In 2014 the Department for Education published guidance on promoting ‘fundamental British values’ in schools to ensure that young people leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. These values were first set out by the government in their counter terrorism strategy titled Prevent Strategy (HMSO, 2011), which has now come into force through British values. So what are the ‘fundamental British values’ that need to be promoted? In schools, teaching British values means providing a curriculum which ‘actively promotes’ the following: Democracy The rule of law Individual liberty Mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith. I guess in the past year we have all said ‘What?!’ Where did the early years come into this, we asked? Under the new government plans announced by education secretary Nicky Morgan, early years settings will also have to teach children as young as two about ‘fundamental British values’ in an ‘age-appropriate way’ to protect them from ‘religious radicals’ (Morton, 2014). The teaching of such values (watered down from the above) will include: Right from wrong Taking turns and sharing Challenging negative attitudes and stereotypes Mutual respect and tolerance of different religions and beliefs. Ofsted will be required to inspect early years providers against this criteria. This of course caused implications for settings and quite rightly a confusion and uproar within the early years sector in how this is to be interpreted in practice. Neil Leitch, Chief Executive of the Pre-school Learning Alliance, voiced his concern: “For many of us ‘British Values’ is still difficult to define and often subjective so we cannot see how stipulating ‘British Values’ or the state of ‘Britishness’ adds anything that could ever be meaningful to the experiences of young children who make sense of their world through ‘opportunities to explore, observe and find out about people, places, technology and the environment’ EYFS (2014)”. The community nursery chain, London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), also joined the great debate: “What is a value? Is it not a set of principles and standards of behaviours about what is important in life? Of course these principles are mostly unconscious as we translate them into our rules, attitudes and moral codes of conduct and behaviour. The issue of values is a live one for Early Years Education as we battle to get Government and policy makers to recognise its centrality for achieving those very values described by our Prime Minister, David Cameron as freedom, tolerance, respect for the rule of law and belief in personal and social responsibility”. To add to the worries, not only is the Government demanding compliance on promoting ‘British Values’, but there will also be consequences for any non-compliance. New guidance for local authorities published in September, stated that, ‘Local authorities cannot meet their duty to secure early education by securing places at an early education provider in relation to whom the local authority has reasonable grounds to believe: - is not meeting the independent school standard in relation to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils; - is not actively promoting fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs; or - is promoting as fact views or theories which are contrary to established scientific or historical evidence and explanations.’ My work with practitioners and school teachers further echoes concerns in how British values are to be implemented in practice: Focus Group Notes: The main questions that arose were; What should we be doing? Why do we have to do this? Are we even supposed to be doing this? I have no idea how to go about this in an early years setting. I have yet to come across any guidance on this. A lot of policies, statements and changes are being made to curriculum documents but I don’t understand it and how it will look in practice. I am Polish and feel pressure in delivering what it means to be British – am I going to be closely monitored because of it? This is nothing new or different, we already deliver it. It seems like the Education Secretary has no idea what we do and this seems her instant reaction to the ‘goings on’ in some, but not all, schools. The term ‘British values’ is dangerous in implying we are somehow superior to other nations and cultures. There is a very thin line in how this may be interpreted. I mean the EYFS as a national statutory document is interpreted differently in each setting. BV may be dangerous in dividing up particular groups in the settings, whether adults or children. Should it not be ‘fundamental human values’?? Life values are more important for two year olds don’t you think? It is fairly obvious with the concerns raised that guidance and support was needed in interpreting and delivering the requirement of British values. As always no content specific to the early years has been provided by the Department of Education, which means that early years practitioners are searching for the meaning of fundamental British values and the implications this brings to their work with 0 to 5 year olds. There is a struggle to think of what needs to be taught when thinking of British values. This has led to the early years workforce, yet again, taking matters in their own hands to develop some kind of guidance to support practitioners. One such commendable support has been produced by the Foundation Years website – a place to find information and support if you work in the early years and childcare. At the recent Learn Explore Debate events (March, 2015) Foundation Years took on board the queries and concerns from early years providers around British values. As a result, Foundation Years have produced a short document with examples to demonstrate what this means in practice and how it will be reflected by Ofsted in inspection. You can find the guidance here. It is well worth a read before you look to further develop the requirement of British values. Engagement with values is not new in the early years, I know this and you know this. The existing EYFS already provides a structure to enable young children to engage with values through the area of learning ‘Understanding the World’. This sets an expectation that ‘children talk about past and present events in their own lives and the lives of family members… they know about similarities and differences between themselves and others, and among families, communities and traditions’. Such an approach is rooted in lived experiences; it enables children to experience and evaluate the worth of different ideas by applying principles and standards. So whether we agree with it or not, Ofsted inspectors are required to make a judgement about how well we deliver a curriculum which includes teaching children about British Values – and preparing them for life in modern Britain – so we need to address and show evidence of this in our planning. There is no need to plan specific lessons around this, British values should be included in everything we do. The starting point for any setting would be to focus on how you already or might start to promote British values in what you do. A staff meeting focusing on planning around British values will be worthwhile. Schools have drawn up statements in how they intend to deliver British values, settings may wish to do the same. Local authorities may offer training around British values and therefore setting leaders should think about attending this for further ‘food for thought’. Of course, ultimately it is about the day to day work that practitioners carry out in the setting that needs to demonstrate the values in play. Many voices in the early years sector have come together to form a community of practice to provide guidance and support on British values and therefore without the need to repeat what is already out there, this article provides links to the support available at the end. The following are also some practice examples to support practitioners in their work around British values: Sarah’s Blog: I have been thinking about some of the ways we might support children’s learning about 'fundamental British values' and my list of planning ideas includes the following: • Teach children to share and take turns – in conversation, at the shops, when reading books etc. • Celebrate British special days e.g. St George’s Day • Help children to understand about friendship and support them to make friends • Focus on listening skills so children wait before shouting out and understand not to spoil a song or book by talking through the words • Promote manners – please, thank you, sorry, age appropriate behaviour at the table etc. • Take children on outings into the local community, partnership with local schools, settings etc. • Cover a variety of themes about people who live in the world around us • Teach them about the British weather and seasons • Teach empathy and understanding • Give children age appropriate words to describe disability • Help children to set appropriate behaviour boundaries • When doing arts and crafts, use British artists and sculptors for inspiration • Celebrating British authors and illustrators • Cooking, eating and learning about traditional British food with the children • Learn about British villages, towns and cities • Use the learning characteristic ‘critical thinking’ to support children to ask questions and become independent and creative learners. British Festivals and celebrations: Below are some of the festivals, celebrations and special dates that are celebrated in Britain and are great to share with young children by doing activities with them to mark the occasion: • Burns night • Valentines day • Shrove Tuesday / Pancake Day • St David’s Day (Wales) • St Piran’s day • St Patrick’s Day (N. Ireland) • Mother’s Day • Lent • April Fool’s day • Easter • St George’s day (England) • Father’s day • Queens’ birthday • Summer solstice • Wimbledon • Notting Hill Carnival • Halloween • Bonfire Night • Remembrance day • Harvest festival • St Andre’s day (Scotland) • Christmas day • Boxing day Further practice ideas can be gathered from the following three websites: https://www.pacey.org.uk/news-and-views/pacey-blog/september-2015/fundamental-british-values-in-the-early-years/ http://mariamarraffa.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/british-values-our-duty-to-prevent.html https://www.childcare.co.uk/information/teaching-british-values Final thought: We can strongly argue that British values are in fact fundamental life and human values that are taught across the world. Practitioners already teach these values in their day to day work, and one can argue that they have always been hidden within a quality curriculum. I think the government's requirement should just be taken as a means to bring out the values to the forefront and make it visible to all. Practitioners are trained professionals who use valuable play-based teaching and learning to promote positive interaction, and therefore there should be no doubt in the work that you already do and the values that you promote. So.....we can do this, because we always do!
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