Elective Home Education in Wales: Post-16 Transition and the Role of the Educational Psychologist
Author: Luke Ryan - Doctorate in Educational Psychology (DEdPsy), Cardiff University, 2019
The increasing population of home educated (HE) children and young people (CYP) in Wales is in line with the pattern of increased numbers of HE CYP in the UK as a whole.
In order to shed light on this social phenomenon, EHE facilitators, EHE CYP, Educational Psychologists (EPs) and Trainee EPs (TEPs) were recruited to explore EHE families' experience of Post-16 transition, and the potential role for EPs in supporting this process.
Using a mixed methods design, the researcher employed online questionnaires and structured interviews during data collection, and applied both quantitative and qualitative (Thematic Analysis (TA) and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)) analysis to the data.
Findings suggested that home education enabled numerous benefits to EHE CYP during Post-16 transition, though participants also noted systemic challenges that were specific to EHE CYP. EP and TEP respondents indicated that EPs are generally not involved in work with EHE CYP, or non-EHE CYP, during post-16 transition in Wales.
Implications for future research and for educational psychology practice are discussed.