Educational Psychology—Limitations and Possibilities

Homeschooling 775
It was interesting that the parents in the inquiry spoke predominantly of learning from their
child/ren. From my short time with the families, and what each parent expressed to me in the
interview, it appears that understanding and learning from their child/ren meant predominantly
understanding their temperament styles, learning preferences, work habits, and personal time
rhythms. Helen advises,
I think the biggest thing is it all depends on how your child learns. So, you know, you deal with it that way,
look at it that way. Well, how is it that my son, or my daughter, can learn better. Well, I know which way he
can so let’s see if we can, you know, get it to work out so he’s still learning what he needs to learn but his
way, or her way, which, for kids, I think makes the most biggest, fun thing of it all is they’re doing it their
way, nobody’s telling them they can’t do it that way.
While routine was important for both Helen and Lynn, the routine was based on their child/ren’s
personal rhythms as they had learned the importance of this aspect of their children’s learning
style and preference. Time and routine in the families’ days allowed for time not to hurry through
the curriculum and their child/ren were not expected to continue learning at the one pace.
SEEKING ALTERNATIVE POSSIBILITIES IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
This section of the chapter suggests that the insights gained from three families’ experience of
homeschooling may prompt educators in rethinking their pedagogical decision-making, practices,
and relationships in students’ and families’ educational lives.
An Educator’s Responsibility
How educators provide learning opportunities and the ways in which they respond to learners
is reflective of their beliefs about knowledge, human behavior, and ways of learning. Educators
are continually making moral choices, making difficult decisions, however, quite often these are
based on observations filtered through a lens of educational psychology they bring with them as a
result of their own educational experiences as a learner in public schools and university settings.
I believe an educator’s growth will be in his or her own personal responsibility first. Educators
must reflect on who they are, their assumptions and biases about race, class, gender, and ability,
in order to allow their students to be who they really are. In community, this involves educators
reflecting on who they are in relation to others. Following this process, educators can begin to
destabilize dominant discourses and critique material and challenge teaching/research practices
in a more informed context.
Communities of Reconceptualization
I believe seeking alternative possibilities for education in public schools involves communities
of pedagogues who have concerns or issues, and who are willing to attempt the development of
new ways of thinking and teaching that prepares parents, school educators, and students with
the complexities of classroom life. Such issues and concerns may include the ones raised in this
chapter by Paul, Helen, Christopher, Samuel, Luke, Lynn, Sarah, Nadine and Brett.
When Paul, Brett and Christopher, specifically, failed to meet the linear expectations described
by developmentalism, they were evaluated as students in need of remediation or adjustment. Their
public school experience resulted in their social exclusion because their behavioral, intellectual,
physical, and emotional selves did not mirror what educational psychology, school curricular, and
school culture had deemed as appropriate. The families’ narratives spoke of many children and