European homeschooling is characterised by diversity and integration, with the three main pillars being the egalitarian philosophy of Northern Europe, the vocational orientation of Germany, and the family tradition of Southern Europe. Scandinavian countries such as Sweden and Finland have implemented ‘de-competitive’ education, with families devoting 42% of their extracurricular time to nature exploration and social practice, and government subsidies covering 90% of childcare costs, but high welfare benefits have given rise to ‘slow growth’ controversy. However, high welfare has led to the controversy of ‘slow growth’ – the decision-making autonomy of 15-year-olds is 23 per cent higher than the EU average, leading to a blurring of intergenerational responsibilities in 14 per cent of families. Germany relies on the ‘dual system’ to deepen the collaboration between home and school, 56% of families participate in business open days, and one third of 12-year-old children master basic vocational skills, but the cult of technology has triggered a crisis of humanism: the frequency of philosophical family dialogue has dropped by 37% in ten years. In Southern Europe, represented by Italy and Spain, the tradition of family co-parenting remains intact, with 83% of grandparents assuming the responsibility of daily upbringing, and religious activities taking up 62% of the family’s cultural inheritance. However, under the impact of the digital economy, there is a break in the skills of traditional handicrafts families, and the proportion of children under the age of 25 who have taken up their father’s work is only 9%.
At the policy level, France’s mandatory ‘civic education pact’ requires families to participate in 16 hours of public affairs seminars per year, while the Netherlands uses ‘digital literacy certification’ to tie up the allocation of resources for family education, forcing 67 per cent of parents to learn the basics of programming. Eastern European countries such as Poland are facing a values rift, with the conflict between traditional Catholic families and Westernised education intensifying, and demand for youth counselling surging by 214 per cent. Current challenges are centred on the domestication of technology (disputes over family screen education in the UK are increasing by 55% a year) and the integration of immigrants (Muslim families in Germany have a 78% mother tongue transmission rate, but cultural identity barriers make the dropout rate 2.4 times higher than in native families). Future trends show an ‘ecological shift’, with 79% of Norwegian families implementing ‘climate parenting programmes’ and Danish legislation requiring parents to submit annual ‘nature contact hours’ reports. European family education is undergoing a profound transition from human capital formation to an ethic of sustainability.
