What Higher Ed Can Learn From Homeschooling

Schools like Stanford, University of Pennsylvania, and University of Arizona are recruiting homeschooled students. According to the article Exploring academic outcomes of homeschooled students in the Journal of College Admission (Cogan, 2010), “homeschool students possess higher ACT scores, grade point averages (GPAs) and graduation rates when compared to traditionally-educated students.” Bolle-Brummond & Wessel (2012) from Homeschooled students in college in the Journal of Research Education, found that homeschooled students were equally equipped to succeed academically and socially. And in a study examining The impact of homeschooling on the adjustment of college students published in the International Social Science Review, Drenovsky & Cohen (2012) revealed homeschooled students report that they achieve higher academic success in college and view their entire college experience more positively than traditionally educated students. This evidence continues to be reproduced, and higher education is starting to notice.

Realizing that homeschooled students are equally or better prepared for college, it’s time to take a peek at how this is being achieved. Melanie Borrego’s blog post, “What We Can Learn from Homeschooling” in her Hybrid Pedagogy blog does just that. Melanie quotes Jonathan Reider, a Stanford admissions counselor when he says “The distinguishing factor [of homeschooled students] is intellectual vitality. These kids have it, and everything they do is responding to it.” Stanford defines intellectual vitality as nurturing and refining raw intellect to make it a powerful force that draws a person to explore new and challenging territory; to question and probe. We need students like that. We need generations like that. So how does homeschooling cultivate intellectual vitality?

Homeschoolers cultivate intellectual vitality through autonomy. In the homeschool environment, students are commonly allowed to pursue interests and follow paths of discovery. This focus on interests then builds momentum and confidence for more difficult learning pursuits. It also allows for personal differences in development and preference for delivery methods of content–reading, math, observing, experiencing. Borrego reminds us that “offering kids some choice in and requiring responsibility for their learning encourages self-discipline.”

Homeschoolers cultivate intellectual vitality through versatility. In homeschooling, learning happens everywhere and achieving that learning often occurs through play, or enjoyment of the process. This inspires a love of learning that later grows into the development of academic strengths. Offering options when learning a concept or subject, and requiring a rationale for the choice also develops independence and analytical thinking.

Homeschoolers cultivate intellectual vitality through freedom. One tenant in homeschooling is the idea of individual choices about how and when to learn. Making these choices uncovers self expression and relieves outside pressure of other imposed deadlines. Self scheduling, within requirements, respects personal desires and therefore keeps learning in the positive realm.

The transfer to higher education may be to build this kind of flexibility with accountability into the curriculum. Classes will look different, and be different. Built-in flexibility is at the essence of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), which has been a goal of higher education for years. This approach demands more personalized attention to students rather than a one size fits all method. Borrego suggests that educators become facilitators. In this model the student moves to the center of his or her own learning, and the educator becomes the coach or mentor. If our traditional educational system changes, or even if our individual classes change in this manner, over time students learn to take control of their learning and are more likely to thrive. As Melanie Borrego reminds us “In all of this, however, student agency is key. There are some things we all agree students must learn. Yet, how they are learned should be a choice a student and his or her educator make together.” This type of education sounds more messy, but the rewards may be greater than we can imagine.