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PSZ 19:16 (Pind. 1/07) UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

DECLARATION OF THESIS / POSTGRADUATE PROJECT REPORT AND COPYRIGHT

Author’s full name: AZITA JANASA

Date of Birth : 20 MARCH 1960

Title : HOMESCHOOLING AMONG CHILDREN OF IRANIAN POSTGRADUATE FAMILIES AT UTM

Academic Session: 2012-2013

I declare that this dissertation is classified as:

CONFIDENTIAL (Contains confidential information under the Official Secret Act

1972)*

RESTRICTED (Contains restricted information as specified by the

organization where research was done)*

OPEN ACCESS I agree that my dissertation to be published as online open

�

access (full text)

I acknowledged that Universiti Teknologi Malaysia reserves the right as follows: The dissertation is the property of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia The Library of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia has the right to make copies for the purpose of research only.

The Library has the right to make copies of the dissertation for academic exchange.

Certified by:

SIGNATURE SIGNATURE OF SUPERVISOR

D 14817684 Prof.Madya.Dr.Baharin Bin Abu (NEW IC NO/PASSPORT) NAME OF SUPERVISOR

Date: JUNE 2013 Date: JUNE 2013 NOTES: * If the thesis is CONFIDENTAL or RESTRICTED, please attach with the letter from

the organization with period and reasons for confidentiality or restriction.

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“I hereby declare that I have read this thesis and in my opinion this thesis is sufficient in

terms of scope and quality for the award of degree of Master of Education

(Education and Development)”

Signature : ………………………….........

Name of Supervisor : Prof. Madya. Dr. Baharin Bin Abu

Date : JUNE 2013

HOMESCHOOLING AMONG CHILDREN OF IRANIAN

POSTGRADUATE FAMILIES AT UTM

AZITA JANASA

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of Master of Education (Education and Development)

Faculty of Education

Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

JUNE 2013

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I declare that this thesis entitle “Homeschooling among Children of Iranian

Postgraduate Families at UTM” is the result of my own research except as cited in

the references. The thesis has not been accepted for any degree and is not

concurrently submitted in candidature of any other degree.

Signature : ........................................

Name : AZITA JANASA

Date : JUNE 2013

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Especially to my beloved children

Hafez Rafirasme

&

Saba Rafirasme

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere appreciation to my thesis

supervisor, Prof. Madya. Dr. Baharin Bin Abu for his wise counsel, encouragement

guidance, generous open-door, patience and tolerance that I would see this project

through to its successful completion. Thanks Prof. Baharin.

I am grateful for the support of my dear children who live far from me, but I am

totally sure that their blessings were behind me.

Especial thanks go to my dear friend Mrs. Samira Yadollahi kakh who helped me

patiently through this study.

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to investigate homeschooling among children of Iranian postgraduate families at UTM and to identify the reasons which lead these parents to choose this type of education for their children. The study was conducted in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Johor. A total of 13 participants including 8 parents, 4 students and one tutor were chosen through purposive sampling for this study which involved qualitative approach and case study method. The data collection process was through semi-structured interviews to allow the participants to freely express their experiences. The data were organized thematically with a coding process to describe the information and convey the findings of the analysis. The findings of this study suggest that parents’ homeschooled their children because: 1) no Iranian schools available, 2) international schools are either far away from home or expensive and 3) local schools in Malaysia can not provide appropriate education for Iranian children because of different culture, religion and language. The findings of the study also showed that the structure of homeschooling among these Iranian families under investigation was flexible and parents were the facilitators who tried to provide situations to accelerate learning and keep the children motivated. It was also observed that the most significant problems of these families were lack of educational facilities and a suitable place for teaching and learning. Ultimately, this research has added new dimensions to the findings of previous researchers. Firstly, as soon as parents got involved in their children’s education they discovered the positive aspects of homeschooling and therefore were motivated to continue. Secondly, this research introduced a new type of homeschooling in which families pursue the daily practice of homeschooling without being a member of a home-education group or having received any specialized home-education training or materials. The findings of this study introduce this kind of homeschooling practice to the community of homeschoolers. These findings can be used by homeschooling communities and educational authorities to recognize these families and possibly provide them with proper teaching plans and tips for improvement.

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ABSTRAK

Tujuan kajian ini adalah untuk menyiasat homeschooling di kalangan kanak-kanak dari keluarga Iran pascasiswazah di UTM dan untuk mengenal pasti sebab-sebab yang membuat ibu bapa cenderung untuk memilih jenis pendidikan ini untuk anak-anak mereka. Kajian ini telah dijalankan di Johor, tepatnya di Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Sebanyak 13 peserta termasuk 8 orang ibu bapa, 4 orang pelajar dan seorang tutor telah dipilih melalui persampelan purposif dalam kajian ini yang melibatkan kaedah pendekatan kualitatif dan kaedah kajian kes. Proses pengumpulan data adalah melalui temu bual separa berstruktur untuk membolehkan para peserta secara bebas dapat menyatakan tentang pengalaman mereka. Data yang telah disusun mengikut tema dengan proses pengekodan bagi menggambarkan maklumat dan menyampaikan hasil analisis. Hasil kajian ini menunjukkan bahawa alasan-alasan ibu bapa memilih homeschooling untuk anak-anak mereka kerana: 1) tidak ada sekolah Iran yang di sediakan, 2) sekolah antarabangsa sama ada jauh dari rumah atau mahal dan, 3) sekolah tempatan di Malaysia tidak dapat menyediakan pendidikan yang sesuai untuk kanak-kanak Iran disebabkan budaya yang berbeza, agama dan bahasa. Hasil kajian juga menunjukkan bahawa struktur homeschooling di kalangan keluarga-keluarga Iran yang telah dikenalpasti ialah fleksibel dan ibu bapa menjadi fasilitator bagi menyediakan keadaan yang mana dapat mempercepatkan pembelajaran dan menjaga anak-anak supaya senantisa bermotivasi. Kajian juga mendapati bahawa masalah yang paling penting dalam keluarga-keluarga ini ialah kekurangan kemudahan pendidikan dan tempat yang sesuai untuk pengajaran dan pembelajaran. Yang terpenting sekali, kajian ini telah menambah dimensi baru kepada penemuan penyelidik sebelumnya. Pertama, sebaik sahaja ibu bapa terlibat dalam pendidikan anak-anak mereka mendapati aspek-aspek positif Sekolah di rumah dan mendorong mere untuk meneruskannya. Kedua, kajian ini memperkenalkan jenis baru Sekolah di rumah di mana keluarga meneruskan amalan harian homeschooling tanpa menjadi ahli kumpulan rumah-pendidikan atau setelah menerima latihan rumah-pendidikan dan bahan-bahan. Hasil kajian ini memperkenalkan jenis ini amalan homeschooling kepada kominiti homeschoolers. Penemuan ini boleh digunakan oleh komuniti homeschooling dan pihak berkuasa pendidikan untuk mengenali keluarga dan mungkin memberikan mereka dengan rancangan pengajaran yang betul dan tips untuk penambahbaikan.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER TITLE PAGE

DECLARATION ii

DEDICATION iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

ABSTRACT v

ABSTRAK vi

TABLE OF CONTENTS vii

LIST OF TABLES xii

LIST OF FIGURES xv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xvi

LIST OF APPENDICES xvii

ONE INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Introduction 1

1.2 Background of the Study 4

1.3 Statement of the Problem 6

1.4 Objective of the Study 8

1.5 Research Questions 8

1.6 Significance of the Study 9

1.7 Scope of the Study 10

1.8 Limitation of the Study 10

1.9 Conceptual Framework of the Study 12

1.10 Operational Definition 13

1.11 Outline of Study 14

1.12 Conclusion 15

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TWO LITERATURE REVIEW 17

2.1 Introduction 17

2.2 Parent’s Right to choose suitable education for

their children 18

2.3 Homeschooling as a Type of education 20

2.4 Reasons, Beliefs and Parents Attitudes toward

Homeschooling 25

2.5. Challenges of Homeschooling for Parents and

Children 28

2.6 Homeschooling as an Alternative for Standard

Public School 31

2.6.1 History of Homeschooling in the U.S. as an

Alternative 33

2.6.2 History of Homeschooling as an Alternative

in Some European Countries 40

2.7 Conclusion 42

THREE METHODOLOGY 44

3.1 Introduction 44

3.2 Research Design and Research Flowchart 45

3.3 Research setting 47

3.4 Participants 48

3.5 Data Collection Procedure 49

3.6 Instruments 51

3.6.1 Interviews with parents and Tutor 53

3.6.1.1 Interview with Children 55

3.6.2 Observation 55

3.6.3 Peer Debriefing technique 57

3.7 Data Analysis 58

3.8 Conclusion 59

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FOUR FINDINGS 60

4.1 Introduction 60

4.2 Factors Leading to Homeschooling 61

4.2.1 Unavailability of an Iranian School 61

4.2.1.1 Local Schools 64

4.2.1.2 International Schools 67

4.2.2 Religion and Cultural Diversity 69

4.2.3 The Tendency toward Homeschooling 71

4.3 The Implementation of Homeschooling 75

4.3.1 Instructional Materials 76

4.3.1.1Text books and Books 76

4.3.1.2 Computer and the Internet 80

4.3.1.3 CDs and DVDs 82

4.3.1.4 Maps and Illustrations 82

4.3.2 Instructors 83

4.3.2.1 Parents as Teacher 83

4.3.2.2 Tutor 85

4.3.3 Time and Place 86

4.4 Challenges and Difficulties of Homeschooling 88

4.4.1 Non-acceptance Parents as Teachers 89

4.4.2 Inappropriate Venue 91

4.4.3 Lack of Teaching Facilities 93

4.4.4 Social and Psychological Issues 93

4.5 Conclusion 95

FIVE DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSION 98

5.1 Introduction 98

5.2 Summary 98

5.2.1 Why Parents Homeschool Their Children 99

5.2.2 The Structure of Homeschooling 101

5.2.3 Challenges and Difficulties in

Homeschooling 104

5.3 Conclusion and Implications of the Study 106

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5.4 Recommendations 108

REFERENCES 109

APPENDICES A-B-C 116

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LIST OF TABLE

TABLE NO. TITLE PAGE

2.1 Overview of National Regulations about Home Education (HE) In Europe Adopted from Karsten (2011) 41

4.4 Illustrates the Reasons for Choosing Homeschooling and The Challenges it Causes 97

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LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURES NO TITLES PAGE

3.1 Methodological Framework of the Study 47

4.1 The Factors Which Have Led to Homeschooling 75

4.2 How Homeschooling Implemented 88

4.3 Difficulties and Challenges Iranian Families Face during Educating Their Children at Home 95

xiii

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX TITLE PAGE

A Participants’ Demographic Information 116

B Interview Protocol 117

C Interview Questions 119

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

CHEP - Community Home Education Program

FERPA - Family Educational Right and Privacy Act in U.S.A.

HEIs - Higher Education Institutions

HSLDA - Home School Legal Defence Association

LD - Learning Disabilities

NCES - National Centre for Education Statistics

NCLB - No Child Left Behind

NHSLDA - National Home School Legal Defence Association

SAMPAD - National Organization of Genius Student Education (in Iran)

UTM - Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

VPD - Vaccine Preventable Diseases

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4 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Introduction

Parents have the right to educate their children; it is most common to send

their children to school to enable them to gain formal education (Smith, 2007).

Attending primary school is compulsory for children in most countries. While in

some countries education ministries and their subdivisions compel families to send

their children to school; there are some countries such as United States and Australia

where parents have a fundamental role in deciding how, when and where their

children’s education should occur (Somerville, 2005).

According to Martin (2010) parents in most countries should register their

children at schools which usually follow the general educational curriculum of the

country. These curriculums however may conflict with parents’ desire to choose a

specific kind of education for their children. Providing alternatives to attending

formal schools may allow parents to take control of their children’s education and

enabling their children to choose based on their interests and aims. One such

alternative is homeschooling.

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Homeschooling makes it possible for the parents to educate their children at home

in tandem with raising them (Yarnall, 1998).

The concept of homeschooling is well known in some countries such as

Canada, Australia and in some of the European countries. In order to understand the

concept of homeschooling the main focus should be on parents’ reasoning for

choosing homeschooling. There is a range of reasons for choosing this type of

education among families at different times and locations. In this study the reasons

for Iranian families to choose homeschooling will be discussed. In addition the

procedure difficulties and challenges of this matter are also stated.

Iranian students who study at UTM are among the international students who

are attracted to Malaysia. A number of them come to Malaysia with their families.

The amount of time which these families usually reside in Malaysia ranges from one

to five years. Therefore the education for these families’ children has become an

important issue during their time abroad. These postgraduate student-parents with

school-aged children faced many difficulties sending their children to local school.

Issues such as a different educational system, different medium of instruction and

concerns about religion must be dealt with. These are only a few of issues that

families must consider before deciding whether or not to send their children to local

schools. Therefore many of these families consider homeschooling as an alternative

option.

The idea of this research initially came from my own experience during the

years I was away from my country with my two young children. During the 1990's

when my son had just started school in U.S. I had to homeschool him to keep him up

with the Iranian school system when we back to Iran. The problems that we

encountered were similar to those problems seen among Iranian families at UTM.

The first and most important problem was the lack of Iranian schools in the area; the

other was the inexperience of parents in homeschooling. We also kept the

homeschooling routine once we went back to Iran this time just as an extra help for

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my children. During the past few years I encountered the homeschooling issue again

in Malaysia at UTM, where Iranian families have to homeschool their children.

Once I started reading academically on the homeschooling topic I learnt that

the most available published researches are produced in western countries. Therefore

the niche in this subject area seemed like a good opportunity to start the research and

investigate the initiation and outcome of the homeschooling routine amongst the

Iranians at UTM. Meanwhile I noticed Safran (2010) latest work “legitimate

peripheral participation and home education” which was conducted in England and

Wales. He divided the participants of his study in to two major groups. First group of

parents did not mutually engage with other home educators face-to-face. Second

group which was active members of different communities of home education

practices. He found that the first group tended to read homeschooling newsletters,

log onto the legitimate websites prepared for home education by authorities to make

use of materials and new activities. He pointed a third type of homeschooled people

which describes the best the Iranians situation in Malaysia at UTM. He came to this

conclusion that may there is a third category of home educating families who are not

members of any home education groups to share their experience and do group

teaching. They do not read any particular literature on homeschooling and they do

not participate in any homeschooling event. Therefore based on Safran study may

find similarity between situation of Iranian families at UTM and the third type of

homeschool people which he mention in his survey.

Iranian postgraduate students who study at UTM are an example of number

of students who are attracted to Malaysia. Since Malaysia has become one of the

centers of education in the world; a noticeable number of foreign students from

different countries are pursuing their education in this country. Malaysian

government’s policy is turning this country to a regional center of educational

excellence in SE Asia. Higher education in Malaysia is provided both by public and

private higher education institutions (HEIs) such as universities, colleges, and

polytechnics (Baharin, 2000). Hence the aim of this research is to investigate the

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common method of homeschooling among one of these groups of foreign students at

UTM which they are from Iran.

1.2 Background of the Study

Parents are the first teachers of their children (Holt, 1972). They teach them

consciously and unconsciously thus children learn behaviors, attitudes, knowledge as

anything that one can think of from them. Homeschooling is not a new concept it is

very popular in some countries such as in Australia and Canada. In fact until 1870s

when school attendance became compulsory, homeschooling was the most popular

and prevalent type of education (Blokhuis, 2010). For instance in 2003 the United

States Department of Education announced that almost 1.1 million children had been

homeschooled (Nemer, 2002). Moreover, homeschooling is now legitimately

acceptable in all the fifty states of the United States.

Davies (2005) states people who homeschool their children could come from

a variety of ethnic groups, with differences in educational, economical level and also

from religious families. Iranian families, who live at kolej Perdana (a family

accommodation at UTM campus) in J.B, may be presented as an example of what

Davies mentioned. According to Education’s law ‘homeschooling’ is not forbidden

in Iran, and parents have the right to homeschool their children. But practically it is

not a common concept among this people. It would be beneficial to take a brief look

at the history of schooling in Iran here to get to analyze why homeschooling has not

been popular in Iran. This review shows that homeschooling as a new experience

amongst Iranian parents who reside in Malaysia provides many novel aspects of

homeschooling to be studied.

Iranian families do not have any reputation for homeschooling. In old days

common people generally sent their children to Maktabkhane. Maktabkhane was a

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small room in the house of a literate man. Children were sent there to learn, read, and

memorize Iran’s great poems and the verses of Qur’an (Shakeri, 1998). The students

had to learn calligraphy –a traditional way of writing. On the other hand royal

families and people who had high-powered jobs in imperial court generally hired

foreign teachers and oversea-educated people to teach their children music (piano),

foreign language (French) and Iranian literature and arithmetic (Farrokhi, 2001).

Later on during Pahlavi dynasty, a trend was started by the newly established

Ministry of Education to eradicate illiteracy in the whole country. Hundreds of

people were trained and educated to be teachers. Schools were established widely in

the country and children were sent to schools instead of Maktabkhane. Thousands of

teachers were trained to teach adults and were sent to rural areas (Ahmadi, 2005). As

a result of the efforts the rate of illiteracy was reduced sharply, but no evidence of

‘homeschooling’ can be traced in literature. In fact while homeschooling is a

widespread practice in western countries, it is not a recognized type of schooling in

Iran.

While homeschooling is an unknown phenomenon in Iran, in this case Iranian

families who are postgraduate students at UTM not only up-bring their children but

also maintain this right to educate their children themselves based on their ideology.

Therefore they choose to play a key role in their children’s education and doing the

matter themselves.

Based on what has been mentioned, homeschooling is not popular in Iran so

the tendency toward homeschooling amongst Iranian parents in a country other than

their home country is an interesting subject to be studied. Since there is not any

Iranian school in Johor Bahru, these families tend to homeschool their children.

Therefore what they teach to their children, how they teach the courses and the

problems they faced in the meantime needs to be investigated

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1.3 Statement of the Problem

Iranian postgraduate students at UTM who have children have problem for

educate them properly. They tend to homeschool their children when they reside in

some cities of Malaysia such as Johor Bahru. This study attempts to describe the

educational boundaries these families face with regard of homeschooling. These

parents who themselves are postgraduate students may confront serious problems

and issues during the process of educating their children. Meeting the demands of

Iran’s school curriculum, preparing the students for final examinations are some

important difficulties they are facing with. Moreover preparing their children for

getting back to school when they return to their home country is another challenge

for them. These parents who have to deal with ample tasks related to their own

studies beside that they generally do not have any experience of teaching young

children. Therefore this study aims to investigate how parents handle their children’s

education at home. In addition some background information has also been

mentioned briefly about the Iranian educational system.

According to Iran’s constitution although parents have this right to educate

their children but the general tendency of Iranian parents is to send their children to

regular schools (Ahmadi, 2005). This means that after finishing primary school

parents can homeschool their children. Each year children have to take the final

examinations which begin on the first of Khordad (late May) if they wish to continue

their education to tertiary-level. As a result of general inclination towards the schools

and Iranian families’ lifestyle the concept of ‘homeschooling’ is obsolete and

unrecognized.

Those Iranian families in Malaysia, who live in Selangor, have the option of

sending their children to Iranian schools that the Iran’s Ministry of Education has

established, since there are not any Iranian schools in Johor and Penang. These

families who live in J.B have two options sending their children either to Malaysian

schools or international school. On the other hand Iranian students in Malaysia

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normally do not feel the need to learn Malay. They can live with minimum problems

in Malaysia without knowing the official language of this country. This is because

most of the Malaysians know English and they speak it widely although their level of

proficiency differs.

Iranian families mostly refuse to register their children in local schools.

Firstly, the medium of instruction in local school is Bahasa Melayu. These families

find it hard and stressful since the children need to learn two new languages Bahasa

Melayu and English. Secondly, some courses such as history, geography and

literature are culture or environmental bound and as Malaysia is not the permanent

country of residency for these children spending time to learn these, is not wise.

Therefore, there is only one option left for these families and that is

International Schools. There is only one widely known international school in Johor

Bahru. Safe transportation services, affordability of the school’s tuition fee and the

distance of the school are the three significant variables that Iranian parents take into

consideration. The international university (UTM) that the Iranian parents register is

located in Skudai which is 9.25 kilometers from Johor Bahru. Since student’s life is

generally associated with shortage of financial resources; student-parents generally

may not choose international schools for educating their children.

As a result of what has been discussed, there is no option of a formal Iranian

school for these families who study at UTM in Johor Bahru. In this case, Iranian

families who have not heard of homeschooling back in their home country have to

educate their children at home without any help and guidance since these parents do

not have any experience of teaching young kids.

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1.4 Objectives of the Study

Based on what has been discussed this research study attempted to meet three

objectives which are:

i. To identify the factors that lead the Iranian families who study at

UTM towards homeschooling.

ii. To describe how the Iranian families who study at UTM educate their

children through homeschooling.

iii. To identify the challenges that Iranian families who study at UTM

faced in regard to homeschooling.

1.5 Research Questions

Based on the objectives of the study, there are three research questions to be

answered as a result of conducting this research:

i. What are the factors that lead the Iranian families who study at UTM

towards homeschooling?

ii. How do Iranian families who study at UTM homeschool their

children?

iii. What are the challenges that Iranian families who study at UTM face

in regard to homeschooling?

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1.6 Significance of the Study

Conducting this research is significant for postgraduate students who study at

UTM and homeschool their children. Because investigating the nature of this kind of

homeschooling among these focused families may introduce an option within the

existing current home education. Based on the history of homeschooling which is

derived from the literature, the problems and the reasons that lead Iranian parents to

homeschool their children may not be similar to those parents in other countries.

Thus a new area of research may be opened for researchers to further investigate this

type of schooling.

This study can be used as a guide to any future postgraduate Iranian students,

if they want to homeschool their children in Malaysia particularly at UTM. It is also

probable that the results of this study would be of interest to the universities which

have international student-parents. Moreover it would be useful for ministry of

education of these international students as well. Therefore the decision makers at

UTM or in Iran’s embassy in Kuala Lumpur may facilitate the development of

homeschooling by providing assistance to these families.

The two mentioned authorities may take actions to provide facilities for these

parents to educate their children. For instance, the university may allocate a suitable

place as a classroom for children of these families because conducting classes in

formal setting may reduce distractions. Moreover Iran’s ministry of education may

provide the parents with some pamphlets to remind them of the educational goals of

each lesson and course and they may also send quality control experts to visit the

various homeschoolers to ensure their level of learning before sitting for final

examinations.

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1.7 Scope of the Study

The current study by making use of the power of qualitative research

specifically case study tries to identify the variables that make Iranian families who

are postgraduate students at UTM to homeschool their children. All these families

participated in this study used to live in the family residential area inside UTM Johor

campus named kolej Perdana, provided by the university at the time of conducting

the interviews and the observations. It is also the scope of this study to investigate

how these families educate their children and what facilities they use and what

problems they face during this process.

In this study with the use of purposive sampling 13 people including 1 private

tutor, 4 student and 8 parents were selected. Purposive sampling is one of the

primary ways to gain in-depth knowledge of the problems of the research, which was

used for this study. These parents are Master and PhD students for which they are

required to reside in Malaysia for about 5 years. Two of the students are primary

school students below the age of 12. They have limited English proficiency. The

other two students are secondary school students and used to attend public schools

back in Iran. The private tutor is an Iranian woman who used to be a teacher for

more than 10 years at public schools back in Iran. Therefore the extent of the study

covers primary students and their parents.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

The main limitations of the study are presented in this section. However this

research generate significant finding in the field of home education but still there

remains much to be investigated about the focused type of homeschooling. One of

the limitations of the study is related to the participants of the study. As mentioned

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before the study focuses mainly on families with postgraduate parents at UTM

campus in J.B. While there are some Iranian families in Malaysia who reside in

Kuala Lumpur and another cities for a number of other purposes such as business, for

these cases there might be other elements involved for one family to choose the

method of education for their children.

In addition there are families who send their children to either local or

international schools and in the afternoon they home educate them in order to prepare

them for Iran’s educational system final examinations. It was not within the scope of

this research to study these families. However the nature of children education in

these families may deserve further scrutiny.

More than this there are families with high school children who have chosen

to homeschool their children. Further research might focus on high school students.

In fact this research did not focus on high school students, since the educational and

psychological issues of this age interval might be different to children before or at

the age of puberty.

Lastly there are children who have experienced regular schooling back in Iran

and now they are homeschooled. The efficacy of homeschooling on academic

achievement might be investigated by comparing the final year results of these

students during the homeschooled years with those years of attending regular

schools.

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1.9 Conceptual Framework of the Study

The current research contributes to the definitions of John Holt’s Educational

Philosophy. This theory is based on “Un-schooling”, he used this term as more

appropriate word for homeschooling (Holt, 1972). He believes since the traditional

education system cannot equally emphasis on material which engages most or all of

the children minds, in homeschooling children can focus on the area of their interest

in order to facilitate a deeper understanding of that subject. He suggests

homeschooling gives the children the opportunity to study on their own and put more

time on subjects they like the most.

He believes that learning is not separated from living. Based on this theory

homeschooled children learn by being a part of the world, guided by the concepts

that interest them, by having their questions answered as they ask them. He believes

that children in this type of education are treated with respect. Therefore children

learn best by following their interests and not by being taught (Holt, 2005). Moreover

he claims homeschooled children are much better off learner because they engaged

in the teaching and learning process rather than simply following the teacher as

mindless drones.

Since in this study the phenomenon of homeschooling is under investigating,

Holt’s theory of un-schooling matches the best. He explains in his book” The Under

Achieving School” that homeschooling is a proper way to involve all students in the

education procedure and to provide them with a love of life-long learning (Holt,

2005). He believed parents have to urge to let the “students” lead the learning and

help them find legitimate, real-life experiences. Furthermore he believes children do

not need to be made to learn to be better, told what to do or shown how. If they are

given access to enough of the world. Homeschooled children will see clearly enough

what things are truly important to themselves and to others, and they will make for

themselves a better path into that world than anyone else could make for them.

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This study contributes to the definitions of homeschooling and Holt’s theory

provides evidences that homeschooling is successful in involving all kinds of

children’s intelligences and provide life-long learning for them. In this study some

preliminary interview session were conducted with participants and the researcher

got to this insight that these families dare to homeschool their children because they

believe they are aware of their children’s learning styles and learning habits specially

after having the experience of teaching them at home. As a consequence

homeschooling as a form of un-schooling as defined by Holt, provides a delightful

learning environment by involving the different kinds of intelligences and abilities.

He believed people are more capable when they are totally free to learn. Therefore in

order to make children full use of their own intelligence and their interest,

homeschooling could create a successful experience.

Therefore in order to make children full use of homeschooling and to create a

successful experience, the structure and parental challenges caused by

homeschooling should be identified. Based on the needs and goals of both parents

and children, practical suggestions may be sought from parents on how to improve

the quality and also mentioned the challenges of homeschooling.

1.10 Operational Definitions

It is significant to clarify the important terms in the research questions to help

readers understand what data the researcher is looking for and how she has obtained

the information she needed. Thus “operational definitions” are explained in this

section. “Operational definitions” as defined by Fraenkel and Wallen (2010, p. 31),

the researcher needs to specify the actions or operations which is necessary to

measure them in a research. The operational definitions of this study are

Homeschooling and Parents.

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The phrase homeschooling means the education of children taking place at

home by their parents (Kunzman, 2010). In the context of the current study, parents

use Iran’s Ministry of Education curriculum and syllabi to educate their children,

however they do not follow the timings as students do in Iran, they adjust the time of

each syllabus according to their own time and possibility.

The word parent used in this study signifies the biological parents of the

students. Parents in the context of the current study are postgraduate Iranian students

who are accommodated in kolej Perdana apartments located at UTM in J.B. These

families have to stay in Malaysia to fulfill the requirements of a postgraduate degree

and thus they have to stay in this country between 1 to 6 years normally. During their

time here their children live with them, these children need education and schooling.

Furthermore, the phenomenon of homeschooling among Iranian families takes place

at the mentioned accommodation inside UTM.

1.11 Outline of the study

This study is organized into five Chapters. Chapter One introduced the

conceptual contexts of the study and provided introductory information on the

research project which is the concept of homeschooling among Iranian families with

one or both parents pursuing their postgraduate studies at UTM. The chapter briefly

discusses the history of education in Iran and the traditional schools there. Further

subjects pointed out are as follow; why this phenomenon needs to be investigated,

the reasons behind why parents choose homeschooling for educating their children.

The review of literature in chapter two reviews related literature from different

countries such as U.S, Canada, as well as some European countries. In chapter two

literatures organized in seven sections. The first part explains the phenomenon of

home education. The second part focuses on parent’s right to choose a suitable

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education for their children. The third part elaborates on issues related to

homeschooling as a type of education. The fourth section is about reasons, beliefs

and parents attitudes toward homeschooling. The fifth section is about challenges of

homeschooling for parents and children. The sixth section focused on homeschooling

as an alternative for standard public school which point out a brief history of this

alternative in U.S and in some European countries. The seventh section is conclusion

of the chapter. In chapter three discusses the methodology employed for the

empirical work. It elaborates particularly on research methods, Sample,

Instrumentation and research design. The chapter describes the research processes

undertaken, and the particular methodology chosen is case study. Chapter four

presents the findings relate to the research questions. Such as the reasons for

choosing this type of education and how they implement homeschooling and finally

point out the difficulties and challenges they faced in regard to homeschool their

children as well as some solutions that could contribute to the quality of

homeschooling among these postgraduate families. Chapter five presents a critical

discussions, conclusions and recommendations. In its first section presents the

discussions of the findings of the study in compare with the previous literature and in

the second section presents the conclusion of the study as well as its implications.

Lastly, some recommendations for further research in this field are suggested.

1.12 Conclusion

This chapter gives the overview of the basic outline of the study. It has started

with the introduction of the study which includes the background of the study, the

problem statement, the objectives, research questions and the significance of the

study. Scope of the study explores the extent of the study which is followed by

limitation of the study with a critical analyses and some idea for future studies.

Conceptual framework of the study is followed by definition of terms which is used

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in this study. At the end an outline of the whole study give an exact address of the

procedures to make a clear picture of the survey.