Age-old battle: State versus parents in Spain

Published: Wed, 12/22/10

Hello, , from NHERI.

I am on a home-education research e-mail list with participants from all over the world. I heard this week about a situation in Spain.

In Spain, the local social services has been pressuring two families to stop homeschooling and send their children to school. A law professor in Spain reported this week that the Spanish Constitutional Tribunal ruled homeschooling is not a right under Spanish law, and that children must go through a formal educational system. The professor also said, however, there is good news in that the Tribunal noted the option of compulsory schooling is not required by the Constitution, but is a legislative choice. In other words, the Constitution allows for "... legislative options to incorporate some flexibility into the education system and, in particular, basic education." [Note 1]

It is an age-old battle. Some entity has first and final authority over the education and upbringing of children. It boils down to either the parents or the state. Those who favor the parents typically come from either a classical liberalism paradigm or a sacred-scripture foundation. Those promoting state control, on the other hand, typically put their faith in the public's majority opinion or some philosopher-king minority's view of what is good for children/society within a governmental jurisdiction (i.e., a state). Either position is ultimately one of faith in presuppositions.

A few academics have argued that the interests or "stakeholders" are three-fold -- parents, state, and child -- rather than two-fold but this argument collapses since the advocates of this position look to the state to decide whether the minor child's interests are being respected. Therefore, the three stakeholders are conflated back to two, the state and the parents.

I hope and pray that the worldview promoting freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, educational choice, diversity in childrearing, heterogeneity in teaching and learning, customization of curriculum, above-average academic achievement, solid social, emotional, and psychological development, and the importance of trusting parents in the education and upbringing of their children soon holds sway in Spain.

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Merry Christmas.

Brian D. Ray, Ph.D.

National Home Education Research Institute

http://nheri2010.org/

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Notes:

1. Retrieved 12/22/10 from http://patfarenga.squarespace.com/pat-farengas-blog/2010/12/21/spain-following-sweden-and-germany-homeschooling-loses-in-co.html?lastPage=true.