Thursday, June 21, 2007
Internet will halt new education plans
Gordon Brown plans to "revolutionise" the British education system. According to his Mansion House speech last night when he becomes Prime Minister he wants a world class education system. At least that's what he told us.
However, he is either missing the point, doesn't understand what is happening in the real world, is badly advised or simply lying to us; you decide. The reason is that we already have a world class education system - it is called the Internet. Since the introduction of the web and the growth in information, hundreds of thousands of families have "home educated". In most nations it is not a legal requirement to send your children to school, merely to have them educated. For some families home education is thought to be better. And it often is.
Children educated at home, via the Internet, often get higher exam grades and can tackle their exams at earlier ages than their school counterparts. Equally, home educated children often get a broader knowledge base than children taught in schools using rigid timetables and inflexible teaching practices.
And if you are worried about the social life of home educated children, there appears to be no problem. Indeed, they get a more flexible social arrangement than children in schools and can join more clubs and societies, meeting and being with more peers from a variety of backgrounds.
Gordon Brown doesn't appear from his speech last night to have noticed that home education via the Internet already offers world class education. Instead, he wants the school leaving age to be extended to 18 instead of 16. He wants businesses to be involved with schools. And he wants children placed in "sets" according to ability.
Why does he want this? Jobs for men, that's why. We are in a similar social situation as we were at the end of the Second World War. At that time millions of women worked in factories, on farms and so on. Then the men came home from the battlefields and needed their jobs back. So, several "studies" were published showing that women were indeed better off in the home because of the impact it had on children. This emotional blackmail led women away from work, allowing men to get their jobs back.
In the coming years we are going to need fewer jobs being done. Automation, technology and the rise in self employment are all combining to reduce the jobs market. That means if there are too many younger people and too many women at work, those jobs cannot go to men. The answer to this is to tell women they should look after their children - several new "studies" have criticised nursery care, for instance. Also, you extend schooling so that you remove young people from the jobs market. Indeed, sociologists have been pointing out for years that schools were only invented in the 19th Century in order to get children out of the jobs market.
So, it is curious that now, when the jobs market is shrinking that Gordon Brown comes up with a grand idea that will enable supply of talent to be restricted. He hasn't counted on the Internet though. He has misunderstood that people are now voting with their feet and their keyboards. You can expect dramatic increases in home education via the Internet - indeed it is already rising exponentially - with more and more young people working for themselves. Gordon Brown and his advisers appear to be living in a previous Century.
Labels: future, internet psychology
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Readers' Comments:
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June 22, 2007 12:31 AM 
Jeremy Jacobs said…
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June 22, 2007 6:50 AM Graham Jones said…
Jeremy,I agree. But there is research which shows that home educated children get more social interaction than those at school. That's because they actively seek the interaction more. In fact there is growing evidence that schools themselves are the things that are holding back education and society in general. But if we abolished schools, where would all the men work? Children would be able to start work younger - and we no longer need chimney sweeps. Ten year olds could easily hold down an Internet based job.
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June 22, 2007 10:34 PM Henry Cate said…
Graham is right, homeschoolers tend to have a greater variety of social experiences.
In the United States most children have social experience with children their own age. The children have little input from adults on correct social behavior.
Home educated children tend to hang out with children of all ages, and with adults. All the while parents are close by to nip in the bud bad social habits.
The research has shown that home educated children tend to have a better education, and more more well-rounded.
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June 22, 2007 11:41 PM Jeremy Jacobs said…
I've heard that teenagers tend to be more responsible when they are around a variety of people of all age groups. Well, I stand corrected!
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June 25, 2007 3:39 PM 
Dog Obedience said…
Hi Graham and friends, i must say i totally agree with home education and this mostly comes from my wife's in-depth experience of the UK schooling system, and certainly not from some misplaced social views or self-exclusion traits, as many cynics would say, and sometimes do. It is our humble belief that our children will without ANY doubt become better rounded and more respectful and intelligent human beings through NOT entering the state schooling system, nor private schooling either. I myself went to public school as my Dad was in the forces and therefore the fees were partially paid and partially covered by a scholarship which i was lucky to get. The education was fantastic, and if i was forced to send my children to any recognised school, it would be a similar one to the one i went to, despite what anybody likes to think about the elitism and snobbishness of public schools in the UK, in my experience it didn't exist. All that existed was a serious worth ethic which came from the parents needing to get a return on their financial investment and therefore instilling a much greater educational conscience on the part of their children.
However, that was many years ago :) and having watched my wife deal with children (and their parents, much worse!) on a daily basis, i finally decided that it was not a healthy career where it certainly used to be. The reason is because the schooling system has its hands tied, and nobody seems to be prepared to look for the real problems which is within the family unit and its place in society on the whole in today's Britain. I don't preach to anyone, but where i have my own children's safety, upbringing and future in my hands, i politely ask those who criticise the home schooling idea to keep their views well out of the lives of my children, for whom there is only ONE person who knows best and is prepared to do whatever it takes to give them the best possible life and future, and that's ME (and my wife of course).
Home Schooling is certainly never going to be attractive to anyone who likes to see their children out of their way for the day. And i know (and am even related to) people who DO admit to this, where thousands don't. If schools only had to educate children, i might be more open to laying my children at risk to them, but so long as schools are indirectly asked to be parents, police officers, social workers, cultural guides and last of all teachers, you won't find my children anywhere near one.
My children have lots of friends, and the level of their social interaction is just another part of conscientious parenting. To say that homeschooled children might be less socially able is frankly laughable from my point of view, whilst so many (but NOT all) state schooled children respect little more than their football hero, computer game and mobile phone, yet lack the ability to say please or thank you or even understand the reason why they should. My 16 month old boy can do that already!
There are many wonderful things about schools, but for me these are outweighed several times over by the many habits, dangers, beliefs, and fashions which are now more prevalent in schools than education has ever been. Unfortunately the school system is as neglected by central government as the hospitals and crime rates, and the price will be paid in time, if not already. I don't wish my children to be part of that price.
Thanks for hearing my views, whether you agree or not, all i ask is that i am listened to as a CARING and adoring parent of two wonderful 'little people' who i will protect and nurture, as well as prepare for the rigours of life in a way i think is more tiring, more difficult, but many times more successful than when done by underpaid, overworked and under-respected brave teachers.
That's all from me. Phew they all say!
Superb Blog Graham, keep it up!
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June 26, 2007 7:11 AM Graham Jones said…
The Carnival of Home Schooling has mentioned this post. See:
http://homeschoolhacks.com/2007/06/25/carnival-of-homeschooling-surgery-edition/
Excellent post Graham, however it's important for children to socialize with others and to participate in team sports etc. Academic brilliance without social interaction wont make a well-rounded individual.