Scotland's national home education support organisation Schoolhouse has announced it is to host a major conference in Arbroath, Angus, on Friday 12 September to mark International Freedom in Education Day 2008.
The one day conference, Learning Without Limits: a celebration of choice, diversity and freedom in education, will focus on the broad theme of freeing education from the confines of traditional schooling and will form part of a weekend programme of informal networking, arts and heritage activities for families and interested individuals from across the UK and Europe.
The keynote conference speakers include John Taylor Gatto from New York, one of the world's most powerful and persuasive proponents of educational reform who will challenge many long held beliefs about the benefits of modern schooling in his keynote presentation, Weapons of Mass Instruction. John Taylor Gatto was three times New York City teacher of the year and is a renowned international speaker and author of many books, including Dumbing Us Down: the hidden history of compulsory schooling and The Underground History of American Education.
Scots education law expert Iain Nisbet will focus on the rights of children and young people in the Scottish school system. He is a solicitor and head of the Education Law Unit at Govan Law Centre in Glasgow, providing advice, information and training on all aspects of education law and representing the families of children with additional support needs across Scotland. He is the co-author of A-Z of Scots Education Law and was the legal adviser (Scots Law) to the DRC Codes of Practice on disability discrimination in education.
The finalised programme will include workshop and panel sessions, as well as plenty of informal networking opportunities, and delegates will be encouraged to think beyond the institution and consider different ways of educating in order to ensure the development of each child's personality, talents and physical and mental abilities to their fullest potential, as enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
International Freedom in Education Day originated in France and its aim is to promote the the importance of free choice in education and to spread information about alternative ways of learning.
Schoolhouse decided to bring its international celebration of freedom in education to the home of the Declaration of Arbroath which famously asserted the sovereignty of the Scottish people and is also said to have influenced the drafting of the US Constitution.
As a small seaside town probably most famous for its smokies [smoked haddock], Arbroath is the ideal venue for the event. The newly refurbished Webster Theatre has been booked for the formal conference, while the nearby Community Centre with its hangar sized proportions will be the base for families to enjoy arts and heritage activities throughout the weekend.
Schoolhouse has teamed up with local charity, Angus Arts, local history expert Jim McGugan and the Arbroath Abbey Pageant Society and, as a locally founded organisation, has pledged its formal support to the town's campaign to win World Heritage Status for its historic Abbey.
The one day conference will present a unique opportunity for professionals in the public, private and voluntary sectors to engage in discussion and debate with parents and young people as 'consumers' of education services. It is aimed at all those with an interest in educational rights and freedoms, including policy makers, formal and informal educators, youth and community workers, children's reporters, representatives from children's and family support organisations, parents, academics, researchers and learners aged 12 and over.
Meanwhile, the weekenders’ programme, at which John Talyor Gatto will deliver a second presentation, will only be open to families and interested individuals and aims to encourage informal networking and discussion of educational issues and challenges facing parents seeking to ensure the best education for their children.
As Scotland's national home education organisation, Schoolhouse is naturally most concerned with matters affecting families who educate their children outside the school system, in particular the relationship between parents and local authorities in the wake of the recently revised statutory home education guidance in Scotland and the non statutory guidelines which apply south of the border.
However, home education cannot be narrowly defined as all parents are essentially home based educators who, by law, are responsible for the education of their children and many Schoolhouse members still use schools part of the time.
Learning Without Limits should therefore appeal to professionals, families and individuals from across the UK and beyond who have an interest in choice, diversity and freedom in education.