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Values represent our subjective, personal principles which typically, but not always, help guide our beliefs, attitudes, and actions and determine what is important to us (Hawkes, 1996, Halstead, 1996). They are distinct from our characteristics as they are not perceptible, are largely shaped by our experiences (good and bad), and inform what we believe to be morally right (Heilbronn, 2018; Roccas, Sagiv, et al., 2002). These core values have an ethical foundation as they determine our treatment of others and our teaching (Cox, 2012; Sellars, 2012). Teachers have personal beliefs and values, but they also have professional values, (Heilbronn, 2018) and an ethical responsibility not to impose their religious preferences, moral standards, or personal beliefs in the classroom (Sellars, 2012). In addition, teachers also have a responsibility to the core values held by their school, the Teachers’ Standards, and in Legislation such as the Equality Act 2010, which protects 9 characteristics (Appendix 11) linked to Fundamental British values (Sellars, 2012; Cox, 2012; Bills and Husbands, 2005), some of which may be in direct opposition to their values (Halstead and Taylor, 2000).
Educational values and their use and presence have changed over time (Cox, 2012), shifting from a conformist, didactic structure with models such as Frier’s (1968) ‘Banking Model’ where learners are receptacles into which knowledge is poured through an ‘imaginary’ child-centered approach in the 1980’s. The 1990s saw the concept of dialogic teaching and ethical vocabulary in schools gain considerable recognition (Hawkes, 2005; Mercer and Dawes, 2008), with schools promoting ethical values such as respect for children, participation, and reflection (Galton, 1995; Veugelers and Vedder, 2003; Hawkes, 2005; Cox 2012), an idea which Dewey (1964) foresaw as ‘ the ideal school’ The concept of schools putting values at the forefront of all areas of education has become known as value-based education (VBE) Hawkes (2005) and encompasses Fundamental British Values, which are required to be promoted in all schools in England (Department for Education (DfE), 2014).
There is a difference between the values espoused by a school and whether they are actioned and lived (Halstead and Taylor, 2000). Whilst all schools in England must promote these fundamental ‘British’ values, the degree to which some schools do this is widely divergent. Thus, some schools have moved toward specific VBE schools as promoted by Hawkes (2005). In these VBE schools education is holistic and a whole-school approach is taken with teachers modeling desired behaviors, learners using an ethical vocabulary, and reflection lived as integral to school life with personal, social, moral, spiritual, and cultural values of education promoted in all areas of the school and curriculum (Hawkes, 2005). Schools that adopt this approach work broadly around the Seven Pillars of VBE (Appendix 5) where all stakeholders (teachers, parents, children, and local community) are fully involved in creating and living the school values (Halstead and Taylor, 2000) These values are developed in consideration of the schools unique, diverse social and cultural context to enable children to be effective members of society and are ingrained in every aspect of school life (Hawkes, 2005). Thus, no two schools will have the same values and there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
Proponents of VBE suggest there are significant advantages for the school including (Hawkes, 2005): creating respectful, responsible children, enhancing the quality of teaching, increasing parental and community engagement, and enhancing staff contentment, recruitment, and retention. For the learner, the espoused benefits are children with a strong moral compass, ethical intelligence, self-awareness, and reflection, and will be empowered to fulfill their full potential (Values Based Education Website). In addition, it has been suggested that VBE may have a significant impact on behavior because teachers model desired behaviors and children know what is expected in behavioral terms (Halstead and Taylor, 2000).
However, VBE are not without criticism. First, teachers and parents have personally held values that may be in direct opposition to those of the school, making full buy-in and a whole-school approach problematic (Halstead and Taylor, 2000; Sellars, 2012). Second, Wragg (2000) suggests that the difference between a VBE school and a non-VBE school is the degree to which the values penetrate the whole school program. He suggests the VBE approach of values in every aspect of school life might be too much and that, as schools are left to decide their values, there is no standardization, and a ‘best approach’ is not easily identifiable.
Reflecting on values, I turned to consideration of my values and found that my Creed (Appendix 1) and my Learning Journey (Appendix 3) provided useful signposts to my core values. Several values were clear, but the value of equality in education was the most significant, deeply held core value for me, one which has roots back to my early education and has remained resonant throughout my life. My understanding is bound by characteristics such as inclusion, access, respect, self-esteem, fairness, and impartiality. These values underpin both Fundamental British values and VBE. I see equality in education, through my own experience, as the right for all children to be empowered by education, regardless of socio-economic or geographical circumstance, religious or ethnic background, to participate, to be heard, and to be encouraged to reach their full potential. As Burgh et al. (2005) suggest, there is an ethical and moral commitment to prepare, not only a select few, but all students to be lifelong learners and productive members of society.
The work of Ball (1985) spoke personally to my own experience of schooling as the link between those from low socio-economic backgrounds and low educational outcomes is well documented, making children from poorer backgrounds more likely to suffer from educational inequalities (Ball, 1981; Pickett and Vanderbloemen, 2015).
In England, whether a child is entitled to free school meals is considered an indicator of whether a family is living below the poverty line (Gorad, 2013). However, the stigma attached to free school meals is as relevant today as it was decades ago with 29% of the 1.4 million eligible children do not participate in the UK’s Free School Meals as it is dogged by stigma and lack of information (Holford, 2014). This creates a health inequality issue for children, as Maslow (1933) suggests, children need to have their basic needs such as food met and do not learn when they are hungry (Busby, 2019). My experience of free school meals and the associated stigma was, at the time, the norm. Children on free school meals lined up in front of everyone, were escorted to the food, were told what they could eat, and had to sit at the free school meals table. This experience resulted in me not going to eat lunch as it was a humiliating experience that treated us unequally, marked us as ‘different’, and excluded us from the norm.
Whilst equality in education deems that every child should be able to participate in all aspects of the educational process such as learning facilities, resources, and extra-curricular programs, the reality for those from lower-income families is somewhat different. Music, and access to it, is a case in point. As Gill suggests, music is part of the national curriculum and so should already form part of everyday state school activities, yet it is not accessible and the gap between the state and private sector is widening (Gill, 2017). Music lessons and associated instruments cost money, and are therefore inaccessible to those with low income, thereby perpetuating that music is elitist and only for others. Whilst Picket and Vanderbloemen (2015) point out, that teachers are affected by social class and status and may discriminate against those they see with low status my own experience of music and equality was very different. The Head of Music at my secondary school believed that all children should have access to learning an instrument if they wished and that affordability should not be a barrier. Whilst many children did have private lessons, he ran a 3 lunchtime session with 2 other teachers to allow any child who wished to come along and learn to play piano, violin, or flute. As he opened this to everyone, it was highly inclusive and, as a result, the majority of attendees were children whose families could not afford lessons. He is a teacher who embodied equality in education.
My main value of equality is intrinsically bound to respect, belief in self and others, fairness, justice impartiality, and all that these include. Whilst I acknowledge that a range of other variables will impact the practitioner I wish to be, from my own experience, I believe that equality combined with believing in children is a powerful combination that will equip children with the tools and resources to succeed. It is a good starting point as, teachers are all too frequently expected to ‘fix’ educational inequalities regardless of the broader social context of poverty and inequality (Blanden et al, 2005). Nowhere has this been more evident than during the COVID-19 pandemic which increased the gaps between educational attainment between rich and poor.
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