Homeschooling and the Media Gap: A Parental Review of Mainstream Coverage in Pakistan

Abstract

This research examines the case of homeschooling representation in the media from Pakistan, comparing it with the public perception and socio-cultural acceptance homeschooling receives. The media exposes homeschooling in Pakistan with more emphasis on the narratives and less focus on the truth behind them. The research investigates the perceptions of parents to highlight the extent to which they feel the media represents their lived issues. The media representation is outdone with the aid of self-administered questionnaires and interviews with the parents, and hence media offers a window to the diverse realities beyond the homeschooling family narrative. Participants disclosed important information such as the lack of social representation, which only caters to homeschooling as a result of poverty, class, and reign, fuels elitism in homeschooling. There is a need for better media planning that will address the appropriate representation of homeschooling, powering social liberation that seeks policy change, reinstating homeschooling as a viable education alternative in Pakistan.