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Homeschooling : an avenue for nurturing the growth mindset?
Author
Tan, Hong Boon
Supervisor
Lim-Ratnam, Christina
Abstract
Homeschooling is becoming an increasingly popular mode of education. There has been a rising trend in the number of homeschoolers, both internationally and in Singapore. There is also an increasing amount of literature devoted to the subject of homeschooling, especially in the last ten years. However, the literature also revealed that the role of homeschooling in the facilitation of the growth mindset has yet been explored. This study aims to address this deficiency in the literature through exploring homeschool parents’ beliefs and how the growth mindset was manifested among homeschoolers in Singapore. A total of six families, comprising nine participants, were interviewed. Ralph Tyler’s rationale was used as the lens through which the homeschool curriculum is interpreted. Tyler’s approach is more organized and systematic, and information gathered from participants confirmed this. Analysis of the interview data revealed that homeschooled parents consistently deployed growth strategies in their children’s learning process. These growth strategies include encouragement, constructive criticism and effort-based praise. The homeschool environment permitted a more flexible curriculum which allowed the necessary space essential for developing the growth mindset. Allowance for different paces of learning, and a slow but progressive learning curriculum appear to be very important for growth mindset. The study’s results point to a possible alternative reality in which productive learning can take place. Although caution must be exercised to generalize the results of this study, it has been shown here that a homeschool environment provides an avenue for the growth mindset.
Date Issued
2016
Call Number
LC40 Tan
Date Submitted
2016