‘British values’

A phrase which seems to consistently be in circulation at the moment is the term ‘British values’.  Last week I was in attendance of a Religious studies lesson at sixth form college and my teacher informed me with implicit mirth that the principal of the college and Senior management would next week be conducting ‘learning walks’ and that next week they would be assessing ( at this he pursed his lips in a manner that belied great amusement) ‘British values’.

Now naturally many of us in the class were confused and mocking of this concept- what does British values mean? Is it a façade to investigate how Westernised and narrowly we think at college is or a measure of how many cups of tea we drink on a regular basis? My teacher sarcastically inspected if the pen he was holding was of British make and therefore upholding the British values requirements.

Joking, for a moment, aside- what do schools and colleges really mean by ‘British values’? The term stems from the Government and it’s intention to begin ’embedding’ these values into schools and children as a part of the ‘Prevent’ scheme initiated in 2011 to try and tackle radicalism. According to the UK Government British values include:

• an understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process
• an understanding that the freedom to hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law
• an acceptance that people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour.

The above statements do seem admirable it must be said, however we cannot forget that this act was passed under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition and therefore- when the dreaded Michael Gove, or Butcherer of the Education system as teachers may refer to him as, was Education State secretary.

So the teaching of British values… oh yes the acceptance of all faiths, religions and beliefs… yet the Education secretary at the time made sure to embed this value at the heart of British society by sending a King James Bible to every school in Britain with a specially anticipated foreword from the highly respected Education secretary himself.

Like my Religious Studies teacher, the concept of ‘British values’ tended to be met with ridicule on social media with people mocking Gove’s approach to giving more power to the Government by turning more schools into academies and free schools as his oh so inclusive British values as well  him approving three creationist schools to be opened- a great leap of progression obviously.

I am not sure exactly what are British values, and I do not believe many in this country do. What I do know is that if the seemingly false inclusivity and diversity claimed by the Government is met by such abject disbelief and outrage- the values of this country are certainly in need of great social development.