Walking Beside, Not Above: Ethics in Homeschool Research in Hong Kong

A Reflection by Dr. Lai Mei Kei Vivien (Homeschool educator with 24 years of hands-on experience in multicultural settings; homeschool researcher and author in Hong Kong; sole homeschool teacher who guided her daughter through their homeschooling journey to successful admission into a local university at the age of 15)

In the past, I actively encouraged educational researchers to explore homeschooling in Hong Kong. I believed that thoughtful research could help expand the literature and dispel societal misunderstandings. But over time, I’ve encountered a troubling pattern: many researchers who approach me have never homeschooled, have no lived experience, and often don’t even understand what homeschooling truly is.

Even when I patiently guide them—explaining the nuances, the emotional labor, the social challenges—they remain locked in their academic frameworks. They wear their scholarly titles proudly, but what good is a title if it blinds you to the voices of those you claim to study?

Can someone truly understand homeschooling by reading theories and conducting surface-level interviews—without ever walking alongside a homeschool family? 

Can a researcher who has never witnessed the daily realities of homeschool life or understood the cultural nuances of Hong Kong’s Stealth Homeschooling genuinely offer conclusions based on truth rather than assumption?

Isn’t it dangerous to generalize from a distance, especially in a city like Hong Kong, where homeschooling is fragile, stigmatized, and often misunderstood?

When researchers speak without lived understanding, their work risks becoming a mirror that distorts rather than reflects. It’s like reading a guide on positive parenting written by someone with a doctorate in education, but who has never raised a child or practiced the principles they claim to validate. If theory stands alone without experience, can it ever truly illuminate the lives it seeks to understand?

Ethical homeschool research demands more than academic credentials. It requires humility. It requires presence. It requires the courage to say, “I don’t know—teach me.” Only then can research become a bridge between homeschool communities and the society that surrounds them in our city.

Written by Dr. Lai Mei Kei Vivien