Monday 17 January 2011

The elephant in the home education room

There seems little doubt that the number of children in the United Kingdom being educated by their parents is growing. Since nobody knows how many there actually are of course, it is impossible to say what the rate of growth is. It is probably not as fast as some have suggested. In a book last year, for instance, Mike Fortune-Wood claimed that something over eighty thousand children in this country were being electively home educated. In a post on his list HE-UK yesterday, the number seems to have grown to over a hundred thousand!

The really steep increase in numbers of such children began some time in the 1990s. The Internet probably played a role in this, as parents could now be in touch instantly with others who could counsel and advice them. Information on court cases and the relevant legislation also became available at the click of a mouse. We all have a tendency to project our own character upon other people. So if we withdrew our children from school because we felt that it was not right for them and we are genuinely providing them with an education, we tend naturally to assume that others who de-register their children or don't send them to school in the first place are working from a perspective similar to our own. This can be a mistake.

Much of the current alarm over home education and calls for something to be done about it have been precipitated not by the sort of home educating parent one sees on Internet lists or meets at groups. It has rather been precipitated by concern about children in the Gypsy/Roma/Traveller 'community'. In late 2005, the Department for Education and Skills commissioned Arthur Ivatts to look into the situation with children in this community who were not attending school. The following year, he produced his report. It was called Elective Home Education: the situation regarding current policy, provision and practice in Elective Home Education for Gypsy, Roma and traveller Children (DfES Research Report RW77). His conclusions can be briefly summed as as follows. First, a large and increasing number of these children were not being sent to school on the grounds that their parents were educating them. Secondly, their parents were not really able to do so and the whole thing was a scam, designed to allow the parents not to bother with their children's education. Thirdly, the law needed to be tightened up to put a stop to this practice.

Home educating parents often seem unsure what has been driving the calls for change in legislation. It really began in earnest with Ivatts' report. In some local authorities, over half the children known to the authority who are supposedly being home educated belong to this group. It will be remembered that one criticism of the York Consulting research was that they had chosen nine local authorities with a disproportionate number of travellers. In fact, many local authorities now believe that this might be the single largest group of home educated children. In other words, the rise in numbers of home educated children might be caused not by the sort of parent who belongs to Education Otherwise, or who posts on HE-UK, but by Gypsies and Travellers who do not want their children to attend school.

The interesting thing about this is that it is seldom discussed openly. This is probably because people are nervous of being accused of racism and bend over backwards to be culturally sensitive. If the girls in this community stop education at primary age and help their mothers round the camp, well that's their custom. Who is to say that this is any the less of an education than that in schools?

Taking action against the Gypsy/Roma/Traveller community about whether their kids are in school or not is frankly impossible. However, the inability to tackle this issue in that particular community will have a knock-on effect on those who do not live in caravans. If a moral panic about elective home education sweeps through local authorities and they feel that they must do something about it on their patch, then most of the EWOs will not be wishing to trudge down to the nearest camp and confront a crowd of angry Gypsies. Far easier and more enjoyable to turn up on the doorstep of a single mother who might be more likely to listen to reason. Much of the present atmosphere about home education began with the Ivatts report. It is certainly worth reading if one wants to know the background to the current debate on the subject.

12 comments:

  1. The traveller communities that were involved and live with at times have varying degrees of education, some even run classes and educate each others children. The stigma off travellers having lots of feral children running round is not my view of this life but has been created in part by the media. As to why many refuse the school system come down to in short .. Indoctrination and creation of a I want, I want child which is not the ethos of a nomadic life style. The other side is who's to say that learning to live as a community, looking out for each other, trading skills, survival with out the modern trappings of life is not an education, the later being a skill that many school children could not do.

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  2. 'The other side is who's to say that learning to live as a community, looking out for each other, trading skills, survival with out the modern trappings of life is not an education, the later being a skill that many school children could not do.'

    This is an interesting and debateable point. The fact remains though that concern for children of this community has helped stoke a panic about home education in general which has affected all home educators in the country. I am really curious as to why this is not very often discussed. In my own local authority area, Essex, the Gypsy/Roma/Traveller community account for a large proportion of the electively home educated children and yet one never hears about them. It is acceptable to talk about the possible shortcomings of the educational provision being furnished by middle class, white parents, but not really done to enquire too deeply into that provided by a minority. This seems to me strange and not wholly satisfactory.

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  3. going to be a lot less visits now any way due to councils lack of money with the cutbacks!

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  4. 'Much of the current alarm over home education'

    What current alarm over home education? You mean the one the last government tried to stir through Badman up with all the nonsense about abuse etc?

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  5. 'The interesting thing about this is that it is seldom discussed openly.'

    That's because it's not a particular problem. The GRT community which I have links with have very little HE. The one girl who is being HE'd by her mother is doing so to protect her morality. School was a place where she was pcicking up all sorts of disgusting ideas about early sex. Mum wanted to protect her from that and is doing a grand job of teaching her too. Last time I saw them was on 'Gypsies Got Talent' on tv. Articulate, confident. (And not pregnant!)Brill.

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  6. OT to the current discussion but thought you might be interested in a discussion about using OU qualifications for entry to medical school. Not HE related as far as I know. It is in the mature student forum, but interesting all the same - www.newmediamedicine.com/forum/mature-students/18235-ou-qualifications-confused.html

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  7. Are you okay, Simon? It's not like you to miss a day blogging. I hope you and your family are all well.

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  8. Are you okay, Simon? It's not like you to miss a day blogging. I hope you and your family are all well.

    No he not ok he sulking that the councils have no money to waste on home educators! and that the old children bill went down the drain! LOL

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  9. 'No he not ok he sulking that the councils have no money to waste on home educators! and that the old children bill went down the drain! LOL'

    Grow up.

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  10. Grow up.

    OMG did that offend you! are you sulking to that the old children bill went down the drain to? I heard Ed Balls was a bit upset as well LOL

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  11. Peter, when are you going to understand that you are not doing our cause any good?

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  12. Peter, when are you going to understand that you are not doing our cause any good?

    and you are? What do you do anyway? Im afraid we want justice for the way we where treated! We are so angry your never know if they is a hell i hope HCC LA staff rot in it! and that be to good for them!

    I got a question for you if lies/half truths where told about your family what would you do? say dont worry about it?

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