Conference Program

Home education occupies a contested position within contemporary education systems, frequently framed as a private choice operating outside the collective purposes of schooling. At the same time, increasing numbers of families are turning to home education, often in response to unmet needs within mainstream provision, particularly for neurodivergent children and those experiencing exclusion. This raises critical questions about how education is conceptualised, who it serves, and how democratic participation is enacted within - and beyond - formal institutions.

This paper draws on an ongoing doctoral study exploring the lived experiences of home-educating families in England. Adopting a qualitative, collective case study design, the research is informed by ecological systems theory, critical reflective practice, and late modern perspectives on identity and agency. Data are generated through in-depth, multiple interviews with families, supported by iterative cycles of reflection and co-construction. This approach enables a nuanced exploration of how families navigate educational systems, negotiate legitimacy, and reconstruct educational pathways over time.

Findings suggest that home education is not simply a withdrawal from the public sphere, but a reconfiguration of engagement with it. Families describe processes of “recalibration,” in which educational decisions are reshaped around children’s identities, wellbeing, and relational needs. In doing so, they actively challenge dominant, standardised models of schooling and expand the boundaries of what counts as education. Learning is repositioned as embedded, participatory, and responsive to context, rather than confined to institutional settings.

At the same time, the study highlights ongoing tensions between plural educational practices and regulatory frameworks that seek to define and govern “appropriate” education. These tensions expose underlying assumptions about citizenship, responsibility, and the role of the state in shaping educational trajectories. While policy discourse often positions home education as marginal or problematic, the lived experiences of families suggest a more complex reality in which agency, care, and responsiveness are central.

By foregrounding these perspectives, the paper contributes to debates on homeschooling and the public sphere by offering an empirically grounded account of how education can be enacted beyond institutional boundaries. It argues for a more expansive, pluralistic understanding of education within democratic societies - one that recognises diverse pathways, values lived experience, and reconsiders the relationship between individuals, families, and the state in shaping educational futures.