Home educators reserve a special kind of loathing and detestation for those home educating parents whom they see as betraying them by playing footsy with our legislators; some of whom wish to introduce new restrictions on home education. The present writer knows this to his cost!
The fact that Alison Sauer, who is a member of all the main HE lists, has not come forward to deny the rumours circulating about her involvement with Graham Stuart and his new guidelines, makes it a racing certainty that she is, as she has told her friends, tasked with writing them. She has not been doing so unaided. Fiona Nicholson's name has also been mentioned and it is true that she was the first person whom I thought of in this connection. I find it unlikely now. I had quite an amicable relationship with one home educating mother, exchanging emails regularly, until I was unwise enough to crack a light hearted joke about Fiona on this blog. Whereupon my pen-pal was furious, because she was a good friend of Fiona's. This same person has now been asking questions on Graham Stuart's facebook wall. She would hardly be asking about these new guidelines if Fiona Nicholson were mixed up in them. I have been assured by an anonymous person here that Education Otherwise deny having anything to do with this business. This may be so, but if it is then it is odd that they have not issued a public denial, especially in view of the feverish interest in this matter. I can't somehow see EO being sidelined in this way.
There are two points of view about this whole question. The first is a feeling that after the Badman review and the collapse of Schedule 1 of the CSF Bill due to the calling of the election, the government has no appetite for a fight with home educators. They have been warned off by the great opposition which was witnessed and are happy to leave things as they are, at least for the next few years. The other point of view, expressed by Graham Stuart, is that civil servants in the Department for Education are still intriguing for a change in the legal situation. He claims that in order to fight this, he is producing a set of guidelines which will prevent any new moves regarding registration, monitoring and so on. This line does not really add up. The ink on the 2007 guidelines wasn't dry before the agitation started for new legislation. There was barely eighteen months between the publication of the guidelines and the launching of the Badman review. How can Graham Stuart assure anybody that this will not happen with his new, improved guidelines?
This affair is opening up cracks in the home educating community already, before these guidelines have even been seen. Mike Fortune-Wood, whose own Internet list receives only half a dozen comments a day now, is irritated that the Badman Review Action Group list is becoming popular. He has suggested that it is time for this to close down, presumably so that everybody will hang out on HE-UK instead. Some people though are agitating to make the BRAG list the focal point for anything happening about Alison Sauer's guidelines. And as I said above, Education Otherwise has still to say anything at all about this, which is very strange. If, as is claimed, they are nothing to do with it, have they no opinion on the matter?
I suspect that when we see them, these guidelines are likely to prove shocking to some people. I say this for the following reason. The 2007 guidelines are perfectly clear and easy to understand. Home educating parents were very happy with them and they made the legal situation very plain. Since the law has not changed, what is the need for a new set of guidelines? There is only one answer. Under the pretext of averting an even worse outcome, these guidelines will move in the direction of more local authority involvement with home educators. if this were not the case, then there would be no need to draw up new guidelines in the first place; the 2007 ones are perfectly adequate. I am surprised that so many home educators went off into the woods with Graham Stuart. My own feeling is that anybody who would place their trust in this fellow must really bear the consequences. I cannot resist ending with a famous old limerick;
There was an old woman of Niger
Who smiled as she rode on a tiger.
They came back from the ride
With the woman inside
And the smile on the face of the tiger.
I feel that those who have gone off for a ride with Graham Stuart in this way might very well find that the smile is on his face when they return!
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"The ink on the 2007 guidelines was barely dry before the agitation started for new legislation. There was barely eighteen months between the publication of the guidelines and the launching of the Badman review. How can Graham Stuart assure anybody that this will not happen with his new, improved guidelines?"
ReplyDeleteThe 2007 guidelines were drawn up following a consultation when Alan Johnson was Education and Skills secretary and Tony Blair was PM. Blair was a keen supporter of diversity of educational provision and Johnson has considerable union experience, so will be familiar with strategies designed to placate opposing factions. The Badman review was launched by Balls under Brown, both of whom have very different approaches to policy from the Blairites.
My perception of Ed Balls is that he takes an adversarial rather than evidence-based approach to policy development. Home-educators, by definition, were implicitly critical of the education system, so had to be dealt with.
All that you say may well be true, suzyg. However, we have no idea how long Gove will be in post. It is quite possible that guidelines will be approved and published and then a year later a new Secretary of State for Education will come in and decide to 'revisit' the question.
ReplyDeleteOf course there is always the possibility that the law could be changed to make it more difficult for local authorities to be involved in home education. Gove clearly has no interest in increasing LA powers, because it will mean higher costs.
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember that Imran often travels to Pakistan for months at a time to stay with family.
ReplyDeleteGossip...
Mrs Anon
"I have been assured by an anonymous person here that Education Otherwise deny having anything to do with this business. This may be so, but if it is then it is odd that they have not issued a public denial, especially in view of the feverish interest in this matter."
ReplyDeleteThe denial was made on a national email list.
"He claims that in order to fight this, he is producing a set of guidelines which will prevent any new moves regarding registration, monitoring and so on. This line does not really add up."
Have to agree with you there. At best it will be something that can be waved in front of LAs if they overstep current laws but beyond that...? Can't see that it will achieve much.
"There is only one answer. Under the pretext of averting an even worse outcome, these guidelines will move in the direction of more local authority involvement with home educators."
Can't really see the point in this either unless it's to encourage voluntary and positive involvement like easier access to exams, for instance. The guidelines have no force in law so anything above and beyond the law will rely on the goodwill of either LAs or home educators.
'The denial was made on a national email list.'
ReplyDeleteWhich list was that? Another name which has been thrown out is that of Betsy Anderson, an American woman.
Betsy has also denied it on a national email list.
ReplyDeleteGood grief...where are the FACTS? Why bother to just repeat unsubstantiated gossip, Simon. You claim to be all about facts, research etc then go and present unfounded rumour.
Mrs Anon
I've heard it directly from Fiona Nicholson that neither she, nor anyone in EO (to the best of her knowledge) is involved in this. The first they knew about it at all was Neils' post.
ReplyDeleteI think if they had made a formal announcement, or openly expressed an EO opinion, it would have made the conversation about EO, and been a distraction from discussing the merits or otherwise of the idea.