Clarification of Position: On the Alberta Home Education Association (AHEA) (Part 5)
Categories: On The Alberta Home Education Association, Léo’s Insights 2020-2021
Tags: AHEA, Alberta Home Education Association
Before proceeding with this presentation, I really must take the time to make a few things more clear.
To start, I am at a loss as to what or who I am having issues with. AHEA is a corporate entity, a not-for-profit society and as such is a bloodless, heartless, gutless, spineless, brainless “something” that cannot think, feel or act on its own. It requires people to create it in the first place and people to provide it with the human characteristics we often find ourselves at odds with.
It is therefore useless, even silly to accuse me of any emotion towards this “thing”. However, it is noteworthy that I have had issue with the folks acting in leadership capacities since AHEA’s inception. After all these years, I have come to see why I have mostly opposed the Alberta Home Education Association’s positions and actions throughout its history.
Before I go into this I want to be abundantly clear respecting one thing. Although I have had more than one opportunity to engage with the leadership of AHEA and with good reason, I have never believed any one person to be truly evil in nature or intent. My motivation has always been to help AHEA avoid failure and to protect the home education community from being harmed. Potential failure is not due to anybody being evil, but to individuals not being aware of the facts and governance or not considering the long term consequences of decisions or actions.
Ignorance is usually the real enemy. Ignorance of what the home education community desires, evidenced by the fact that for the most part, AHEA’s membership has rarely been consulted before AHEA has acted on its behalf. Ignorance of how the education system operates and how schools conduct their affairs, whether ethically or not. Ignorance of what schools really are. Most importantly, a seemingly incongruent ignorance of who has been given authority for the education of children and what all this entails.
One of the reasons I have generally opposed AHEA is that I have never been able to reconcile AHEA’s claims to Christianity with its actions. Since its inception, AHEA has made occasional claims to being a Christian organization. It even inspired a few competing agencies who largely formed because AHEA was too “Christian”. Indeed, it can be said that nearly all AHEA’s leadership did come with a Christian worldview, but did that mean anything?
May I be so bold as to suggest there is room for only one God? Throughout AHEA’s history, there has been an innate confusion as to who is Lord. It can either be God or government. It can’t be both.
The initial contest between AHEA and HECA thirty years ago was essentially the question of authority. I believe both agencies agreed that PARENTS have the God-given authority and corresponding responsibility for the education of children. Common sense should inform us that those capable of producing the children are best able to bring them up, including overseeing all things educational.
The difference between AHEA and HECA, however, was how to proceed with the parental authority. AHEA believed we needed to seek permission from the government. They got it and it was a good thing, then. It was a step in the right direction, but it eventually led to chaos and confusion as more and more schools and agencies got into the “game” with most taking advantage of the fact that parents just did not truly understand their God-given authority. Those who did not understand their God-given authority were more than willing to follow AHEA into yet more approval and validation of government claims to authority in education.
These so-called “advances” are what I will discuss next time.
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