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Kitto's ''school'' caught the attention of Stan Windass, who had been working for a [[children's rights]] centre in [[London]], through which he had become aware of several families who were educating their own children. Windass had just taken the lease of Lower Shaw Farm and wanted to establish it as a centre to explore ideas for an alternative society. Windass asked Kitto to become the warden at Lower Shaw Farm after the Northcliffe School project ended.
Kitto's ''school'' caught the attention of Stan Windass, who had been working for a [[children's rights]] centre in [[London]], through which he had become aware of several families who were educating their own children. Windass had just taken the lease of Lower Shaw Farm and wanted to establish it as a centre to explore ideas for an alternative society. Windass asked Kitto to become the warden at Lower Shaw Farm after the Northcliffe School project ended.


Kitto was familiar with ideas about unschooled education through reading [[John Caldwell Holt|John Holt]] and Joy Baker's ''Children in Chancery' in 1964 (now out of print), together with his experiences at the Northcliffe School project. He and Windass were able to contact several families who were educating otherwise and arranged an informal network and occasional meetings, during 1975 and 1976 from which Education Otherwise was started.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/jul/15/guardianobituaries2 Dick Kitto obituary [[The Guardian]] 15th July 1999]</ref>
Kitto was familiar with ideas about unschooled education through reading [[John Caldwell Holt|John Holt]] and Joy Baker's ''Children in Chancery' in 1964 (now out of print), together with his experiences at the Northcliffe School project. He and Windass were able to contact several families who were educating otherwise and arranged an informal network and occasional meetings, during 1975 and 1976 from which Education Otherwise was started.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/jul/15/guardianobituaries2 Dick Kitto obituary [[The Guardian]] 15th July 1999]</ref> One of the founding members was Iris Harrison who was in the midst of a legal battle with her local authority because she was not sending her children to school.<ref>[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/pioneers-of-education-at-home-toast-their-25-year-revolution-131243.html Pioneers of education at home toast their 25-year revolution, [[Independent]], 12 November 2013]</ref> <ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/education/2002/aug/27/schools.uk2 Polly Curtis looks back at 25 years of Education Otherwise, [[The Guardian]], 27 Aug 2002]</ref>


During 1976, [[ITV Granada|Granada Television]] made a [[World in Action]] programme about the group which resulted in around 200 enquiries and expanded the membership to over 50. In September 1976 the group was established on a more formal basis. In 1977, Kitto presented a [[BBC Television|BBC TV]] ''[[Open Door (BBC TV)|Open Door]]'' programme about the ideas behind the organisation. This resulted in over 2,000 enquiries and increased the membership to around 250.<ref>A tribute to Dick Kitto, ''Education Otherwise Newsletter'' (Number 130), October 1999 - citing obituaries from the ''Daily Telegraph'' and ''The Guardian'' newspapers.</ref> <ref>Locations of learning and ideologies, Roland Meighan, [[University of Birmingham]], [[Routledge Library Editions]]: Sociology of Education, 1981</ref>
During 1976, [[ITV Granada|Granada Television]] made a [[World in Action]] programme about the group which resulted in around 200 enquiries and expanded the membership to over 50. In September 1976 the group was established on a more formal basis. In 1977, Kitto presented a [[BBC Television|BBC TV]] ''[[Open Door (BBC TV)|Open Door]]'' programme about the ideas behind the organisation. This resulted in over 2,000 enquiries and increased the membership to around 250.<ref>A tribute to Dick Kitto, ''Education Otherwise Newsletter'' (Number 130), October 1999 - citing obituaries from the ''Daily Telegraph'' and ''The Guardian'' newspapers.</ref> <ref>Locations of learning and ideologies, Roland Meighan, [[University of Birmingham]], [[Routledge Library Editions]]: Sociology of Education, 1981</ref>

Revision as of 12:33, 27 September 2021

Education Otherwise
Founded1976,
FocusEducation
Area served
Primarily UK
MethodSupport, lobbying, research
Websitewww.educationotherwise.org

Education Otherwise (EO) is a registered charity[1] based in England which provides support and information for families whose children are being educated outside school, and for those who wish to uphold the freedom of families to take proper responsibility for the education of their children. It is the largest such organisation in the United Kingdom[2]

Origins

In 1972, Royston Lambert, head of Dartington Hall School asked Dick Kitto, who had been working there since 1955, to set up a project in conjunction with Northcliffe School to provide education for a group of non-academic students who would have to take another year in school due to the pending raising of the school leaving age.[3] Kitto established a free school or democratic school model for the running of the project and was impressed by the qualities of the students even though they had effectively unschooled themselves within the school system, where they were perceived as trouble makers.[4]

Original EO logo

Kitto's school caught the attention of Stan Windass, who had been working for a children's rights centre in London, through which he had become aware of several families who were educating their own children. Windass had just taken the lease of Lower Shaw Farm and wanted to establish it as a centre to explore ideas for an alternative society. Windass asked Kitto to become the warden at Lower Shaw Farm after the Northcliffe School project ended.

Kitto was familiar with ideas about unschooled education through reading John Holt and Joy Baker's Children in Chancery' in 1964 (now out of print), together with his experiences at the Northcliffe School project. He and Windass were able to contact several families who were educating otherwise and arranged an informal network and occasional meetings, during 1975 and 1976 from which Education Otherwise was started.[5] One of the founding members was Iris Harrison who was in the midst of a legal battle with her local authority because she was not sending her children to school.[6] [7]

During 1976, Granada Television made a World in Action programme about the group which resulted in around 200 enquiries and expanded the membership to over 50. In September 1976 the group was established on a more formal basis. In 1977, Kitto presented a BBC TV Open Door programme about the ideas behind the organisation. This resulted in over 2,000 enquiries and increased the membership to around 250.[8] [9]


The original logo (based on a UK traffic sign) was intended to represent a child breaking out of the confines of school, and pointing toward a different way. In recent years the logo has been the subject of criticism, as it is viewed as divisive and the meaning misconstrued. A modernisation and rebranding in 2020 has resulted in a new logo being designed through a design competition, which has a more modern and acceptable appearance.

Parent's Charter

In 1991, the government introduced a Parent's Charter (subtitled: "You and Your Child's Education") which promised parents reports about their children and their schools. In 1994, a revised version of the Parent's Charter (subtitled: Our Children's Education) was issued. Page 9 included the sentence - "You have a duty to make sure that your child goes to school until he or she is 16." EO members were concerned that this misinformation should be corrected as it was being delivered to every household.[10]


They appointed solicitor Peter Liell who sent "Letters Before Action" notices to the Department for Education and to the Welsh Office. A reply by Eric Forth (9 July 1994) for the DfE claimed that the Parent's Charter could not be taken as a definitive guide to the law - the Charter "cannot take in every exception or reflect all points of detail". The department stated that there were no plans to issue a corrigendum. The Welsh Office response was a confirmation that the Charter for Parents in Wales had been revised and would reflect the fact that not all children were educated in schools.


The matter was raised by Don Foster in a Parliamentary Question which was responded to by Robin Squire stating that John Patten, the Secretary of State for Education, saw no need to issue a correction or to make a statement about the mistake.[11]


As English and Welsh education law are identical there were no grounds for the variation in the responses of the two bodies. The solicitor notified the DfE that he had been instructed to prepare an application for leave to apply for judicial review of the decision as stated in Forth's letter. This threat caused an immediate response from the department that they "would want to find a different - in your eyes more satisfactory - wording for any further editions". The solicitor responded seeking confirmation, by 31 August 1994, that a future edition would include reference to the fact that children do not have to go to school. Forth once again responded accepting the need for a revised text: "I am, however, happy to confirm, in the light of your client's concerns, our intention that any future edition of the Parent's Charter in England will include a reference, be it explicit or implicit, to a parent's lawful right to ensure that his child is suitably educated otherwise than at school."


It was felt that this was as far as EO could go with the matter and the application for judicial review was withdrawn. The whole process had cost EO almost £4,000 but had generated a lot of publicity and raised awareness of the issue as many members had raised their concerns with their own MP.

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ "Education Otherwise, registered charity no. 1055120". Charity Commission for England and Wales.
  2. ^ Mountney, Ross (2009). Learning without School: Home Education. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. p. 36. ISBN 9781843106852.
  3. ^ Duane, Michael. The Terrace: An Educational Experiment in a State School. Freedom Press. 1995. ISBN 0-900384-78-6
  4. ^ Interview with Dick Kitto, Education Otherwise Newsletter (Number 61), August 1988
  5. ^ Dick Kitto obituary The Guardian 15th July 1999
  6. ^ Pioneers of education at home toast their 25-year revolution, Independent, 12 November 2013
  7. ^ Polly Curtis looks back at 25 years of Education Otherwise, The Guardian, 27 Aug 2002
  8. ^ A tribute to Dick Kitto, Education Otherwise Newsletter (Number 130), October 1999 - citing obituaries from the Daily Telegraph and The Guardian newspapers.
  9. ^ Locations of learning and ideologies, Roland Meighan, University of Birmingham, Routledge Library Editions: Sociology of Education, 1981
  10. ^ Six and a half million copies had been printed by 6th November 1991
  11. ^ HC Deb 04 July 1994 vol 246 cc76-7W
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