As a white, British, female teacher educator I had the privilege of spending two summers conversing with children, parents and teachers in Indian Christian schools in India using an ethnographic approach to data collection within a qualitative research design. This chapter draws on some of the findings from a project funded by St Christopher's Trust and the University of Cumbria. Visits were made to a sample of Christian foundation special schools and mainstream schools in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Mizoram—five Indian states which are very different politically, culturally and economically (British Council 2019).
The relationship between extremism and schools is a seemingly contradictory one. The UK Prevent Duty's aim (to prevent and also root out extremism in schools) is often, ironically, blamed for aiding the radicalization process, but it is also identified by states and international bodies as a primary tool with which to combat it. In the early 21st century there has been a development of policies and law designed to prevent violent extremism (PVE) as a part of an international response to 9/11 in 2001 and the war on terror. Policy approaches to extremism in education were revised and reworked in the first and second decades of the 21st century in response to various events, including the 2005 London and 2017 Manchester bombings, and the increasing fear that education system had allowed homegrown terrorists raised in England to commit terrorist acts. The promotion of fundamental British values in school and teacher education contexts has been met with varied responses. Since the inception of this strategy, it has been criticized from a number of perspectives. The National Union of Teachers passed a motion at its annual conference in 2016 condemning the idea of promoting "fundamental British values" as an act of cultural supremacism and other researchers have noted that conceptually the strategy is flawed and counterproductive. In 2014 a document that was to become known as the Trojan Horse letter was leaked to Birmingham City Council, which outlined an alleged plot by hardline jihadists to take over a number of Birmingham schools. The outcome of the affair had ramifications beyond that initial cluster of schools and impacted on the way all schools engaged with the counterterrorism agenda. The furor surrounding the event acted as a catalyst for the generation of policy that introduced an even greater meshing between education and the security agenda, resulting in the concepts of Muslims being seen as a "suspect community" and teachers being positioned as "agents of surveillance." Research has also investigated the extent to which there has been a "chilling effect" in educational settings in the early 21st century as a result of the Prevent policy, with both teachers and learners feeling under scrutiny, and cautious about speaking freely in their educational environment. Many researchers consider that teachers face a dilemma—to deliver governmental policy uncritically (the safe option to ensure compliance and positive outcomes in terms of Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills); or to challenge a perceived governmental stranglehold and take the more risky option, whereby teachers critically explore effective ways of promoting British values. Some scholars in the second decade of the 21st century have argued that teachers have subsumed counterterrorism policy into their own safeguarding practice. Extremism, values, and education is an emerging field in educational research, that is uncovering (among other things) the extent to which educational professionals from Early Years to university level challenge the prejudicial implications of the Prevent Duty legislation, are providing open spaces for critical and informed debate, and are adhering to policy to prevent violent extremism.
India's education system is complex because it has to meet the needs of a population which is culturally, geographically, politically, religiously and economically diverse. The principal investigator spent two summers in India talking with teachers and learners. This paper reports on the impact of Christian values in the secular but arguably Hindu nationalist education system. Working within an interpretivist paradigm and through an ethnographic lens, an interpretive phenomenological analysis approach was adopted to make sense of 34 interviewees' narratives from five Indian states. The narratives were mapped onto an adaptation of a 'tree metaphor' to illustrate how values underpin decision-making and action in the school context. Five of the narratives are presented as keyhole examples to exemplify the similarities and contrasts in reported beliefs, values and behaviours set within the context of teachers' professional practice. Findings reveal that all 34 participants drew on their Christian faith, and Indian cultural context, in their decision-making both in how they made sense of education policy, and how they interpreted school events and behaviours. Despite their common faith (Christianity), the 34 interpretations, decision-making and actions varied as demonstrated in the five selected narratives. We explore how the variance manifested and was influenced by the geographical, cultural, post colonial and school context.
We live in post-European times, where even though the UK is still part of the continent of Europe, we no longer share the community and economic basis of the European Union. This has racial and cultural implications for school populations and consequent effect on ways of teaching and learning. In addition the identification, and language of, and the response to race and ethnicity in schools is now much less visible in the curriculum and government policy (Gillborn, 2005, 2013; Warner, unpublished thesis, 2017). This chapter links with Conteh's Chapter 12, 'Language and Learning in a Multilingual World', and Elton-Chalcraft, Revell and Lander's Chapter 15 on British values.
Aim: For delegates to consider the impact of values on teacher educators with reference to a case study in Indian Christian foundation schools. Content: The lead investigator spent two consecutive summers visiting Christian foundation schools in five Indian states and this paper focuses on the impact of Christian values on practice using West-Burnham and Davis (2014) tree metaphor, where education is seen as a moral activity. The research team reflected on the interconnectedness of values, the Christian religion, the context of the Indian education system and the impact on practice. We explored how espoused values, a teacher's faith and the 'institutional body language' of the school (Dadzie 2000), are enacted in practice. I did not set out to gauge the extent to which teachers showed a shared belief system rooted or inspired by their faith, rather, I listened to their stories using IPA approach and identified themes which arose - 'making sense of them making sense of their views', (Smith and Osborne 2003) and some views were shared while others were in stark contrast. The findings illustrate how the thirty-four participants narrate firstly the impact of their faith on teaching and learning and secondly the influence of the Christian values in their schools given that the majority of learners are predominantly Hindu, (with some from Muslim, Christian or Sikh backgrounds) all within the context of Indian governmental policy prohibiting proselytising. Three themes emerged which are mapped on to West-Burnham and Davis tree metaphor (2014): 1. Christian values provide deep ethical roots. 2. Biblical texts and Christian doctrine informs decision making – the tree trunk, and the day to day action – the branches. 3. Differences and commonalities. The presentation highlights the tension of conflicting values - Indian Christian teachers sharing God's love whilst adhering to governmental policy not to coerce non-Christians to convert. We are thinking deeply about values in teacher education; reflecting on the impact of espoused personal values, adherence to governmental policy, and implications for practice in an Indian context. This has implications for our role as teacher educators where governmental directives may conflict with a teacher's values.
This summer the newspapers were full of pictures of armed French police forcing Muslim women to remove articles of clothing on a beach in Nice. The pictures showing four policemen standing over the woman while she removed enough clothes to make sure her outfit was one that was 'respecting good morals and secularism'. Some accounts reported that as police roamed the beaches of Nice making women undress, onlookers applauded and shouted 'go home'. How can teachers support children making sense of such media stories? Teachers of religious education are often asked to justify the existence of their subject when the number of people who claim to be religious in the UK declines year on year. Yet, the incident described above is an illustration of how religion is rarely out of the news. Very often the presence of religion in the media also signifies questions of racism and discrimination and raises issues and questions related to freedom of expression, immigration and human rights that could be addressed in the Citizenship classroom. It makes sense then that some of these issues could be addressed with more thoroughness, nuance and depth if teachers were able to consider not just the civic, moral and political context and content of many of those issues but the religious as well. Later in this article we critique classroom approaches.
This chapters explores the nature of Christian-based values education in five Indian States, and considers how a sample of Christian foundation schools, with Hindu, Muslim, Sikh and Christian intakes, navigate the tensions created by Hindutva, the secular education system, the Religious Freedom Laws, and the school's Christian context. Data were collected to provide phenomenological insight into how a sample of Principals, teachers, Pastors, lecturers, educational workers, parents and children from the diverse Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Mizoram narrated their perspectives. While acknowledging our opportunistic sampling strategy, and data collection by a white western agnostic, findings show that some teachers staunchly reject Hindutva in favour of a Christian ethos, paying lip service to the non-proselytising legislation, whilst some other teachers promote a more pluralistic outlook. However other teachers, mainly in the North Eastern states, synthesise Christian values with their tribal heritage.
There is a phrase in the Teachers' Standards that requires you to uphold public trust in the profession by 'not undermining fundamental British values' (DfE, 2012), and a policy document for schools that requires you to actively 'promote fundamental British values' (DfE, 2014). Fundamental British values are defined as 'democracy, the Rule of Law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs' (DfE, 2012, p. 10). In this chapter we encourage you to think about these requirements in a critical way, considering why you have been asked to promote FBV, and how you could, or indeed whether in fact you should, do this. The authors of this chapter undertook some research to uncover what teachers and student teachers thought about the introduction of promoting FBV and our findings are critical of this requirement (Elton-Chalcraft et al., 2017). In each of our universities, drawing on our findings, we have discussed issues such as ethnicity, inclusion and meeting the needs of black and minority ethnic (BME) children with our groups of student teachers. In this chapter we aim to engage you in a challenging debate to interrogate the implications of the requirements to promote FBV in schools and why this might be problematic or possibly even detrimental to learners, if not approached in a critical fashion. We conclude with suggestions, drawn from evidence-based practice, for a more appropriate way to promote a sense of unity and shared values in our communities, and address radicalisation issues, through work in schools that does not vilify groups or inculcate fear but rather encourages an exploration of difference and similarities within a critical but respectful context (Bryan and Revell, 2016; Revell and Elton-Chalcraft, 2016).
This chapter explores the way student teachers understand their professional role in relation to the UK's counter terrorism legislation as it relates to schools. Recent discussions on the nature of teacher professionalism characterise the relationship between the state and teachers whereby teacher' autonomy is increasingly eroded and compromised by policy. Using Bauman's concept of liquid modernity as a theoretical lens we analysed data collected from fifteen interviews with post graduate student teachers and one hundred and fifty questionnaires. Despite a normative attachment to notions of professional objectivity and political detachment in the classroom, most student teachers interpreted their new duties (to prevent radicalisation and promote fundamental British values), as legitimate and were uncritical of legislation and policy that expects them to play an overtly political role in schools. We argue that recent legislation and initiatives around extremism and radicalisation repositions teacher professional identity so that their involvement as part of a counter terrorist strategy is normalised.
In the wake of terror attacks in London and Manchester in 2017, concerns have been raised about the extent to which governmental strategies to combat terrorism are successful in preventing extremism. The requirement "not to undermine fundamental British values" (FBV) has become part of the Teachers' Standards (DfE 2012) slipping silently, seamlessly and seemingly unchallenged from the government's counter terrorism strategy Prevent (2011). FBV are denoted as: Democracy, The rule of law, Individual liberty, Mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. Our research arose from a BERA Symposium in October 2012 organised by the BERA Race, Ethnicity and Education Special Interest Group (SIG) and the Religious Education and Moral Education SIG. Guidance on Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) education to "actively promote fundamental British values" (DfE 2014) as well as the need to monitor children and young people at risk of radicalisation, places teachers in a precarious position having to negotiate their role as teacher and agent of surveillance within their classroom. Thus requiring them to place certain pupils who have been racialized and labelled through media and political discourse as 'suspect', namely Muslim children and young people (Lander 2016). Yet the role of the teacher should allow children and young people in our care the time and space to explore, articulate and share their developing ideas with respect to a range of social, cultural and moral issues (Revell and Elton-Chalcraft 2016). But the imperative to police any opposition to FBV has ironically served to silence the voices of Muslim children and young people curtailing their right to free speech and thereby infringing their liberty within the now securitised space of the classroom which at one time they may considered safe.
In this article we seek to problematize the presence of the requirement within the Teachers' Standards (DfE 2012), that they "should not undermine fundamental British values" in the context of initial teacher education in England. The inclusion of this statement within the Teachers' code of conduct has made its way from the counter-terrorism strategy, Prevent and raises questions about Britishness, values and the relationship between the State and the profession more generally. We argue that the inclusion of the phrase within a statutory document that regulates the profession is de facto a politicization of the profession by the State thereby instilling the expectation that teachers are State instruments of surveillance. The absence of any wider debate around the inclusion of the statement is also problematic as is the lack of training for pre-service and inservice teachers since it means this concept of fundamental British values is unchallenged and its insidious racialising implications are unrecognized by most teachers.
In this article we seek to problematize the presence of the requirement within the Teachers' Standards (DfE 2012), that they "should not undermine fundamental British values" in the context of initial teacher education in England. The inclusion of this statement within the Teachers' code of conduct has made its way from the counter-terrorism strategy, Prevent and raises questions about Britishness, values and the relationship between the State and the profession more generally. We argue that the inclusion of the phrase within a statutory document that regulates the profession is de facto a politicization of the profession by the State thereby instilling the expectation that teachers are State instruments of surveillance. The absence of any wider debate around the inclusion of the statement is also problematic as is the lack of training for pre-service and inservice teachers since it means this concept of fundamental British values is unchallenged and its insidious racialising implications are unrecognized by most teachers.
