Sunday 28 March 2010

The best sort of education?

I have been considering this morning a strange and on the face of it utterly weird proposition. Yesterday, somebody commenting on here expressed the following opinion:

"Do you really believe that going to school all day is more beneficial than using Facebook all day? I certainly don't. At least, while using Facebook this girl is enjoying herself and potentially making friends and raising her self esteem. Many children un-school in this way. If she has potential, it is more likely to emerge under these conditions."

I have seen this view put before, indeed it seems to be quite a popular one on some HE lists. If it were not for this, I should be inclined simply to dismiss it as obviously mad and irresponsible. However, let us treat it seriously and see where it takes us. I think we may safely ignore one sentence straight away; the fact that many home educated children spend their days in this way is no sort of recommendation at all. Many children might be starving themselves or taking drugs; this does not mean that these are desirable course of action. What about the assertion that if a teenager has potential, it is more likely to emerge through using Facebook all day? It is an interesting thesis.

Anybody watching a teenager using Facebook will soon notice that this is all too often an essentially sterile pursuit, somewhat akin to leafing idly through a magazine in the dentist's waiting room. A lot of it consists of looking at photographs of other teenagers, generally taken on mobile phones. There is nothing wrong with this, although most of the photographs are very similar; teenagers putting their tongues out or pulling silly faces. I have never personally seen the attraction of this, but then we all have different hobbies. Another popular game is checking up on friends and friends of friends' status updates. Who's in a new relationship, what's written on your friends' walls and so on. Again, quite an innocuous occupation as far as it goes. The question is, is this the best way to bring out a young person's potential? This is far from clear.

What sort of potential is likely to emerge from glancing at other people's photograph albums or reading what teenagers have to say about their relationships? It might well be valuable socially, but bringing out potential? And being more beneficial generally than being in school? These are curious ideas indeed. One can see how school might bring out potential. Perhaps a child will discover a love of creative writing or an interest in literature. Possibly she will find that she is good at painting or sports, a passion for history might emerge as a consequence of learning about the Tudors. She could find that she enjoys music. I can think of many similar examples. I cannot readily think of any example of the emergence of potential which might come about through spending the day browsing Facebook! The potential to be a spiteful gossip, perhaps? The potential to waste one's life by living vicariously the experiences of others? The potential to be some sort of digital peeping Tom?

It is certainly possible that a teenager would enjoy doing this, as the person who commented yesterday said, and that is absolutely fine, although I am a little unsure as to how looking at Facebook would raise anybody's self esteem. It is conceivable that a lonely teenager would be able to make friends like this, although this is not how it usually happens. Most of us would think that real flesh and blood contact with other human beings would be better than clicking on little avatars like this. And of course, at least as much bullying takes place on such sites as in the playground! Hanging out on Facebook might raise a child's self esteem; it might equally well drive her to despair!

I am grateful to the person who made this comment yesterday, because it illustrates perfectly why many professionals in the field of education feel that there is a need for greater oversight of home education. I don't doubt for a moment that it is true, as this person says, that, "Many children un-school in this way" . That many children supposedly being educated out of school are spending their days slumped in front of a computer while they trawl through social networking sites does not surprise me in the least. This may be a harmless enough hobby or pastime; whether or not it is an adequate substitute for an education is rather more open to question. I can very easily understand why parents who are neglecting their children's education in this way should be resolutely opposed to allowing local authority officers into their homes lest they discover this. I strongly suspect that this fear is at the root of much of the uneasiness about the new legislation and it is refreshing to hear the views of somebody who is being honest about the matter.

6 comments:

  1. "I have seen this view put before, indeed it seems to be quite a popular one on some HE lists. If it were not for this, I should be inclined simply to dismiss it as obviously mad and irresponsible. However, let us treat it seriously and see where it takes us. "

    It depends on the experience of the child in school. If a child is bullied and spends most of their time in school worrying about the bully, planning how they might avoid them in the corridor after the lesson, where they should hide during lunchtime today or how they can get home in one piece, they are not going to be learning and they will be very unhappy and stressed. Can you honestly say that sitting at home on Facebook is worse for this child? At least there is a chance they will eventually not associate education with fear and stress and there is hope that eventually they will find time to think about their future in a relatively stress free environment. Teenagers have been known to discuss serious issues with online too you know.

    "It is conceivable that a lonely teenager would be able to make friends like this, although this is not how it usually happens. Most of us would think that real flesh and blood contact with other human beings would be better than clicking on little avatars like this."

    Why would you think that friendships remain online? I know several teens who have made good friends that they go on to meet regularly in the flesh.

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  2. of course the comment was meant to be taken in the context of a child who probably does need an adjustment period called 'de schooling'.

    This is not the same as autonomous education or 'unschooling' where a child is encouraged by active and involved parents to find interests and pursue them. The latter inevitably leads to all sorts of education taking place whereas the former is only meant to be until a child recovers sufficiently from a negative experience in order to feel more confident to find their own interests and pursue them with parental guidance.
    Whether or not a parent decides to follow an autonomous route or a structured route is neither here nor there in the context that the comment was made-the point was that some children need this space in order to move forward and that within the autonomous spectrum it is this very 'space' where children will recover their sense of self in order to come at their interests from a more whole and genuine starting point.

    My automonous 11 year old child spends quite a lot of time in activities that 'look ' like what Simon thinks are 'not educational activities '- however as she realises that if she wants to pursue her field of interest (although it may change over the years) she must be able to achieve that goal. She spends about 7 hours a week on what could be considered 'traditional subjects' and the rest of her time is day to day living- experiences which invariably end up having some 'educational' value.
    She is ahead of her school peer group in reading and maths and science on this 'paltry' 7 hours and would come across to anyone who met her as a balanced, thoughtful and self contained child who understands how the world around her operates. I have no anxiety what so ever that my LA would find any issues with what her 'provision' is- but my LA is known for being a good practice LA. I would not want to have to justify and demonstrate according to 'school' values my daughters 'achievements' to certain LA's .
    If my daughter was recovering from such a wholly negative experience but I knew she had her own goals of attaining A levels I would make darn sure that she regained her sense of self and hence confidence in order to achieve her goals.If that means leaving her for a while to find her way again then I can only see a benefit.

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  3. You may be right Tania, in assuming that when this person said "unschooling" he did not in fact mean "unschooling". Even if the expression meant was "Deschooling", there is still a bit of a problem. The standard recommendation is for one months deschooling for every year spent in school. This means that a fourteen year old who has just been deregistered in the run-up to GCSEs will be encouraged to spend nine months doing nothing much except hanging around and chilling out. As any teacher will tell you, there is a noticable drop in academic ability just over the seven or eight weeeks of the Summer holidays. This is why there is talk of breaking up that long holiday. A child of fourteen spending nine months before his GCSEs doing nothing but watching television and gawping at Facebook is unlikely in the extreme to do well in his examinations.

    I have no doubt at all that your daughter would be able to keep up with the average primary school education on seven hours a week. This says more about her home environment than about the wisdom of recommending such a course of action generally. Not everybody has the same type of home as yours and in some houses, this way of life would be an educational disaster for a young girl.

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  4. I agree with the last paragraph of your 06.49 post in principle. No comment on the first paragraph ;>)
    I am also a single parent who could be considered to have several 'red flags' in the contactpoint database so I do hope that you can see why I may be reluctant to let anyone 'paid to do a job' be the 'judge' of our educational 'suitability' unless I already had some trust in the current system that my postcode randomly assigns.

    I also see that on this schedule my DD is easily able to get to a level just before the GCSE coursework.I have no idea about the transition at age 14 and how much time the coursework takes up-but I know from other autonomous educators that you can just jump on in.

    I have no vested interest myself in keeping up with the school curriculum and ironically my 'problem' is not as you would expect-she is far enough 'ahead' of that system so that should she decide to return to school she would be bored academically for a while.If she does any MORE of her own work then she will be ready for GCSE level too soon and the current system does not readily facilitate early exams as at the end there is still nowhere to go until a certain age-unless I come into a fortune!
    So you could say my lack of pushing is holding her back from her own aptitude and ability - as would school!

    So can we agree it is not the 'method' of education but more down to the attitude of the parents?
    You feel that all parents should be checked in order to ensure the right attitude is present and I feel that unless someone has reason to believe that this attitude is absent then there is no reason to check everyone although I do think a written statement is a reasonable minimum. In my case and your case can you see what a waste of time and money that would be?

    To me it is obvious that not everyone needs a visit and follow on .My opinion is based on management of resources , not only a fundamental objection to the principle.I actually would rather enjoy meeting with my LA representative but he would know under current legislation and guidlines he is coming as a guest not a 'visitor'.

    I have come to view it as an inevitability that there will pass into law some compulsory registration type system. Whether that is by notification only , notification and an accompanying educational philosophy,notification and a compulsory meeting as a one off unless concerns noted, or as proposed by the CSF Bill, annual compulsory licensing with accompanying visits . I want to ensure that the LA postcode lotteries is removed and access to funding for those who want it or may need it is made available before ANY any element of 'compulsion' is introduced.

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  5. Tania says-I have come to view it as an inevitability that there will pass into law some compulsory registration type system. Whether that is by notification only , notification and an accompanying educational philosophy,notification and a compulsory meeting as a one off unless concerns noted, or as proposed by the CSF Bill, annual compulsory licensing with accompanying visits

    dont think so! be no meeting here you be pleased to know! can you really imagine what a meeting would be like to those that do not want one? first question to LA officer why did you side with school and make problem worse! why did you always agree with the ex head of our child school? why was nothing done about our complaints over the governors why did you do nothing to help our child why did you then go on to tell half truths about us! some how i dont think he be coming round to see us any time soon pity have so many questions for him!!

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  6. I did not say that if a law were passed that everyone would comply with that law did I?

    I would like see the the LAs and the funding before any step is taken which would force parents to have contact with a system they currently distrust and despise.

    However I do not think announcing your intentions publicly on a blog is the wisest course of action!

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