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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Why do people fear Home Educators so much?

810 replies

sebumfillaments · 16/08/2017 22:06

Not a TAAT but inspired by the other thread, I was stunned by the level of vitriol aimed at home education. Is it all borne from fear and ignorance?

Home Ed isn't about replicating school. And education isn't (in our case) about gaining qualifications from an institution to increase their value in the workforce!

So why so much animosity?

OP posts:
MaisyPops · 22/08/2017 10:43

I can see you feel it would be better had with other teaching professionals.
Sigh. Hmm
I have said numerous times I think discussions should be had with lots of different experiences including parents.
Mercifully parents do have a lot of input in choosing placements and if all else fails many can fall back on HE, which is not such a dreadful outcome
I've already said they do.

I'm not sure why you needed to try and get some kind of last word that yet again completely misrepresents my views but hey, if it makes you feel better then fine.

cantkeepawayforever · 22/08/2017 10:51

many can fall back on HE, which is not such a dreadful outcome

In the course of my research in the stats on PMLD, one of the interesting facets was the distribution of severe and profound learning disability within the population. It is more common in deprived communities. Severe learning difficulties are most common in Traveller and Romany/Gypsy families, and PMLD actually most common in a small number of relatively enclosed ethnic groups. One of the things that struck me, given the focus on HE for SEN children in this thread, is to what extent the nature of the parent group of such severely disabled children, given the particular socio-economic mix, would be able to provide effective HE for the children?

As in, HE may be a better and more viable option for some particular SEN, both because of the nature of the SEN and because of the nature of the parent group in which that SEN perhaps more typically arises (or because that SEN arises randomly, and thus the parent population is representative of society as a whole, so there is no specific bias towards 'those capable / less capable of delivering high quality HE'). However, for other SEN, both the nature of the SEN and the nature of the parent group may affect the viability and quality of HE?

that's a really sensitive discussion, I appreciate, because of course within any community there will be those capable of home educating well, as no group is homogenous. However, even if we look specifically at economic deprivation, rather than any dimension concerned with ethnic group, it is obviously harder for a parent from very deprived circumstances to effectively home -educate a child who, simply due to the nature of their SEN, requires a very large amount of specialist equipment for their care and education.

zzzzz · 22/08/2017 11:11

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MaisyPops · 22/08/2017 11:39

That's how it sounded Brew accepted. Smile

I don't think it's an alarming dynamic. I think we jusy come at it from different angles.

I do genuinely believe in inclusion, but not at any cost. I also strongly believe in parental involvement, open discussions and partnerships.
I got quite wound up when i felt you were comparing having a child with additional needs to teaching a large mainstream class (which includes childreb with SEN). I felt like you were saying that because parents live it 24/7 then they know what it is to do mainstream when it's not the same (and that sentiment comes up more often than you may think in schools).

Ultimately, I think the system needs work and improvement, but that people need to respect their remits and specialisms when voicing views and thay this is true of professionals and parenta.

Cornucopia55 · 22/08/2017 12:35

Joely B wrote "The rest of your post tells us how your kids got into good colleges after you had the sense to send them back to school. Hardly a sterling defence of HE, is it?

Of course not, no. One was year 9, the other year 12. Before that they'd clearly just been counting jelly babies." Grin

Similar story here. One went into sixth form to do A-levels the next for Year 10. The independent study skills learned during home-ed gave a great start to A-levels. Nothing but praise from the teachers about the sprog's attitude and study skills. Socialising wasn't a problem as - shock, horror - sprogs had been allowed out of their cupboards under the stairs most days to attend groups/drama/sport/music . Next sprog went into Yr 10 and found that frustrating as he was used to being able to study more efficiently, felt a lot of time was wasted, though appreciated some teachers a lot. Both saw pros and cons of home-ed and school.

cantkeepawayforever · 22/08/2017 12:57

zzzzz,

I absolutely agree with the point that HE - or tbh any educational setting - can be 'seen more favourably' (or not) and this is not always the same as 'being better for the child'.

One particular example of this is the HE of teenage Traveller girls to become wives and mothers within that community. It is not particularly 'seen more favourably' in the wider world, and in fact is often seen as an example where HE 'fails' children. However, I have read interesting articles (some time ago now, so I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to find them again at this point) where Traveller girls who were educated out of home to A-levels and beyond talked about the difficulty that thus being estranged from their community's 'norms' led to. What from one point of view can be seen as 'an unacceptable limiting of educational horizons and life expectations' can in fact be the route to living a life as an accepted member of a community, rather than forever being 'betwixt and between'.

zzzzz · 22/08/2017 13:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

cantkeepawayforever · 22/08/2017 13:52

i think it is difficult to be clear-cut - my example of Traveller girls were those with no SEN, who had the academic potential to progress normally through MS school to GCSEs and A-levels or beyond - ie to gain the 'entry tickets' to a life and career in 'the wider world' should they so wish. The difficulty for some who did take this route, at least in the articles I read, was that it could then be difficult to be fully re-integrated into the community after this 'non-traditional education [for that community]' should they wish to.

zzzzz · 22/08/2017 13:58

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Cornucopia55 · 23/08/2017 10:14

@BertrandRussell wrote:
"BertrandRussell Fri 18-Aug-17 08:22:39
More anecdotage- a relative of mine went down the well worn "well, if you need the qualifications you can do them later" route, decided later that she wanted to be a barrister, and has been playing catch-up ever since. And has had to make a difficult decision between career and children, because she was 7 years behind her peer group when the time came.

Get all the bits of paper you can. They are utterly pointless- until they suddenly turn into keys to a locked door you desperately want to get through, and which you will have to tunnel under with a teaspoon."

That is a brilliant final paragraph. A great way of putting it, which I will be sharing with other home educators. Thank you.

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