Th# Right Hand Of Pallowahlp: H«ne Education in Nova Scotia and Ideological Challanga. by D.J.A. Harrison Pollock A thesis submitted In partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Master of Arts in Education degree at Saint Mary's University June 1994 ® Copyright National Library Bibliothèque nationale of C anada du C anada Acquisitions and Direction des acquisitions et Bibliographic Services Branch des services bibliograptiiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa. 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NI la thèse ni des extraits extracts from It may be printed or substantiels de celle-ci ne otherwise reproduced without doivent être Imprimés ou his/her permission. autrement reproduits sans son autorisation. ISBN 0-315-95864-2 Canada Approved : Facul Approved; ean of Ædüc Abstract The Right Hand of Fellowahlp: Home Education in Nova Scotia and Ideological Challenge by D.J.A. Harrison Pollock June 1994 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 ^ther 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 mod^ 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 sdso 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. Table of Contenta Foreword i Introduction 1 Impetus to research 1 Method 6 1. To Be A Pilgrim. 12 Educational Conflict and New Social Movements: A cultural laboratory for re-thinking community. 2 . In Search of the Anxious Seat. 21 2.0 The Concept of Revitalization. 21 2.1 The Nova Scotia Experience. 25 2.2 Educational Rights and Policies. 31 Figure 1. Survey of Nova Scotia School Boards, 1993 . 33 2.3 Demographics 35 Figure 2. Reports from Regional Inspectors, 1994. 37 Figure 3. Canadian Registered Home School Population. 38 3. The Fight %fithout, the Fear within. 45 3.0 Confrontation. 45 3.1 Defizdng Distortion. 45 3.2 Dire Events (Case Reviews). 48 i. Alberta and Larry Jones 48 ii. Nova Scotia and Andre Masse 51 iii. Related Civil Rights Decisions 55 iv. Manipulations 57 3.3 New Legislation and Compulsory Attendance. 60 Figure 4. An Overview of Home Education Regulations in Canada. 61 3.4 Other Roads to Zion 66 4. Testimony frmn the Mourner's Bench. 72 4.0 Consolidation. Early Reformers and John Holt. 72 4.1 Christian Ultra-Conservatism and Raymond Moore. 82 5. The Right Hand of Fellowship. 93 5.0 The New Steady State. 93 5.1 Fellowship of the Community. 96 5.2 Boxes, Conflicts, and Values. 98 5.3 Implications and Conclusions. 103 References 113 Appendices 123 A. Question Guide. B. Lunenburg Letter. C. NSHEA Suirvey of Membership. D. School Board Survey. E. Leading Curricula Distributors. F. Home Education Regulations, 1993. G. Sample Curricula. Foreword Preparation for this study was initiated by an interest in alternative education and an enthusiastic belief in school reform. The project took shape with the help of the executive and members of the Nova Scotia Home Education Association, various homeschooling support groups, interested professional educators, friendly editors and educator-parents throughout the province. I am indebted to all who participated in the interview process but particularly to Jane Dietert, Jennie Ernst and Marion Homer for Uieir positive comments, for their help in locating respondents and for turning my countless questions into "teachable" moments. Introduction. The Right Hand of Fellowàbip: Home Education In Nova Scotia and Ideological Challenge. Impetus to Research This thesis is the result of conversations held in 1993 with home educator families throughout the province of Nova Scotia. We talked of many things, but specifically about schools, education and schools, and alternatives to schools. The existence of an alternative school system is neither recent, remarkable, nor remiss. What is recent is public, compulsory, age-graded education. What is remarkable is the lack of attention given to those who have chosen to educate their children at home. What is remiss is the lack of research by both parent educators and public agencies on what the home school advocates refer to as "the proof of the pudding." Home education literature is scant on the assessment of any outcome of the movement's primary objective, that of the best education for children. Given the time constraints of a graduate programme, this line of inquiry must be deferred until some future publication. This thesis will address, however, the emergence of a homeschooling movement in Nova Scotia that represents a significant challenge to educators. Recent media commentary has suggested that the family upon which this alternative institution flourishes is going the way of the dinosaur. Certainly, the information from the seventy-five complete interviews incorporated within the structure of this paper appear to replicate the family characteristics described by Garrison Keillor in his Lake Wobegon stories rather than the 2 "blended" family units that are featured in contemporary society. Indeed, demographic information, problems of socialization, and questions on motivation are the focus of much of the largely American literature that exists on this topic. Although these areas are discussed within the body of this research, I have treated them as variables to the movement rather than as effective measurements. It seemed obvious to me that if the goal of home schooling was defined as education, then it seemed equally obvious that the focus of this paper should be on the progress in reaching that goal in Nova Scotia. The goals of this paper are, therefore, complex. My purpose was to examine the extent to which home-based education is a revitalized and rational social movement, and/or an aberrant, educational fad; and with Nova Scotia as a battleground for parental rights, to what extent home-based education repeats an ideological challenge to the apparently liberal status quo. In fulfilling this purpose, however, questions arose about the constant intervention, interpretation and interference scenarios that dominate the home education and public discourses. Conflicts between the powerless and those in power or the assessment of home education through the lens of the more traditional spectacles of the public education system, thus, appeared as a mismeasure of a group whose actions are merely the logical outcome of liberal purpose. They are, in a sense, educational Antinomians who have chosen to leave the public system, chosen to educate their children legally in an Institution that theoretically is considered the cornerstone of the liberal system —the family u n it/ Such goals are in keeping with those early liberal reformers whose concepts shaped the radical dynamics of the 1960s and influenced proposals on alternative education, namely, those of Ivan Illich, 3 Paulo Freire, John Holt, Everett Reimer and Jonathan Kozol. Kozol's description of the Harlem school system as an American Auschwitz or lUich's assembly line metaphors are still difficult concepts to dismiss. These de-schooling advocates denounced the dominance of professional regimes that led to student crippling and service for value curricula. Illich (1971) suggested that this dominance enslaves the mind. Ian Lister, a British de-schooler, commented that school "indoctrinates us: to believe that other people make all the decisions" (1974:93). Attempts to improve schools externally by cosmetically re-forming institutions resulted not as the de-schoolers envisioned but in increased bureaucratization. Challenges to basic assumptions on power or "schooling problems" put the professional garrison on the defensive. Such criticisms were interpreted as idolatrous reflections on dogma.* Defensive postures by school officials and/or teachers often led to further conflicts with the public domain. In a sense, such conflicts led to rhetoric that encouraged teaching to acquire an undesirable dominance in the educational process. The establishment of those within the educational structure who were unaware of or indifferent to such critical conflicts effectively led to the entrenchment of a rarely questioned and unchallenged power. The institution, armed with the forces of cultural ideology and social myth, imposed the notion that every child must attend school, not that every child must acquire an education (Guterson, 1992).