Values are the trans-situational goals guiding human attitudes and behavior (Schwartz, 1992). As education has a responsibility to equip individuals with democratic values of citizenship, attitudes and beliefs, teachers play an active role in promoting and transmitting values, in order to create a more inclusive, fair and sustainable society (OECD, 2019). Despite being the earliest socialization agents outside the home, little empirical evidence exists on the important role that primary school teachers play in value transmission. By facilitating social cognitive development through social interactions, the school setting helps to spark curiosity, leading to reflection and adaptation (Goswami, 2015). Teachers use a range of strategies (including imitation and modelling, priming and discussion) to help children to make sense of the world (Oeschger et al, 2022) which they apply across a range of subjects and in a range of ways. The present study aims to give voice to educators through the personal experiences of 10 UK primary school teachers, with between 7 and 28 years of primary teaching experience. Semi-structured interviews were conducted lasting between 50 and 90 minutes. Data was analyzed in two stages. First, a deductive content analysis was conducted to identify how values, as defined in Schwartz’s (1992) model, were reflected in the interview data. Next, questions were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis. The following themes emerged: the mechanisms of values transmission (modelling, priming, discussion, social stories and questioning); the implicit and explicit ways that values are promoted across the school setting and curriculum; values which are more difficult to teach (power values, self-direction values); value transmission through taught lessons (including PSHE, Maths, PE and Geography); opportunities for value transmission in the wider school environment (lunch and play times, Forest School and collective worship); and the role that a school culture and ethos (including the Head Teacher) play on the transmission of values. Future studies might consider comparing qualitative data from teachers with quantitative data or observations of pupils in the school setting in order to understand how pupils interpret the values taught.

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