Blogs

School ethos or school brand?

Schools are operating in a world where fundamental British values can seemingly sit alongside zero-tolerance approaches to things like behaviour. Dr David Lundie considers the impact of recent policies on school ethos

The amount of ink that has been spilled over the duty of schools to promote “fundamental British values” from the time they were introduced in the 2014 Ofsted inspection handbook to their burial beneath layers of attendant values in the 2021 handbook’s focus on “Personal Development” gives pause for thought – what’s so controversial about labelling values as British?

The emergence of this agenda in the moral panic that followed the Trojan Horse allegations in Birmingham in 2014 has recently been under the microscope again thanks to the New York Times’ podcast series on the issue.

Going into schools as part of a recent Templeton Foundation-funded project into young people’s values, there are plenty of flag-bedecked wall displays on the British values that have clearly been gathering dust since that moment in 2014.

Register now, read forever

Thank you for visiting SecEd and reading some of our content for professionals in secondary education. Register now for free to get unlimited access to all content.

What's included:

  • Unlimited access to news, best practice articles and podcast

  • New content and e-bulletins delivered straight to your inbox every Monday and Thursday

Register

Already have an account? Sign in here