tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post5876029543452244085..comments2024-03-20T00:30:11.702-07:00Comments on Home Education Heretic: An emerging mythos - the little people versus the big, bad stateSimon Webbhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10865289865412656573noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-2199880136125609072009-11-16T05:35:14.733-08:002009-11-16T05:35:14.733-08:00I agree with your statements about the importance ...I agree with your statements about the importance of not accepting the words of any one person at their face value. <br /><br />On the subject of CS Lewis's home education . . . he describes his various educational experiences in his book, Surprised by Joy. His youngest years did include some home education, and his years just prior to Oxford were spent in a one-on-one tutoring situation with a professor affectionately known as "The Great Knock." I would consider those years to be home education, although the educator was not actually Lewis' parent.stridernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-65332969993517188022009-11-13T07:12:59.304-08:002009-11-13T07:12:59.304-08:00"... forces of good ranged against the power ..."... forces of good ranged against the power of evil...And so the mythic system is complete... There can be no midway between these two positions... a classic struggle"<br /><br />Of course, any truly reasonable person would appreciate that Satan has justifiable concerns and grievances, and one must find a midway between the two positions of good and evil. If only God and his dedicated band of sneering followers would find some room for manoeuvre, then the whole of creation would be a much better place for everyone. Remember, Every Angel Matters! Pass the apple pie and brimstone.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-76616965755245849102009-11-13T04:06:11.896-08:002009-11-13T04:06:11.896-08:00I meant of course "home educated", rathe...I meant of course "home educated", rather than "home educator" A simple typo. I shall be postinga longer piece on this subject tonight.Simon Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10865289865412656573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-68284607984371837932009-11-13T03:21:13.674-08:002009-11-13T03:21:13.674-08:00Simon Webb wrote (in reference to Meighan):
"...Simon Webb wrote (in reference to Meighan):<br />"I pointed out that many of those he claimed as home educators were nothing of the sort. I mean C.S. Lewis, for Heaven's sake!"<br /><br />What, precisely, do you mean? <br /><br />Meighan has written that Lewis was home educated, and this is true in that he was privately tutored up to the age of ten. Where has Meighan written that Lewis was a home EDUCATOR? Were you simply confused by the title of the book to which he referred, "Famous Home Schoolers"?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-53049010756478058582009-11-12T23:38:58.958-08:002009-11-12T23:38:58.958-08:00"A classic struggle between a vast, faceless ...<i>"A classic struggle between a vast, faceless and monolithic state determined at all cost to crush individuality and on the other side a handful of dedicated and enlightened thinkers, the archetypal small people standing for their rights."</i><br /><br />Why should this be a myth and not the truth? Why should strangers claim to care about my children's welfare when they don't even know them, or anything about them? <br /><br />You do overstate the situation for dramatic effect though, as usual. I wouldn't call it an entirely faceless state: it has many faces and it's obviously not entirely monolithic. And I wouldn't call those of us 'on the other side' a 'handful' (though I imagine we've been called worse by the DCSF), nor that we're all particularly enlightened thinkers. <br /><br />We're just parents, aren't we? Parents who have found a way of raising our children without school or official intervention that works well - better, we think, than the usual way. Otherwise, we wouldn't do it.<br /><br />Then there is talk of official intervention, which we naturally resist for fear that it will spoil this better way we think we've found. <br /><br />The motivations on the part of government are probably many and diverse. No doubt some will have child welfare concerns, though I think those are a bit questionable for children they don't actually know, as I said above. Others have wider, more long term agenda. Still others will be using our issue temporarily to further their own position. <br /><br />I don't know anyone who sees it exactly as you've depicted but there is an 'us versus them' element to the proceedings, of course. How else can we unite to resist the proposals with any strength or chance of success?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-36193958757037296662009-11-12T23:29:59.685-08:002009-11-12T23:29:59.685-08:00Anyone involved in a campaign against a government...Anyone involved in a campaign against a government feels the same way. It's obvious. Unless you are some huge multinational corporation with endless resources to use in lobbying, you'd be quite right to feel that way. LOL!<br /><br />Facts are important however. The way people refer to Badman and Balls makes me uncomfortable. In the same way that you talking about Rothermel (she might be lying, she might not) makes me feel uncomfortable. I would prefer it if people stuck to the facts, myself and avoided discussing individuals at all.<br /><br />Mrs AnonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7881402584568285627.post-19766844615750966832009-11-12T22:17:51.679-08:002009-11-12T22:17:51.679-08:00If the concerns of government about child welfare ...If the concerns of government about child welfare were genuine, then social services departments would not have been allowed to struggle on with serious staffing problems for a decade (or longer in some cases). LAs can't cope with children known to be at risk, and thousands of school-educated children are 'falling through the net'. <br /><br />In other words, there is robust evidence that large numbers of children in receipt of public sector services are being failed and have been failed over a long period. Why are these problems not being addressed first? It's true that there *might* be problems with home educated children, but legislating for problems that *might* exist is an irresponsible use of public funds.suzygnoreply@blogger.com