British values and virtues: schooling in Christianity and character?

This article examines the antecedents of the ‘British Values’ (democracy, rule of law, equality of opportunity, freedom of speech and the rights of all men and women to live free from persecution) which it is incumbent upon British schools to teach. But it also seeks to move the debate forward by pointing to the ‘British Virtues’ without which it is impossible to live by ‘British Values’. The argument advanced here is that the inculcation of virtues (moral habits and dispositions underpinning good character) as well as values (beliefs and ideals) is foundational in schooling for life in a liberal democracy. On the view that schools are both ‘by’ and ‘for’ society (being the products of the society they seek to serve) the article problematises attempts to conceive of schooling in general, and character education in particular, in exclusively post-Christian terms. Although increasingly secular, as British culture is not quite the palimpsest that easily permits a millennium of Christian social and legal ‘writing’ to be ‘over-written’, some of its central concepts are drawn upon in the recommendations made here for the curriculum and governance of schools.     

American Schooling and History: an English view

Abstract

One, increasingly damaging, feature of the British higher education system that stems from its institutionalisation in the early nineteenth century is a sharp distinction between what is termed ‘education’ on the one hand and what is termed ‘training’ on the other.

It is claimed that this over‐sharp distinction lies at the root of much of the current dissatisfaction in Britain with the universities, even though much overt criticism is couched in terms of the curriculum and ‘relevance’. Recent initiatives at the University of Salford designed to transcend these distinctions and to bring about a closer relationship between the university and industrial and commercial concerns are described.     

Disrupting colonial discourses in the geography curriculum during the introduction of British Values policy in schools

The main purpose of this article is to expose and disrupt discourses dominating global development in an English school geography textbook chapter. The study was prompted by a teacher’s encounter with cultural difference in a geography lesson in South Korea. I investigate the issues raised through the lens of a new curriculum policy in English schools called ‘Promoting Fundamental British Values’ which forms part of England’s education-securitisation agenda, a topic of international attention. Following contextualization across research fields and in recent curriculum and assessment policy reform, I bring together theoretical perspectives from curriculum studies and Continental philosophy that do not usually speak to each other, to construct a new analytical approach. I identify three key themes, each informed by colonial logic: ‘development’, ‘numerical indicators’ and ‘learning to divide the world’. The inquiry appears to expose a tension between the knowledge of the textbook chapter and the purported aims of the British Values curriculum policy, but further investigation reveals the two to be connected through common colonial values. The findings are relevant to teachers, publishers, textbook authors, policy-makers and curriculum researchers. I recommend a refreshed curriculum agenda with the politics of knowledge and ethical global relations at its centre.     

The First Half Century of the AERA

Abstract

The central hypothesis of this study was that conflicting values are related to a lack of acceptance of the school’s curriculum on the part of the faculty. The data were collected through the employment of three instruments (Differential Values Inventory by Prince, an adaptation of the Kreitlow Scale by Kreitlow and Dreier, and a Teacher Attitude Scale.) School faculties which expressed the greater differences in educational values also expressed the greatest amount of disapproval of the school’s curriculum. However, individual teachers with extreme values indicated more favorable attitudes toward the curriculum than teachers with more neutral values. Values held by principals were related to teachers approval of the curriculum.     

The Elusive Goal of Nation Building: Asian/Confucian Values and Citizenship Education in Singapore During The 1980s

ABSTRACT

The term ‘Asian values’ became popular in the political discourse in the 1980s and 1990s. The most vocal proponents of Asian values are Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew and Malaysia's Mahathir and their deputies and government officials, as well as post-Tiananmen Chinese leaders. Most notable of all these three strands of the Asian values debate is the ‘Singapore School’, which ‘comprises leaders who have articulated a defence of the Singapore regime, either in their personal or official capacities’. This article discusses the origins and philosophical underpinnings of ‘Asian values’ in the Singapore context and its relationship to civics education. First, it provides the historical context for the interest in Confucianism and Asian Values. It then looks at the role and use of Confucianism and Asian Values in Asia, before discussing the case of Singapore and Asian values. I explore the interconnections between changes in history, civics and social studies curricula, and the politics of the ‘Asian Values’ discourse in Singapore which underpins these curricula. At the heart of the issue was the state's attempt to forge and articulate a Singaporean identity, and the role of citizenship/moral education in attaining this elusive nation building goal.     

‘Pastoral Care’ as Curriculum Discourse: a study in the reformation of ‘academic’ schooling

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the significance of the recent development of pastoral care as a distinct category of secondary school provision. It argues that existing accounts of the rise of pastoral care fail to take on board the relationship between changes in the school curriculum and their wider context. It also suggests that the separation and construction of pastoral care as distinct from the ‘academic’ is only one dimension of, and can only be understood in the context of, a changing curriculum. Pastoral care is not a ‘new’ area, but results from, and was made possible by, a reformulation and fragmentation of what counts as ‘academic’. Finally, it proposes that this consolidation of social/personal concerns under the category of ‘pastoral care’ acquired particular significance in response to tensions created through the reorganization of secondary schooling. Pastoral care provided the means by which the contradictions embedded within comprehensivization could be reconciled.     

BELONGING,SOCIAL COHESION AND FUNDAMENTAL BRITISH VALUES

ABSTRACT

Many of the often complex debates central to the topics of belonging and social cohesion have their origins in contrasting interpretations of the ideal relationship between citizens. Governments across much of the western world continue to struggle to reconceptualise what it is to ‘belong together’ at a time of growing diversity and migration.

This article considers three conceptual difficulties involved in the directive for schools to actively promote Fundamental British Values to address this issue. First, the directive fails to refer to any relevant theories around the concept of belonging, one of the major strands of research in social cohesion. The concept of ‘perceived belonging’ is thus introduced to further explore what the bond between citizens ‘looks like’. Secondly, the lack of theory leads to a restriction of the values needed to support the bond. Thirdly, there is then a lack of sufficient clarity of action for how this might be translated into school practice. Finally, I suggest that the directive needs further theoretical engagement to be successful.     

Reading about the Enemy: school textbook representation of Germany's role in the war with Britain during the period from April 1940 to May 1941

Much analysis of National Curriculum emphasis upon ‘British history’ has centred upon ‘national identity’. This article argues that coverage of ‘British history’ will inevitably present images of other nations. In developing a sense of ‘Britishness’ pupils will attach identities to other nations. The focus is school textbook coverage of Germany's wartime role from April 1940 to May 1941. In covering Britain's ‘finest hour’ texts present images of the German enemy. These images are explored using quantitative and qualitative research techniques. Images of mindless instinctive aggression by automatons are in the foreground of what I term the ‘German condition’. The means employed by school textbooks to construct these images are also analysed. School text coverage is compared with a small number of established academic histories. These are shown to be both richer and more diverse in character. This article concludes by considering the political and educational questions raised. There are concerns about how pupils will view Britain's powerful European partner. There are implications for curriculum control content ana     

Attitudes to lying in children aged 8/9 and 11/12

Abstract

The paper considers the way in which white teachers and students make sense of ‘race’ in a multiracial college of further education. It argues that within white cultural forms there are two main ways of comprehending race, the ‘nationalistic’ and ‘liberal’. It suggests however that these two forms are interrelated and that paradoxically the nationalistic may feed in and support a white ‘liberalism’. It is argued that the liberal form's denial of structure serves to sustain a white racism. On a more positive note it is argued that teachers’ concerns with equal opportunities provide an important resource in the development of an anti‐racist education.     

Implementing the National Curriculum at Key Stage 2

Abstract

Since 1989, the Portuguese education system has undergone curricular reform which has introduced deep structural changes to the subject of physical education (PE). PE has become a compulsory and examinable subject within the ‘core curriculum’ of all school years (1 st to 12th grade). National curricular plans for basic and secondary education have also been introduced. This paper provides a view of the political options which have underpinned the present curricular project of PE in Portugal and compares practices in that country with those in Belgium. The analysis first describes the ‘curriculum as text’ before focusing attention on the ‘curriculum as action’. The analysis explores the nature of teachers’, pupils’ and parents’ beliefs, values and attitudes that together mediate the curriculum as text, help define contexts of PE, and influence public and political attitudes towards the subject. The paper points to the importance of both researchers and teachers for the development of effective teaching and learning in PE.     

Teachers’ curriculum agency in teaching a standards-based curriculum

Abstract

In 2011, Sweden introduced explicit standards for the curriculum used in compulsory schooling through the implementation of ‘knowledge requirements’ that align content, abilities and assessment criteria. This article explores and analyses social science teachers’ curriculum agency through a theoretical framework comprised of ‘teacher agency’ and Bernstein’s concepts of ‘pedagogic device’, ‘hierarchical knowledge structure’ and ‘horizontal knowledge structure’. Teachers’ curriculum agency, in recontextualisation of the curriculum, is described and understood through three different ‘spaces’: a collective space, an individual space and an interactive space in the classroom. The curriculum and time are important for the possibilities of agency – the teachers state that the new knowledge requirements compel them to include and assess a lot of content in each ‘curriculum task’. It is possible to identify a recontextualisation process of ‘borrowing’ and combining content from curriculum tasks across the different subjects. This process is explained by the horizontal knowledge structure and ‘weak grammar’ of the social sciences. Abilities, on the other hand, stand out as elements of a hierarchical knowledge structure in which a discursive space is opened for knowledge to transcend contexts and provides opportunities for meaning-making. The space gives teachers room for action and for integrating disciplinary content.     

Creative development in the early years: some implications of policy for practice

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on the identifying of ‘creative development’ as a desirable early years learning outcome by the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority (SCAA, 1997). The article begins with a rationale for the inclusion of ‘creativity’ in the curriculum of young children in a post‐modern world at the turn of the century. It then goes on to look at the way in which ‘creative development’ is characterized by SCAA as a desirable learning outcome, and to unpick some of the messages which its inclusion in the curriculum may signify. There are several challenges posed by this part of the early years curriculum, which are then explored. Finally it proposes a framework for interpreting and translating it into practice.     

Tradition,Authority and Disciplinary Practice in History Education

Abstract

The concepts of ‘tradition’ and ‘authority’ are generally understood to be problematical in history curriculum design. Drawing on MacIntyre’s account of disciplines as social practices, this article argues that, to the contrary, these are concepts that need to be incorporated into any curriculum theory that attempts to build a school subject on the foundations provided by an academic discipline. In history education, there is a strong consensus towards deriving the ideas of the history curriculum from the discipline of history, and this article argues that it is therefore necessary for history curriculum theory to account for the concepts of ‘tradition’ and ‘authority’ as they exist in disciplinary practice.     

Philosophical debates on curriculum,inequalities and social justice

Abstract

The paper provides an historical but critical context for examining the relation of the pursuit of greater equality in schooling to the development of curriculum. This requires a brief account of what one means by the principle of equality, before showing the different ways in which there have been curriculum responses underpinned by philosophical understandings which need to be examined closely. These different ways are explained in terms of: ? ‘rational curriculum planning’ with its detailed definition of ‘aims, objectives, methods and evaluation’—and thereby a ‘science of teaching’;

? ‘forms of knowledge’ or ‘realms of meaning’ to enable all pupils to have a basic understanding of the physical, social, and moral worlds they inhabit;

? the pursuit of enquiry through which, for all learners, understanding is enlarged;

? provision of common curriculum experience as a basis for citizenship;

? taking diversity seriously; and

? equalisation of opportunities through a common system of national standards and assessments.

However, in the light of greater government involvement in the minutiae of curriculum reform, mainly through changes in qualifications and examinations, there is clearly a need to ask what sort of evidence is relevant to ‘what works’.     

A curriculum compromised

Abstract

Business studies has enjoyed a remarkable change of status in the 14‐18 school curriculum since 1986. This change has been interpreted by Williams and Yeomans (1994) as a case of the ‘new vocationalism’ put into practice. It is argued here that this transformation has been rather more complex. If a school subject changes its status in the academic/vocational spectrum it is pertinent to ask whether this is a sign of an overall change in the curriculum (e.g. the ‘new vocationalism') or the development of a single subject title within a broadly static curriculum structure and philosophy. These alternatives are summarized and the recent history of business studies is reviewed. It is suggested that the changing status of business studies reflects the way in which it has successfully responded to the academic values which dominate the secondary school curriculum in England and Wales. However, it has achieved this transformation while, according to a deputy head interviewed in this study, retaining the image of being ‘vaguely vocational’. This ambiguity has enabled the subject to flourish in vocational (GNVQ) as well as academic (A level) contexts, but it leaves it vulnerable in each sphere. GNVQ advanced business¹ teaching in schools can bear a very close resemblance to A level teaching, prompting the question of whether a ‘vocational course’ is really providing a distinctively relevant preparation for future employment. The association of business studies with the vocational curriculum leaves its academic credentials under question.     

Condorcet on education

Abstract

Multicultural education (of which ‘multifaith’ RE in England and Wales is sometimes regarded as a subset) was attacked by antiracists in Britain in the 1980s. Although it is arguable that not all of the criticisms were valid, the debate raises questions about the efficacy of religious education in countering racism. The paper argues that a lack of analysis of the concepts ‘religions’ and ‘cultures’ in British RE has led to a representation of religious traditions which essentialises them, playing down their internal diversity, and which assumes a ‘closed’ view of cultures. A more flexible approach is suggested, drawing on work in ethnography and other social science disciplines, which might better combine with antiracist stances than earlier approaches. The work of the Warwick Religions and Education Research Unit is introduced briefly as an example of an attempt to address some of the above issues in terms of an integrated approach to theory, the study of religions in the community and the development of religious education curriculum materials.     

Curriculum homeplacing as complicated conversation: (re)narrating the mentoring of Black women doctoral students

ABSTRACT

Through personal and dialogical narratives, we explore the ways Black women mentors (do not) reveal to their mentees their lived-experiences and the personal pain associated with the pursuit of careers in higher education; how and why their narratives of pain and pursuit are negotiated, sanctioned, and/or strategically altered; and the impact these decisions have on the development of Black women graduate students. Drawing on hooks’ notions of ‘imperialist white supremacist capitalist patriarchy’ (2015), ‘radical honesty’ (2004), and ‘homeplace’ (1990), we deploy the concept of curriculum homeplacing to more critically examine Black women’s mentoring relationships.     

Confusion,contradiction and exclusion: the promotion of British values in the teaching of history in schools

This article discusses the challenges faced teaching the promotion of ‘British values’, especially for trainee teachers. The advancement of these ‘British values’ as set out by the Department for Education is confusing, contradictory, and appear to exclude a sizeable minority of pupils of minority backgrounds from the current historical narrative of Britain as delineated by the National Curriculum (2013). Moreover, there is little advice for new teachers on what these ‘values’ really mean or how they should be taught within schools, despite forming part of the standards required to achieve QTS. The author not only examines this confusion but provides the perspective of a former academic who has moved into secondary teaching, and their reaction to the teaching of History in schools and concerns regarding the History Curriculum.