Exploring the lived experiences of full-time world schoolers

Forsythe, Lesley (2026) Exploring the lived experiences of full-time world schoolers. Ed.D thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

This dissertation explores the lived experiences of five full-time world schoolers who have been world schooling for at least a year. World schooling is an alternative education and lifestyle practice adopted by families who travel the world and educate their children outside the mainstream schooling system. As world schooling is a relatively modern phenomena, it is an under-researched area of education although it has started to receive more interest in the last decade.

I conducted a small-scale study which explored changes and shifts in real time over the course of one year. A narrative inquiry approach was used, and data was collected through a series of semi-structured interviews. The use of serial interviews enabled the complexities of motivation, navigation and negotiation of the participants’ lived experiences to emerge. Data was analysed using Clandinin and Connelly’s three-dimensional space inquiry approach (2000).

The findings show that although the participants stories are quite idiosyncratic, they share similar motivations, opportunities and ways of framing and thinking about the world. The small number of participants in this study allowed for an in-depth exploration of each participant’s experiences and how these were understood. However, the small number of participants means that any findings can only be indicative and tentative. Indicative themes arising from the study include a motivation to teach their children to love of the world, a disaffection with mainstream schooling in its current form and a focus on learning languages.

The dissertation concludes by offering recommendations for education policy makers as well as suggesting avenues for future research, ultimately aimed toward achieving a more holistic and compassionate definition of education.

• Item Type: Thesis (Ed.D)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: L Education > L Education (General); L Education > LB Theory and practice of education
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Education
• Supervisor's Name: Conroy, Professor James and Patrick, Dr. Fiona
• Date of Award: 2026
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2026-86258
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 28 Sep 2026 13:22
• Last Modified: 28 Sep 2026 13:26
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.86258
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/86258