HOMESCHOOLING IN POLAND, THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND SLOVAKIA

Abstract

This research reveals the issue of homeschooling. It deals with homeschooling in post-communist countries with a similar tradition of the education system – Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia. It defined the basic concepts associated with homeschooling and, through both quantitative and qualitative research, a questionnaire with 78 parents of homeschooled children and a document review compared the homeschooling system in these countries. On the basis of the research findings, it could be stated similar homeschooling conditions provided in each country, differing mainly in the student´s age aimed to. Unschooling, one of homeschooling types, a curriculum-free philosophy, has not been applied and recognized as a legitimate form of education in any of these countries yet. Many parents have been experimenting with educating their children at home though and would welcome it to be legal. Keywords: homeschooling, individual education, qualitative research, unschooling.