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AdminAdmin- Posts : 8
Join date : 2019-01-17 
Archived disucssion #1 - introduction of new members and thoughts around publishing opportunities
Tue Jan 29, 2019 1:29 pm
Sincere thanks to Glenda for putting this together.
Unfortunately, attachments are not permitted, so here is the entire thing, copied and pasted!
K
Australian Researcher and Academic Group discussions
Two new group members and a couple of topics for discussion
5 March 2015, 9:37 am
Glenda J
Hi Everyone.
Just introducing two new members to this group and they will introduce themselves more thoroughly. Lauren Williams is a home educating mother with four young children. She is a secondary teacher specialising in PE and dance. She is interested in doing further study and would love to be involved in home education research.
Rebecca English is a lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Queensland University of Technology. She is personally interested in home education and interested in writing academic papers in the area. As an academic in a tertiary institution, her wisdom and experience will help to strengthen the academic attributes of this group in support of all the research work that is going to explode into the public arena from this group!!!!!
Ken Woolford has raised a couple of topics of interest to a number of you. Firstly, he is wondering how he can write academic papers that are readable by lay people. Any ideas? His other topic, and one that does bother me - what areas, or academic disciplines are most user friendly to researchers interested in the area of home education. Many academics in Education Faculties can come across as very disinterested in home education and see it as a side issue (at best) to the main enterprise of education by professionals. Do any of you have comments or suggestions about this area too.
Feel free to use the above emails to set up a group response email on your own computers and/or contact anyone individually too.
All the best to Nick as he completes his final draft.
Kind Regards
Glenda J
6 March 2015, 12:37 am
Tamara Kidd
Hi Glenda and all,
Firstly welcome to the new members. Secondly I've updated my details.
Ken, I'm not sure how to make it easier for lay people to read research except humour and the ability to personally relate to the writing help. Perhaps also clearly showing how the purpose of the research is also relevant for those who don't home educate? I've thought about how to make my area of research more 'palatable' to the mainstream academic, so you might like to read my updated area of interest. I am interested in education first, and support the concept that just as all learners are different so too they require different modalities for learning, from home education, democratic schools etc. I often say I'm not anti-school, I'm pro-education. I've found home educating with my children to be the best quality teaching experience I'll ever do and it's mostly observation and mentorship. It would be a hard sell to retrofit this model into most mainstream schools however if research supported a need to change attitudes it would go a long way, as home education is a powerful alternative so pitched right could 'pack a punch'. Proving it's effectiveness for addressing a range of systemic issues is another possible area.
Back to study time for me,
Tamara Kidd
6 March 2015, 9:40 am
Giulianna Liberto
Hi All,
Firstly, welcome to Lauren and Rebecca. Rebecca, I haven't actually met you, but our paths sort-of crossed at the NSW Inquiry hearings. My husband testified for the HEA.
Glenda and Ken, my honours research (which has changed from when I joined the group) is an autoethnographic inquiry into the impacts of non-consultative regulation change on home education practice in NSW. Autoethnography, which I am undertaking via Laurel Richardson's approach of writing-as-inquiry (see her book 'Fields of Play' 1997) is meant to be accessible. It is more than just autobiographical writing - the intention is to analyse events in the socio-cultural context and to be reflexive about one's own situatedness. It is not a mainstream method, however. I'm happy to describe more if people are interested.
In terms of disciplines that may be open to home education research, I would suggest trying Social Science.
I'm very glad to be part of such a wonderful group, although it has occurred to me to wonder if all the home ed academics join this group, who will be able to mark our theses!
Giuliana.
6 March, 2015, 9:54 am
Rebecca English
Thank you for welcoming me. And, hi Tamara!! (we're facey friends). I'm a lecturer in education at QUT. I focus on parental choice, in particular looking at alternative education. My PhD was looking at international students who choose Australian schools and my Masters (by research) looked at why parents choose new, non-government schools. My findings in both were pretty depressing.
I have researched home education and found some avenues for publishing. Brian Ray's journal is very good (The Home School Researcher I think it's called) as is Carlo Ricci's journal (The Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning). My publications have been largely confined to book chapters as I find that curriculum in education journals are pretty unlikely to publish home education. You would have to choose the more generalists sociology ones (AARE's journal for example) are better. I was once desk rejected from a journal focusing on school choice because "home education is not a school choice, please don't send us home education manuscripts". I kid you not.
Happy to collaborate and am working (very slowly) on one with Karleen Gribble. She might be another potential member of this group. Shall I send you her details Glenda?
Also, happy to supervise if you're willing to come to QUT. I'm currently working with a student who's just changed her topic to looking at what parents think their kids will get out of a democratic school. We will be working with Currambena in Sydney.
Cheers and thank you again
Dr Rebecca English
Lecturer | School of Curriculum
Faculty of Education | Queensland University of Technology
phone: +617 3138 3323
email: r.english@qut.edu.au
eprints: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/English,_Rebecca.html
CRICOS No: 00213J
6 March 2015 10:12 am
Giuliana Liberto
Hi again,
I'm currently at Uni of Western Syd in NSW. Rebecca, you published an article with my husband, Chris, Karleen and Katie Watson in The Conversation.
Well, back to work for me.
GIuliana.
6 March 2015 10:25 am
Rebecca English
Hahaha! Yes, I did.
Dr Rebecca English
Lecturer | School of Curriculum
Faculty of Education | Queensland University of Technology
phone: +617 3138 3323
email: r.english@qut.edu.au
eprints: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/English,_Rebecca.html
CRICOS No: 00213J
6 March 2015 11:26 am
Michelle Feather
Hi everyone, It's Feather here....
It's great to be in a group discussing and sharing ideas. I love homeschool - it is a real and natural lifestyle about unique people in individual situations. I am so grateful for being able to make conscious decisions for myself and my children in all realms of our life. And now to be studying to turn that experience into academic speak feels very productive. So, thankyou for this group and our collective experience and sharing.
I'd like to correct my personal information that is in the introduction email...
As you will see on my official email details...my name listed as Michelle Feather...
Though, I prefer to call myself Feather - I skip the Michelle part - that's just for formal paperwork and close family - and the example I gave in my introduction paragraph is like Bond, James Bond....that phrase we are so familiar with from the movies.
I study at University of Sunshine Coast - (not Bond University sorry...)
I'm doing my Masters one subject per semester.....while juggling family and community commitments. This is my second year and I am warming up to writing my research proposal to then continue the Masters through research. My main objective is to be part of the collective of getting the homeschool topic in more academic circles, using my teaching experience of the education system (primary and special ed) and my experience of homeschooling my two children now young teenagers.
At the moment the issue that moves me the most is how and what teachers and principals think about homeschooling. As we know there is lots of research that describes the many facets of educating at home in all the styles and ways that it does. I come cross lots of comments from teachers (through some of our friends who have now moved into formal schooling...) and some of the attitudes are amazing of what teachers think about it. Is there any research along this topic??? I'd like to somehow interview teachers, principals and especially the staff of our Home Education Unit (part of our Education Queensland) that some home educating families have to register with. Any ideas of how I could do this without looking like I'm standing on anyone's toes.??? I'd like to see if I could visit school schools in afternoons to do a workshop with teaching staff to help dispel the myths about homeschooling so that they will be better equipped to be more informed for some of the students they teach that have come from a home educating scenario.
Thankyou, I look forward to any ideas
regards
Feather
Hi Rebecca...good to see you part of this group....I still wouldn't mind visiting when I come to Brisbane next...
7 March 2015, 10:54 am
Ken Wooford
Hi everyone, It's Feather here....
It's great to be in a group discussing and sharing ideas. I love homeschool - it is a real and natural lifestyle about unique people in individual situations. I am so grateful for being able to make conscious decisions for myself and my children in all realms of our life. And now to be studying to turn that experience into academic speak feels very productive. So, thankyou for this group and our collective experience and sharing.
I'd like to correct my personal information that is in the introduction email...
As you will see on my official email details...my name listed as Michelle Feather...
Though, I prefer to call myself Feather - I skip the Michelle part - that's just for formal paperwork and close family - and the example I gave in my introduction paragraph is like Bond, James Bond....that phrase we are so familiar with from the movies.
I study at University of Sunshine Coast - (not Bond University sorry...)
I'm doing my Masters one subject per semester.....while juggling family and community commitments. This is my second year and I am warming up to writing my research proposal to then continue the Masters through research. My main objective is to be part of the collective of getting the homeschool topic in more academic circles, using my teaching experience of the education system (primary and special ed) and my experience of homeschooling my two children now young teenagers.
At the moment the issue that moves me the most is how and what teachers and principals think about homeschooling. As we know there is lots of research that describes the many facets of educating at home in all the styles and ways that it does. I come cross lots of comments from teachers (through some of our friends who have now moved into formal schooling...) and some of the attitudes are amazing of what teachers think about it. Is there any research along this topic??? I'd like to somehow interview teachers, principals and especially the staff of our Home Education Unit (part of our Education Queensland) that some home educating families have to register with. Any ideas of how I could do this without looking like I'm standing on anyone's toes.??? I'd like to see if I could visit school schools in afternoons to do a workshop with teaching staff to help dispel the myths about homeschooling so that they will be better equipped to be more informed for some of the students they teach that have come from a home educating scenario.
Thankyou, I look forward to any ideas
regards
Feather
Hi Rebecca...good to see you part of this group....I still wouldn't mind visiting when I come to Brisbane next...
7 March 2015, 11:25 am
Rebecca English
Actually, the conversation is a good place to get ideas published in a wider domain. That usually leads to radio (and in some cases TV) interviews for me. I've also been in the News Limited press with some stories.
The education editor is called Ally and she's wonderful.
Dr Rebecca English
Lecturer | School of Curriculum
Faculty of Education | Queensland University of Technology
phone: +617 3138 3323
email: r.english@qut.edu.au
eprints: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/English,_Rebecca.html
CRICOS No: 00213J
9 March 2015, 9:41 am
Glenda Jackson
Another good place to start with possible academic publications is IIER - Issues in Educational Research found at: http://www.iier.org.au/iier.html My first paper was published with them and I decided to try them as they also published Erica Clery's paper several years earlier. Whenever you can publish - please do - we need 'stuff' out in the academic domain. And if you know of any papers that aren't in the Summary - please let me know them too.
Clery, E. (1998). Homeschooling: The meaning that the homeschooled child assigns to this experience. Issues in Educational Research, 8(1), 1-13.
I have a hard copy, but I think they have now moved to electronic.
On writing, I'm currently working through a course on writing from The Great Courses - and wishing I'd bothered to do this before I did my thesis and a book! Hmmm!
Will try to make sure intro's are updated for next time. If anyone can think of anyone who could be in this group, let me know.
Any jokes (especially relevant ones) are welcome any time Ken!
Glenda J
10 March 2015, 10 am
Ken Woolford
Hi Glenda - is "Writing Creative Non Fiction" the course you are alluding to? I had not heard of The Great Courses site so just dived in - it looks very interesting, thank you. Cheers from ken
10 March 2015 10:54 am
Katie Burke
Welcome to Rebecca and Lauren! Rebecca, I’m most familiar with your work – so it’s nice to have you as a part of our group Lauren, I’d love to chat with your further about dance at some stage, as my PhD is looking at how home educators engage with the arts (all 5 art forms outlined by the AC). As part of this project, I’ve designed an arts website for home ed families that I’m now in the process of iteratively refining with research participants: www.homeiswheretheartis.com.au . I’m always seeking new participants, so let me know if you’re interested in being a part of this
Ken, we were discussing the chasm between academic publishing and educational stakeholders the other day in a research group I attend, and one recommendation to ensure that important research is reaching the ears of those who could benefit from it was blogging. I have an article somewhere on the benefits and drawbacks of academic blogging. Let me know if you would like for me to dig it out.
Kind regards
Katie
10 March, 2015, 1:18 pm
Glenda Jackson
No Ken, it was 'Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft' by Professor Brooks Landon at The University of Iowa. He is very focused. It is not about grammar - but about meaning and he has managed to keep my interest over the whole series. Well worth acquiring - and is showing up at : http://www.thegreatcourses.com/search/?q=Building+Great+Sentences. But wait till it comes on special - they do at least once a year. I've only ever paid sale prices - about 75% off or more. But 'Writing Creative Non Fiction' sounds just as good. I've really enjoyed the course I've acquired - on consciousness etc. too.
Glenda J
10 March 2015, 2:15 pm
Katie Burke
Wow Glenda – do you have time to sleep among your many pursuits?!
Thanks for passing on information about this course – looks great. Just not sure how I’ll find time to do it, but shall keep an eye out for when it’s on special.
Katie
10 March 2015 6:13 pm
Giuliana
Hi,
Ken, somehow I missed your reply to me - sorrry. I guess that the writer is responsible for making things accessible. Jargon makes it tricky to make things accessible, but it's sometimes necessary (or maybe not!)
Glenda, have I gleaned that you have a list of home ed literature (I think you were working on one)? If so, is it available to us (me)?
Giuliana.
10 March 2015, 10:19 pm
Glenda Jackson
I've just attached my latest working Summary of Australian Home Education Research Literature. There is very little here I haven't actually read. This was needed for a comprehensive overview of research in Australia and NZ for a chapter in a world wide ' Handbook of Home Education Research' or some name like that (sent in at the end of January. Milton Gaither is editing it at the moment and will be a must read for anyone doing home ed research anywhere in the future. The price sounds rather horrendous at close to $300.00 so ask your libraries to make sure they order a copy in when it does come out - and I'll let you know when it does (I suspect it won't be out for a year or more. There is another book on a world wide perspective of home ed coming out edited by Paula Rothermel for which chapters were sent in during 2010 - mine is supposed to be Chapter 2 and is an extended version of my 2008 paper on Vygotsky and Australian home education - when it finally arrives; I think it is currently with the printers but haven't heard anything for a few of months). All chapters are supposedly in so the book will happen. Most of you would be familiar with this Summary that is edited about once a year to include any new material. This is the latest that I have - and I haven't even sent this to HEN or HEA etc. So please - if you know I've missed something - please let me know! This Summary is regularly published by HEN, Bev Paine and HEA - because I became painfully aware how unknown Australian research was/is. One thing you can be certain of - the first thing I read of any Australian work is the reference list or bibliography as I want to know who I don't know about.
Glenda J
10 March 2015, 10:26 pm
Rebecca English
Two of mine are missing, Glenda, can you email me if you want copies? I can send them through. I've also got a forthcoming in my own edited book and have put a chapter into a Demeter title, waiting on a review of that one.
Dr Rebecca English
Lecturer | School of curriculum
Faculty of Education | Queensland University of Technology
phone: +61 7 3138 3323
email: r.english@qut.edu.au
eprints: eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/English,_Rebecca.html
CRICOS No: 00213J
10 March 2015, 10:28 pm
Glenda Jackson
Are you able to send me through the references/copies? And I'll add them and see if I can ensure they go into the Gaither chapter once it is returned for corrections?
Thank-you
Glenda J
10 March 2015, 11:55 pm
Lorraine Spring
Hello everyone and thank you for inviting me into the group Glenda. I have been a lurker in the background for a few months now and apologise for my delayed introduction. I moved to Melbourne last year from the Blue Mts in order to take up postgrad studies and found the course wasn’t quite what I had envisaged – it has taken a bit of adjustment to feel committed to continuing so I haven’t felt very positive abt advertising my presence or intentions. Now I do.
I’m in my 2nd year of the Masters in Ed/Dev Psych at Monash Uni at Clayton and I’m studying part-time because I am involved in homeschooling my 10 yo son, and I’m a slow worker. My interest is very much more in the developmental side than the educational but the course is run through the education faculty and seems to have a bit more of an ed focus than I was looking for. I’m taking it all in but I’m a bit of a cuckoo in their nest .
I spoke with my likely supervisor today abt what I was thinking to do for my research thesis and he had a genuinely interested response. I would like to look at how relevant standard developmental assessment tools are in a homeschool setting – the finer detail of what particular tool to examine will come to light as this semester progresses as the unit is (fortuitously) on assessment tools.
Nothing further needs to happen until the second half of the year but if anyone in this group has knowledge of this being done previously I would be very interested to hear. In the meantime, I’ll read of your various projects with interest.
Best wishes, Lorraine
11 March 2015, 8:41 am
Glenda Jackson
Hi Michelle
I remember seeing this and then moving on to all the other comments and meant to come back to this earlier - so my apologies.
I have a very keen interest in seeing you progress further with your research topic as it was and is a very specific interest of mine. To start with in Australia, my thesis included interviews with 17 educational professionals (Chapter 6 and analysis in sections of Chapters 9 and 10). No one responded from DEECD but that was before regulations changed but I was able to include 3 distance ed teachers at DECV and that was an interesting experience. Parent experiences with educators was a section in Chapter 5 and ties with the professional chapter. I did leave my worst parent experience with professionals story out on supervisor advice, but it certainly informed how I approached the topic. Some aspects of the professional experiences with home educators were presented to an AARE conference in Canberra in 2009 and published by AARE in 2010.
My Chapter 2 should provide a section introducing research on professional experiences with home educators overseas. I think it is Mayberry who did quite a bit of work in this area, but I don't know who the current writers are.
I hope all group members are aware of ICHER? Find it at: http://icher.org
Under ICHERs 'Research' heading, you should find a comprehensive list of all known research on home education. I'm not sure how easy it is to actually locate topics of specific interest as they are still working on that area. In Australia, AEI is the most common place to locate material, and overseas Proquest and Eric is also a good place to look - using 'homeschool', 'home school', 'home education' and 'home based learning', also 'natural learning' and I'm sure there are others too. It pays to check out British Theses too. Brian Ray provides a list of all the research he knows of, but it costs - one reason Paula Rothermel set up her home education research list which seems to have provided the base for ICHER to come into existence.
All the best
Glenda J
(Two documents attached)
11 March 2015, 12:03 0m
Lauren Williams
Hello Everyone,
Thank you for the introduction and phone call Glenda. I feel very privileged to be a part of this group. I have completed a Ba. Physical Education (Secondary) at Deakin University. I then went on to teach Performing Arts, Health, Science and PE at a secondary school in Geelong for a year. I then had 4 children close together - the oldest was 4 when the youngest was born - so I've had a busy few years.
My husband was educated at home all of the way through his schooling years (after completing 1 term of Prep). After much personal research, reading and discussion around different educational topics that relate to home education, we have decided to home educate our own children. My oldest is now 6 and I'm still finding my groove with it all! My youngest is now 20 months and so I've surfaced from all of the years of constant nappies, sleep deprivation and meeting the many needs of babies and toddlers
I'm not sure where to take my post graduate studies. I know I want to study something relating to home education. I have a particular interest in the assessment/registration process in the different states of Australia and the impact that has on home educators. Glenda has suggested looking at those who attend school part time for PE, Science, Performing Arts, etc and what impact that has on students and schools. This is also of interest to me. To be really honest, I'm not sure how to go about choosing a course of study (where/what) and I'm also unsure if I will have much credibility as a teacher without the experience (I only had the one year as a graduate before I had my children). I wonder if I need to get more experience in the school system. My husband works Mon-Fri 9-5 and the home education, child care and running of the home is a responsibility that I've happily taken on so working in the school system is not an option for now. There is not much tutoring work in the methods I have studied. I could take on post graduate studies one subject at a time, and fit it in around my family, which is why I feel this is my next step.
I would really appreciate any thoughts you have about my progression. I hope to be of some use to this group in the future when I do get under way with my research.
Kind regards,
Lauren
Unfortunately, attachments are not permitted, so here is the entire thing, copied and pasted!
K
Australian Researcher and Academic Group discussions
Two new group members and a couple of topics for discussion
5 March 2015, 9:37 am
Glenda J
Hi Everyone.
Just introducing two new members to this group and they will introduce themselves more thoroughly. Lauren Williams is a home educating mother with four young children. She is a secondary teacher specialising in PE and dance. She is interested in doing further study and would love to be involved in home education research.
Rebecca English is a lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Queensland University of Technology. She is personally interested in home education and interested in writing academic papers in the area. As an academic in a tertiary institution, her wisdom and experience will help to strengthen the academic attributes of this group in support of all the research work that is going to explode into the public arena from this group!!!!!
Ken Woolford has raised a couple of topics of interest to a number of you. Firstly, he is wondering how he can write academic papers that are readable by lay people. Any ideas? His other topic, and one that does bother me - what areas, or academic disciplines are most user friendly to researchers interested in the area of home education. Many academics in Education Faculties can come across as very disinterested in home education and see it as a side issue (at best) to the main enterprise of education by professionals. Do any of you have comments or suggestions about this area too.
Feel free to use the above emails to set up a group response email on your own computers and/or contact anyone individually too.
All the best to Nick as he completes his final draft.
Kind Regards
Glenda J
6 March 2015, 12:37 am
Tamara Kidd
Hi Glenda and all,
Firstly welcome to the new members. Secondly I've updated my details.
Ken, I'm not sure how to make it easier for lay people to read research except humour and the ability to personally relate to the writing help. Perhaps also clearly showing how the purpose of the research is also relevant for those who don't home educate? I've thought about how to make my area of research more 'palatable' to the mainstream academic, so you might like to read my updated area of interest. I am interested in education first, and support the concept that just as all learners are different so too they require different modalities for learning, from home education, democratic schools etc. I often say I'm not anti-school, I'm pro-education. I've found home educating with my children to be the best quality teaching experience I'll ever do and it's mostly observation and mentorship. It would be a hard sell to retrofit this model into most mainstream schools however if research supported a need to change attitudes it would go a long way, as home education is a powerful alternative so pitched right could 'pack a punch'. Proving it's effectiveness for addressing a range of systemic issues is another possible area.
Back to study time for me,
Tamara Kidd
6 March 2015, 9:40 am
Giulianna Liberto
Hi All,
Firstly, welcome to Lauren and Rebecca. Rebecca, I haven't actually met you, but our paths sort-of crossed at the NSW Inquiry hearings. My husband testified for the HEA.
Glenda and Ken, my honours research (which has changed from when I joined the group) is an autoethnographic inquiry into the impacts of non-consultative regulation change on home education practice in NSW. Autoethnography, which I am undertaking via Laurel Richardson's approach of writing-as-inquiry (see her book 'Fields of Play' 1997) is meant to be accessible. It is more than just autobiographical writing - the intention is to analyse events in the socio-cultural context and to be reflexive about one's own situatedness. It is not a mainstream method, however. I'm happy to describe more if people are interested.
In terms of disciplines that may be open to home education research, I would suggest trying Social Science.
I'm very glad to be part of such a wonderful group, although it has occurred to me to wonder if all the home ed academics join this group, who will be able to mark our theses!
Giuliana.
6 March, 2015, 9:54 am
Rebecca English
Thank you for welcoming me. And, hi Tamara!! (we're facey friends). I'm a lecturer in education at QUT. I focus on parental choice, in particular looking at alternative education. My PhD was looking at international students who choose Australian schools and my Masters (by research) looked at why parents choose new, non-government schools. My findings in both were pretty depressing.
I have researched home education and found some avenues for publishing. Brian Ray's journal is very good (The Home School Researcher I think it's called) as is Carlo Ricci's journal (The Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning). My publications have been largely confined to book chapters as I find that curriculum in education journals are pretty unlikely to publish home education. You would have to choose the more generalists sociology ones (AARE's journal for example) are better. I was once desk rejected from a journal focusing on school choice because "home education is not a school choice, please don't send us home education manuscripts". I kid you not.
Happy to collaborate and am working (very slowly) on one with Karleen Gribble. She might be another potential member of this group. Shall I send you her details Glenda?
Also, happy to supervise if you're willing to come to QUT. I'm currently working with a student who's just changed her topic to looking at what parents think their kids will get out of a democratic school. We will be working with Currambena in Sydney.
Cheers and thank you again
Dr Rebecca English
Lecturer | School of Curriculum
Faculty of Education | Queensland University of Technology
phone: +617 3138 3323
email: r.english@qut.edu.au
eprints: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/English,_Rebecca.html
CRICOS No: 00213J
6 March 2015 10:12 am
Giuliana Liberto
Hi again,
I'm currently at Uni of Western Syd in NSW. Rebecca, you published an article with my husband, Chris, Karleen and Katie Watson in The Conversation.
Well, back to work for me.
GIuliana.
6 March 2015 10:25 am
Rebecca English
Hahaha! Yes, I did.
Dr Rebecca English
Lecturer | School of Curriculum
Faculty of Education | Queensland University of Technology
phone: +617 3138 3323
email: r.english@qut.edu.au
eprints: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/English,_Rebecca.html
CRICOS No: 00213J
6 March 2015 11:26 am
Michelle Feather
Hi everyone, It's Feather here....
It's great to be in a group discussing and sharing ideas. I love homeschool - it is a real and natural lifestyle about unique people in individual situations. I am so grateful for being able to make conscious decisions for myself and my children in all realms of our life. And now to be studying to turn that experience into academic speak feels very productive. So, thankyou for this group and our collective experience and sharing.
I'd like to correct my personal information that is in the introduction email...
As you will see on my official email details...my name listed as Michelle Feather...
Though, I prefer to call myself Feather - I skip the Michelle part - that's just for formal paperwork and close family - and the example I gave in my introduction paragraph is like Bond, James Bond....that phrase we are so familiar with from the movies.
I study at University of Sunshine Coast - (not Bond University sorry...)
I'm doing my Masters one subject per semester.....while juggling family and community commitments. This is my second year and I am warming up to writing my research proposal to then continue the Masters through research. My main objective is to be part of the collective of getting the homeschool topic in more academic circles, using my teaching experience of the education system (primary and special ed) and my experience of homeschooling my two children now young teenagers.
At the moment the issue that moves me the most is how and what teachers and principals think about homeschooling. As we know there is lots of research that describes the many facets of educating at home in all the styles and ways that it does. I come cross lots of comments from teachers (through some of our friends who have now moved into formal schooling...) and some of the attitudes are amazing of what teachers think about it. Is there any research along this topic??? I'd like to somehow interview teachers, principals and especially the staff of our Home Education Unit (part of our Education Queensland) that some home educating families have to register with. Any ideas of how I could do this without looking like I'm standing on anyone's toes.??? I'd like to see if I could visit school schools in afternoons to do a workshop with teaching staff to help dispel the myths about homeschooling so that they will be better equipped to be more informed for some of the students they teach that have come from a home educating scenario.
Thankyou, I look forward to any ideas
regards
Feather
Hi Rebecca...good to see you part of this group....I still wouldn't mind visiting when I come to Brisbane next...
7 March 2015, 10:54 am
Ken Wooford
Hi everyone, It's Feather here....
It's great to be in a group discussing and sharing ideas. I love homeschool - it is a real and natural lifestyle about unique people in individual situations. I am so grateful for being able to make conscious decisions for myself and my children in all realms of our life. And now to be studying to turn that experience into academic speak feels very productive. So, thankyou for this group and our collective experience and sharing.
I'd like to correct my personal information that is in the introduction email...
As you will see on my official email details...my name listed as Michelle Feather...
Though, I prefer to call myself Feather - I skip the Michelle part - that's just for formal paperwork and close family - and the example I gave in my introduction paragraph is like Bond, James Bond....that phrase we are so familiar with from the movies.
I study at University of Sunshine Coast - (not Bond University sorry...)
I'm doing my Masters one subject per semester.....while juggling family and community commitments. This is my second year and I am warming up to writing my research proposal to then continue the Masters through research. My main objective is to be part of the collective of getting the homeschool topic in more academic circles, using my teaching experience of the education system (primary and special ed) and my experience of homeschooling my two children now young teenagers.
At the moment the issue that moves me the most is how and what teachers and principals think about homeschooling. As we know there is lots of research that describes the many facets of educating at home in all the styles and ways that it does. I come cross lots of comments from teachers (through some of our friends who have now moved into formal schooling...) and some of the attitudes are amazing of what teachers think about it. Is there any research along this topic??? I'd like to somehow interview teachers, principals and especially the staff of our Home Education Unit (part of our Education Queensland) that some home educating families have to register with. Any ideas of how I could do this without looking like I'm standing on anyone's toes.??? I'd like to see if I could visit school schools in afternoons to do a workshop with teaching staff to help dispel the myths about homeschooling so that they will be better equipped to be more informed for some of the students they teach that have come from a home educating scenario.
Thankyou, I look forward to any ideas
regards
Feather
Hi Rebecca...good to see you part of this group....I still wouldn't mind visiting when I come to Brisbane next...
7 March 2015, 11:25 am
Rebecca English
Actually, the conversation is a good place to get ideas published in a wider domain. That usually leads to radio (and in some cases TV) interviews for me. I've also been in the News Limited press with some stories.
The education editor is called Ally and she's wonderful.
Dr Rebecca English
Lecturer | School of Curriculum
Faculty of Education | Queensland University of Technology
phone: +617 3138 3323
email: r.english@qut.edu.au
eprints: http://eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/English,_Rebecca.html
CRICOS No: 00213J
9 March 2015, 9:41 am
Glenda Jackson
Another good place to start with possible academic publications is IIER - Issues in Educational Research found at: http://www.iier.org.au/iier.html My first paper was published with them and I decided to try them as they also published Erica Clery's paper several years earlier. Whenever you can publish - please do - we need 'stuff' out in the academic domain. And if you know of any papers that aren't in the Summary - please let me know them too.
Clery, E. (1998). Homeschooling: The meaning that the homeschooled child assigns to this experience. Issues in Educational Research, 8(1), 1-13.
I have a hard copy, but I think they have now moved to electronic.
On writing, I'm currently working through a course on writing from The Great Courses - and wishing I'd bothered to do this before I did my thesis and a book! Hmmm!
Will try to make sure intro's are updated for next time. If anyone can think of anyone who could be in this group, let me know.
Any jokes (especially relevant ones) are welcome any time Ken!
Glenda J
10 March 2015, 10 am
Ken Woolford
Hi Glenda - is "Writing Creative Non Fiction" the course you are alluding to? I had not heard of The Great Courses site so just dived in - it looks very interesting, thank you. Cheers from ken
10 March 2015 10:54 am
Katie Burke
Welcome to Rebecca and Lauren! Rebecca, I’m most familiar with your work – so it’s nice to have you as a part of our group Lauren, I’d love to chat with your further about dance at some stage, as my PhD is looking at how home educators engage with the arts (all 5 art forms outlined by the AC). As part of this project, I’ve designed an arts website for home ed families that I’m now in the process of iteratively refining with research participants: www.homeiswheretheartis.com.au . I’m always seeking new participants, so let me know if you’re interested in being a part of this
Ken, we were discussing the chasm between academic publishing and educational stakeholders the other day in a research group I attend, and one recommendation to ensure that important research is reaching the ears of those who could benefit from it was blogging. I have an article somewhere on the benefits and drawbacks of academic blogging. Let me know if you would like for me to dig it out.
Kind regards
Katie
10 March, 2015, 1:18 pm
Glenda Jackson
No Ken, it was 'Building Great Sentences: Exploring the Writer's Craft' by Professor Brooks Landon at The University of Iowa. He is very focused. It is not about grammar - but about meaning and he has managed to keep my interest over the whole series. Well worth acquiring - and is showing up at : http://www.thegreatcourses.com/search/?q=Building+Great+Sentences. But wait till it comes on special - they do at least once a year. I've only ever paid sale prices - about 75% off or more. But 'Writing Creative Non Fiction' sounds just as good. I've really enjoyed the course I've acquired - on consciousness etc. too.
Glenda J
10 March 2015, 2:15 pm
Katie Burke
Wow Glenda – do you have time to sleep among your many pursuits?!
Thanks for passing on information about this course – looks great. Just not sure how I’ll find time to do it, but shall keep an eye out for when it’s on special.
Katie
10 March 2015 6:13 pm
Giuliana
Hi,
Ken, somehow I missed your reply to me - sorrry. I guess that the writer is responsible for making things accessible. Jargon makes it tricky to make things accessible, but it's sometimes necessary (or maybe not!)
Glenda, have I gleaned that you have a list of home ed literature (I think you were working on one)? If so, is it available to us (me)?
Giuliana.
10 March 2015, 10:19 pm
Glenda Jackson
I've just attached my latest working Summary of Australian Home Education Research Literature. There is very little here I haven't actually read. This was needed for a comprehensive overview of research in Australia and NZ for a chapter in a world wide ' Handbook of Home Education Research' or some name like that (sent in at the end of January. Milton Gaither is editing it at the moment and will be a must read for anyone doing home ed research anywhere in the future. The price sounds rather horrendous at close to $300.00 so ask your libraries to make sure they order a copy in when it does come out - and I'll let you know when it does (I suspect it won't be out for a year or more. There is another book on a world wide perspective of home ed coming out edited by Paula Rothermel for which chapters were sent in during 2010 - mine is supposed to be Chapter 2 and is an extended version of my 2008 paper on Vygotsky and Australian home education - when it finally arrives; I think it is currently with the printers but haven't heard anything for a few of months). All chapters are supposedly in so the book will happen. Most of you would be familiar with this Summary that is edited about once a year to include any new material. This is the latest that I have - and I haven't even sent this to HEN or HEA etc. So please - if you know I've missed something - please let me know! This Summary is regularly published by HEN, Bev Paine and HEA - because I became painfully aware how unknown Australian research was/is. One thing you can be certain of - the first thing I read of any Australian work is the reference list or bibliography as I want to know who I don't know about.
Glenda J
10 March 2015, 10:26 pm
Rebecca English
Two of mine are missing, Glenda, can you email me if you want copies? I can send them through. I've also got a forthcoming in my own edited book and have put a chapter into a Demeter title, waiting on a review of that one.
Dr Rebecca English
Lecturer | School of curriculum
Faculty of Education | Queensland University of Technology
phone: +61 7 3138 3323
email: r.english@qut.edu.au
eprints: eprints.qut.edu.au/view/person/English,_Rebecca.html
CRICOS No: 00213J
10 March 2015, 10:28 pm
Glenda Jackson
Are you able to send me through the references/copies? And I'll add them and see if I can ensure they go into the Gaither chapter once it is returned for corrections?
Thank-you
Glenda J
10 March 2015, 11:55 pm
Lorraine Spring
Hello everyone and thank you for inviting me into the group Glenda. I have been a lurker in the background for a few months now and apologise for my delayed introduction. I moved to Melbourne last year from the Blue Mts in order to take up postgrad studies and found the course wasn’t quite what I had envisaged – it has taken a bit of adjustment to feel committed to continuing so I haven’t felt very positive abt advertising my presence or intentions. Now I do.
I’m in my 2nd year of the Masters in Ed/Dev Psych at Monash Uni at Clayton and I’m studying part-time because I am involved in homeschooling my 10 yo son, and I’m a slow worker. My interest is very much more in the developmental side than the educational but the course is run through the education faculty and seems to have a bit more of an ed focus than I was looking for. I’m taking it all in but I’m a bit of a cuckoo in their nest .
I spoke with my likely supervisor today abt what I was thinking to do for my research thesis and he had a genuinely interested response. I would like to look at how relevant standard developmental assessment tools are in a homeschool setting – the finer detail of what particular tool to examine will come to light as this semester progresses as the unit is (fortuitously) on assessment tools.
Nothing further needs to happen until the second half of the year but if anyone in this group has knowledge of this being done previously I would be very interested to hear. In the meantime, I’ll read of your various projects with interest.
Best wishes, Lorraine
11 March 2015, 8:41 am
Glenda Jackson
Hi Michelle
I remember seeing this and then moving on to all the other comments and meant to come back to this earlier - so my apologies.
I have a very keen interest in seeing you progress further with your research topic as it was and is a very specific interest of mine. To start with in Australia, my thesis included interviews with 17 educational professionals (Chapter 6 and analysis in sections of Chapters 9 and 10). No one responded from DEECD but that was before regulations changed but I was able to include 3 distance ed teachers at DECV and that was an interesting experience. Parent experiences with educators was a section in Chapter 5 and ties with the professional chapter. I did leave my worst parent experience with professionals story out on supervisor advice, but it certainly informed how I approached the topic. Some aspects of the professional experiences with home educators were presented to an AARE conference in Canberra in 2009 and published by AARE in 2010.
My Chapter 2 should provide a section introducing research on professional experiences with home educators overseas. I think it is Mayberry who did quite a bit of work in this area, but I don't know who the current writers are.
I hope all group members are aware of ICHER? Find it at: http://icher.org
Under ICHERs 'Research' heading, you should find a comprehensive list of all known research on home education. I'm not sure how easy it is to actually locate topics of specific interest as they are still working on that area. In Australia, AEI is the most common place to locate material, and overseas Proquest and Eric is also a good place to look - using 'homeschool', 'home school', 'home education' and 'home based learning', also 'natural learning' and I'm sure there are others too. It pays to check out British Theses too. Brian Ray provides a list of all the research he knows of, but it costs - one reason Paula Rothermel set up her home education research list which seems to have provided the base for ICHER to come into existence.
All the best
Glenda J
(Two documents attached)
11 March 2015, 12:03 0m
Lauren Williams
Hello Everyone,
Thank you for the introduction and phone call Glenda. I feel very privileged to be a part of this group. I have completed a Ba. Physical Education (Secondary) at Deakin University. I then went on to teach Performing Arts, Health, Science and PE at a secondary school in Geelong for a year. I then had 4 children close together - the oldest was 4 when the youngest was born - so I've had a busy few years.
My husband was educated at home all of the way through his schooling years (after completing 1 term of Prep). After much personal research, reading and discussion around different educational topics that relate to home education, we have decided to home educate our own children. My oldest is now 6 and I'm still finding my groove with it all! My youngest is now 20 months and so I've surfaced from all of the years of constant nappies, sleep deprivation and meeting the many needs of babies and toddlers
I'm not sure where to take my post graduate studies. I know I want to study something relating to home education. I have a particular interest in the assessment/registration process in the different states of Australia and the impact that has on home educators. Glenda has suggested looking at those who attend school part time for PE, Science, Performing Arts, etc and what impact that has on students and schools. This is also of interest to me. To be really honest, I'm not sure how to go about choosing a course of study (where/what) and I'm also unsure if I will have much credibility as a teacher without the experience (I only had the one year as a graduate before I had my children). I wonder if I need to get more experience in the school system. My husband works Mon-Fri 9-5 and the home education, child care and running of the home is a responsibility that I've happily taken on so working in the school system is not an option for now. There is not much tutoring work in the methods I have studied. I could take on post graduate studies one subject at a time, and fit it in around my family, which is why I feel this is my next step.
I would really appreciate any thoughts you have about my progression. I hope to be of some use to this group in the future when I do get under way with my research.
Kind regards,
Lauren
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