Home educating children with additional learning needs: Highlighting the issue to prompt a change
Current UK home education
Over the last five years, the number of children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) being home educated, has increased by 52% across the UK (1). Though the decision to home educate SEND children may be in the best interests of the child, it is important that this is the true choice of the parents; not due to challenges with the school meeting the child’s needs.
Research in the UK from 2010(2) and 2018(3) both suggest that the main reasons for educating SEND children at home is due to poor experiences with support in school, which is hindered by funding cuts meaning the school is unable to meet the child’s additional needs(4). Consequently, in some cases, schools do not feel prepared or experienced enough to provide a safe environment for the child. In extreme cases, SEND children are victim to being unfairly off-rolled from school, in case they adversely affect the school’s results(5). Ultimately, UK schools experience difficulties with helping SEND children to fit into the school system (6). This is an issue that appears to be longstanding and ongoing(2, 3).
“I was left with no choice”
These difficulties with school often place pressure on the parents of SEND children, with numerous claims that they had no choice in their decision to home educate their child(7). Parent concerns included severe mental health, “Felt I had no choice my child’s needs were not being met in mainstream what support he should have had kept being removed. His mental health had deteriorated and he was self-harming” and extreme anxiety “We had no choice. I was having to sit in school full time with my children and their anxiety was crippling. It was destroying all of our lives - we were just existing, not living.” Therefore, as it stands, the decision to home educate SEND children may for many, be a last resort. This calls for more to be done to ensure that support is optimised for all SEND children, so that there are no families that feel like their child’s educational needs are not being met.
Parent experiences of home education
For all the examples of negative experiences, it should be said that some parents do experience success in meeting SEND needs through home education (8). Parent’s report benefitting from the freedom of selecting the curriculum, setting the pace of instruction, and daily routines that meet the family’s needs (9). Still, reliance on internet sources of informational support (2), means parents risk utilising methods that contradict best practice standards. In one study, the majority of described home school programming did not meet the minimum educational requirements, regarding the amount of daily instruction and different content areas covered, while also reporting limited social opportunities (10). This highlights a common gap between public and home schooling due to the breadth of knowledge covered by the school curriculum. The role of the curriculum goes beyond the classroom, as physical education lessons, after-school clubs, and social aspects of the school environment have physical, psychological, and social benefits that some home-schooled children may not get the opportunity to benefit from.
Is there a way forward?
Though this article has highlighted the concerns, it is important to understand how things might improve to ensure the additional needs of SEND children are addressed moving forward. Education professionals have the ability to impact home schooling practice by assisting parents to implement evidence-based practices, working together to develop an effective home school programme (10). If future research indicates that home schooling can be effective, then legal and educational systems may be more willing to provide special education support services. Through improvement to relationships between schools and families of SEND children, the decision to home school may start being for the right reasons, as opposed to an escape from the school system (11). Ultimately, SEND children deserve a ‘win’ with their education – the issue is clear and it is now important to move towards a range of solutions that can help children at all levels of the process.
References
1. Foster, D. and Danechi, S. (2019). Home education in England. House of Commons Library.
2. Parsons, S., & Lewis, A. (2010). The home‐education of children with special needs or disabilities in the UK: views of parents from an online survey. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 14(1), 67-86.
3. Maxwell, N., Doughty, J., Slater, T., Forrester, D., & Rhodes, K. (2018). Home education for children with additional learning needs–a better choice or the only option?. Educational Review, 1-16.
4. Without sufficient funding SEN code of practice is nothing more than an empty promise, say school leaders. Naht.org.uk. 2019. Available from: https://www.naht.org.uk/news-and-opinion/press-room/without-sufficient-funding-sen-code-of-practice-is-nothing-more-than-an-empty-promise-say-school-leaders/
5. Weale, S. (2018). 300 schools picked out in GCSE 'off-rolling' investigation. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jun/26/300-schools-picked-out-in-gcse-off-rolling-investigation [Accessed 20 Jan. 2020].
6. Kendall, L., & Taylor, E. (2016). ‘We can't make him fit into the system’: parental reflections on the reasons why home education is the only option for their child who has special educational needs. Education 3-13, 44(3), 297-310.
7. Special Needs Jungle. (2019). Ofsted finds home education is most often not a choice - and off-rolling is a key culprit - Special Needs Jungle. [online] Available at: https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/ofsted-finds-home-education-most-often-not-choice-off-rolling-key-culprit/ [Accessed 20 Jan. 2020].
8. Rothermel, P. (2011). SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: INTERVIEWS WITH A HUNDRED BRITISH HOME EDUCATING FAMILIES. Journal of Unschooling & Alternative Learning, 5(10).
9. Hurlbutt, K. S. (2011). Experiences of parents who homeschool their children with autism spectrum disorders. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 26(4), 239-249.
10. Simmons, C. A., & Campbell, J. M. (2019). Homeschool Decision-Making and Evidence-Based Practice for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 31(3), 329-346.
11. Cook, K. B., Bennett, K. E., Lane, J. D., & Mataras, T. K. (2013). Beyond the brick walls: Homeschooling students with special needs. Physical Disabilities: Education and Related Services, 32(2), 98-111.