We are more than just our work. We have life stories, journeys and experiences. We bring our whole self to what we do, beyond training and qualifications. All these elements add layers and richness to our thoughts. The same is true as parents. We are a mum or a dad, but we also have our own unique narrative. Our own upbringing, our learning journey, and the lives we now lead. A professional title, a parental role, these words can't possibly define us or confine us, yet too often, we are boxed into either one; any overlaps too often excused, ignored, or hidden by us.
There is an alternative perspective, one where we are honest and open about the journey we have taken, to bring us to where we are, where the richness of our experiences is valued, no matter from which perspective. The parent who is a professional, the professional who is a parent. Why separate, why not embrace the unique perspectives that both can bring, the synergy?
It is from this holistic perspective that I cannot help but come to the words, 'Alternative Provision'. Without even thinking, the traumatic memories of a journey long and hard through the education system for my own young person (YP) lurch to the fore. I recall every moment of alternative provision, and every iteration of what that means. I simultaneously live again the seclusion, the withdrawals, the additional and part-time timetables and no timetables at all, when exclusion was the alternative to restraint, and because of restraint. I recall the physical embodiment of 'alternative', the specialist settings and promises of 'special' treatment, where 'special' only lead to more heartache and pain.
I viscerally feel myself recoil from 'alternative', want to run and hide and complain and shout all at the same time. And then I remember that I'm sitting in a room of professionals, perhaps alongside a family, where alternative provision is the focus. My mind goes into lockdown. I try to hide strain of the conflict between personal and professional on my face, work as hard as I can to keep going, to nod in the right places, where words do not feel my own, or do not come at all. The search for alternative and better ways of supporting YP and families nevertheless is part of the essence of being the whole me; parent and professional.
Neuro-Normative Epistemic Injustice – Consequences for the UK Education Crisis and School Anxiety
"Meaningful reform requires a fundamental shift in how we value and conceptualise education, neurodiversity, and inclusivity – one that views struggling children not as pathological outliers, but as indicators of systemic dysfunction."
Fortunately for my YP's wellbeing, and for that of my family, there has been an alternative. By switching from deficit to difference, from behavioural management to experience-sensitive, from objectifying to humanistic perspectives, we have moved forward. Embracing the neurodiversity paradigm is the alternative we have followed, and the reform I also champion in my work. My alternative perspective, testament to and proof of how valuable stepping back, taking space, seeing a fellow human can be in all walks of life. An alternative path I hope to see more of in discussions on alternative provision in education.
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