For Our Children: How Black Parents Approach Homeschooling 公开

Rankin, Matthew (Summer 2023)

Permanent URL: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/k643b247v?locale=zh
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Abstract

This dissertation is comprised of three separate yet related empirical studies, centering the motivational, curricular, and instructional dimensions of Black homeschooling praxis, respectively. Employing a mixed methodology—consisting of multiple surveys, solo and paired interviews, and focus group discussions—I examine how 1) the genders of parents and their children combine to shape homeschooling motives; 2) faith and race independently and concertedly shape curricular development; and 3) parents conceptualize and engage collaborative teaching, within the broader stylistic continuum of homeschooling instruction. 

 

Paper One couches gender as a nuanced, but no less substantive, motivator for Black homeschooling. Using gendered ethnic-racial socialization (GERS) as a theoretical frame, I argue that parents’ motives stem from inverse processes: building from without (i.e., for homeschooled Black boys) and building from within (i.e., for homeschooled Black girls). Paper Two showcases faith and race as prime cultural influences, on parents’ homeschooling curriculum. While research typically frames faith and race as either discrete, or inversely related, forces, I demonstrate how they mold curricula separately and jointly, via formal and informal means. Paper Three analyzes the philosophical and logistical underpinnings of parents’ teaching styles. Providing a granular view of how adult-led, child-led, and collaborative instruction comingle on the stylistic spectrum, I frame homeschooling instruction as a malleable, evolutionary process—one tailored to the goals and needs of individual families. Furthermore, I show that Black homeschoolers, though immersed in a society with racialized barriers, create holistic and limitless educational experiences, through pedagogical versatility.

 

Findings inform parenting and education research generally, while pointedly advancing homeschooling research, particularly that which foregrounds educative dynamics within Black familial contexts. By examining gendered homeschooling motives, cultural influences on curricula, and dynamic instructional methods, this project highlights the inner complexities of home education. Last, this study is also poised to impact traditional education practices. Given the fraught history between traditional schooling and Black students, its findings address longstanding, or previously unnoticed, deficiencies in private and public schooling—factors that help undergird the rise of Black homeschooling.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

 

Introduction 1

References 8

 

 Paper One: Subtly But Surely: The Gendering of Black Homeschooling Motivations 11

Abstract 11

Introduction 12

Background 15           

Methods 20

Findings 24

Discussion 36

References 39

Tables 42

 

Paper Two: The Marrow of Pedagogy: How Faith and Race Shape Curricula for Black Homeschoolers 44

Abstract 44

Introduction 45

Background 47

Methods 52

Findings 57

Discussion 68

References 72

 Tables and Figures 76

 

Paper Three: Dynamic Instruction: How Black Homeschoolers Engage Teaching Praxis 83

Abstract 83

Introduction 84

Background 88

Methods 92

Findings 97

Discussion 109

References 112

Tables and Figures 116

 

Conclusion 120

References 127

Appendices 129

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