“How can I make a child go into a place that I’ve lost faith in?”: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of the decision-making journeys of parents who deregister their children from school to enter into elective home education

Abstract

Year-on-year, an increasing number of families are entering into elective home education in the United Kingdom. For many parents, this is a proactive choice based on philosophical or lifestyle reasons. However, others are reactively deregistering their children from school to enter into elective home education in response to their children’s negative experiences of state schools; how these parents arrive at the decision to home educate is not currently well-understood. The present study uses interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore the experiences and decision- making journeys of seven mothers who decided to deregister their children from school to enter into elective home education, and to consider how education professionals could have supported them along their decision-making journeys. Findings suggest that some parents may decide to deregister their children from school to home educate as a solution to a situation that they experience as unsustainable and as significantly affecting the mental health of their child. Their journey may begin with dissatisfaction with aspects of mainstream state schools that they perceive as insensitive to their child’s individual needs; this, coupled with a lack of response to their child’s needs from school-based and other local authority education professionals, may lead to a loss of trust in the ability of local authority education services to support their family. Findings also indicate that when supporting parents who are on a decision-making journey towards elective home education, specialist education professionals could consider embodying relational approaches, such as by creating a holding environment, recognising the family’s individual needs, advocating for the family’s concerns, and empowering parents to make an informed decision. The present study has implications for a range of education professionals and policymakers, particularly with regards to supporting the inclusion of children and young people within mainstream state schools.

Date of Award	6 Dec 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Bristol
Supervisor	Rob Green (Supervisor) & Jak L Lee (Supervisor)