Monday 5 October 2009

Chicken and egg, recommendations and information

Well, only a few months between posts.

My reflections on life, for what they're worth.

Call me traditional, but wouldn't it be a good idea to actually obtain information/evidence and then base recommendations on that evidence? If so, why did the DCSF send out a letter to Local Authorities from Graham Badman long after his report about elective home education was published because he wanted "to provide more statistically rigorous information to the Select Committee"? Surely the information used to make the recommendations must have been statistically rigorous?

You should be able to find the DCSF note here:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/news-and-communications/la-weekly-email/laemail17september09/

So I suppose I should ask which came first, the chicken or the egg? Not sure that's the right analogy because chickens and eggs don't usually harm anyone (unless they're not cooked properly - "half-baked" might be the term?), but there you go.

I don't claim to know the answer to all this, I'm just puzzled; it all seems a little strange. I really should watch more Star Trek series - maybe then I'd understand about parallel universes or alternative dimensions. I vaguely remember one Deep Space 9 episode where the good guys were bad guys in the parallel universe - I'm sure home educators can relate to that one at the moment! If you're doing the absolute ultimate best for your child, why are you viewed by some people as strange?

Who is legally responsible for a child's education, the parent or the state? Anybody who actually checks the law will realise it's the parent.