The right hand of fellowship : home education in Nova Scotia and ideological challenge

Abstract

This thesis presents home education in Nova Scotia as a revitalized, rational social movement. Home education is examined within the "revitalization model" described by Anthony F. C. Wallace (1958). Wallace's conversion analogy was chosen not because of any bias either for or against any religious motivation, but, instead, to delineate the process of cultural conversion in its entirety from the recognition stage to that of regeneration and transformation. This model proves an apt metaphor for describing the small "s" spiritual journey taken by parent-educators in the formation of the Nova Scotia Home Education Association as a non-sectarian political group and the structure of new Departmental regulations for 1993/94. By employing this model and utilizing a variety of interview techniques, a snapshot emerges of a group who resembles, in many respects, the larger public school community.

Although this study provides current estimates of home schooling families, it is not intended as a census of a dynamic and growing movement in the province.

The study also examines Canadian legal precedents, explores the roots of alternative education and identifies the principal curricula proposed by leading home education thinkers. The study raises implications for the public school system and concludes with suggested recommendations for the professional educator.