Portrait of a Russian Homeschooler’s Family: Results of an Online Poll

Abstract

Introduction. The practice of obtaining family education has become a fashionable trend in our country in recent years. Despite the growing popularity among the population, we have not yet received enough scientific understanding of this form of training. The purpose of the article is to describe the social portrait of families who have chosen a family form of education for a child. The scientific novelty of the work is due to the empirical data presented in it, which have a dynamic nature of observing the studied object.

Methodology and sources. The methodological basis for the study was the conflict approach and the principles of a radical humanistic approach to education in the interpretation of I. Illich. The empirical basis of the study is the results of three surveys of parents o f c hildren f rom 6 t o 1 8 y ears o ld w ho are o n f amily e ducation. S urveys w ere implemented from 2016 to 2020, according to the same methodology and tools. To collect data, a questionnaire for an online survey was developed, which was distributed on social networks, mainly in VKontakte communities dedicated to family education. The total data set includes 443 respondents.

Results and discussion. According to surveys, children in family education grow up in full families, where the parent's ode has a high level of education, the mother, as a rule, does not work or has the possibility of a free schedule and is a teacher for the child. The main source of income in the family is the father. The total income of the family, which averages from 40 to 60 thousand rubles per month. In the family, most often two children, one of whom is in family education. Family education is mainly provided with primary school children.

Conclusion. The peculiarity of studying family education not only in our country, but also in the world is the lack of accurate statistics on the number of children of homeschoolers. In this regard, only non-random samples are possible in the implementation. The portrait of Russian homeschoolers differs from American ones, in particular in the level at which family education is implemented, the place of residence of families, and their income.