儿童教育之家童教育Introduction 简介（这一段可以去掉）The phenomenon of home education is becoming more and more popular among families across all ethnic When education in the context of the family structure reemerged at a rapid speed during the late twentieth century， many parents took the radical initiative to do this even if it was in opposition to the Why do parents choose to educate their children at home when there are plenty of school facilities in every province or state in North America? There are many reasons that would cause parents to choose home-based education for their children， reasons which essentially fall into two categories: ideological and/or Most family situations and circumstances are unique， therefore， their reasons to home educate vary， but one thing is for certain， the majority believe in it so wholeheartedly that they are willing to make the necessary Home education is described as a 'phenomenon because it is a deviation from the A lot of research has been done mainly， I think， to find out why families choose this kind of education over conventional Home education should not be looked at as if it is some mysterious Parents have been teaching children at home for centuries across all ethnicities and Some Research Nevertheless， a lot of research has been done to capture the essence of home education， and， not surprisingly， this research has shown that most families who choose this option are white or of Eurocentric Using statistical data of the USA general population as shown in the McDowell， Sanchez and Jones (2000) article， 72% are White， 11% Hispanic， 12% Black， 6% Asian/Pacific Islander and 7% American I In terms of the estimated numbers of home educators there are huge disparities for some It estimates that 96% of home educators are White， 5% Hispanic， 5% Black， 0% Asian/Pacific Islander， 5% American I As the article points out， renowned researchers of home education agree that "no statistical data hat claims to be 100% accurate and/or representative of the entire home schooling " (McDowell， ， 2000) On the Home School Legal Defense Association (2001) website， there was an online cover story called "The New Pioneers: Black H" This article features several black Christian families in the United States who have had success with home-based Since finding information， research and stories on black home educators is 'few and far between'， I was excited to come across these articles， although I was not too overly thrilled with the "New Pioneers" holds the connotation that home education is a new thing for black families and that the families featured in the articles are models for all who 'venture' into this Are these families representative of all black families who home educate? No， probably not， although there will be some The point of this essay is to understand and explore the motivations and experiences of black home Why do black families choose to home educate? Are their reasons different from the majority of home educators? Are the reasons specifically and purely based on an ideological or a pedagogical premise? Are there addition issues to consider that are specific to the experiences in the black culture? From my perspective， I can unequivocally say that my experience of being educated and being an educator is totally different from that of a white For example， racism， institutional or blatant， is something that I have to deal with on a regular basis， and it being a factor in my life will determine how I adjust to my The question is， "Are the reasons to home educate different for black families as they are for white families?" The answer would be To a certain degree the reasons will differ and racism holds a big chunk in the As I've said before， finding information on black home educators is difficult and is especially so of research done on Black Canadian In search for answers for their study， the McDowell， Sanchez and Jones (2000) article takes a look at a dissertation research study by T Romm and a compilation of essays by G L In the Romm study the following quote is worth noting in reference to this essay: "here appears to be a set of concerns which are held in common by African American home which distinguish them from European American home Despite their strong religious backgrounds these parents were more likely to describe their decision to home school as motivated by political beliefs than were European A These beliefs have their root in parents' perceptions of the negative status of African Americans in the society and of the contribution of schools to perpetuating Thus their goals emphasize the necessity of developing a secure cultural identity， the skills of critical analysis and communication to counter stereotypes of African Americans and the ability to cope effectively with experiences of racial discrimination ( 359-360)" (McDowell ， 2000) Although this research is American based， I am positive that the 'political' issues are relevant for Canadian families as The Llewellyn source， as sited in the McDowell et al， 2000 article， also states several reasons why African Americans choose to home educate and how it differs from the European A According to Llewellyn， African Americans believe that: Racial integration in schools has not always worked for their benefit Schools perpetuate institutionalized racism Curricula emphasize European perspectives excluding Africa Their children are overwhelmingly treated as problems and quickly labeled ADD or LD They want to continue the Civil Rights struggle for equal educational rights and they feel that they can do so by reclaiming the right to help their own children develop fully -- rather than working to get them equal access to conventional A Little History Noting that these are some reasons why African Americans choose to home educate， how is it similar to Black Canadians? After studying the history of blacks in the Canadian society， it is evident that there is still some level of educational exclusion in the school As sited in the text The Colour of Democracy， this may come in the form of racially biased attitudes and practices of teachers and administrators; exclusion from curriculum and texts; racial harassment and racial incidents; streaming; assimilationist culture of the school， lack of representation and the devaluing of the role and participation of parents and (Henry， Tator， Mattis & Rees， 2000) Research has shown that generally home educators teach their children at home to improve family unity， to ensure that moral values are kept intact and/or to provide and idealistically "better" or safe learning and social Black families， as the studies have shown， have valid and more 'culturally' relevant reasons to home If black families are not home educating their children because of the basic ideological and pedagogical reasons then I will dare to say that racism is the primary factor determining their Parents want their children to know and maintain their cultural identity and heritage and become self-empowered and these parents therefore feel that school is detrimental to this goal so the only conclusion is to home A Chat With Cheryl My first contact with Cheryl (who doesn't mind me using her name for the purposes of this essay) was through the e-mail From the out set she was willing to talk to Through e-mail and finally through conversation over the telephone， I found her passion for home schooling like a breath of fresh This remarkable and intelligent woman is a single parent raising two sons， one 6 years old and the other One might ask， as a single parent， how does she survive financially if she is at home educating her children with no second income? I asked this question and like other home educating families Cheryl runs a business out of her She would tell you that it certainly is not easy and that money is one of the biggest obstacles she has had to cope with since becoming a home Motivation However， what motivates her to home educate is so morally valuable to her that she is justified in the As Cheryl succinctly puts， "My motivations have changed over the years， but when we started， I mainly wanted to raise my children in a racism-less environment to ensure that their self-esteem would be " In addition to this point that Cheryl made， I conversed with Marion， an African American who is home educating her 13 She says that， "ationally public schools are failing children， especially children of In the states the bow to cultural relevance is to throw in some pap about life as a I want them [my children] to have the whole " This one motivating factor -- the issue of racism -- can be determined to have significant importance or clout in the black parents decision to home If race， heritage and cultural preservation are the only underlying themes that drive black families to home educate， can this potentially cause problems? Marion tells me that once her oldest son asked， "Mom， can we do just one thing that isn't Black?" She believes that if she does not focus on the Black culture and heritage with her children they will not get it from any where else and she "knows what they are heading " Other reasons that Cheryl points out as a motivating factor to home educate her sons is to "strengthen family cohesion and try to raise them to be better men than the [stereo]typical [black]man in North American " Marion added that other motivating factors for her is that she has a "profoundly handicapped little " She also says that she "loathes the sexualized atmosphere in the public schools， the nasty vulgarity and absences of " So， again it is easy to see that the break down of some social issues in the school have an affect on the choice to home Family and Support As many problems as she had within her community I am sure that Cheryl was most hurt by the dejection and nonsupport she received from her She said that her parents were so against it that they tried to "indoctrinate negative ideas in her older son's " She said they influenced him so much that it "made him rebellious and anti-me for a " When asked about where her sons' father was in all of this she said that sadly her older son's father has passed The younger son's father "is not resistant to her home " Now in the area of support， things are getting better and her parents are becoming more understanding of her approach to wanting to take more control over her children's For the past couple of years since she's been home educating she is seeing results and "both boys are thriving!" She says that her sons， especially the older one "is becoming more disciplined and " Conclusion总结 I will conclude this essay by saying that I truly enjoyed talking to Cheryl and I thank her for being so open and I was enlightened by her strength， wisdom and Her choice to home educate is commendable and I wish her and her sons many successes in all of their home school I would also like to thank Marion who shared some valuable information with me through e- Home education is the practice of teaching your children at It is a huge obligation but it escalates in the amount of It takes courageous parents to choose this option and even more courageous children to become self-directed and enhanced learners in this type of educational This essay， as brief as it is， discusses the reasons and motivations of Black home I believe that the study of Black Canadian home educators warrants further investigation because information on this topic is Not only will it be interesting but it would probably create a more fundamental networking scheme for the It will also probably show that many of these families find conventional schooling inadequate because of political But， whatever the reasons， it ought to cause those powers that be to examine the problems in the public school 参考资料References Article McDowell，S， Sanchez， AR & Jones， S S Participation and Perception: Looking at Home Schooling Through a Multicultural L Peabody Journal of E V 75， Ns 1 & 2， 124- Books Henry， Frances， C Tator， W Mattis & T R The Colour of Democracy: Racism in Canadian S ( E) Harcourt Brace Canada: T Mayberry， Maralee， JG Knowles， B Ray， and S M Home Schooling: Parents as E Corwin Press: C Websites Afrocentric Homeschoolers Association Home School Legal Defense A July/August The Home School Court Report， Vol XVII， N "The New Pioneers: Black Home S" People Cheryl E Home Educating Parent in C Interview N/D Marion F Home Educating Parent in USA
