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Libertarian-home-education?

Libertarian home education is not something you hear a lot abut of in the United Kingdom and certainly not in my beautiful, but sleepy little corner of North Wales, where authoritarian socialism seems to have inherited the mantle of generations of repressive chapel preachers. So why libertarian home education?

When I began home education it was for purely pragmatic reasons - to escape the culture of brutal bullying that was backed up by the routine victim blaming and labeling inherent in state schooling. As soon as we began on the home education route we were putting our children's personal and individual welfare above the of the demands of a 'one size fits all' conformity based structure and some of our friends were quick to ciriticise us for not staying with the system at any price.

My heretical tendencies deepened further when I came across parenting theories that put children's autonomy centre stage and encouraged me to think it possible to live with children in consensual ways. The more I thought about it, the larger the gap became between respecting and fostering my children's autonomy, individuality and intrinsic motivation contending theories that put the group before the individual, particularly in education.

I also found that the more I became part of the UK home education community, the more I learned of hostile authoritarian attitudes towards home educators merely going about their lawful pursuit of delivering education and the more I noticed government infringements of family life that might adversely effect home educators.

I was drawn into activism, but still would not have called myself a libertarian. I took part in working with a group of home educators who edited, had legally checked and distributed guidelines on elective home education to every Local Education Authority in England and Wales. The aim was to let them know that we knew our rights. England and Wales have the what is probably the best and most liberal law on home education anywhere in the world, but many LEAs persist in trying to act beyond their remit, demanding home visits, access to the child, evidence of school type provision that home educators are not required to conform to etc. Infringements still go on, but the existence of guidelines, high quality websites, Internet lists and a proactive group of home educators willing to give support along with the services of a brilliant home educating lawyer have given people not just choices on paper, but in fact.

Then came along the Crime and Disorder Bill - now an Act, but not before the home education community had rallied to lobby MPs, ensuring that the guidance to the Act contained safeguards to ensure that home educated young people could not be rounded up as truants or suspected of a crime merely for being on the streets in school hours or even asked to give their names and addresses.

In short, the more I saw home education in practice and the more I thought about the implications of treating children as autonomous individual human beings in their own right, the more I opened my eyes to the threats to liberty posed by state education or legislation that impacted on civil liberties. I became even more heretical in the eyes of my friends; libertarianism and nurturing children's autonomy are, I've realized, bound together.


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Libertarian-home-education? Libertarian home education is not something you hear a lot abut of in the United Kingdom and certainly not in my beautiful, but sleepy little corner of North Wales, where authoritarian socialism seems to have inherited the mantle of generations of repressive chapel preachers. So why libertarian home education? When I began home education it was for purely pragmatic reasons - to escape the culture of brutal bullying that was backed up by the routine victim blaming and labeling inherent in state schooling. As soon as we began on the home education route we were putting our children's personal and individual welfare above the of the demands of a 'one size fits all' conformity based structure and some of our friends were quick to ciriticise us for not staying with the system at any price. My heretical tendencies deepened further when I came across parenting theories that put children's autonomy centre stage and encouraged me to think it possible to live with children in consensual ways. The more I thought about it, the larger the gap became between respecting and fostering my children's autonomy, individuality and intrinsic motivation contending theories that put the group before the individual, particularly in education. I also found that the more I became part of the UK home education community, the more I learned of hostile authoritarian attitudes towards home educators merely going about their lawful pursuit of delivering education and the more I noticed government infringements of family life that might adversely effect home educators. I was drawn into activism, but still would not have called myself a libertarian. I took part in working with a group of home educators who edited, had legally checked and distributed guidelines on elective home education to every Local Education Authority in England and Wales. The aim was to let them know that we knew our rights. England and Wales have the what is probably the best and most liberal law on home education anywhere in the world, but many LEAs persist in trying to act beyond their remit, demanding home visits, access to the child, evidence of school type provision that home educators are not required to conform to etc. Infringements still go on, but the existence of guidelines, high quality websites, Internet lists and a proactive group of home educators willing to give support along with the services of a brilliant home educating lawyer have given people not just choices on paper, but in fact. Then came along the Crime and Disorder Bill - now an Act, but not before the home education community had rallied to lobby MPs, ensuring that the guidance to the Act contained safeguards to ensure that home educated young people could not be rounded up as truants or suspected of a crime merely for being on the streets in school hours or even asked to give their names and addresses. In short, the more I saw home education in practice and the more I thought about the implications of treating children as autonomous individual human beings in their own right, the more I opened my eyes to the threats to liberty posed by state education or legislation that impacted on civil liberties. I became even more heretical in the eyes of my friends; libertarianism and nurturing children's autonomy are, I've realized, bound together.