Does Homeschooling Fit Students With School Attendance Problems? Exploring Teachers’ Experiences During COVID-19

Abstract

Attending school on a regular basis and to complete school is usually seen as a precondition for academic, emotional, and social learning and development. However, some students struggle with school attendance problems (SAPs) caused by a myriad of reasons. Homeschooling is a topic of concern in long-term or problematic SAPs cases. Some scholars claim that school absenteeism might increase and be maintained during homeschooling, while others argue that homeschooling may reduce student’s anxiety associated with school attendance. Anyway, homeschooling is often an intervention for academic learning and/or as a part of gradual reintegration to school for SAP students. Moreover, homeschooling/home education/home tuition is not a new phenomenon and is an intervention for students with long-term sickness. When schools in many countries closed from the middle of March 2020 caused by the Covid-19-pandemic, all students were given homeschooling. This gave us the opportunity to investigate homeschooling more closely in a large sample. In the current study, teachers’ thoughts, and experiences of homeschooling for students with SAPs prior to the pandemic, are investigated. The main aim was to gain more insight and knowledge about homeschooling: does it work for SAP students? Practical implications of homeschooling for SAP students are discussed.