African Americans and Homeschooling Motivations, Opportunities and Challenges [Paperback]

Despite greater access to formal education, both disadvantaged and middle-class black students continue to struggle academically, causing a growing number of black parents to turn to homeschooling. This book is an in-depth exploration of the motivations behind black parents decision to educate their children at homeand the strategies theyve developed to overcome potential obstacles. Citing current issues such as culture, religion and safety, the book challenges the commonly expressed view that black parents and their children have divested from formal education by embracing homeschooling as a constructive strategy to provide black children with a valuable educational experience.

Introduction  1. African American Motivations for Homeschooling  2. Homeschooling as Racial Protectionism  3. The Quest for a Quality Education  4. The Question of Curricular Cultural Relevance  5. African American Homeschooling and Family Bonds  6. The Interplay of Faith and Race in the African American Homeschooling Experience  7. How Safe are Schools for African American Children?  8. African American Homeschoolers Challenges  Conclusion

Ama Mazama, Ph.D., is an African American Studies scholar at Temple University, USA, interested in questions of African American education and agency, throughout history. She has published 14 books in French or English, among which The Encyclopedia of Black Studies(2005) and The Encyclopedia of African Religion(2009).