evident. The aim
of this study served two purposes: Firstly, to explore and describe how home schooled children
experience home schooling and the impact that it has on their socialisation and secondly, to develop
guidelines for parents of home schooled children that may aid them in facilitating the social
development of their children. The paradigmatic perspective from which the research is to be
interpreted is discussed so that the researcher's assumptions are clarified. The concepts that have
been used in the course of this research study were discussed and clarified within this first chapter.
Lastly, the research method used and the means to ensure its trustworthiness were briefly
introduced.
Chapter two focused on the conceptual framework of this study. This chapter began with the
history of home schooling and the legalities concerning this within the South African context. It
looked at the various reasons as to why parents choose the educational alternative of home schooling
for their children. It goes on to discuss the various criticisms against home schooling that results
in the resistance that it is met with from the public schools. However, the advantages to home
schooling are then highlighted with regard to home schooled children's academic achievement and
64
their socialisation. This is placed into context against the backdrop of Erikson's psychosocial theory
that discusses the social and emotional development of children in middle childhood. The role of
the teacher, parent and peers are discussed separately as they influence the development of
children's self-concept which is turn affects their social and emotional development.
In chapter three, particular attention was given to the research design and method. The intent of this
chapter was to make explicit the research steps that were followed in this research study. The
reasons why qualitative research was the chosen method of research for this study were discussed.
The particular research design chosen for collecting and analysing the data was explained. This
includes an explanation concerning the sample used, the pilot study, the method of data collection
and the method of data analysis. The trustworthiness of this study with concern to the truth value,
applicability, consistency and neutrality of the data was discussed. Lastly, the ethical considerations
which guided this research were stated.
Chapter four of this study covers the research data that was obtained and analysed as well as a
description of the suggested guidelines to aid the parents in promoting their children's socialisation.
Four main themes were identified through Tesch's method of data analysis: the children's school
and home environments; peer groups which were perceived as having a negative influence on
children's independence, self-esteem, children's ability to interact with various age groups and their
family relations; the realisation of their potential as the quality of their education is of a higher
standard and they have the freedom to develop their individuality; and lastly, the participation and
interaction techniques that the home school parents employ to promote the socialisation of their
children. The informal observations made of the social interaction of the home school children
within their home environment and during a focus group interview was then discussed.
5.3 RESULTS
The following conclusions may be drawn with regard to the socialisation of home schooled children,
based on the research data that was collected and analysed through the course of this study.
The school is regarded as having a negative impact on children as this environment is not seen as
being safe and nurturing as children are being bullied and intimidated. This may result in a negative
attitude towards schooling and the children often lose any sense of confidence that they may have
acquired. Consequently, the children tend to withdraw which has a negative influence on their
65
social and emotional development. This further negatively impacts on their self-concept and self-
esteem. Within a functional home environment, which is considered to be the least stressful
environment, the children are protected from the negative socialisation associated with public
schools. Furthermore, they are nurtured and given more positive feedback which positively feeds
children's developing self-concept and promotes a positive self-esteem. Since the children have
been home schooled their social and emotional development has been nurtured as the home schooled
children appear to be more confident, content, happy, relaxed and less stressed. Therefore, the home
environment is regarded as the best place to foster children's emotional and social development.
Peer groups are regarded as being problematic as they place a lot of pressure onto children to
conform. If this conformity is excessive, children may become peer dependent. Therefore, parents
argue that peer groups actually restrict the development of children's individuality and growing
personality. Furthermore, the peer group inhibits children's ability to think and decide things for
themselves, thereby impeding the development of their own opinions. Thus, the peer group is seen
as exerting more of a negative influence over children than having a positive effect over them.
Home schooling seems to provide children with the opportunity to remove themselves from the
constant pressures placed on them by their peer group, thus giving them the opportunity to develop
their own critical thinking, personalities and individuality. It frees children from having to play a
role to fit in and be accepted by the peer group so that they may discover their true selves and have
the freedom to be themselves.
Respondents view the age stratification within the schools as not being representative of real life
and of society. Since children mostly have the opportunity to only socialise with their own age group
in the schools, they have not acquired the social skills that may give them the confidence to relate
and communicate with different age groups. Home school children on the other hand seem to have
developed the necessary social skills needed to interact with different age groups as they seem to be
more exposed to these groups due to home schooling support groups, extra-mural activities and
excursions.
Peer groups were perceived as being the cause of the generation gap that develops between the
parent and child. This gap seems to be eliminated when children are home schooled as home
schooling promotes family closeness and cohesiveness due to the increased time spend together.
This in turn promotes the children's social and emotional development as a sense of self-worth is
developed within the stable value system of the family.
66
Home schools may provide children with the opportunity to develop and realise their potential by
being intellectually challenged, as the quality of their education is of a higher standard, and by being
given the freedom to develop their individuality. By realising and achieving their full potential, their
social and emotional abilities may be realised.
Parents who home school their children seem to be well aware of the socialisation needs of their
children. Therefore, they actively promote positive activities that may provide them with positive
socialisation opportunities that may foster and develop their children's social interaction with others.
'5.4 LIMITATIONS OF THIS STUDY
The following are possible limitations to this study:
This research study was only conducted with white respondents from a Christian
background. No respondents from other race groups or religious background formed part
of this research study.
The observation of the child's social interaction was only done within the home
environment and within a focus group where the child's interaction with his family
members, with the researcher and with the focus group members were observed. Therefore,
the child's social interaction with his peers was not directly observed. However, the
limitations with regard to a mini-dissertation, restricted the researcher in this regard.
5.5 RECOMMENDATIONS WITH REGARD TO FUTURE RESEARCH
The following research areas with regard to home schooling is suggested:
Research can be conducted to determine how the Black community experiences home
schooling and the measures taken by them to promote the socialisation of their children.
A similar study can be conducted with the various religious groups such as the Muslims,
Islamics and Hindu's so that home schooling may be understood from other religious
perspectives, besides Christian.
Further research can be conducted to determine what greater role the home school support
groups can play in providing opportunities that may promote the socialisation of home
schooled children.
67
The socialisation of adolescents who are being home schooled can be researched further.
The social interaction of children outside of the home environment should be studied.
Parents are ipso facto biased towards home schooling. Therefore, research to evaluate the
socialisation skills of home school children should be conducted.
5.6 CONCLUSION
Home schooling can provide a better environment that is perceived as being safe and nurturing in
which the children's socialisation can be positively fostered and developed. Since most home school
parents are consciously aware of their children's socialisation needs and the importance of
developing the children's social competence, they actively provide opportunities for their children
to engage and interact with other people. In this manner they try to compensate for any perceived
lack of social interaction that they believe their children may be missing out on by not being within
the public school environment. However, home school parents have more of a say in what social
situations their children may be exposed to that will aid in the positive development of their social
competence. Thereby, home school parents may be better able to positively promote the social and
emotional development of their children.
68
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