Homeschooling and the Public Good

Hi Gang,

Last night, Zlatomir sent us all a link to an interesting article about homeschooling. Did any of you get a chance to read it? It was passed around the Oak Meadow office last week and we’ve all been scratching our heads because it raises some really interesting questions. The article was written in response to another, earlier, article, and the central question posed in the response is this:

“Could such a go-it-alone ideology [homeschooling] ever be truly progressive—by which I mean, does homeschooling serve the interests not just of those who are doing it, but of society as a whole?”

This question ties in beautifully with some of the issues we’re exploring in 8th grade civics class–specifically the role of the citizen in terms of civic duties and civic responsibilities. The author also raises the question of regulation. Should homeschooling be regulated by the federal government? By the state government? At all?

There were several follow up articles to this one, and I’m including each of the links below so you can follow the conversation. The original article was published in a print journal that cannot be accessed online. But I’ve provided links to the responses in the order in which they appeared. I’d like you to read through as many of them as you can and to formulate a response to the question posed above (Does homeschooling benefit all of society, or just those who are doing it?). Please post your answer in the comments, and create a cogent argument with examples, and quotes, and all of that. Unlike many of the topics that we cover in our OM social studies courses, this one applies to you directly. I am very curious to hear your thoughts. Do you feel that you are serving the public good in your choice to homeschool? Should serving the public good even be an issue when we make choices about our education? Is serving the public good important to you? I encourage you to get a conversation going in the comments and to involve your parents and siblings if they’re game. If you apply yourself to this task, I will let you off the hook for an assignment of your choice down the road. Deal?

Best,

Apple

Here is the conversation as it unfolded (I will add updates as I find them):

1. Original article by Astra Taylor in n+1 Journal (no link available to article, but here’s the link to n+1)
2. Response by Dana Goldstein on slate.com
3. Response by Astra Taylor to Dana Goldstein in n+1 (this is available online)
4. Further thoughts by Dana Goldstein after reading Astra Taylor’s response
5. A response by another author, Laurie Couture, on her own blog (Zlatomir shared this in his email)
6. And lastly, I read an interesting academic article on the question of whether homeschooling should be regulated by Rob Reich, a political scientist at Stanford University. It’s a PDF, and I can’t figure out how to link it to the blog. But if you Google Rob Reich, you can find it pretty easily. It’s called, “Why Homeschooling Should be Regulated.”
7. Update: A response by Connor Friedersdorf of the Atlantic Monthly
8. Update: A response by Fredrik deBoer on his blog (the comments are interesting)

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