Homesehooling Response: Questioning Presumptions of the Primordial State

First is the proposition that a main purpose of education in a democratic society is to ensure the "autonomy" of the individual.6 Second, and a necessary condition to Muscatine's argument for asserting mandatory regulation, is the proposition that education is (a) a primary, pre-emine...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of law & education 2021-10, Vol.50 (2), p.66-78
Main Author: Donnelly, Michael P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Access to education
Critics
Democracy
Educational Objectives
Home education
Human rights
Multicultural Education
Outcomes of Education
Parents & parenting
Public schools
Religion
Self control
Students
Values
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Summary:First is the proposition that a main purpose of education in a democratic society is to ensure the "autonomy" of the individual.6 Second, and a necessary condition to Muscatine's argument for asserting mandatory regulation, is the proposition that education is (a) a primary, pre-eminent function of the state that precedes, or at least supersedes, the natural authority of the parent, and (b) "delegated" to the states rather than a reserved power under the Ninth Amendment of the Constitution.7 In other words, the state, in relation to education in society is a primordial, rather than consequent, authority. [...]the notion that education is an inherent and a priori function of the state, such that homeschooling is merely an extension of the state and subject to a constitutionally mandated level of regulation, is a novel and statist notion. "21 But, while an educated citizenry may be important to a democracy, education is far more than simply the formation of citizens who can get a job and vote. [...]as Glanzer pointed out, home education is necessary in a free democratic society to counterbalance and check an education system that weighs a person's political identity too heavily over other equally valid outcomes. [...]although childhood diversity is intended to expand our liberty and capacity for independent thought as adults, it actually undermines the development of the very virtues necessary to exercise such independence.26 Values such as self-control and discipline, she argues, are not part of the autonomy envisioned by liberal education.
ISSN:0275-6072