One of the most depressing things about the world of British home education is that year after year, the same nonsense is endlessly recycled; the same fundamental misunderstanding of the law perpetuated, to the confusion of new home educating parents. Take the constant talk about the ’right’ to home educate. There is of course no such thing; the child has a right to an education, while the parents, alas, have only duties. This is one of the commonest myths in home education; that any attempt at monitoring is somehow infringing upon the rights of the adults involved. It is in fact aimed at securing the rights of children.
This basic error of perception has had the most unfortunate consequences for some home educators. Because they get into the habit of thinking about their ‘rights’ and not their duties, they lose sight of what those duties actually entail. Despite what some people tell them, there is far more to their duty than at first meets the eye. Let’s have a look at one or two of the things that home educating parents must do to abide by the law. The first thing that they must do is actively supervise and teach their children. It is not enough from the law’s point of view just to let their children pick up things in their own time and at their own inclination. There is a legal obligation too, to follow a curriculum. This curriculum will have certain minimum standards that must be adhered to. Any parent not taking active steps to ensure that the child acquires literacy and grasps the basics of mathematics would be in breach of the law.
These are just a few of the things that home educating parents must do to keep within the law. Many parents do not bother to find out about such duties, because they are instead preoccupied with their imaginary ‘rights’ in the matter.
Sunday 28 June 2015
Saturday 27 June 2015
Joining the movement..
The
other day, somebody posted on one of the home education groups on Facebook,
saying that she was about to take her child from school and was trembling all
over and feeling tremendously emotional about the whole thing; in a dream-like
state. She asked if this was abnormal. The correct answer of course is that if
you react so violently to the prospect of making a new educational arrangement
for your child, whether changing schools or assuming responsibility yourself
for his education; then this is definitely not normal and you should see either
a doctor or a therapist of some kind. People don’t, or rather they should not, not if they are emotionally healthy, become hysterical every time a
child’s educational setting changes. This being the world of British home
educators, there was of course a mad stampede to reassure the woman that her
feelings were quite common for those sending letters to a head teacher.
The
feelings that those commenting on this post talked of, reminded me of varieties
of mystical religious experience; the sort of thing that people report when
they are slain in the spirit at an evangelical church, for instance, or have
just accepted Jesus as their saviour. Recollect, these are parents who have
simply made a new arrangement for their child’s education, nothing more. One mother had cried for two weeks, another
had slept for six weeks. One person cried and was nearly sick, somebody else was
shaking so much, it felt as though she was coming down with the flue. Words
such as ‘terrifying’ were bandied about, others were ‘scared stiff’.
All
this talk puts me in mind strongly of people who have made the decision to join
a cult or surrender themselves to some higher power. It is the language of
religion, rather than education. Here are parents who feel that they are
joining some movement or taking part in an experience which is greater than
them and they are seeking reassurance from others. This is frankly weird and I
can see how some such people end up being exploited emotionally by stronger
characters than themselves. These are vulnerable individuals, who are now desperately
seeking guidance and hoping to be told that they have done the right thing. Little
wonder that some fall under the spell of self-assured men and women who believe themselves
to be leaders of the home educating community. We shall be looking in greater
detail at this idea in the next few days.
Wednesday 17 June 2015
A Militant Home Educator
Mrs Wendy
Charles-Warner must surely be one of the best known home educators in the
country. An indefatigable, an unkind person might say shameless, self-publicist;
she has appeared in many newspapers in support of her chosen hobby horse. In
addition to being a representative of the national home education charity, Education
Otherwise, Mrs Charles-Warner has remorselessly chronicled in print the lives
of the daughter and grandson whom she taught herself. Here is a recent example
of her appearance in a national newspaper, in this case The Guardian, on behalf of Education Otherwise;
In addition
to these activities, Mrs Charles-Warner runs, under an assumed name, a Facebook
group which purports to help home educating parents in their disputes with local
authorities. It is popularly known as
Help Dealing with Officialdom and may be found here;
So much for
the public face of this woman’s activities on behalf of the cause of home
education. There is another side to her interest in this subject though and it
is one about which she is strangely reticent. It is time now to shed light upon
this lesser known aspect of Mrs Charles-Warner’s involvement with home education in this
country.
A brief look
at the advice given on the Facebook group mentioned above, soon shows that its
members are urged to live in a state of virtual warfare with their local
authorities; refusing visits and doing their utmost not to cooperate with any
requests for information about the education which they are providing for their
children. This is because, as Mrs Charles-Warner has repeatedly said, ‘There is
no legal basis to monitor home education’. On her Facebook group yesterday, a
mother posted, saying that she was happy to have a visit from her local
authority to check up on the educational provision she was making for her
child. Mrs Charles-Warner thought this a bad idea, saying ‘I would not meet
with her because she is seeking work samples and evidence, to which she is not
entitled.’
I hope we
all have this clear now. Wendy Charles-Warner, who acts on behalf of Education
Otherwise and is a militant home educator, advises parents not to meet with
local authority officers or provide evidence of a child’s work. One mother who
adopted this strategy, received a pretty sharp letter from her local authority
last week. They threatened her with legal action. The letter she received may be seen below.
Look now at
the lower right hand of that letter and you will see who
helped to compose it. It was of course, none other than that
same Wendy Charles-Warner who was yesterday urging a parent who was happy to receive
a visit and provide samples of work to resist such an intrusion. And yet here
she is now, helping and advising a local authority to take action against
somebody who follows just this approach! Note that the letter, drafted with Mrs Charles-Warner's help, demands visits and samples of work; the very things which she told another mother that local authorities have no business even to ask for.
I will leave
readers to judge for themselves what is going on here. It is however worth bearing
in mind that Mrs Charles-Warner and the woman with whom she runs the Facebook
group are founders and joint directors of a company which has a commercial interest
in education; Heatherside Education Consultants Ltd. Almost unbelievably, after
advising the local authority to send this letter, Mrs Charles-Warner then set
out to offer her advice to the recipient on how to deal with the local authority! Cynical readers might think all this a
perfect illustration of that old saying which mentions those who run with the
fox, while at the same time hunting with the hounds.
