Making the spoons last longer: Parents' views on flexischooling with their child with special educational needs

Abstract

Flexischooling—the sharing of a child's education between home and school through formal agreement—is one of a range of ‘alternative’ education approaches that may adapt education to meet a child's special educational needs. This study considers qualitative data from an online survey conducted during November and December 2023 regarding parents' reasons for undertaking flexischooling with their child, and the activities they describe their children undertaking during school hours. Findings suggest that parents are concerned about the challenges that they feel their child faces in full-time school, but that they also perceive advantages, both social and academic, to the ‘not-school’ element of the educational approach they are undertaking. Consideration of the potential for flexischooling to support parents as they learn about their child's ever-changing needs is discussed.