or
much of history, parents were the primary educators of their
children. Educating the child within the home, to prepare her or
him to follow in the footsteps of the parents was the accepted
practice, the parents' duty and responsibility. Only since the
1870s, however, when compulsory schooling was begun, have parents
delegated that responsibility to educators. But within the last
two decades, educating children within the home -- in lieu of
sending them to public school -- has become an increasingly
identifiable form of education. Home schooling, as it is called, has always been more or less legally possible in Canada. However it is only within the last fifteen years, that the numbers have been large enough to warrant specific legislation, regulations and guidelines. Today all provinces and territories have more or less workable programs, guidelines or legislation in place to accommodate the increased interest in home schooling. Most of these accommodations have taken place within the last five years.
While undertaking background research for this article, I discovered that considerable data and material existed about the home schooling situation in the United States. But nothing was available for Canada that would provide a current national overview. My objective for this article is to help fill that gap: to provide an overview of home schooling in Canada and the present state of the provincial and territorial legislation, regulations and guidelines.
Sources of information-Two strategies were used to obtain data (Smith, 1993): a questionnaire directed to each of the provincial and territorial Deputy Ministers of Education and a survey of home schooling associations.
The questionnaire directed to Deputy Ministers was designed to ascertain the current status of the legislation and regulation of home schooling in the province or territory. It covered a broad range of topics: The questionnaire covered a broad range of topics: legislative trends, legislative intent, effects of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, right of appeal, jurisdiction, enforcement, permission or registration, supervision, curriculum requirements, testing, educational requirements for home school parents, assistance provided to home schoolers, education costs, and number of home schoolers within the province or territory.
The survey invited input and comments from home schoolers themselves. It was sent to 30 home schooling associations across Canada.
Responses by the Deputy Ministers were extremely positive. In some cases, they went out of their way to provide additional material that greatly enhanced understanding of the provincial or territorial position.
The legislative and regulative structure - Home schooling is now officially recognized as an acceptable educational option within the education acts of Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon Territory. The remaining provinces and the Northwest Territories have developed specific programs, guidelines or regulations to accommodate home schooling within the structure of their current education acts that allow for the exemption from public school attendance where a child is under "efficient", "equivalent", "satisfactory" or "adequate" instruction at home or elsewhere.
I was surprised at the length to which the various provincial and territorial Departments of Education have gone to accommodate the relatively few home schoolers. In light of the legislative and regulative climate that exists in some of the American states, the degree of cooperation and accommodation that exists, for the most part, in Canada is remarkable.
Given this current state of cooperation, is there room for improvement? In some cases, yes, there is. If not within the legislation, at least in opening ways of communication and discussion between parents and administrators and/or governments. Some jurisdictions, despite the current climate, could also learn from others, for some of the policy concepts developed and presented by the provinces and territories are worthy of note. Most notable among these concepts are:
When dealing with home schoolers, legislators, educators and administrators should remember that just as parents cannot match or provide all the infrastructure of a school within the home, a school cannot provide the attention and care of a loving, concerned and responsible parent. To be sure a few parents fail in their attempt at home schooling. Unfortunately, they, like all failures, make good headlines and, like those few teachers who fail, give a black eye to the majority.
Home-schooling parents should also be listened to, for, as Roland Meighan of the University of Birmingham remarked (Meighan, 1989b):
In some cases, these contemporary parents are not only literate, but highly literate. With this state of affairs, is it any wonder that some parents want a direct say in and in some cases control of their child's education?
Who Home schools? - Home schoolers are, by any classification, a diverse lot: doctors, back-to-the-landers, lawyers, francophones, anglophones, fundamentalist ministers, farmers, housewives, teachers and just plain parents - of all faiths and creeds. And all are united in one common way: They are concerned about their children and the nature of their children's education. And concerned enough to do something about it themselves.
What makes these parents undertake the direct responsibility for their children's education? An undertaking that puts them at odds with not only much of society but with the school system in particular. This is an endeavour that costs them not only much time and effort but money as well, since parents must, for the most part, provide books, courses, and educational materials out of their own pockets. There are no simple answers.
A majority of parents, it is true, undertake home schooling because they have a deep conviction that the school system no longer upholds their religious and moral convictions. Others home school for pedagogical reasons, having a deep-seated dissatisfaction with the school system and the quality of education it offers. Still others undertake to home school because of their conviction that their child's welfare and education are their responsibility.
How many home schoolers are there in Canada? - The national total of officially registered home-school students is approximately 9400. This does not include Quebec, since the figures, (said to be "très peu") were unavailable at the provincial level. If Quebec had a conservative home school population of .06% (using the lowest percentage figure obtained other than Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario) the total home school population for Canada would increase by some 680 students to over 10,000. However, the accuracy of such an extrapolated figure for Quebec must be severely questioned.
With 9,400 students out of a total 1990-91 Canada-wide K-12 public and private school enrollment of 5,141,003 (Statistics Canada, 1992) the proportion of home schooled students is a very small figure indeed - less than .02%.
However, by way of comparison, the 1991 enrollment figures for the Department of National Defense schools overseas show that the Canadian home school population outnumbers the overseas DND student population by two to one (9,500 to 4,700). When one considers the cost and effort that has gone into maintaining and operating the DND schools overseas, the home-schooled population stands out as having second class status.
In assessing these home school population figures, it must be born in mind that they are based upon the ministry records and include only officially registered home-schoolers. Most home schooling sources would suggest that the figures are, in reality, much higher, since many parents don't register, preferring to maintain their independence by operating entirely outside the school system and government control. For example, estimates obtained from home schooling sources for Ontario and Alberta suggest home school student populations of 5,000 for Ontario and 5,000 for Alberta, with a national total of around 30,000.
Home schooling trends in Canada - The current increase in home schooling across Canada has caught nearly everyone by surprise - perhaps even the home schoolers themselves. Eight years ago, the largest national estimate from the Canadian Alliance of Home Schoolers was 2,000. Today their national estimate is fifteen times that.
Another trend is that home schooling for the most part is centered in the West, particularly in Alberta and British Columbia. Why this is so is unknown. A provincial trend within the province of British Columbia is the preference among home schoolers to register at the smaller, mostly Christian, independent schools rather than with the local school, presumably because of the greater freedom obtained. This trend is also prevalent in Alberta where parents have shown a preference for registering with "willing non-resident boards" for similar reasons.
he current increase in home schooling
has some educators worried, some threatened. But it must be kept
in mind that: home schooling parents will always remain more or
less of a minority. This is a fact and there is a very simple
reason behind it: Few parents are prepared to invest the vast
amount of time, effort, and energy that is required to teach
their children at home. As high school teacher David Guterson,
who teaches his three sons at home, wrote (1990):
Given this, will home schooling go the way of the experimental free schools of the 1960s? Is it just a passing fad doomed to become yet another educational dinosaur? Perhaps. But if one takes the aims of some very determined home school students and former students into account, it is here to stay:
When viewed against the background of remarks like these, home schooling is here to stay - for at least another generation.
In the final analysis, though, it seems unlikely that home schooling greatly threatens the public schools. Indeed, I believe that home schooling should be seen as serving several useful purposes that go beyond the immediate concerns of home schoolers:
The final say, though goes to a Nova Scotia home schooler, who responded to my survey as follows:
Refrences:
Audain, T. (1987). Home Education: the third option. The Canadian School Executive, April 1987, 18-21 and 24.
Guterson, D. (1990). When Schools Fail Children. Harper's Magazine, November 1990. pp. 58-64
Meighan, R. (1989). The parents and the schools - Alternative role definitions. Educational Review, 41(2).
New Brunswick Department of Education (1991). HOME SCHOOLING: District - Family Contacts and the Home Schooling Information Form, Fredericton, N.B: Author.
Smith, D. S. (1993). PARENT-GENERATED HOME STUDY IN CANADA: The National Outlook, 1993. Westfield, NB: The Francombe Place. Copies of this report are available from the author at Box 2000, Westfield R.R.1, N.B. E0G 3J0, postpaid, for a $24.00 money order.
Statistics Canada (1992). ELEMENTARY-SECONDARY SCHOOL ENROLLMENT 1990-1991. Ottawa, ON: Author.
Notes:
In reviewing home schooling in Canada, the author tried to maintain a neutral and uninvolved stance. Neither the Francombe Place, nor anyone associated with The Francombe Place / Research Associates have any affiliation with government agencies - federal, provincial or territorial - or the home schooling associations. No funding was provided from any of these sources. This article is not an attempt to promote home schooling, for it is recognized that home schooling is only one answer to the need for more parental involvement in the education of their children.
© 1993 D.S.
Smith All rights reserved
dsresrch@fundy.net
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