Recommended: 'home education rant'

[thatgaybloke]

It seems strange to me that the government is against home education, yet seems more than happy to have state funded religious schools that teach children all sorts of rubbish. The number of children in church schools vastly outnumbers those in home education. It seems to me that 80/20 (or even 95/5) rule could be applied to get most benefit if standardisation of education is the aim.

[RowanFortuneWood]

When I studied social science at the OU I came across the interesting ideas of Albert O. Hirschman. He claimed that when somebody has a problem with an institution they have three options: they can ignore the problem, voice their grievance or leave (he called this 'Exit, Voice, and Loyalty'). Religious schools may distort the government agenda, but they are still a part of the proper institution. Home-educators, however, pose a much more radical challenge by exiting.

Thanks for commenting.

[thatgaybloke]

Yes - I think we're in agreement that this is a control issue masquerading as a welfare issue.

It's an annoying distraction and they should be focusing on fixing the very evident issues with the state system rather than trying to take away parents' right to choose how their children should be educated.

[Jkelquedi]

I have known several people during my youth that homeschooled, and they are doing fine now. They are in their thirties. I enjoy living in a place where we have choices.

[RowanFortuneWood]

Indeed, the greatest societies are those that empower people to make autonomous decisions. Thank you for commenting.

[TheBigHo111]

My problems with home schooling are:

Are the parents capable of teaching?

Is the home schooling being done to exclude the child from opposing ideas?

Is the child going to be isolated with little interaction, stifling social development?

I am not against it, and have considered teaching my kids. Those are my issues.

[RowanFortuneWood]

To address your questions I recommend the research of Dr. Paula Rothermel (it can be found on Google). Also, as someone who has been home-educated (and knows many home-educating families) I would say that parents are highly capable, their intention is to care for their children and social isolation is not a problem. Questions are great and encouraged, the problem in the UK is that various forces are aligning against home-education without discussion.

Thank-you for your comment.

[TheBigHo111]

Here in the US it is close to the same. Everything in relation to the state. Home education is detrimental to the state. My child currently does not pledge allegiance to our flag. I spoke to his 1st grade teacher and principal as to why they made a 6 year old recite an oath he could not possibly understand... I received a canned answer of " we follow the state guidelines...blah,blah.

Drones of the government but I digress

I shared that young girls vid and will look into home education.

[RowanFortuneWood]

There is a lot of uncritical acceptance of the government perspective when it comes to issues like education; you raise a good example with regards to children being forced to make oaths they do not necessarily comprehend.

Thanks for sharing the video.

[TheDisexists]

That pledge allegiance thing....is that one of those institutions so ingrained that to suggest abolishing it would create an uproar? Isn't it obvious to anyone by now, that forced repeating of mantras are a brainwashing technique? It's things like this that actually make me proud of NZ, a relatively thought-control-free state without CCTV. (Plenty of other problems of course)