When Shena Deuchars mentioned on here recently, as an example of a successful academic outcome for home education, the case of a young man studying bio-medicine; I was a little snappish, for which I apologise. The fact is though, I had been counting down the time until this person was cited. Before we go any further, let us look at a piece from the Times Educational Supplement a couple of years ago. Readers must avert their eyes as they scroll down, because the first section contains my own opinions and I would not wish to run the risk of anybody to suffering an apoplectic fit from being exposed to these. Look instead at what Jeremy Yallop says. He gives examples of how academic success can be achieved without formal education.
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storycode=6019184
Who does he give as an instance of this success? Why none other than Chris Ford. Now fast-forward two years to the day before yesterday. Who is given as an example of an academic achiever who was home educated? Why, ' There is also the chap who has recently finished his PhD in bio-medicine' Yes, it's the same person.
I have two problems with the cases which people put forward like this when I am discussing the long term outcomes for home education. One is that the same tiny number of individuals are produced; year in, year out. Chris Ford is always mentioned, as is Alex Dowty, who is of course Ian Dowty's son. Sometimes, attempts are made to disguise them. Reference is made to 'people getting places at Oxford', or instead of actually using his name, Chris Ford is called ' a dermatologist' or some such. At least 90% of the time though, anecdotes about promising academic outcomes for home education, particularly autonomous home education, rely upon these same two people. This suggests strongly that such cases are very much the exception rather than the rule. Otherwise, why would Shena Deuchars still be talking of this person years later?
The other thing which annoys me about this business is the degree of deception involved; whether witting or not, I couldn't say. I am aware of parents who have expected to get college places for their home educated children at fourteen, just through reading about Chris Ford. After all, if he could be offered a place at college, having been autonomously educated and without any GCSEs, why shouldn't my little Jimmy? Only of course, he didn't get a place at college like that at all. He actually took his first GCSE, mathematics, at the age of twelve and that is how he came to be offered a place at college. Details like this are usually left out of the accounts of this case. One suspects strongly that those involved in the education of this young man might suffer from faulty memories as to just how laid back this eduction was! I have similarly heard of parents who say that it is possible to get into any university without GCSEs or A levels; just look at that young man who got a place at Oxford on the strength of his Open University studies! Again, the missing piece of the puzzle is that this young man spent years as a teenager working in a solicitors office and this looked brilliant on his personal statement. How was this possible for a teenager with no GCSEs? Well, it helps if your father is a partner in the firm...
I have been provided with other examples of successful outcomes for home education, similar to those above. In every case where I have been able to look more closely, there are things which have not been mentioned. One case which somebody gave me as being a fantastic outcome for home education, was of a boy who had only been home educated from the age of fifteen. In another well known case, the parents had engaged a series of specialist tutors; somebody else had a mother who was herself a lawyer and taught her child law. Again, these few examples circulate with various details missing or changed.
The fact that two years after I have been given the case of Chris Ford as a knock-down refutation of my views, he is still being trotted out for this purpose, really should set alarm bells ringing. Why are these same few individuals still being regularly produced? There are two possibilities. One is that such outcomes are common; in which case there should each year be a fresh crop of home educated children attending top universities and going on to become scientists and lawyers. The other is that cases like this are freakishly rare, which means that the same one or two people must be endlessly recycled in different guises, year after year. I shall leave my readers to decide which of these possibilities is the most likely....
