What has amazed me over the last few days is how quickly the superb and hitherto unforeseen collaboration between home educators has collapsed into argument and uncertainty. Badman and Balls must be rubbing their hands together with glee!
I admit to being one of the ones who impulsively blogged the notice to parliament and I still like it, but as others have pointed out, we do not know where it came from and now may not be the right time for it yet.
As the Minister says, we must make our own minds up.
I do not have my answer and I am stopping to pause and reflect, I have enough to do really composing my reply to that lovely letter from the DCSF. I may well wait to see what Lisa comes up with as I love her way of thinking and way with words.
I have not let go of the vision I have of this whole thing being dropped and intend to do everything I can to let the ptb see that it is really not worth their while.
And to cheer us all up, a new life.
6 comments:
Oh Maire, don't worry. I promise you, the more you contact your MPs the better it is, in whatever form you choose. Making them realize that this is a big, big, issue takes time and multiple contacts. It is like a sales job. Like the rest of the population, they have to learn to understand. I do not believe any harm will be done by people sending any communication they feel moved to, as long as it truly represents their feelings and position.
It's not really that I am worried Kelly, well it sort of is. It is a timing thing really. Because of my legs I have not been to see my MP and I have only written to him a couple of times so I am thinking I would like something like this come at the end of a list of communication that sort of explained the situation but then I am thinking will he read it.
Funnily enough he replied to other day to a comment I left on his Flickr account FIVE months ago! Do you think that is about connecting with the electorate, lol.
Hi Maire,
You're a bit depressed, and it's not surprising considering what's happened to you.
Don't give up hope. It is infallibly and always darkest before the dawn.
Diane
I like that Diane, I'm not giving up and really not as shocked by the lovely Partridge as I am by a representative of a certain org that seems to either have no sense or no morals.
Maire,
I really believe home educators are forging new ways of coming together to take action.Its not perfect but it is far more transparent. It doesn't achieve consensus but it does allow people to make their views heard and also to know what is happening.
Its painful at times when people who usually agree with each other cannot do so on some topics.
But it also shows that we don't have to all have the same exact views to move forward.
It is hard for those used to more traditional top down structures and they may cling to them all the more - but bit by bit they are becoming more irrelevant.
I think we can start to attribute less power to their actions.
Yes we were dismayed that one group seemed to have the ear of the APPG but we were not powerless to address it as once it might have been difficult to do.
Things may anger and disturb us but we have more opportunity than ever to deal with those things.
As for the arguing etc it is not imploding so much as the pain of forging a new way forward.
We may yet learn that it is ok to have levels of disagreement and discomfort when actually everyone is trying to find their way forward that honours their own integrity.
People have disagreed and at the same time tried to hold the groups together (ie maintaining the space that allows such discussions) and that ultimately leads forward.
Jo
Lovely post, Jo.
Thanks.
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