“I’m tired. I’m tired of feeling scared. I’m tired of trying to explain to my eight year old child what is going on.”
They were the tearful words of a Muslim mother who lives near Finsbury Park mosque speaking to a BBC reporter after the attack near there on Sunday night.
Her eight year old child is back in school this week. Now I’m wondering what (tired) teachers will be trying to explain when children ask questions and express their fears.
Of course one of the ways that teachers can legitimately respond to such events is to distract children from the fear they may be feeling – my advice would be to suspend the ordinary lessons for a day or two and take them on a nature walk in the park or to an overgrown meadow or cemetery; organize some collaborative games, team-building adventures or play some competitive sport; let them paint, draw or make-up some role-play games.
Or just teach them what you normally would do, but do it so brilliantly that they are immersed and distracted by the sheer stimulation of your content.
However, such traumatic events do provide unique opportunities to teach fundamental values. You can call them ‘fundamental British values’ if you like – though let’s not argue about that – but ‘fundamental’ they certainly are, particularly in a civilized society.
Let me give you an example of what I mean by going back to the Finsbury Park attack.
When it took place, the attacker, alleged to be a man named Darren Osborne, was pulled from the van he was driving and apprehended by the angry and traumatized worshippers. Some started beating him – perhaps understandably in the circumstances.
The imam of the nearby mosque, Mohammed Mahmoud, in an amazing demonstration of leadership, stepped in and restrained the men who were attacking Osborne – ‘like a mob’ he said. He both restrained his fellow Muslim worshippers and protected the attacker from further harm until the police arrived and took over.
This amazing scene teaches us all a fundamental value – that adhering to the rule of law not only protects us but is there to deliver justice.
If, in their rage, the ‘mob’ had torn Osborne to pieces, it would have transformed the victims of the attack in to perpetrators of another one. As understandable as that might be on the level of human frailty; two wrongs don’t make a right.
If the ‘mob’ had torn Osborne to pieces, we would not have been able to establish through the due process of law, whether he had intended to do what he did as an act of terrorism or whether the victims and bystanders had misinterpreted the actions of a man who might for example, have had a heart attack at the wheel of his vehicle and lost control of it (in the way the driver of a bin lorry did in Glasgow a couple of years ago, killing six and injuring dozens).
If the ‘mob’ had torn Osborne to pieces, the victims and their families may have felt the temporary emotion of vengeance but they would not have had the benefit of finding out exactly what happened – the motivation of the perpetrator, how the attack was planned and carried out. Moreover, they would not have received the justice of a sentence reached by the due process of a court of law.
Mohammed Mahmoud has given us all a great lesson in virtue – showing calm, mature and humane leadership – but he has also demonstrated a wonderful commitment to the fundamental value that we all need to treasure – that of adhering to the rule of law, even in the most trying of circumstances.
He has done so in such a unique way that we, as teachers, cannot afford to miss the opportunity to teach our children the value of it.
Alan Newland worked as a teacher, teacher-trainer and headteacher in London for over 20 years and then for a decade with the DfE and the GTC. He now lectures on teaching professionalism and runs the award-winning social media network newteacherstalk. You can follow him on Twitter at @newteacherstalk and book him for a talk. His book “Working in Teaching” (Crimson Publishing) was published in March 2014.
Though I am a lifelong Labour voter, I was not and am not, a supporter of Jeremy Corbyn. I thought he was incompetent and inept and that he did not have the qualities required to be the leader of a party let alone a government or a country.
But when he was elected Labour leader two years ago, I set him two tests. They were:
Can he motivate young people to get involved in politics and actually turn out and vote?
Can he bring forth left-wing social democratic ideas and policies that have not been heard for the last thirty years and persuade people to support them?
The answer to those two tests has been a spectacular ‘Yes’ and I have to take my hat off to him and give him credit.
Now what should teachers do?
I am not suggesting that they go into school next week and start talking about what an amazing result this is for Jeremy Corbyn – though obviously that might come up as a talking point.
What I am suggesting is that teachers recognize that in the right circumstances, young people are indeed interested in political issues and need opportunities to talk about them – to explore and challenge personal values, wider political and even so-called ‘universal’ values.
Teachers can be crucially instrumental in this – and they don’t have to be politics, sociology or citizenship teachers either. Without distracting too much from the pressures of covering a syllabus, teachers of subjects like history, IT, English, and all the sciences are teaching subjects with huge philosophical, moral and ethical dilemmas inherent within them.
Talk about them.
For example, start a debating society (if your school doesn’t already have one.) Let the pupils and students decide what the motions should be and let them manage it.
When I was at school – a largely working-class comprehensive school on the outskirts of Liverpool in 1970s – we had a debating society and no subject was considered off limits.
We debated abortion, euthanasia, immigration, gay liberation, apartheid, women’s equality. Scores of students attended most debates (and once, there was nearly a hundred) – so energized were we to argue for or against a particular motion; to challenge or defend accepted norms and values.
Over the last year I have felt very depressed about the political landscape in the UK and abroad. What with the disingenuous claims if not downright lies told us by both sides in the EU referendum, the so-called ‘fake news’ that seems to pervade social media and not least the terribly distressing political assassination of the MP Jo Cox – it has been easy to despair.
Now I feel proud again.
Not just of Jeremy Corbyn because he has defied my low expectation of him – but proud of the voters of all political hues across Britain and of the British political system for defying the low expectations some politicians and some newspapers had of our values and our intelligence.
Let teachers capitalize on this moment with their pupils and students and engage them in issues that affect their future.
Let’s talk politics!
Alan Newland worked as a teacher, teacher-trainer and headteacher in London for over 20 years and then for a decade with the DfE and the GTC. He now lectures on teaching professionalism and runs the award-winning social media network newteacherstalk. You can follow him on Twitter at @newteacherstalk and book him for a talk. His book “Working in Teaching” (Crimson Publishing) was published in March 2014.
In the wake of the Manchester suicide bombing, the former Daily Mirror editor and celebrity (?) Piers Morgan has called on the ‘Muslim community’ (whatever that is) to do more to alert the police and security services to extremists within their midst.
My initial reaction to this was: “Why does Piers Morgan think that the ‘Muslim community’ isn’t already doing that?”
Indeed, it has now emerged that members of the Libyan community living in Manchester – perhaps encouraged by the Prevent Strategy – but probably more out of having a simple, moral and social conscience, had reported Salman Abede to the police and security services on at least three occasions over the last two years because they were concerned about his behaviour, his associations and his bizarre protestations.
MI5 has now mounted an enquiry about what was done to respond to those concerns. Sadly, it seems – it was not enough.
But it is easy to criticize people doing an extremely complex job with very limited resources. Ask anyone who’s a teacher!
It seems to me the problem we have as teachers is not dissimilar to that of MI5.
What are we supposed to do when pupils, colleagues and even parents come to us with concerns that one of their friends, students or children is behaving strangely?
What do we do when a student suddenly starts expressing extreme religious beliefs, shows an unhealthy interest in violent or extreme ideology or expresses opinions that advocate violent extremism?
Many people have been critical of applying the Prevent Strategy of ‘Notice, Check, Share’ because it ‘targets and victimizes the Muslim community’. Some – including politicians like Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham – have even branded it as ‘toxic.’ Some teacher unions have rejected it as a cack-handed blunt instrument that puts teachers in the invidious position of snooping on their students.
Do teachers not have a role in safeguarding young people?
To me, the role of teachers in relation alerting authorities to the dangers of students being drawn into violent extremism is no different than if those students were in danger of being drawn into sexual exploitation or drug gangs.
If you saw for example, a fourteen-year old female student from your school behaving precociously with, let’s say a mini-cab driver, and seemingly accepting an invitation to get into the car of an older man whom you thought was not a relative, would you not think that was a matter of concern?
If some students told you that another student had brought a knife into school or had possession of illegal drugs, would you not think that was a matter on which to take immediate, direct action?
I hope you would. I also hope you would not think that simply to notice something untoward was ‘targeting a community’ or ‘snooping’ on the private life of a student.
If you see or hear something you’re not happy with you would obviously check that what you saw or heard had some credence. You might want to check with the student themselves, or check with a colleague who knows them better or check with their friends or check with their parents that what you have seen or heard is not untoward.
Of course you may have got the wrong end of the stick.
But you might not have.
If your concerns are not allayed or explained, you will want to share them with other colleagues, possibly and perhaps likely, share them with your colleague who is trained and designated for safeguarding, who may be able to provide more information or a more nuanced assessment of what you have heard or seen.
Surely to notice, check, share is not to target, victimise or snoop. It is the professional role of a responsible teacher.
Our role is to be in loco parentis – ‘in place of the parent.’
All our actions as teachers are judged – by law – as if we are a responsible parent.
If you have any doubt about applying the Prevent Strategy to any given situation – think about what ‘a responsible parent’ would do in that situation.
Then you have your answer.
Alan Newland worked as a teacher, teacher-trainer and headteacher in London for over 20 years and then for a decade with the DfE and the GTC. He now lectures on teaching professionalism and runs the award-winning social media network newteacherstalk. You can follow him on Twitter at @newteacherstalk and book him for a talk. His book “Working in Teaching” (Crimson Publishing) was published in March 2014.
When a terrorist atrocity takes place, such as the targeting of children at a pop concert or young people enjoying a night out, one wonders what questions will be going through the minds of children going into school and how teachers can even begin to respond to their fears.
But respond we must.
The role of a teacher at such a time is absolutely fundamental to the well-being and security children have a right to expect. They will need to ask questions, express fear and even anger.
But that will only be their immediate and initial response. Like grief, this part of the process will soon pass, though teachers need to allow for this and accommodate it as part of their role as pastoral mentors.
Schools, teachers and children will quickly get back to teaching their subjects.
What is to be done then?
Teachers must also respond in the long term – and that means teach values that promote and support the understanding and acceptance of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance.
How is this to be done?
Well, not by doing it in a ‘moral panic’ or with a series of ‘shoot-from-the-hip’ reactions to a single terrorist incident or by staging tokenistic gestures to try and convince Ofsted inspectors that the school is promoting ‘fundamental British values’.
We do it by embedding – every day and every week – a wide range of good quality spiritual, moral, social and cultural education experiences throughout the school.
For example (and these are all questions posed positively by a group of teacher trainees I met this week):
Do the children in your school democratically elect a school council or have some responsibility for some real decisions that can affect their school lives?
Do the children in your school have the opportunity to inform and shape the class and school rules that protect us all?
Do children in your school appreciate and understand their individual freedoms – such as their right to own property, choose what to eat or wear, choose their own friends, travel freely or have the right to an education irrespective of their race or gender?
Do the children in your school have the opportunity to learn and practice mutual respect, like learning to debate difficult issues where they have to listen respectfully to challenging arguments – tolerate different opinions even if they fundamentally disagree with them – and then learn how to respectfully challenge them in return?
Not only is this what every school and every teacher is expected to provide as part of the National Curriculum, but it is the moral and ethical purpose of every person that can proudly call them self a teacher.
It is also the way that we will all – in school and in society – overcome fear with hope, defeat terror with peace and security and ultimately transform hatred into love.
Alan Newland worked as a teacher, teacher-trainer and headteacher in London for over 20 years and then for a decade with the DfE and the GTC. He now lectures on teaching professionalism and runs the award-winning social media network newteacherstalk. You can follow him on Twitter at @newteacherstalk and book him for a talk. His book “Working in Teaching” (Crimson Publishing) was published in March 2014.
The Conservatives will do away with free school lunches for many primary school children in England (except for the poorest) and provide breakfasts instead, if (and when) they are re-elected.
I agree with Jamie Oliver about this –school lunches are often the main and sometimes the only nutritious and balanced meal of the day for some children. They also provide an opportunity for children to engage socially with their peers.
My issue about this is not a political one – it’s a professional one. In my view, teachers should be involved – they should sit and have lunch in the school dining room with the children and senior teachers should be involved in all aspects of how that service is delivered.
I know many teachers will say they haven’t got the time to do that (and they are right of course) or that they don’t want to eat school lunches (and why would they, when too many meals are so unappetizing and children can be noisy and sometimes ill-mannered).
But just let me tell you how it used to be…
First, when I was at school in the 1960s and 1970s (and don’t think that nothing worked in those days, school dinners certainly did) – I sat with five of my peers around a table – this is both at primary and secondary school) that had a space reserved for a teacher.
Every day we would beg teachers to come and sit on our table, we enjoyed their company so much. It wasn’t seen as anything other than a social pleasure.
Children laid the tables. They volunteered to do it, week by week, during playtimes. They were paid ‘pocket money’ by the kitchen staff. We all took turns and loved it, the pocket money was just a bonus.
In those days, it was always meat and two veg everyday (vegetarianism was still unknown, or at best slightly cranky) and plenty of pudding – everything made fresh on-site. There was never chips or pizza on the menu. I particularly remember the tender beef slices served up with huge roast potatoes, greens and lashings of rich, brown gravy. ‘Cheese pie” was another of my favourites – that came with fresh mashed potatoes and baked beans.
There was no choice of course – you got what you were given.
But not only were the tables laid by children, two children would go up to the serving hatches to bring trays of ceramic plates and bowls and steel knives, forks and spoons to the table – real dishes and cutlery, not plastic ones.
Then they’d go back for tureens of hot food and hot jugs of gravy or sauce. I remember the occasional dropped one – but I can’t remember any dramas – it was cleared up and replaced with no crisis about ‘health and safety’.
We passed the tureens of food from one to the other – learning not to take too much, learning not to eat too much, learning the manners of dining with others. We poured each other water into glass beakers. ‘Seconds’ were usually available to those who asked politely.
As we finished, those children who had brought the food to the table were relieved of their duties and two others took responsibility for tidying up the dishes and the table.
Of course, there are people reading this who remember school dinners as nothing but disgusting – offal, boiled spuds and lumpy custard. I can’t say that every school cook in the country was as good as the ones I had. But this was true in every primary and secondary school I went to.
But I realized when I became a teacher that this was not an issue of ‘council policy’ but about ‘school policy’ and a very much a professional one that teachers could do something about – if they wanted to.
When I first entered teaching in 1979, school meals services were still very much like I’d experienced in my school days. But by the late 1980s, things had begun to change.
The ‘free’ meal that teachers received for sitting with children during lunchtime had gone. Government cuts meant teachers now had to pay for the privilege. They usually chose not to.
Children were allowed to bring in packed lunches – which were of course ‘cold’ and usually not balanced or often even healthy – sandwiches, crisps, snack bars and sweet, fizzy drinks were the norm. Apart from the poor nutritional value, this fatally undermined the School Meals Service – fewer children buying school meals meant more cutbacks on staff and food quality.
‘Health and Safety’ meant all the things I’d described about sharing food that teach children fundamental social values had more or less gone. Food was served up on plastic trays with plastic knives and forks that looked like those you find in prisons.
I saw deteriorating behaviour and attitudes towards food generally and lunchtime in particular. I began to notice highly overweight and obese children for the first time in my life.
When I became a head teacher (twenty years ago), I did something to reverse the trend. I banned packed lunches. If you stayed in school for lunch, you ate a school dinner (now of course, with a range of vegetarian and multi-cultural choices). I banned fizzy drinks and re-introduced water at the tables and drinking fountains in the playground. The ‘dinner ladies’ wouldn’t let anyone out to play until they had eaten most of their meal. They certainly didn’t get seconds if they were discourteous, ill-mannered or wasted food. We were a faith school, so we said ‘Grace’ at every meal.
Just in that last paragraph alone, I’m describing the spiritual, moral, social and cultural education that every school and every teacher should be providing – not just as part of promoting so-called ‘British values’ – but in providing a proper education.
Good, nutritious, well-balanced schools meals eaten together – children and teachers together – is not an education or government policy issue, it’s not a political issue either (or shouldn’t be) – but it is a professional issue – and just as important as ‘what’ and ‘how’ we teach a ‘curriculum’ with ‘subjects’ in it.
Alan Newland worked as a teacher, teacher-trainer and headteacher in London for over 20 years and then for a decade with the DfE and the GTC. He now lectures on teaching professionalism and runs the award-winning social media network newteacherstalk. You can follow him on Twitter at @newteacherstalk and book him for a talk. His book “Working in Teaching” (Crimson Publishing) was published in March 2014.
A head and deputy head teacher of a Hampshire primary school have resigned because of government education policy saying in their resignation letter to parents: “Recent developments in education have brought our position to a point of personal, professional and ethical crisis.”
They cite: “the narrow focus on… an increasingly bland and joyless educational diet… mental health issues resulting from pressure on children by testing… and cuts to school budgets resulting in redundancies…”
To be honest, and with respect to these two well-respected teachers, I’ve been hearing this kind of thing for the last twenty-five years.
Teaching has been a profession with an increasingly high churn rate both with newly and recently qualified teachers and with senior teachers too. Studies from Liverpool University, the NUT and Professor Alan Smithers over the last twenty years have revealed churn and drop-out rates of between 20% and 40% in some sections of the profession.
But what is interesting to me in this case is the use of the phrase: “personal, professional and ethical crisis.”
I think we can all imagine scenarios where ‘a personal crisis’ might result in resigning from our job – a bereavement of a close family member; a serious health breakdown; a divorce.
I think it’s also quite easy to think of resigning over a ‘professional’ issue – a ‘poor’ Ofsted report; the culture of a particular school or a department; a so-called ‘personality clash’ with the head teacher; missing out on a promotion.
But resigning for ‘ethical’ reasons is a lot less common and brings forth a moral dimension to the issue.
While the Romans taught us to distinguish between legal, moral and ethical issues, even they found an overlap between these categories – especially moral and ethical – and it is interesting to consider – and pause over – the ethical reasons they cite for their decision.
These two highly respected teachers have a combined experience of fifty years and lead an ‘outstanding’ school and while their resignation has been greeted with some dismay, there is also widespread sympathy from many parents, one of who was quoted as saying: “The education system in this country should not be without people of this caliber.”
What issues would you be prepared to resign over? Whether personal, professional or ethical?
What issues would you be prepared to resign over?
Alan Newland worked as a teacher, teacher-trainer and headteacher in London for over 20 years and then for a decade with the DfE and the GTC. He now lectures on teaching professionalism and runs the award-winning social media network newteacherstalk. You can follow him on Twitter at @newteacherstalk and book him for a talk. His book “Working in Teaching” (Crimson Publishing) was published in March 2014.
There is moral outrage that French Presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron married a woman who is twenty five years older than him. Worse. She left her husband and children for him and… horror of horrors… she was his teacher!
There is shock and outrage – at least at the offices of the Daily Mail.
To be fair and accurate, although Macron told his teacher Brigitte Trogneaux that she would one day be his wife when he was just 15 years old, the couple apparently waited until he was 18 and both had left the Jesuit school he attended before starting the relationship proper.
Yeah right…
For obvious professional and ethical reasons, students and teachers should not have relationships, let alone sexual ones while one is the ‘client’ of the other. Doctors, lawyers and nurses would probably get struck off for it.
In the case of teachers, it’s not just a professional and ethical issue, since the 2003 Sexual Offences Act it is a legal issue as well where they would also risk a criminal record and a prison sentence.
Is that fair?
Shouldn’t students be allowed to have relationships with their teachers and vice versa without fear of breaking the law? In this country, if an 18 year old – an adult – has a relationship with a teacher in their school it is not only a sack able and barring offence, it is also a criminal offence.
Why a criminal offence?
Contrast this to the fact that if a student and teacher at separate schools have a relationship, even a sexual one where a teacher might be substantially older than the student – as in the case of Monsieur Macron and Madam Trogneaux – it is considered neither a professional, ethical or indeed a legal matter.
As long as the student is over 16 of course and the student and teacher are at separate schools – it is considered a private, in other words a moral matter.
The case of Monsieur Macron and Madam Trogneaux obliges us to reflect on our values – both ethical, legal and moral.
Alan Newland worked as a teacher, teacher-trainer and headteacher in London for over 20 years and then for a decade with the DfE and the GTC. He now lectures on teaching professionalism and runs the award-winning social media network newteacherstalk. You can follow him on Twitter at @newteacherstalk and book him for a talk. His book “Working in Teaching” (Crimson Publishing) was published in March 2014.
‘British values’ are constantly in the news these days and teachers are expected to promote them in school. But what are they? Are you confident about discussing or teaching them?
If not, these two highly interactive and lively sessions will enable you to feel confident about how you can promote and teach ‘British values’ – promote equality, appreciate diversity and where appropriate make sensible judgments about the ‘Prevent’ strategy – all in a very practical way with many ideas and resources to use within your class and school.
These workshops (lasting three hours each) will provide you with a good understanding of these challenging areas and build confidence to tackle difficult and complex issues when they arise.
Session 1 – Can you teach British values? Yes – and here’s how…
includes dozens of inspiring ideas and activities on how to promote ‘British values’
scenarios on dealing confidently with challenging incidents and advice on how to apply the ‘Prevent’ strategy
inspiring ideas on teaching the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural curriculum
includes workshop exercises and case studies on a range of issues addressed by the Equality Act
scenarios on dealing confidently to promote inclusion
practical ideas and activities on how to promote equality and celebrate diversity
Session fees (plus travel expenses):
£330 for one three hour session or
£500 for both sessions on the same day
To discuss or arrange a presentation or ask any questions, please contact alan.newland29a@gmail.com or call 020 8372 6382 or 07824 398144.
Alan Newland worked as a teacher, an ITT lecturer at a university and as a headteacher in London for over 23 years and then for over 12 years as a senior advisor at the DfE and the GTC. He now lectures on teaching and runs the award-winning social media network newteacherstalk. You can follow him on Twitter at @newteacherstalk. His book “Working in Teaching” (Crimson Publishing) was published in March 2014.
What tutors and trainees have said about Alan Newland and the ‘British values’ sessions in recent months:
I had little understanding of ‘British values’ but now I feel much more confident and lead on this for whole school initiatives! Rohima Begum. Rosetta Primary School London E16
Thanks Alan! Everyone at the sessions rated it either ‘Very good’ or ‘Excellent’. Claire James, ELASCITT, Plaistow, London – May 2016
Thank you very much for your input to our training programme last week. The trainees valued the session very highly – the average rating was a maximum 4. I have attached their comments. I would be very happy to include this session in our programme next year and now interested in your other sessions too. Lincolnshire TSA – March 2016
Doing all three sessions we thought it might be too much, but not at all. The trainees had an excellent day – thanks Alan! Mersey Boroughs SCITT – January 2016
The trainees went away feeling uplifted and it was exactly what they needed. And, for me, it was good to have your wisdom and experience. I learnt a lot. Louise Leigh, Director, King Edward’s Consortium, Birmingham. (November 2015)
Just a note to thank you very much for an excellent presentation on Monday- really positive feedback from the trainees. Dylan Gwyer-Roberts, Director of School Direct & PGCE at Bath Spa University (September 2015)
What trainees have said recently:
June 2016 at York Pathfinder TSA
A fantastic, relaxed and extremely engaging session that challenged our thoughts and ideas which then inspires and enables our own teaching. I loved hearing about Alan’s own experiences too.
I was challenged and engaged throughout. The booklet was really useful as a collection of activities, there was a clear structure and I enjoyed the activities.
Excellent pack of resources to take away. Great examples of how to prepare yourself for difficult and challenging situations with pupils.
Very useful activities and resources. Good discussion and debate. I have a good idea what is meant by ‘British values’ now.
January 2016 at the Mersey Boroughs SCITT
Brilliant discussions and really enjoyable – allowed me to reflect on issues I hadn’t thought of. I was really looking forward to the afternoon session too!
Thought provoking, lots of information and motivating.
Alan did a brilliant job. Fantastic day! Thank you!
Alan is a really inspirational speaker and the sessions were challenging, engaging and really pushed us to think and form our opinions through lots of great group discussions.
Great talk from Alan – clearly very knowledgeable and approachable.
Brilliant information. Enjoyed all the discussions. Fantastic interactive session!
Very re-assuring and very inspirational. Great session.
Very helpful, inspiring and motivational – the entire day was excellent. Alan’s pace and knowledge was excellent.
January 2016 at the Oxon-Bucks SCITT
Really excellent presentation – very helpful for our careers. Good knowledge, inspiring speaker, great advice.
I really enjoyed this session. Well delivered. Probably the most important session for a while.
Very engaging and interesting – thanks.
November 2015 at the Suffolk & Norfolk SCITT
Loved the series of lectures today! Alan is amazing!
The whole day was brilliant and very engaging. I enjoyed asking questions of my own beliefs – only then can we teach the children – but it was also re-assuring. He kept it real and allayed our fears. Thank you so much.
Brilliant – amazing teaching, knowledge and experience in this field. I learned how to integrate SMSC activities into the classroom and whole school.
Fantastic session – very well delivered, he kept it interesting all day – really nice, funny man, challenged us to think with lots of really interesting debates and discussions and lots to take back to the classroom.
Excellent session – very thought-provoking – thank you!
Great ideas about how to teach British values and the SMSC curriculum I am going to try “20 Questions on Values” as soon as I get back to school!
Thoroughly enjoyed the session today – great lecturer – gave me confidence in my knowledge and teaching.
The activities engaged me instantly. They got me thinking and related to me and my experiences.
Are you a SCITT struggling with recruitment? A recruitment video like this might solve your problems:
In the wake of the some truly terrible news over the last few weeks, I went to work with a very talented and committed teacher in an east London primary school – feeling more than a little depressed about the state of the world we were bringing children up in.
The teacher, Rohima Begum, had asked me into her Year 6 class to do some activities that would promote an understanding of British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs.
We started the day looking at rights and responsibilities.
First, children’s rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and then their responsibilities’ to spread those rights to other children around the UK and the world.
By the end of the day, I not only came away from the school with a huge smile on my face but I felt genuinely inspired and moved by what these children said, wrote, painted and what they pledged and intended to do with their lives.
It made me feel very proud that these children – whether they were born here in the UK or came as refugees or migrants – are British.
And if you need any more inspiration about the courage of children, read Malala Yousafzai’s autobiography ‘I am Malala’ or Nujeen Mustafa’s ‘The Girl from Aleppo’.
Article 30
You have the right to practice your own culture, language and religion – or any you choose.
I sit on the floor, crossed legs, hands together.
My friends tell me it is nonsense!
I say: “It’s called my religion.”
The next day I walk to school.
My friends just say I’m pure nonsense!
I say: “It’s my culture to wear this.”
The bell rings loud. Pupils march forward proud,
My teacher tells me I am talking nonsense.
I say: “It’s my language.”
After school I walk home,
Only to find a boy
Calling out: “Stranger! Weird! You don’t belong!”
Victor
It is my responsibility to help people have the right to choose their own religion. I will try to achieve this by speaking up – on the radio and everywhere – and try to start a campaign to help children afford an education that will teach them to stand up for their rights.
You have the right to practice your own… CULTURE!
You have the right to practice your own… LANGUAGE!
You have the right to practice your own… RELIGION!
We are all DIFFERENT in our own UNIQUE way.
Some of us are black, white, mixed race,
But we shouldn’t be treated differently!
We should be treated EQUALLY
I am different and accept that
And we all should RESPECT that!
Manar
I will learn to speak English, French, Arabic and Spanish and I will speak up about rights to all children around the world and raise awareness and start a campaign and tell all the media.
Article 24
You have the right to the health care, safe water to drink, nutritious food to eat and a clean and safe environment to help you stay well.
I should have the right to have medication for my needs,
Freedom of speech to voice my opinion and not be attacked for it,
Have nutritious meals to keep me healthy.
I should have the right not to be alienated from other people,
For the colour of my skin does not define me as a person.
I have the right to be me!
I should not be me and face discrimination for it.
Joelle
I want to sign a petition and start a charity to send school supplies to countries in need. I will be an advocate for young women around the world.
Article 7
You have the right to a name and you have the right to belong to a country.
Everybody tries to put me in a box,
Tell me to be different,
To be something that I’m not.
I have a right to be alive,
To have a name
And a family.
I’m not going to break any rules,
But I’m going to make my point.
Do you know why?
Because I’m original.
Original!
I’m certified unique,
100% a masterpiece,
I believe I’m right!
I’m original!
Original! Original! Original!
Tahsin
I believe everyone should have their rights and a voice to be heard. I will pledge to start campaigns, sign petitions and create websites so children know and have their rights.
Article 38
You have the right to protection and freedom from war.
In my perspective, I believe every child in the world deserves a right to peace. Nevertheless, unfortunately some children across the globe do not have the things that we have at the moment. Some children in Great Britain take this for granted.
We have rights to have a voice, we have opinions and nobody can take that away from us. We have freedom and are protected to be who we want to be.
But Syrian children and all over Asia and Africa have been deprived and separated from their parents.
This is us! We are children!
Chimdiya
I pledge to ensure that we assist and supply deprived children across the globe. I will try and set up a campaign or a charity to help children around the world. I will speak to our local mayor or councillor for our voices to be heard.
Article 12
You have the right to give your opinion, and for adults to listen and take it seriously.
Every child has the right to an opinion and for their parents to listen to them, such as – if your parents go to vote in the EU Referendum you can try to persuade them to leave or remain. My mum and dad wanted to remain but I tried to preside them to leave so that we could spend more money on hospitals to take care of others such as health and injections and medicines.
Rio
My responsibility is to look after others, especially other children.
Article 7
You have the right to a name and you have the right to belong to a country.
You have a right to a name, no matter your colour.
I have the right to a name, no matter my colour.
Because I am a child and so are you!
You have the right to live in a country with your own language.
I have the right to live in my country with my own language.
Because I am a child and so are you!
Libby-J
I will take responsibility for what I do. I will start a charity and teach others why we should have these rights and responsibilities, because we all need these. I am going to spread this around the world and start at the Royal Docks.
You have a name
It is your right
To belong to a country
To have a life.
You might be original,
You might be unique,
But that’s what makes you, YOU!
Have an identity,
Let everyone know you’re in our world,
That you are a child and
Nobody has the right to tell you who you are.
Shaunna
I will take responsibility to be a fundraiser to help people notice what happens around the world so we realise what happens. We are fortunate but not everyone is the same.
Article 14
You have the right to choose your own religion and beliefs.
Once upon a time there was a little boy who was a Muslim. One morning he went to school and children started bullying him. One took his pocket money. His mum and dad were angry so they went to school to talk to the teachers. After that the other children became his friend and played with him.
Kwasi
Article 42
You have the right to know your rights and you have a responsibility to tell other children about these rights too.
Every child, every heart is unique!
Every child should have their own rights.
Some of us are white. Some of us are black.
It doesn’t matter if you are Christian, Muslim or Hindu,
Nobody can tell you what you are,
You are what you are!
You are a Somebody,
Not a Nobody!
Blessing
I’m going to help the deprived people of the world by giving them starter packs. Each school in Newham should be linked to deprived schools and give them starter packs with school supplies as well as health supplies.
Article 38
You have the right to protection and freedom from war.
BANG! BANG! BOOM!
“You have to start fighting in the war!”
That was all I heard when I woke,
Straight away I knew what was going on,
War was about to begin.
I knew that my mother and father had died while trying to save me,
I survived by crawling into a building,
And now I’ve been here for years.
Marvellous
I believe that we should all put our stories together to make a book and send it to a publisher and spread it around the globe.
Article 6
You have the right to be alive.
I am a child, I have aright to be alive,
To have a name, To explore the world
And to be who I am.
I am a child, I have a name,
I am Jodie.
I have a right, And so do you.
Don’t worry what everyone else thinks.
Just be yourself, Like I am.
It’s OK to be original.
Jodie
I believe that all children around the world should get a good education. This is what I am going to do – raise and give money so they can get the things they need.
Article 14
You have the right to choose your own religion and beliefs.
One day a Muslim boy called Raj was getting bullied at school. The bullies said: “Why are you a Muslim? You and your fake God!” They gave him a black eye and took all his money and ran away. When he got home he told his mum and dad.
Iyo
I pledge to write to the Prime Minister and use media so that all people have a right to practice their own religion.
Article 23
You have the right to special education and care if you have a disability, so that you can live a full life.
A full life? You can have a full life,
If you have the right education.
You might have a special need or a disability.
You need to have freedom of speech and full care to live a full life.
We are different!
You need to speak up!
You’re unique!
Connor
I’m going to make a charity for people in poorer countries and spread the word on radio and social media.
Article 38
You have the right to protection and freedom from war.
Why do I get forced to fight? Do I not have rights?
I am no different to other people but still do things I don’t feel comfortable doing.
If I do not have rights, why do I have a beating heart?
Why?
My heart is nobody else’s. My soul is my soul. My rights are my rights.
Wars are so dangerous but we don’t have to do it, Getting forced by someone is not right.
Speak out loud about your rights!
Rebecca
My huge attempt will be to visit people in poor countries that should not be poor and create a fun day to remind them that they have rights too so they can feel needed, welcome and become proud of themselves.
Article 19
You have the right to be protected from being hurt, in body or mind.
One day I was walking to the shops to buy something to play with at home and some big boys came and took my money and beat me up. I ran home and cried to my mum.
Ronny
In my opinion we should have a right to food and clean water and get protection from people who might beat us up.
Alan Newland worked as a teacher, teacher-trainer and headteacher in London for over 20 years and then for a decade with the DfE and the GTC. He now lectures on teaching professionalism and runs the award-winning social media network newteacherstalk. You can follow him on Twitter at @newteacherstalk and book him for a talk. His book “Working in Teaching” (Crimson Publishing) was published in March 2014.
Jo Cox, the Member of Parliament for Batley and Spen was murdered on Thursday listening to her assassin allegedly shouting at her: “Put Britain first!”
Though I am a fairly avid observer of politics and current affairs, I had never heard of Jo Cox. Now that I know what kind of person she was and the values she held, I don’t think I will ever forget her.
But for me, the terrible irony of her murderer’s words “Put Britain first” is that, that’s exactly what Jo Cox was doing.
Let me explain.
I do teacher-training sessions all over the country on ‘British values’ – this week I went to York, Lincoln and Bedfordshire.
I discuss ideas and practical activities with new teachers of how they can not only positively challenge discriminatory attitudes and behaviour but how they can promote ‘British values’ of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs. The sessions are lively, thought-provoking and fascinating – above all they are very challenging.
I don’t let anyone get away with expressing lazy clichés or untested ‘accepted wisdom’. I tell people they can relax about their awkward use of language and for a couple of hours I ask them to put aside so-called ‘political correctness’. I ask them to challenge themselves and each other about what they think their values are.
I ask questions like “What’s the one thing you would most like to change about the world?” “Why are you, you?” and “If you were forced to flee this country, which one would you go to?”
I ask them to select (from a list of over a hundred values) their most important personal values and then to reduce that list to just five – their one ‘fundamental’ values.
We discuss stereotypes and icons of ‘Britishness’. I ask them to compile a list of ‘British values’. We do practical activities that explore questions like: “What makes you British?” I suggest ideas of how they can express this in their own terms.
I ask them to consider how so-called ‘universal values’ came about – like those expressed in the UN Rights of the Child or the UN Declaration of Human Rights – and what relevance they have to their personal lives and values.
By the end of the session, I hope these young teachers see how their values are made up of layers of real, ‘down to earth’ personal, family, community and society values as well as more idealistic and aspirational ones too.
But at the beginning of last week millions of British children were coming in to school with deep and fearful questions about why forty-nine gay, lesbian and transgender people were killed in Orlando. By the end of that week the same children – millions of them – had similar questions about why Jo Cox was murdered.
The answers we give to those difficult questions goes to the heart of why we must teach children to value democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs.
It is perfectly understandable why teachers feel they have no confidence in teaching these so-called ‘British values’, let alone tackling difficult issues and questions when they arise – as they did last week – and will continue to do. But I believe we must try – with the same courage and vigor Jo Cox showed going about her constituency.
Now that I know a little more about Jo Cox and her values, I am convinced that she had a very deep and passionate commitment to British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and perhaps especially, tolerance for those with different faiths and beliefs.
She believed, as I do and as every teacher should, that these values are not held up to impose the will of an establishment or a majority on a minority but they are held up to protect us all; they are not held up to restrict but to enhance, they are not held up to diminish but to fulfill – all our lives.
The terrible and distressingly tragic irony of her loss is that she was trying to uphold and extend those values to all of her constituents when she died – including the lonely, the isolated, the voiceless, the unemployed and the mentally ill – and even to the man who killed her.
So I believe, I really, really believe that Jo Cox was fundamentally trying to put Britain first.
Alan Newland worked as a teacher, teacher-trainer and headteacher in London for over 20 years and then for a decade with the DfE and the GTC. He now lectures on teaching professionalism and runs the award-winning social media network newteacherstalk. You can follow him on Twitter at @newteacherstalk and book him for a talk. His book “Working in Teaching” (Crimson Publishing) was published in March 2014.
This is the kind of school I want all our children to go to. If you are thinking of teaching as a career, train here…
newteachersblog 