Government policy in England requires schools to promote the fundamental British values (FBVs), defined as democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs. One educational response to this policy is to make these concepts the object of study and discussion, rather than seeking to simply ‘promote’ them in some uncritical way. This acknowledges that ideas such as democracy are not in themselves values, rather they are complex and contested concepts. It means little to say we support liberty or toleration unless we are aware what that means, the conditions under which we are willing to limit those principles, and the challenges they pose. These judgements require critical engagement with relevant knowledge and they benefit from discussion through which positions can be tested and refined.
This research builds on the opportunity afforded by the production and dissemination of the Deliberative Classroom education resources to address two main research questions:
1. How can we measure the extent to which deliberative talk is taking place in the classroom?
2. How do students engage with and use the concepts and knowledge to explore controversial issues?
As such the research is designed to explore the application of deliberative democracy in the classroom – addressing the extent to which the classroom operates as a deliberative space, and the nature of the deliberation that takes place.
The first article starts with the observation that the fundamental British values (FBVs) are often interpreted through a cultural discourse which serves to alienate and marginalise minoritised students and staff. However, this article demonstrates how teaching can avoid this framing and engage students with a civic discourse.
Transcripts from secondary students’ conversations about religious freedom illustrate that they are capable of balancing rights sensitively, of reaching pragmatic solutions and demonstrating sympathy for others.
This demonstrates that the FBVs may create opportunities for developing an ethics of care within a deliberative democratic project
Jerome, L., Liddle, A. and Young, H. (2021). Talking Tolerance: Being Deliberative about Fundamental British Values, PRISM: Casting New Light on Learning, Theory and Practice, 3(2), pp. 48–61. https://openjournals.ljmu.ac.uk/prism/article/view/416
The second article focused on the nature of the talk and the types of knowledge the students drew upon to inform their discussions.
The article shares four insights:
(i) there is a need to be more explicit about what constitutes human rights knowledge.
(ii) human rights education requires the development of political understanding, which moves beyond individual empathy.
(iii) educators need to value the process of deliberative discussions and avoid a push for conclusive answers.
(iv) students need support to draw on knowledge from a range of disciplines. If these issues are not addressed, some students are able to engage in rights-based discussions with little knowledge and understanding of rights.
Jerome, L., Liddle, A., & Young, H. (2021). Talking about Rights Without Talking about Rights: On the Absence of Knowledge in Classroom Discussions. Human Rights Education Review, 4(1), 8–26. https://doi.org/10.7577/hrer.3979
