"A child is not a vessel to be filled but a lamp to be lit"
This is something I was forced to consider when, 19 years ago, my son started to say he didn't want to go to school. At first, he would just state it on a Monday morning but quickly progressed to having 'poorly tummies' on a Sunday. This was quite surprising to me as he had always loved learning. He was bright - in the top section of his class for everything - and sociable. My only concern had been that he was a bit too compliant and that being bright meant the pressure was quite quickly on. Whilst I admired and valued his focus I didn't want him jumping through hoops and becoming a performing monkey for Government league tables which meant nothing to me. Mostly I wanted him to be happy, interested, well rounded and kind. I wanted him to fulfil his potential, but for himself and with his own agenda. And now here was my 8yr old child, (who just the year or so before had begged to be allowed to stay in at play time to finish writing his story), refusing to put on his uniform.
This is what cemented my decision to remove my son from school and put me on a path of 15 years of home education, which is another story.
With the recent events meaning most children in the UK have now experienced learning from home I wonder how many other parents are now questioning this system or at least thinking about the issues.
Over the years I have had countless conversations about education and listened to stories of unhappy schooldays and trauma, yet the majority of these people have sent their own children to school without considering an alternative, many thinking school is a legal requirement and not even knowing that they have a choice.
Many parents have accepted the illusion that only a trained teacher can teach anything of value and once their child is at school the parental input is reduced to supporting the system. Parents’ independent contribution has been gradually undermined to the point that taking your child out of school for trips and holidays has outrageously seen parents being threatened with courts and fines. The notion that there is less educational value in time with family or travelling and that parents who defy this are in danger of damaging their child’s future success, at best seems arrogant, at worst quite sinister.
The truth is that schools are institutions and even with the best will (and teachers) in the world this will always limit their value. Education is a personal learning journey - individual and fluid - happening at different rates and speeds. This isn't a criticism of teachers, I personally know plenty who are just as exasperated with the system and many more who’ve left it. Look in any home education group and you’ll find plenty of parents who were teachers.
It is also a fact that for some children, school is the better option but, for a great many, I think surviving is a more accurate description than thriving.
A few parents with unhappy children, who have been on the fence (regarding taking their children out of school), have often been most concerned about the responsibility. Yet the responsibility of the child is always going to be the parents’, whether in school or not. Only the perception changes. Another concern is socialisation - unless you kept your child locked in a room (which really wouldn’t be education) it is virtually impossible not to socialise. This socialisation is varied, rich and natural, where children are not confined to only mixing with others who are the same age and sometimes even the same gender. In the outside world young people come together through shared interests which I have observed to be one of the huge benefits of being out of school.
Compulsory schooling (up to age 10) was only introduced in 1880. Its aim was to improve skills of the British workforce. It also got children out of the factories and enabled their parents to work unhindered.
Education is something very different - it starts with an enquiring mind, a curiosity that takes the learner on a path of discovery. The 'teacher' is merely a facilitator presenting and providing at the right time. Yes, there are 'key skills' which every child need, (reading, basic maths, social skills) but in my experience every child who has their basic needs met, and is without a specific learning issue, picks up these effortlessly as long as they are presented at the right time in the right way for that individual. Most children are desperate to 'decode' the world around them and can become proficient readers much more quickly if given the information at the right time and pace for them. Very young children can be motivated to learn maths if it involves food, money or travel and once children have a love of learning and are not just regurgitating facts they are understanding that education lasts a life time.
For learning to take place a child (indeed anyone) needs to feel safe, no risk of ridicule or too anxious to take in or remember information. The subject has to be interesting enough or have enough value to motivate the learner and be offered in way and at a time the student is ready to receive it.
How often can this truly happen in an average class of 30 individuals all developing at different rates?
It’s probably naïve to assume that the system has our individual child's best interests at heart. It might be wise to consider that our children are open to being 'schooled' into 'not thinking' that suits establishment. At the extreme it's chilling to consider how schooling has been used throughout history to both manipulate and corrupt.
Of course, home education is not for everyone, nor do I believe it to be a perfect solution.
For some children school will be a safer, more stimulating environment than home and for others a mixture (flexi-schooling) may be preferable. Personally, I would love to see learning centres where anyone can attend sessions, learning what they are interested in. Mixed ages, learning together - not assuming for example that all 8-year olds are the same). It would be amazing to see grandparents and grandchildren learning computer skills or gardening together! Imagine the benefits to society as a whole.
None of us know what the skills of the future will be. What we do know is that we need to be adaptable, flexible and resilient. We need to be creative and innovative and these are not what we learn when everyone follows a limited curriculum, when we study only to get grades and pass exams and where competition, not cooperation, is promoted.
When we inevitably start to believe that our worth is what somebody says or marks us we can stop following our intuition and lose confidence in our own guidance.
Ken Robinson has a great ted talk on schools and creativity which I found inspiring.
Maybe it’s a step too far for most to keep their children at home long term and change the home schooling into home education, but hopefully some will consider it as a real possibility and option now. To facilitate the education of my sons has been my greatest joy. Following their passions and learning together experientially was both a gift and a privilege.
For some it might not be possible but just considering the question may shift the perception and perhaps the education that happens in the hours away from school. I have found the rhetoric of late infuriating – the idea that because children haven’t been in school all learning has ceased and they will now need 'hot housing' if they are to recover lost time.
For those who are interested to learn more there are so many resources out there to support all choices. A good starting point is https://www.educationotherwise.org/
I think now more than ever our children need us to really consider what the current system offers them. as, when an individual’s needs are really met, their wellbeing thrives, they follow their passions, fulfil their purpose and in turn have far more capacity to contribute to the collective.
That, I believe, is education.
Section 7 Education Act 1996
Places a duty on parents to ensure that their child of compulsory school age receives a suitable education, either by regular attendance at school or otherwise. This can be fulfilled by home educating your child.