Implications of attachment theory and Catholic anthropology for homeschooled adolescents' appropriation of family values

Abstract

Catholic homeschooling ideally focuses on educating the whole person, and of paramount importance is character and moral education alongside academics. The heart of education is a relationship between educator (parent) and student, for the mind is reached through the heart. How will the homeschooled adolescent appropriate his family’s religious and moral values in the homeschool setting? Will his attachment style influence the level to which he appropriates those values? What can Catholic anthropology offer to deepen our understanding of this process? Attachment theory addresses the quality of relationships, and thus will be used to offer a tentative explanation of the differences between children who readily assimilate the education offered them and others who display more resistance. A child with a better attachment relationship will use his attachment figure as a secure base to explore not only the physical world, but also the world of ideas and values, gaining a quality intellectual formation while forming a solid identity that contributes to a mature and flourishing life. This dissertation examines research on attachment theory and education outcomes, integrating the foundational perspective and insights of Catholic anthropology, and makes connections between it and research done on Catholic adolescents’ and young adults’ experience of the faith.It will propose a model that illustrates the relationship between attachment and appropriation of Catholic moral and religious values. The first part of this model considers the input variables that have been operative in the adolescent’s relationships. Second, the influence of thoughts and emotions on how an adolescent relates to others. Third, the behaviors that result from these thoughts and emotions. Fourth, the patterns of interaction that crystallize as a result of these behaviors. Fifth, the expectations that the adolescent comes to have as a result of these patterns of interaction. Sixth, this results in an Internal Working Model that informs an adolescent of how the world around him functions, and influences how patterns of interaction are reinforced. This results in either the adolescent rejecting his caregivers and the values they have attempted to pass on, or identifying with his caregivers and appropriating his family’s values.