The Private Voice: Homeschooling, Hannah Arendt, and the Challenge of Thinking in the Late-modern World

• In Event: 3184 - Section on Sociology of Culture Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 100min: Table 15. Culture, Cohesion, and Community

Abstract

What becomes of the political orientation of education when children are educated in the home rather than in public schools? Homeschooling critics raise concerns over the larger consequences: political exit and even indoctrination. Drawing on a recent study of 62 interviews with 35 homeschooling families in 11 states in the USA, we offer a theoretical argument grounded in empirical observations and perceptions of homeschoolers themselves. Using the work of political theorist Hannah Arendt as a guide, we suggest that, contrary to critics’ claims of political exit over voice, homeschooling may provide the opportunity for some families to respond with a “private voice” that is politically robust because it is intentionally subversive to a (perceived) homogenous dominant culture. Understanding this negative narrative offers insight into how deviant political actors and associations (such as homeschooling) perceive themselves in relation to late-modern democratic life. Our argument, then, is twofold: first, we establish that homeschooling is not necessarily anti-democratic, and second, we show how homeschooling may actually be a political move in its cultivation of a “private voice” that awakens reflexive thinking.

Authors

• Jeffrey S. Dill, Eastern University

• Mary Elliot, Boston College