Facilitation – History Pt. 3: Back to the Basics (Part 32)
Categories: Léo’s Insights 2023-2024, Back to the Basics
As the home education population of Alberta grew, so did the ways in which schools ascertained the educational progress of these students. As one of the first certificated teachers to be home educating in this province, it was assumed I knew what I was doing. While Faye and I were left alone by our local school board, they sent other families desiring to home educate our way, as they had no idea what to do with these students and families. This resulted in us starting a local home education support group where we “facilitated” at no charge.
Once the home education funding was quartered, it came with a new set of rules appropriately called the Alberta Home Education Regulations which remain largely the same as they were when first presented thirty years ago. Not only was the funding cut to 25% of regular school students, but half was to be made available to parents for the purchase of educational supplies and services. By 1994, home educating families were to be assigned a supervising teacher who was to visit twice per year to direct and evaluate the home education program.
Two things have to be mentioned at this juncture. The first was the nearly ubiquitous belief that it was government, schools and teachers who were responsible for providing acceptable pedagogical programs, methods and standards to all students. This belief was largely accepted by most home educators and it is how the term home schooling originated. It was school in every way, but delivered in the home. Unfortunately, this line of thinking has continued to this day with many home education providers either unwittingly taking advantage of parental ignorance or knowingly manipulating parents into continuing with public programming, which comes at a higher level of funding.
The second point is that the new lower level of funding for the home educated came as a shock to the schools who had attracted large numbers of home educating students. The 75% reduction in funding led the more resourceful school leaders to invent yet another uniquely Alberta phenomenon known then as blended programming, and another even more fraudulent offering called fully aligned. Today, blended programming is known as Shared Responsibility and fully aligned has morphed into online school programming.
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