1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«Cette thèse met au défi le scepticisme libéral envers l’enseignement à domicile comme forme légitime d’éducation.» (p. 6)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«Is there a space for homeschooling in the menu of educational choices available within a liberal-democratic society?» (p. 8)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
Données documentaires diverses

Type de traitement des données :
Réflexion critique

3. Résumé

«Drawing on the work of Shelley Burtt and critiquing that of Meira Levinson, I argue that an exposure to diverse life choices in not a necessary precondition for autonomy and that “comprehensive” educations such as homeschooling can be autonomyfostering environments. I examine Amy Gutmann’s theory of democratic education as a method for safeguarding individual liberty while ensuring conscious social reproduction and from it I argue that democratic education does allow for the permissibility of homeschooling. I then look more closely at the reality of homeschooling and the potential pragmatic and ideological beneEits of it to liberal-democratic society. In conclusion, I call for an increased openness between states and homeschooling families in order to benefit the development of democratic citizens.» (p. 6) The author touches upon the question of educational authority as it relates to parents: «[w]hile parents are by no means infallible in their ability to make decisions about their children’s education, neither is the state. Gutmann argues that just as we cannot give complete authority to the state, we cannot value the authority of parents over the need to aim for a stable, reproductible model of civic life […].» (p. 53) The author argues that «homeschooling, with reasonable oversight, is not incompatible with the need for a balanced sharing of educational authority because it can respect the authority of parents while safeguarding the future liberty of children.» (p. 54)