“We’re not just sat at home in our pyjamas!”: a thematic analysis of the social lives of home educated adolescents in the UK

de Carvalho, E. and Skipper, Y. (2019) “We’re not just sat at home in our pyjamas!”: a thematic analysis of the social lives of home educated adolescents in the UK. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 34(3), pp. 501-516. (doi: 10.1007/s10212-018-0398-5)

Abstract

A common perception of home education is that despite potential beneficial educational outcomes, children who are home educated lack social experiences and therefore show poor social development. However, previous research in this area suggests that home educated children demonstrate a range of age-appropriate social skills. This research has mainly focused on children younger than 12; thus, we have much less of an understanding of the social impacts of home education on adolescents. Furthermore, previous research has often used social skills questionnaires and has not explored the experiences of home educating families from their own perspectives. The current study addresses these gaps in the literature by interviewing three home educated adolescents and their mothers about their social experiences and development with the research question of ‘how do home educated adolescents and their parents experience and understand socialisation?’. In one-to-one interviews, young people (aged 11–14) were asked about their experiences and perceptions of their social lives. In a separate interview, mothers were asked about how they facilitated these social experiences and their perceptions of the impact this had on their child’s development. Data from the interviews was thematically analysed. Results suggested that adolescents participated in a range of social experiences that promoted their social skills, happiness and confidence. Participants felt that this created a positive social environment and sense of community, and encouraged the adolescents to interact with a diverse range of people. However, further research is needed to explore whether this finding is generalisable to the broader community of home educated adolescents.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Skipper, Dr Yvonne
• Authors: de Carvalho, E., and Skipper, Y.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education; College of Social Sciences > School of Education > People, Place & Social Change
• Journal Name: European Journal of Psychology of Education
• Publisher: Springer
• ISSN: 0256-2928
• ISSN (Online): 1878-5174
• Published Online: 21 July 2018
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2018 The Authors
• First Published: First published in European Journal of Psychology of Education 34(3): 501-516
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License