Whose values? An investigation into teachers’ and student teachers’ perceptions of values identified in the 2012 Teachers’ Standards in England

Author(s):

Sally Elton-Chalcraft(presenting / submitting)Vini Lander(presenting)Lynn Revell Linda Whitworth Diane Warner

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

10. Teacher Education Research

Format:

Paper

Session Information

10 SES 02 E,

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-08

15:15-16:45

Room:

101.Oktatóterem [C]

Chair:

Jane Abbiss

Contribution

Background The discourse on standards on education in England and Wales has its origins in the Great Debate started in 1976 by English Prime Minister James Callaghan. Since then the conception of Standards has undergone several transformations but the new English Teachers’ Standards (DfE, 2012) represent a significant shift from previous standards in relation to the positioning of values and teacher professionalism.

ThePREVENT strategy(part of the UK Government’s anti-terrorism strategy called Contest) came into force in 2011. In this document Extremism is defined as ‘vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values’ (Home Office 2011, p109)

We then find this phrase in Part Two of the ‘Teachers’ Standards 2012’in the section on Personal and Professional conduct which says ‘Teachers uphold public trust in the profession and maintain high standards of ethics and behaviour, within and outside school by: not undermining fundamental British values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect, and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs’ (DfE 2012, p10)

The former English Minister for Education, Michael Gove stated that the new Standards are not merely a revision or updating but an initiative designed to be used by head teachers in performance management and induction, thus implying teachers are ‘agents of the state’ (Smith 2012). The distinctive features of these standards and their intersection with values and teacher professionalism foregrounds the research in this paper.

Focus of the inquiry Teachers’ work, has in recent years been articulated in terms of competencies that are observable. The emphasis on values in the new standards raises the possibility that teachers will be assessed through the quality and ideological nature of their relationships with pupils and school. The requirement ‘not to undermine fundamental British values’ as articulated in the Teaching Standards (DFE: 2012)is based on a Home Office document, ‘Prevent’, (2011) that is founded on particular ethnic and religious assumptions about national identity and religion and brings to the discourse on standards new questions about the relationship between the state, teacher education and teacher identity and performance. It is this new discourse that is the focus of the inquiry. We have gathered data from teachers, headteachers and senior leaders in English schools through interviews and also collected responses from student teachers at four English Universities via an online survey to explore their perceptions of values identified in the new Teachers’ Standardsin England. We were keen to investigate the extent to which teachers and intending teachers were unaware of, adopting or resisting what Smith (2012) terms as ‘politically motivated equality practices’.

We are interested to discuss with delegates how values are articulated in other European contexts and if essentialist or indigenous values are encouraged/discouraged or not considered. We are also keen tobroaden the context to look at neoliberal drivers toward national rather than European or global perspectives.

Method

Research Methods The research is a collaboration with colleagues in four English universities. We worked within the interpretivist paradigm as we were keen to investigate the perceptions of current and intending teachers through semi structured interviews and an online survey (Arthur et al 2012). Members of the research team from each of the four universities interviewed teachers, headteachers and senior leaders in their localities. We also collected some numerical and narrative data from an online survey sent out to student teachers at each of the four universities (Ritchie and Lewis 2004). Ethical clearance was gained from each institution for both stages of the process (Macpherson and Tyson 2008). The project took place in two stages. First we undertook the interviews with twenty teachers and senior leaders with a range of experiences and backgrounds. The interviews focused on teachers’ understanding of the relationship between standards, values and professionalism as well as their interpretation of ‘Britishness’ and ‘fundamental British values’ - the notion of Britishness is fluid on the one hand but in some ways inherently associated with being White and Christian despite the Census data to the contrary. Data from these interviews informed the creation of a questionnaire for student teachers on their expectations of the standards and the way values will inform their role as teachers. Student teachers from each of the four universities were invited to complete the online questionnaire, eighty eight questionnaires were returned providing us with both statistical and qualitative data. We wanted to discover the extent to which values as espoused in the Teacher Standards 2012 were being affirmed, ignored or conflicted with the values of the teachers and student teachers. Given the volume of data collected from the twenty interviews and the eighty eight questionnaires we contextualise our thinking for this first set of findings by focusing on the teachers/ senior leader’s espoused values and their interpretations for why the term British had been used in the Standards for Teaching. Similarly we looked at the narrative answers on the student teacher questionnaire concerning their espoused values. An interesting aspect of the methodology concerned the way we worked together as an unfunded, geographically dispersed, research team of five, using e mail, telephone and remote virtual environments (with varying degrees of success) in the development of the project.

Expected Outcomes

This research captured two emerging aspects of the relationship between teachers and the state as we relate the perceptions of existing teachers and the expectations of student teachers. Four main findings include: 1. The continuing commitment of many teachers to values associated with liberalism and the possible impact this has on their understanding of standards. 2. Degrees of suspicion of the phrase ‘British’ generally and of its application to values and the standards in particular. 3. Varying degrees of suspicion of the motives of government in relation to the standards. 4. Speculation of the tension this may cause between teachers/student teachers and pupils. Teachers’ Standards wording increases the emphasis on national identity, explicitly and unequivocally aligned with a pedagogy of values in Education. Smith (2012) identifies that this leads to an entrenched prejudiced outlook among teachers. Some respondents did not question the directive to encourage a notion of Britishness and our research confirms Smith’s (2012) worry that some teachers may “feel justified in their quest for the development of Britishness in pupils, and in assuming that some are in deficit for not embodying Britishness enough”. The notion of an innate deficit among BME pupils, their families and communities can pervade the thinking of White trainees, (Mazzei 2008, Maylor 2012, Lander, 2011; Warner & Elton-Chalcraft, 2012; Bhopal et al 2009 Revell 2012). This leads to a lack of interest in engaging with racial, religious and social issues, and so a blinkered, hegemonic stance is maintained. As exemplified in the 2014 allegations of a takeover of an English city’s schools by ‘hard –line Islamists’ (Garner 2014). Our research substantiates Smith’s (2012) fears that the Standards, lead teachers to equate values with hidden, uncontested norms of Whiteness and being middle-class, and unconsciously stigmatising pupils who do not fit this position.

References

Arthur, J., Waring , M.,Coe, R. and Hedges, L. ( 2012) Research Methods and Methodologies in Education London:Sage Bhopal, K., Harris, R., Rhamie,J. (2009). The teaching of ‘race’, diversity and inclusion on PGCE courses: a case study analysis of the University of Southampton. Retrieved from www.multiverse.ac.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?anchorId=17844&selectedId=298&menu=178758&ContentId=15540 accessed 8/8/2012 DfE (2012) Teacher Standards in England Department for Education available at https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/standard/SchoolsSO/page1/DFE-00066-2011 accessed on 20/1/15 Garner, R. (2014) ‘Trojan Horse schools’ British values must be promoted says education Minister Michael Gove available at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/trojan-horse-schools-ofsted-finds-culture-of-fear-and-intimidation-9515306.html# accessed on 27/1/15 Home office ( 2011) Prevent Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prevent-strategy-2011 accessed 20/1/14 Lander, V. (2011). ‘Race’, culture and all that: An exploration of the perspectives of 'White' secondary student teachers about race equality issues in their initial teacher education. Race, Ethnicity and Education, 14(3), 351-364. Mazzei, L. (2008) Silence speaks: Whiteness revealed in the absence of voice Teaching and Teacher Education 24 1125- 1136 Macpherson, P. and Tyson, E. (2008) Ethical issues Ch 5 in Elton,-Chalcraft, S, Hansen.A., and Twistleton, S. eds Doing classroom research A step-by-step guide for student teachers Maidenhead: Open University Press Mayor, U. (2012) Challenging British Values powerpoint presentation presented to the ‘Fundamental British Values’ conference at Chichester University Oct 2012 Ritchie and Lewis (2004) Qualitative Research Practice London: Sage Smith, H. (2012) ‘A critique of the teaching standards in England (1984–2012): discourses of equality and maintaining the status quo’ in, Journal of Education Policy. Available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com Warner, D. & Elton-Chalcraft, S. (2014). ‘Race’, Culture and Ethnicity: teachers and children, in H. Cooper (ed.) 2nd edition Professional Studies in Primary Education. London: Sage.

Author Information

Sally Elton-Chalcraft (presenting / submitting)

University of Cumbria

Education

Lancaster

Vini Lander (presenting)

Edge Hill University

Ormskirk

Lynn Revell

Canterbury Christchurch University, UK

Linda Whitworth

Middlesex University UK

Diane Warner

University of Cumbria, UK

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