Thursday, August 27, 2009

Children Missing Education Conference

This is one of the reasons why education law should be re-written. Honestly, with all those people employed by the state to ensure that a child isn't missing an education, you would have thought that it wasn't in a person's best interests to ensure that they develop useful theories!

When it comes to legal reform, we aren't just talking about s436a from the 2006 Education and Inspections Act. It has to start with s7 of the 1996 Education Act and include s437 with it too.
The epistemology and ethical constructs underpinning these sections of legislation are so woefully wrong that it isn't much of a surprise that they result in such wayward law.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am curious to know why Fiona Nicholson will be there,

"Overcoming the Challenges of Elective Home Education
• Maintaining safeguarding standards
• Clear policies and procedures and providing guidance to parents
• Implementing the recommendations of the Badman Review"

Anonymous said...

Interesting point in the Education Act.

11.2
"(2) The Secretary of State shall, in the case of his powers to regulate the provision made in schools and institutions within the further education sector in England and Wales, exercise his powers with a view to (among other things) improving standards, encouraging diversity and increasing opportunities for choice."

I know that is within the further education sector, but surely it can also be said to apply to any people educating. The Secretary of State is supposed to encourage diversity and increase opportunities for choice. I wonder if Mr. Balls is doing that by trying to put restrictions on home education?

Danae
http://www.threedegreesoffreedom.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

why is Fiona Nicholson going to this?

Firebird said...

I want to hope that she means well but I'm finding it pretty much impossible to read "Implementing the recommendations of the Badman Review" in a positive light. The recommendations in the Badman Review don't NEED implementing, they need scrapping!

Anonymous said...

What does Fiona Nicholson think she is playing at? "Implementing the recommendations of the Badman Review"?

The only "challenge" regarding home education is the government assault on our liberty; or at least it was until EO decided to stick the boot in too.

thenewstead6 said...

I think it is excellent that Fiona got the invite. When members of EO's GPG and Disability Group went to the previous CME conference they left feeling physically sick. HE was on the agenda, in the printed delegate papers, and
mentioned from the platform. Calls for monitoring, mentions of "concerns" about home ed children, was met with rousing applause and support from the floor - but
there was no one there at all with any actual knowledge. As usual for these things, conversations on the conference floor and around the
tables brought comments like "I didn't know that" when GPG members were challenging the attitudes and misconceptions of the LA officials, teachers and others present. It was a shocking eye opener as to how all these lies, damm lies and mishandled statistics gets repeated as gospel in education and government circles. To think that someone who actually home educates, knows the laws, knows what the "other side" think, knows the data... will actually be able to address such a room full of people - and be able to take questions on it - is brilliant and such a huge step forward. The conference is going ahead and they WILL talk about home ed. Without a home
educator there to challenge them, the rubbish will continue to be repeated. Home educators need to have this sort of stuff - calling our children "at risk of being at risk" challenged. Home educated children are NOT missing education. But "they" think that they are. This is not going to stop
unless we get into where the teachers and LAs talk to each other and challenge it. DCSF are not going to take the lead - they are the ones spouting it after
all. Putting our fingers in our ears and pretending it isn't happening and if we ignore it, it will go away, won't change it. We have to tackle these lies head on, where they are being spread, and I see this CME conference as a place to challenge all the rubbish that we hear spouted about home education/home educators by people who have no experience, no knowledge, and no training.

Sheila said...

• Maintaining safeguarding standards

• Clear policies and procedures and providing guidance to parents

• Implementing the recommendations of the Badman Review

This is excellent???

Carlotta said...

Hi Sheila,

Am pretty sure that Fiona will do as much as she can to challenge this agenda, and that the flyer wasn't written with her in mind.

Is this not how you read it?

Sheila said...

I am reading from the conference programme.

These few lines describing Fiona's presentation seem quite straightforward to me.

Carlotta said...

I have assumed that on the basis of past form, this would mean anything other than that the recs should be implemented as stated. Does this seem unlikely, do you think Sheila?