Conference Program

This contribution presents the progress of a joint PhD research project between the University of Paris Nanterre and the University of Bologna, focusing on the analysis of home education in the Italian and French contexts.

The two legal systems adopt profoundly different models. In Italy, homeschooling is subject to parents’ annual notification of their educational choice and compliance with the obligations laid down by current legislation; in France, following the 2021 reform, it is instead subject to a system of prior authorisation that restricts access to it to specific conditions laid down by law.

Building on this difference, the research examines home education as an educational and social practice, with particular attention to families’ motivations, the ways in which learning pathways are organised, and the effects produced by the different regulatory frameworks.

After outlining the theoretical framework, the research objectives and the methodological design adopted, the paper presents the initial results of the empirical survey conducted in France using a questionnaire administered to a sample of families. The focus is specifically on unschooling experiences, examining their pedagogical motivations, how learning pathways are organised, and the impact of the authorisation scheme introduced by the 2021 reform.

The findings highlight how the new regulatory framework has affected the possibility of practising unschooling, altering the strategies adopted by families and, in many cases, leading to the initiation of administrative and legal proceedings against those who have continued to provide home education without the authorisation required by law.