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Framed as being in response to terrorist attacks and concerns about religious bias in some English schools, 'British Values' (BV) curriculum policy forms part of the British Government's Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, 2015. This includes a Duty on teachers in England to actively promote British Values to deter students from radicalisation. This paper, first, traces the history of Britishness in the curriculum to reveal a prevalence of nationalistic, colonial values. Next, an ensemble of recent policies and speeches focusing on British Values is analysed, using a psycho-political approach informed by anti-colonial scholarship. Finally, we interrogate two key critiques of the British Values curriculum discourse: the universality of British Values globally, and concerns over the securitisation of education. Findings indicate that the constitution of white British supremacist subjectivities operate through curriculum as a defence mechanism against perceived threats to white privilege, by normalising a racialised state-controlled social order. The focus is on 'British' values, but the analytic framework and findings have wider global significance.

The present article discusses historical, conceptual, and methodological issues associated with the cross-cultural measurement of personality. It documents the extensive debate and discussion that has emerged from the juxtaposition of the trait-situation, universalism-relativism, quantitative-qualitative, and anthropology-psychology polarities in the past decade. Following a discussion of these polarities, the present article concludes that the contending (and contentious) positions should be replaced by collaborative disciplinary research efforts that are open to the possibility of both cultural variations and universals in human behavior. Fundamental similarities in behavior may exist across cultural boundaries because of bio-evolutionary, natural language descriptors and similar life-activity and socialization contexts. Major differences may exist for the very same reasons. At this point in time, it is more fruitful to have inquiry guided by questions rather than efforts to affirm positions. Neither side in the bitter debates that have arisen has provided sufficient evidence to warrant their unconditional acceptance.

The Coastal Observing System for Northern and Arctic Seas (COSYNA) was established in order to better understand the complex interdisciplinary processes of northern seas and the Arctic coasts in a changing environment. Particular focus is given to the German Bight in the North Sea as a prime example of a heavily used coastal area, and Svalbard as an example of an Arctic coast that is under strong pressure due to global change. The COSYNA automated observing and modelling system is designed to monitor real-time conditions and provide short-term forecasts, data, and data products to help assess the impact of anthropogenically induced change. Observations are carried out by combining satellite and radar remote sensing with various in situ platforms. Novel sensors, instruments, and algorithms are developed to further improve the understanding of the interdisciplinary interactions between physics, biogeochemistry, and the ecology of coastal seas. New modelling and data assimilation techniques are used to integrate observations and models in a quasi-operational system providing descriptions and forecasts of key hydrographic variables. Data and data products are publicly available free of charge and in real time. They are used by multiple interest groups in science, agencies, politics, industry, and the public.