Framed as being in response to terrorist attacks and concerns
about religious bias in some English schools, ‘British Values’ (BV)
curriculum policy forms part of the British Government’s CounterTerrorism
and Security Act, 2015. This includes a Duty on teachers
in England to actively promote British Values to deter students
from radicalisation. This paper, first, traces the history of
Britishness in the curriculum to reveal a prevalence of nationalistic,
colonial values. Next, an ensemble of recent policies and speeches
focusing on British Values is analysed, using a psycho-political
approach informed by anti-colonial scholarship. Finally, we interrogate
two key critiques of the British Values curriculum discourse:
the universality of British Values globally, and concerns over the
securitisation of education. Findings indicate that the constitution
of white British supremacist subjectivities operate through curriculum
as a defence mechanism against perceived threats to white
privilege, by normalising a racialised state-controlled social order.
The focus is on ‘British’ values, but the analytic framework and
findings have wider global significance.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)