Learning objectives

1. Consider the medium and long-term implications of the homeschooling choice on professionals’ financial, social, and emotional well-being.

2. Critically examine your experiences in education and your beliefs about what makes education effective.

3. Articulate how schools’ policies and practices may influence teachers who choose homeschooling.

Introduction

We interviewed twelve teachers, one of whom asked to be removed during the editing process. All twelve participating teachers were able to be registered, with the exception of the two who had since retired (but still would be eligible for registration). One had started a specialist tutoring service for homeschoolers, another had started a microschool (something we discuss below), and nine were still teaching. It was important for us not to nominate a strict definition of “teacher” for two reasons. The first reason is about who is and isn’t a teacher. In Australia, a teacher holds a qualification from a university. In addition, teachers must be registered with the College of Teachers in the state in which they want to teach. Teachers also need a certain number of years of experience to be a fully registered teacher; prior to that, they are only provisionally registered, which means that they can have their registration withdrawn more easily and, as a result, be more easily sacked from a school. We used a looser definition of “teacher” which didn’t specify qualifications or experience because the state government report, on data collected in 2023, did not specify what the government meant by teacher, so, perhaps they were simply looking at folks who had experience in schools and, as the ‘teachers’ were self-reporting, there is no evidence they were all qualified as a teacher or held a teaching degree. In our study, all teachers reported having classroom experience before choosing homeschooling. All study participants held a degree, or equivalent, that would allow them to teach in a school in any state or territory in Australia.

The second reason we did not restrict the definition of teacher was to ensure we were able to access a variety of views. If we had limited it to currently practising teachers, for example, we would not have been able to collect the stories of parents who had to resign from their teaching positions to homeschool their child (see, for example, Madeline and Sian) or had since retired (see, for example, Violet and Aileth). We also would not have been able to collect the stories of those who had started tutoring organisations or “microschools” in response to their choice of homeschooling (see, for example, Catherine).

In total, we interviewed twelve teachers, but, as noted above, one withdrew six months after data collection (see table). These teachers were from a variety of year levels; we had a balance of primary and secondary with a few early childhood teachers as well (n = 2). All of our teachers (100 per cent) had classroom experience and held an official degree that would have allowed them to gain registration and teach in any state or territory in Australia. Five of our teachers were still teaching in classrooms, however, we had teachers (one participant) who had established a microschool (and was teaching there), two were tutoring and others who had no current or ongoing teaching experience outside of their homeschooling, one was working as a relief teacher which means they went into schools and covered for teachers who were away sick or on leave. We also had three retired teachers. The following table provides information about our teacher cohort:

Pseudonym	Teacher experience	Still teaching?	Still home- schooling?	Location type
Sassy	Primary, literacy	Yes	Yes	City
Eloise *(withdrew)	Primary, special needs experience	No	Yes	Regional
Catherine	Kindy	No – had started a microschool	Yes	Regional
Madeline	Primary	No	Yes	Regional
Sian	Primary	No	Yes	Regional
Violet	High school	No, but had done tutoring	Yes (last child of four homeschooled graduates)	Regional
Aileth	EAL/D	No – but ran a tutoring business (since retired)	No (child had graduated)	City
Lisa	Primary	Yes	Yes	City
Cathy	High school	Yes	No (children went to an alternative school)	Regional
Steph	Special Education	Yes – supply	Yes	Regional
Claire (Jamie, her husband, also present in parts)	High school/special education	Yes – distance education school	No (child had graduated)	Regional
Tara	Primary	No	Yes	Regional

Microschools, small school closures, and problems in the institutionally aligned space

It is important at this point to define microschools (see Catherine in the above table) and identify the issues the government has with them. Microschools are not schools, but they often act as “drop-off programs” or a kind of “family day care” for homeschoolers. They range from highly informal to highly structured and provide a care service to homeschoolers who need a break, who need help with the content their child wants to learn or who need to work (and the child needs to be supervised). Actual schools in Australia need to teach the Australian Curriculum (ACARA) or a recognised alternative (currently on the ACARA website, the only alternatives are The Australian Steiner Curriculum Framework and the International Baccalaureate) (ACARA, 2024). Schools must also ensure their financial situation is viable and has enough enrolments. In Queensland, the Non-State Schools Accreditation Board (NSSAB) monitors schools’ curriculum offering and pedagogy as well as their financial viability. One of our participants, Catherine, had started a school while homeschooling and came up against this board. She was in the process of homeschooling again while trying to get another school off the ground.

For Catherine, there was an analogy in her “run-ins with the board” with a rural school in Queensland that was forced to close because it didn’t teach the curriculum mandated by the state, and, after the principal was taken to the high court, was forced to close. There was no communication entered into, which might have shown why there was a desire for families, even 20 years ago, to have their children access an alternative model that wasn’t a state-mandated curriculum and testing regime.

Currently in Australia, all schools must teach three aspects of the Australian Curriculum (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [ACARA], 2024):

1. The eight key learning areas were mentioned in the legislative review into homeschooling that sought to introduce this rule for homeschoolers as well.

2. The seven general capabilities (literacy, numeracy, digital literacy, critical and creative thinking, personal and social capability, intercultural and ethical understanding).

3. The three cross-curriculum priorities (sustainability, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives).

Microschools do not undertake to teach these three areas, and that is why they are not permitted to operate as schools. As Catherine noted, it also explains their popularity with homeschooling parents and their growth. Homeschoolers are also not required to follow the Australian curriculum to the same degree as the schools do in any state and territory (even where curriculum is listed as a condition of homeschooling, such as New South Wales).

Further, in Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory, schools can offer part-time enrolment for children and young people at the behest of the principal. The principal can choose to either allow or not allow this arrangement, but in reality, it is rarely withheld. In other states and territories, however, school enrolment must also be full-time. Micro Schools can offer a part-time offering in states where these enrolment options are not offered, and this option is likely a big part of their appeal to parents. However, due to them not being schools, they are not able to provide a certification of completion of schooling, they cannot provide a pathway to a ranking score for university (called the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank – ATAR) and cannot receive government funding. As such, students who wish to be enrolled in a microschool must be registered for homeschooling, or they will not be complying with compulsory education requirements.

Pulling parents into homeschooling and pushing parents out of school

There were two significant areas identified in the data we collected. We categorised these in much the same terms as the marketing terms demand-pull and cost-push. In relation to this book, we saw the growing home educating population aligned with the push/pull of economic theory. These teachers’ experiences inside and outside of schools were a driving force. They pushed them towards homeschooling. There were also pull forces on parents. For some parents, there was already a pull towards homeschooling, often through an existing belief that homeschooling is a suitable choice, or the pull force of seeing their child and knowing schools are not the right place for that child or a belief, through experience and reading, that schools are irrevocably damaged. In the data we collected for this book, these two terms reflected the experience of teachers who choose to homeschool.

To attract teachers to this study, we posed a request/call out on social media under a post that appeared on three different Facebook group pages about a Channel 9 story. Channel 9 is an Australian television and media network that offers news, current affairs programming, and entertainment. The story was recorded on Channel 9 News about teachers who had chosen to homeschool their children rather than send them to school; it was prompted by a TikTok piece from a teacher who’d chosen homeschooling. One of our authors, Rebecca, was quoted in that story (McPherson, 2024). Further interviews were arranged informally with contacts in the community, and we knew who the teachers were who homeschool. There was also some snowballing, where one person would suggest another for us to interview.

All teachers were asked to talk generally about their experience, but clarifying follow-up questions were asked to ensure the following questions were addressed:

• Section 1

• Why did you decide to homeschool your children?

• What was the tipping point to choosing homeschooling?

• What’s the biggest surprise you had while homeschooling/biggest myth you thought was true before you started homeschooling?

• Section 2

• Do you purchase curriculum materials (such as pacers) for your children?

• Why do you/don’t you purchase curriculum materials?

• Where do you get your information on homeschooling from?

• Section 3

• Do you do the same things or different things from what you did in the classroom? Why?

• Has this changed over time? Why do you think that is?

These interview questions reflected the four key questions guiding this book:

1. What do teachers who homeschool bring to their homeschools? (section 1)

2. Do teachers who homeschool choose a particular style that is aligned with their teaching training? (section 3)

3. Does this style change over time? (section 3)

4. Are they more likely to register with authorities than non-teachers? (section 2)

In what follows in the next chapter, we report on the pull factors that lead to homeschooling. These categories are inductive codes from the data we collected.