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[Image description: graphic showing text information about the article. Text reads VHEAC, Mark Bachman, Otherways issue 170, November 2021]
Mark Bachman served as a home education representative on VHEAC from 2018 to 2021. In this article, Mark reflects on his time on the committee, and the significance of VHEAC for the Victorian home education community. For more information on VHEAC, please see HEN’s VHEAC page.
Over the past four years I have been one of several representatives of the VHEAC—a forum which has given home educators a much needed direct voice to the DET (who set education policy and regulations) and the VRQA (who implement those regulations for home education). The Committee has recently gained some new members and I decided to move on, after being a voluntary member of VHEAC since its inception. Much of our work happens behind closed doors, and what we do is therefore probably not well understood by home educators. That in turn runs the risk of home educators not really appreciating the significance of VHEAC and why it is so important to our incredibly diverse community. So as I exit, I am willing to share a few insights to give you a sense of what we have been doing, why the nitty-gritty detail of our work is not made public and why it is so important for home educators to be aware of the role of our representatives on VHEAC both now and into the future.
What we have been doing is providing input, review, suggestions and advice to the DET and VRQA, on a wide range of matters that relate to the regulations that impact home educators, including the processes and systems that home educators interact with when they first register with, or are reviewed by the VRQA. We also help provide the real-world face and experiences of home educators, and represent their diversity of motivations, needs and aspirations. In short, we make the regulations real and their impacts tangible to people who work in “the system”.
To their great credit, staff from the VRQA and DET have genuinely listened, learned a lot about home educators and together we have overcome initial misconceptions and broken down communication barriers. In doing so, we have eliminated much of the mistrust that existed prior to the latest regulations coming into effect. It is clear that those changes to the regulations were shaped by a general lack of awareness of home education within the relevant government agencies – and this is something we have worked hard to influence and correct, because we truly believe (as you all know) that a home education journey is a positive choice that continues to lead to wonderful outcomes for our children and young adults.
The nitty-gritty detail of our work is not made public, because in order to (a) be at the table with the government agencies and (b) build the trust that allows us to have genuine influence, we have to respect the privileged position we are in. We see draft documents and materials that are reviewed with our input before being finalised. We are given the opportunity to have a say in how the VRQA and DET interact with home educators, to make sure that the system is working for everyone and, most importantly, in the best interests of our children.
So in summary, VHEAC members basically straddle functions like expert input, diplomacy and advocacy, and are directly engaging on your behalf with the people who oversee home education regulations in Victoria. This approach is obviously very different to the public, adversarial action and activism that characterised the period leading up to the changes to the regulations, and I understand that it may surprise some home educators to discover that we have managed to foster these relationships in the time since, given the depth of feeling and disappointment that many felt at the time of those changes.
It is critical to be aware of the role of your home education VHEAC representatives because they are volunteering their time on your behalf, to ensure that the regulations work with home educators to support the interests and diverse educational needs of our children. I have seen all the VHEAC home education representatives take this responsibility extremely seriously by also regularly meeting, sharing information and discussing issues outside of formal meetings. I have been impressed by the time, passion, energy, commitment and teamwork I have witnessed, and it has allowed us in turn to demonstrate just how well-informed, articulate and professional home educators are. While unfortunately, for the reasons explained above, you do not have the benefit of seeing in detail exactly what happens behind the scenes, I can assure you that the new regulatory system would not be working as well as it generally now is, if VHEAC did not exist.
In the future, let’s make sure we don’t take VHEAC for granted. Having this direct voice to government will be especially critical when the regulations are next reviewed. It is also the place where we can continue to foster a culture built on respect and understanding, which has positively influenced the cooperative way that the government agencies now perform their roles and interact with us all. That is something worth protecting!
I wish the new VHEAC members all the best, and thank the home education community in Victoria for entrusting all VHEAC representatives to provide a voice on your behalf.
Mark Bachman for Otherways issue 170, November 2021