BEYOND BIAS

Fifteen years in practice, and never once did I come across a home educating family. This could have been chance, possibly the nature of working within a particular population of society, or was something else at play?

According to mainstream media reporting, the number of children being home educated is increasing. These reports have a few avenues worth delving deeper into, and I would offer anyone interested in unpicking the possible reasons behind this shift in numbers to visit here. However, there are also language changes that are ongoing and at play within the official definitions of children being educated beyond school, you may have heard terms such as 'elective home education' and 'children missing from school' which have problematic roots. For now what's note worthy, is that people are choosing differently.

A progressive process appears to be in motion, change is happening and there's discomfort within that for many. Alternatives to school are being considered by some, and it feels important for me to place here that I am not anti-school, I am pro-choice, meaning I believe in the diversification of education, and the value of families and children to have options, to choose the environments for learning that they feel best fit their individual wishes, needs and lives. Coming from a role whereby my position was to assess and identify children that were finding school difficult for various reasons, what wasn't available to me then was an understanding of alternative options to learning, they exist but are lesser known, lesser funded, and often come with a dose judgement. A lot of this, my own previous self included couldn't see beyond my own experiences and knowledge base, I was in a clouded place of limited or misinformation.

In those fifteen years, whilst I had not met a home educating family personally, I was aware of only one family via a colleague. The sense in the office at the time I recall as one of reticence, conversations that echoed the still present narrative of caution to be held when a family expressed their decision not to place their child in mainstream school. A sense of hostility, questioning why a family would do such a thing?! This could often shortly be followed by a perspective that parents were somehow irresponsible, failing their children in some way, or lacking in "accurate" knowledge regarding development and learning. Further feeding the safeguarding dogma surrounding home education. At the time I shared in this perspective, yet I sit here today, a home educating Mother, and view things very very differently.

I have been lucky to have found friends who were also previously colleagues, who have gone on this journey into parenthood with me. They knew me before I had my child, have been with me as I stepped into Motherhood, and continue to walk alongside me now. They know me for me, and also my shifting perspectives. It's these relationships that I feel have the ability to bridge gaps when it comes to change, and for me it began with conversations whilst walking together.

Having both received the same training, and working together for the same NHS service, we had shared knowledge and experiences to build and reflect on together. Between us we shared over 45 years of clinical experience. One of the most beautiful interactions struck me as meaningful recently, as my friend expressed how she had noticed an increasing number of young adults and families choosing home education on her caseload. I was able to offer in response how I wish I could talk to my previous self and how I would ask different questions were a home educating family to walk into my clinic. "What different questions?" she asked, genuinely listening.

I would offer an openness to difference. I would go and educate myself in the legal right to learn beyond school in the UK, and what options were out there broadly and locally. I would ask, "How is it going?", "What activities and interests their child is particularly enjoying at the moment?", whether they feel they have support around them, and "Is there anything you need from me that could be of help?". I would ultimately step away from the fear based perspective which drives the question nearly all home educating families receive, "Do they go to groups?" or "How do they socialise?", and focus on how home education is an equal choice, it's an alternative yes, and it is also legal and possible to support life long learning. I would ask questions to understand and not to uncover concern.

These fear based narratives still exist, with little consideration given to the reasons why families make such an alternative decision. Understanding these could move us closer to diversification, choice and agency around how we wish to learn and live. I have discovered that families choosing to home educate form a diverse group, and much like any group of human beings, it's not possible nor helpful to box people into a category. That being said, I'll speak to trends here for a moment, and I have noticed possible reasons being; 1) feeling let down by the education or health care system linked with a child's needs not being met in a way a family feel is reflective of the young person, 2) the national curriculum and it's accelerated pace along with performance focus, testing and it's impacts on mental health and development, 3) religious wishes and values, 4) lifestyle. Do drop me an email if you feel unrepresented here. My friend and I discussed potential new reasons, that of experiences of trauma and adverse experiences, in particular the wishes of families to address their own school experiences or wider disagreement with practices of power dynamics and ethics in our culture, that set in motion the desire to try things a different way. These are all valid, and I feel feeds into trying to understand more about the experiences of those who feel impacted by traditional practices and are beginning a dialogue around them (the work of Clinical Psychologist Naomi Fischer is a good place to got to explore this).

If I hold in one hand my understanding so far in communication science, of how speech, language and communication development is an interaction between an individual and their environment, I also hold in the other hand an ongoing curiosity into what learning is, the places we have available to us, and if we are beginning to feel this needs changing, what could that change begin to look like? Maybe we could start with an openness to listen to these shifting perspectives.

To my friend, for us both stepping beyond any internal bias, I am grateful for your open heart and mind. For continuing to see me.