Abstract

VALLE APARICIO, José Eliseo. To teach at home or at school: The legal doctrine about homeschooling in Spain. Perfiles educativos [online]. 2012, vol.34, n.138, pp.167-182. ISSN 0185-2698.

The conscious choice to have children educated at home, also called homeschooling, has been adopted by certain families as a way to object the obligatory education; in this system, families make up a curriculum and an educational project of their own. Currently this educational is still a marginalpath, but it is growing more and more. The phenomenon has not received enough attention, therefore it deserves an academical approach in order to investigate about the motivations of the people who choose for that educational option, its essence and the ways of carrying it out. The legal answers that have been adopted in the Europea countries about homeschooling, far from presenting an even legal outlook, offer a wide range that goes from the aceptation to the prohibition, with intermediary solutions that show very diverse shades. In Spain, a recent and very important judgement has stated jurisprudence about the possibilities of this way to educate based on the Spanish Constitution of 1978.

Keywords : Law and jurisprudence; Family education; Informal education; Individualized teaching.