A Phenomenological Investigation of Homeschooling and the Social Behavior and Peer Relations of Homeschooled College Students

Author(s)

Angelo SalvoFollow

Date

7-2018

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Kathie M. Carwile

Keywords

Homeschooling, Incorporation, Separation, Socialization, Transition

Disciplines

Education | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Higher Education | Other Education | Secondary Education | Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education

Recommended Citation

Salvo, Angelo, "A Phenomenological Investigation of Homeschooling and the Social Behavior and Peer Relations of Homeschooled College Students" (2018). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 1802.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/1802

Abstract

Homeschooling is a rapidly-growing educational phenomenon in the United States that has attracted much attention. Parents who home school their children do so for a variety of reasons. Multiple studies have demonstrated that homeschooled youth performed academically at similar or better levels than students educated in mainstream schools. There is a dearth of studies which describes the social adjustment or socialization of homeschooled students when they reach college. The hermeneutical phenomenology presented here explored the social and academic experiences of college and university students living away from home who received a home education at some point during their K-12 educational lives. The theory guiding this study was Vincent Tinto’s (1975; as cited in Bolle-Brummond & Wessel, 2012) theory of the transition of adjusting to a college or university environment as it referred to the stages that homeschooled students experience as they continue on their paths as college or university students. My data collection method was face-to-face and telephone interviews with homeschooled college or university students. I sampled students from Berner-Carlson University and personal contacts, some of whom I obtained by contacting various local homeschooling organizations. My method of data analysis included taking notes on the responses provided in the interviews. I then formulated themes that came from the participants’ responses and divided them into categories such as social adjustment, theme of communication, and positive impact on ability to relate to people. The purpose of this phenomenology was to describe the social experiences of college students living away from home in a college or university environment and homeschooled during their K-12 educational experience.