Homeschooling in Czech Families - The diversity of approaches between the school-based structure and unschooling

Abstract

The article focuses on homeschooling in the Czech Republic and describes the homeschooling process, methods, and challenges faced by parents practising this mode of education. The aim of the article is to provide an in-depth look at how parents organise homeschooling, the role of family members, and the autonomy of children in their education, and to discuss this mode of learning in relation to the school-based system and structure of learning. The research involved a qualitative analysis of the diary entries of 20 Czech families that practise homeschooling. The diaries were maintained from October 2021 to December 2022. The results of the research reveal the existence of a variety of approaches to planning the instruction of a child and the use of different learning methods and activities, and show the different models of homeschooling practised, ranging from school-based (reproducing the structure of the school in the home) at one end through to unschooling at the opposite end. The research shows that it would be simplistic to see homeschooling in the Czech context as outside the school-based system of education.