Work

Your home is not a school: The limits of homeschooling as a political practice

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Homeschooling is on the rise. It appeals to very different perspectives and ideologies that tend not to have common ground, from classical conservative to radical progressive. But the justifications for the practice are weak. In this paper, we build a case against the “home school” as a political practice using the existing commitments of liberal, conservative, and democratic theories of education. Whether education should aim at the cultivation of children's autonomy, their formation as members of cultural communities, or their training as democratic citizens, there are reasons to doubt that the practice of homeschooling can fulfill our educational goals. As such, we argue that liberals, conservatives, and democrats each have their own motivations to oppose homeschooling as an institutional alternative to traditional schools. Through our critiques, we also advance a metatheoretical argument in favor of centering the aims of education in our philosophical and political debates.

Source: Politics Philosophy & Economics

DOI: 10.1177/1470594x251335855

Authors: Sonia Maria Pavel, Jeremy Kingston Cynamon

Institutions: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Georgia

Language: English

Topic: Diverse Education Studies and Reforms

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Quality education, Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,650