250 likes | 328 Views
Away with all teachers?. Away with all teachers: The Home Schooling Debate. The Phenomenon. Paper is from U.S. but similar debates taking place in this country. Rise is numbers of children being home schooled.
E N D
The Phenomenon • Paper is from U.S. but similar debates taking place in this country. • Rise is numbers of children being home schooled. • Apple attempts to connect this to wider restructuring of society (‘conservative modernisation’)
Through the eyes of power • A new hegemonic bloc: • imaginaries and fantasies • Neoliberals • Neoconservatives • Authoritarian populist
The Welfare State • Welfare state established after WW2 (Keynesian economics) • Teaching a profession that formed part of the state • Teachers professionals afforded autonomy based on qualifications. • State seen as ‘legitimate’
Neoliberal attacks • Bureaucrats hiding behind red tape • Professionals motivated by self interest and insulated from real world of competition. • New public management (1990s) began t0 transform public services....
Cocooning: a world free of conflict • Privatised consciousness • Worried about crime, violence, poor schools • Social homogeneity as a norm • Unwillingness to spend collectively • Atomisation (are we ‘Bowling Alone’?)
Gated communities: safe and predictable reality • Complexity, ambiguity, uncertainty and proximity to ‘other’ replaced with well planned universe where everything is in rightful place. • Rich go to rich schools, Christians go to Christian schools..... • How many organisations do you belong to?
The paradox of freedom • Desire for equality, recognition for beliefs and perspectives. • Fear uniformity and a lack of control. • We want everyone to be like us but we want a right to be different.
Attacks on schooling • Incompetent teachers • Bureaucratic • Schools as violent, dangerous places
Home Schooling • Facilitated by new tools (Internet). • Allows ‘customisation’ of our lives as individuals • Learning is ‘personalised’ • Is customisation and personalisation at the expense of local communities? • Mina expresses herself as an individual but where is the ‘social glue’?
Two theories of social justice • Redistribution • Recognition
Redistribution • Exploitation • Marginalisation • Deprivation
Recognition • Interpretations • Representation • Being confronted with cultural patterns alien to one’s own
The evidence • Neoliberal reform reproduces traditional hierarchies. • Those who already possess economic and cultural capital reap more benefits than those who do not. • Reduction in willingness of those who do not use state provision to pay taxes.
Questions for your seminar • Should Mina be home educated? • What are the benefits? • What are the drawbacks? • What are the possible hidden outcomes of home schooling? • Should all schools be privatised? • Does the state have any duty of care towards home schooled children?