John Holt Homeschool Education Thought Research

As an important form of education alternative, homeschooling rose in the 1960s and has flourished since the 1980s in America, with the rapid expansion of the scale and gradual legal status. The educational idea and mode is increasingly recognized by a growing number of people and has influenced other countries and regions of the world.Being an eminent leader of the American education reform and active promoter of the American homeschooling movement in the 20s century, John Holt (1923-1985) is a significant figure that cannot be ignored in the process of the rise and development of homeschooling. He is known as "Father of the American homeschooling" by many of the researchers of homeschooling and the homeschoolers. John Holt did the contribution for the American homeschooling as one of the American education alternative forms.This whole thesis contains five parts. As the first part, the prolegomenon discloses the reasons and meaning of the selected topic, research status, definition of the related concepts, structure of the thesis, research methods, innovation and insufficiency. The second part, as well as the first chapter of the text is to introduce the details of John Holt's life and the main works of his, laying a foundation for readers' understanding his thoughts of homeschooling. The third part discusses the historical background of John Holt's homeschooling thoughts. The fourth part expounds the main content of John Holt's thoughts of homeschooling, including the following four aspects:the legal basis and the necessity of running a homeschool, the steps to start homeschooling, views of John Holt on Children's Learning and the assessment methods of homeschooling. The last part explores the characteristics and influences of the thoughts of John Holt's homeschooling, making the portrait of John Holt well-rounded and complete.