tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post1849812721117095361..comments2024-03-20T00:30:11.702-07:00Comments on Home Education Heretic: No longer a home educatorSimon Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10865289865412656573noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-74033445291794945362010-10-19T16:03:38.877-07:002010-10-19T16:03:38.877-07:00"If somebody challenged me now and said, '..."If somebody challenged me now and said, 'Aren't you a farm worker?', I should be surprised and ask them why on earth they thought so."<br /><br />But that was not what you were asked. It was clear from the context that you were being asked if you had ever been a teacher. <br /><br />"I have probably spent about as long on this as I intend to spend, especially since I have been through it all a hundred times before. I will explain once more and then I shall not be responding to further questions."<br /><br />You've been asked a hundred times before if you are a trained teacher because in one place you say you are and in another you deny it. Every single time you have deflected the question and attempted to change the subject or twist the question (as in the example quoted above). You've just given a long list of previous occupations that nobody has the slightest interest in yet seem incapable of saying, yes, I trained and was employed as a Primary School Teacher, or no, I was not trained or employed as a Primary School Teacher. <br /><br />It doesn't really matter which it is though because you either lied to give authority to a newspaper article or you lied in order to 'win' an argument on an email list. And then you wonder why you are distrusted...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-5919449604682634262010-10-19T15:43:33.610-07:002010-10-19T15:43:33.610-07:00"If somebody challenged me now and said, '..."If somebody challenged me now and said, 'Aren't you a farm worker?', I should be surprised and ask them why on earth they thought so."<br /><br />But if someone asked you if had ever been a farm worker, why on earth would you lie and say you hadn't? Maybe because having been a farm worker in the past would weaken a current argument.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-40111420934029466782010-10-19T08:08:19.723-07:002010-10-19T08:08:19.723-07:00I'm don't care about your history. I don&#...I'm don't care about your history. I don't care if you have been a teacher or not. I'm just explaining to you why people don't trust you. Nothing you have said so far has disproved my assertion that you have a history of lying to give your opinions more authority than they would otherwise have, seeing this as perfectly normal, and this is why you are distrusted. I fail to how my gender or history is relevant to proving or disproving this assertion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-42444922472793454172010-10-19T07:37:29.836-07:002010-10-19T07:37:29.836-07:00I have probably spent about as long on this as I i...I have probably spent about as long on this as I intend to spend, especially since I have been through it all a hundred times before. I will explain once more and then I shall not be responding to further questions. In my life, I have been many things and done a lot of different jobs. If somebody were to suggest that I got on well with, say for example, civil servants at the Department for Education, because I am myself a civil servant; I should deny it and say quite truthfully, 'I am not a civil servant'. This does not mean that between 1974 and 1977 I was not a civil servant at the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. I was. Similarly, when I first married in 1978, I put down my profession as 'agricultural worker'. This was because I was working on a farm at that time. If somebody challenged me now and said, 'Aren't you a farm worker?', I should be surprised and ask them why on earth they thought so. These are two small examples. I notice that you carefully avoid revealing even your own gender, let alone details of your life in this way. For this reason, I shall have no more to say about this, at least until you start to tell us a little about your own past; details such as your employment history and so on. I seem to be giving a lot of information away and receiving none in return!Simon Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10865289865412656573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-86289579031915959522010-10-19T07:23:20.895-07:002010-10-19T07:23:20.895-07:00"As far as writing for magazines goes and the..."As far as writing for magazines goes and the way that women's magazines, for example, alter men's names into women, well I have gone into this in depth here before and do not intend to repeat the exercise! "<br /><br />I've never been interested in this. Pen names are so common that, unless you call yourself something in order to give an article false authority (Professor Webb, for instance) it's largely irrelevant. I'm interested in why you lied about being a teacher in the newspaper article or why you lied about not being trained teacher on the HE list. This lie would affect how people viewed what you had say because it related to education, about which you were claiming superior knowledge (or lack of superior knowledge) as a result of training and experience.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-1114285079045133932010-10-19T07:19:40.724-07:002010-10-19T07:19:40.724-07:00"Yes, as usual, the whole story is not being ..."Yes, as usual, the whole story is not being told here. I made it clear that as far as Essex, my local authority, were concerned, I was 'just a parent'."<br /><br />No you didn't. You said that you are not a teacher and said nothing about telling Essex that you were 'just a parent', I've just read the conversation through again as I happen to have kept all my old emails from that time. <br /><br />So are you a trained teacher? A simple question and we still don't know the answer.<br /><br />"One of the people above suggests that this is the first time that I have metnioned that this was based upon an article I wrote, but I went into it in detail over a year ago. Wake up, Rip Van Winkle!"<br /><br />Wake up, Simon, I've already apologised for missing that.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-13100998705654877632010-10-19T06:48:10.785-07:002010-10-19T06:48:10.785-07:00Anybody wanting to see a little more about the not...Anybody wanting to see a little more about the notorious claim that I boast of being prepared to lie for money, should look at the post for October 7th last year; Writing for the Papers. One of the people above suggests that this is the first time that I have metnioned that this was based upon an article I wrote, but I went into it in detail over a year ago. Wake up, Rip Van Winkle!Simon Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10865289865412656573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-30340730997395387922010-10-19T05:58:56.760-07:002010-10-19T05:58:56.760-07:00Yes, as usual, the whole story is not being told h...Yes, as usual, the whole story is not being told here. I made it clear that as far as Essex, my local authority, were concerned, I was 'just a parent'. I made it plain by a few anecdotes that at case conferences I had heard mothers describe themselves in this way and decided that when I had a child, that is how I would describe myself as well. Essex have no idea to this day what my past profession was; why would I tell them that?<br /><br />As far as writing for magazines goes and the way that women's magazines, for example, alter men's names into women, well I have gone into this in depth here before and do not intend to repeat the exercise!Simon Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10865289865412656573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-20182523330254108762010-10-19T04:07:16.125-07:002010-10-19T04:07:16.125-07:00"Are you sure that I did not say, 'I am n..."Are you sure that I did not say, 'I am not a teacher', in the sense that I am no longer a teacher? I seem to recollect that there was some objection to my being on list on the grounds that I was a professional and therefore had no business there."<br /><br />No, you were told that as a qualified teacher you would get an easy ride from the LA. You answered this by stating that you are not a teacher. Clearly the issue was that having the training and experience of a qualified teacher would be valued and respected by the LA, your current position would be irrelevant. You expressed bafflement at this claim (that you were a teacher) and someone brought up your article in which you claim to be a Primary School to explain why someone might believe this to be the case. This was when you explained that it is entirely normal to lie in order to give authority to an article and to support what would otherwise be considered uninformed opinion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-85865976080270251522010-10-19T03:54:09.282-07:002010-10-19T03:54:09.282-07:00Were you ever a primary school teacher, Simon? And...Were you ever a primary school teacher, Simon? And did you enliven history lessons (in school) by allowing children to act out historical tableaux?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-17821093083908473682010-10-19T03:10:35.013-07:002010-10-19T03:10:35.013-07:00'But when asked about this on the email list y...'But when asked about this on the email list you said that you were not a teacher '<br /><br />Are you sure that I did not say, 'I am not a teacher', in the sense that I am no longer a teacher? I seem to recollect that there was some objection to my being on list on the grounds that I was a professional and therefore had no business there. I think that I was reassuring anxious parents that I was not currently employed by a local authority and that nor did I work in a school.Simon Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10865289865412656573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-35682196174450412322010-10-19T02:53:01.325-07:002010-10-19T02:53:01.325-07:00Simon wrote,
"Ah, so you are saying, if I am ...Simon wrote,<br />"Ah, so you are saying, if I am able to follow you correctly, that somewhere I claim to be a qualified teacher and elsewhere I say that I am not. Have I got that right? "<br /><br />Yes. I'm not sure why you are finding this so difficult to follow as you say yourself above that, "it's perfectly true that I described myself as a teacher in that article" and you must know your are not a teacher in the sense implied in the article.<br /><br /> In a telegraph article, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/3337822/But-how-did-Romeo-feel.html, you say:<br /><br /><i>As a primary school teacher, I have occasionally enlivened a history lesson in this way, allowing the children to act out historical tableaux.</i><br /><br />But when asked about this on the email list you said that you were not a teacher and that often article writers lie about things like this in order to give an article authority. This belief of yours, that misleading readers in this way to support and bolster your opinion and add authority to an argument is acceptable and normal, is one of the reasons many people do not trust what you say.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-1261651564612738592010-10-18T23:49:55.015-07:002010-10-18T23:49:55.015-07:00'I skimmed through the rest of the post, but a...'I skimmed through the rest of the post, but as soon as I read your comments about "wool-crafting" I wondered if you'd heard of felting. Just look it up on google images and you'll see what I mean. She probably does all sorts of things with wool, which would justify a description like this.'<br /><br />Thanks for that, Scatty. It's just that most people I know say that they do felting or weaving or knitting. Using the expression wool crafting just sounded odd. Have you ever heard of anybody else who says, 'I am a wool crafter'?Simon Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10865289865412656573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-8415163942684587292010-10-18T23:48:01.496-07:002010-10-18T23:48:01.496-07:00'Anonymous said...
That you are a qualified t...'Anonymous said... <br />That you are a qualified teacher.'<br /><br />Ah, so you are saying, if I am able to follow you correctly, that somewhere I claim to be a qualified teacher and elsewhere I say that I am not. Have I got that right?Simon Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10865289865412656573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-90501387359477472902010-10-18T19:08:59.167-07:002010-10-18T19:08:59.167-07:00I skimmed through the rest of the post, but as soo...I skimmed through the rest of the post, but as soon as I read your comments about "wool-crafting" I wondered if you'd heard of felting. Just look it up on google images and you'll see what I mean. She probably does all sorts of things with wool, which would justify a description like this.Rinahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09619473098124504880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-46119341065619987232010-10-18T16:28:36.919-07:002010-10-18T16:28:36.919-07:00Apologies for missing previous references to the o...Apologies for missing previous references to the original magazine article. I think I was thrown by its adaptation to answer a particular question about you being a teacher on the email list and its chatty style. It seemed more suitable for an email conversation than a magazine article. <br /><br />You also wrote:<br /><br /><i>"The fact is that many magazines wish to appear authoritative. To this end, they often encourage contributors to puff up their qualification to write upon a given topic. There is no particular secret about this, it's just how things work in that field."</i><br /><br />So you are obviously aware that the reason you said you were a teacher in the newspaper article was to mislead readers and suggest an authority for the article that did not exist. I think your belief that lying in order to support and bolster your opinion and to add authority to your argument is an acceptable and normal practice is one of the reasons many people do not trust what you say.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-43941882603293143352010-10-18T16:16:54.628-07:002010-10-18T16:16:54.628-07:00That you are a qualified teacher.That you are a qualified teacher.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-16672065815028351372010-10-18T15:20:08.376-07:002010-10-18T15:20:08.376-07:00'Yet despite discussing it many times and even...'Yet despite discussing it many times and even devoting a post to it you never mentioned that it originally formed part of a magazine article?'<br /><br />I have mentioned this countless times, devoting as I say an entire post to the subject.<br /><br />'Err, you lied in the article, not about lying.'<br /><br />Sorry, this is getting a little complicated. What is the lie to which you refer?Simon Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10865289865412656573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-69719054072353107902010-10-18T15:03:12.707-07:002010-10-18T15:03:12.707-07:00Simon quoted and wrote,
"'This is the fir...Simon quoted and wrote,<br />"'This is the first time I've heard this explanation for the quoted text despite it being trotted out many time previously.'<br /><br />I have made many jokes about it here, including devoting a post to it. This is getting pretty stale by now."<br /><br />Yet despite discussing it many times and even devoting a post to it you never mentioned that it originally formed part of a magazine article?<br /><br />"'And how can admitting that you lied about being a teacher to give an article some authority be classed as satire?'<br /><br />I was not aware that I had lied about this. We have been over this ground so often that I fear there is little to be said now."<br /><br />Err, you lied in the article, not about lying.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-91762512405325739012010-10-18T09:51:45.600-07:002010-10-18T09:51:45.600-07:00'Did you really write, "it's perfectl...'Did you really write, "it's perfectly true that I described myself as a teacher in that article",'<br /><br />I obviously adapted the piece so that it was appropriate for the answer which I was giving!<br /><br />'This is the first time I've heard this explanation for the quoted text despite it being trotted out many time previously.'<br /><br />I have made many jokes about it here, including devoting a post to it. This is getting pretty stale by now.<br /><br />'And how can admitting that you lied about being a teacher to give an article some authority be classed as satire?'<br /><br />I was not aware that I had lied about this. We have been over this ground so often that I fear there is little to be said now.Simon Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10865289865412656573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-41501248385907771682010-10-18T09:08:38.319-07:002010-10-18T09:08:38.319-07:00"This makes it a racing certainty that this p..."This makes it a racing certainty that this particular anonymous is none other than Mike Fortune-Wood! Who but he would use a word like 'trangressions' in this context?"<br /><br />What a load of tosh! Why would use of a single word suggest Mike FW? I've been mistaken for at least three other people by you in the past so I very much doubt you are accurate this time.<br /><br />"The quotation is from an article which I wrote for a magazine about the problems of freelance writers."<br /><br />This is the first time I've heard this explanation for the quoted text despite it being trotted out many time previously. Did you really write, "it's perfectly true that I described myself as a teacher in that article", in an article for a magazine about the problems of freelance writers? Seems very strange that it was 'quoted' in answer to a question on the email list about you saying you were a teacher in an article. It reads far more like something a person might write to an email list rather than a magazine article. <br /><br />And how can admitting that you lied about being a teacher to give an article some authority be classed as satire?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-53412243488569003802010-10-18T09:06:11.000-07:002010-10-18T09:06:11.000-07:00So you didn't do this then, Simon?So you didn't do this then, Simon?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-11147290946815854282010-10-18T06:50:26.129-07:002010-10-18T06:50:26.129-07:00'I imagine your transgressions are well known ...'I imagine your transgressions are well known to many by now,'<br /><br />This makes it a racing certainty that this particular anonymous is none other than Mike Fortune-Wood! Who but he would use a word like 'trangressions' in this context? Why is he ashamed to sign his name to these comments? The quotation is from an article which I wrote for a magazine about the problems of freelance writers. I included in a post to HE-UK because I thought it would give people a laugh. It never occurred to me for a moment that anybody would read it as anything other than satire, but I seriously underestimated the po-faced and humourless nature of many of those on this list!Simon Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10865289865412656573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-28984601208404337182010-10-18T06:32:55.085-07:002010-10-18T06:32:55.085-07:00"This sort of thing is basically a smear job ..."This sort of thing is basically a smear job and not a particularly well done one at that. What are these other dubious activities? Paedophilia? Treason?, Bank robberies?"<br /><br />I imagine your transgressions are well known to many by now, but just in case some have missed it, you yourself have admitted to at least some of them and these reveal a complete lack of moral integrity, imo.<br /><br />On top of writing about crystal healing and astrology in what looks like bad faith, you have also let on that:<br /><br />"I did post a link to a bit I did for the Telegraph. Now I must let you into a little secret. Third rate hack freelancers, into which category I am obliged to place myself, have a deplorable habit of misrepresenting themselves to both editors and also the public at large. It's perfectly true that I described myself as a teacher in that article. However if you were to be a reader of True Detective, then you would a few years ago have found me describing myself as a former detective from Scotland Yard! And don't even ask what I claimed to be when writing for The Lady..... Why, I even change gender for women's magazines. I know, I'm utterly shameless, but what can I do? I have to pay the bills like everybody else. Or maybe I should go on benefits?"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-30521490191104934622010-10-18T05:26:08.993-07:002010-10-18T05:26:08.993-07:00'I've no idea where your strange idea that...'I've no idea where your strange idea that only parents can be home educators stems from'.<br /><br />I have no such idea. I was responding to the person who commented above;<br /><br />'It's usually just a shorthand expression of exasperation and a wish for you to go away and stop interfering in other people's freedoms to educate in the most suitable way for their child (incidentally a requirement in law). The other people you mention are not attempting to limit the freedoms of current and future home educators,'<br /><br />This person was using 'home educator' to mean a person educating their child. I was following their use of the expression.Simon Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10865289865412656573noreply@blogger.com