What is education and what is it for? 

For young children it is an ongoing process by which they learn how to live their life – they need to develop their mind and equip themselves to deal with reality. They must learn to think, to understand, to integrate, and to prove. They need to discover the essentials of knowledge discovered in the past, and to equip themselves to acquire further knowledge by their own effort. Let’s explore if home-education is the best way to achieve this?

In the broader sense, education is a life long active process of wanting to know, finding out and building ones understanding of reality, with the goal of living more effectively and happily within it. When we consider all the evidence, there is a convincing argument that modern schooling may be counter productive to this end, while an appropriate home environment appears more conducive to it.

What benefits are there iof home-education within the caring environment of the family? What can be gained by allowing children to decide how to use almost all of their time, instead of spending 12 years or longer forced to do things they are quite likely not interested in at times when they don’t want to do them. Isn’t it better to teach them to obey authority and to fit in? After all that’s what the real world is like. Isn’t it better that they get used to what it’s like out there sooner rather later. And anyway, how will they learn to socialise?

These are just some of the comments I have heard over the years from well meaning people questioning my decision to keep my own children out of school and facilitating their self-led education at home. Many people are uncomfortably challenged by the whole idea, perhaps realising that they haven’t thought it through themselves. Most parents are simply doing (or did) what everyone else does. Unfortunately many of our behavioural choices are similarly automatic, doing that which is done by others, choices made with little or no conscious thought. Sending our children to school is just another of these. Most people are not even aware of the possibility of home facilitated self-led education, and when questioned about their ‘choice’ rely on their ‘group-think’ conditioning to repeat unjustified concerns. Such concerns usually melt away as the light of enquiry is shone upon them.

The commonly accepted idea is that “you have to go to school, to get an education, in order to get a good job”. The problem is that this commonly accepted idea contains assumptions that are not true.

The first is that children have to go to school. The second is that what a child gets at government schools is an education. Another is that the institution of school is where to get it. And lastly that this so-called education will lead to the securing of a ‘good job’ at the end of it and serve the purpose of living that happy and effective life as the end goal.

The truth is: Firstly schooling is not compulsory in the UK, not yet anyway. Secondly that an education in the true sense of the word cannot be achieved through modern compulsory school attendance. Thirdly there is less and less evidence of a modern education still being a significant stepping stone to a desirable career, or guaranteeing a good job in the way it once did. But also there is evidence to suggest that school attendance particularly in early years could be detrimental to cognitive development.

The Questions addressed in the podcast series are these…

* Are children already natural learners?

* What do young children really need?

* So is preschool a good idea given the psychological and cognitive development that takes place in early years?

* Is role model quality and availability as good in schools as it is in the home?

* Is self-led learning the most effective learning?

* Which is best, self-led learning or structured learning with a fixed curriculum?