What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • British Values and Education

    I do wish that Mr Gove, the Education Secretary, (and everyone else for that matter) would stop trying to wrap progressive values in a national flag.

    I feel uncomfortable about it, whatever the flag – and there’s a lot of it going on in Scotland at the moment too.

    According to the Prime Minister, the kinds of values that he and Mr Gove mean by British values are:

    • freedom
    • tolerance
    • respect for the rule of law
    • belief in personal and social responsibility
    • respect for British institutions

    Well, with the exception of the last on (which institutions? – there’s plenty of good British people who have little respect for parliament and parliamentarians at the moment) this has nothing whatsoever to do with being British and mostly to do with being a good citizen. (I say mostly because I’ve no interested in being merely tolerated by anyone).

    I think that if we want such things taught in schools then we should defend the idea of having proper civics classes and agree a strategy that doesn’t come waving flags of any kind.

    There’s also one or two things missing from that list like equality, being a global citizen, human dignity in work and human rights. If the Prime Minister was talking about some of that then I might be cheering him on. As it is, we are left with sound bites that sound like they have been left over from John Major’s Back to Basics campaign.

    It seems to me that very many people are weary of religion being such an issue in schools and think that schools would be better without it. Those who promote faith schools seem particularly defensive at the moment and not without good reason.

    The things is, it seems to me that it is obvious that faith schools are not part of the problem insofar as they are known to promote rather than detract from community cohesion. However, it is equally obvious that faith schools are part of the problem in that some religious groups have ready access to them and some don’t. Their existence automatically makes people think that everyone should have the right to a religious education no matter what kind of religion the state is being expected to endorse. Furthermore, we know that at least some of those faith schools have strong input (including clergy governors) who walk a long way away from equality and tolerance in the rest of their lives.

    My view – the state should be investing less in faith schools not more and it should be promoting the teaching of civics rather than British (or any other pseudo-nationalistic) values.

    And if we want progressive values taught in schools (and I do) then we should be prepared to come out and name those values and say so.

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One response to “Reaching the Unconnected”

  1. David Kenvyn Avatar
    David Kenvyn

    The way the story has been presented in the press is somewhat misleading. What Glasgow Libraries are offering is not a new service. ICT equipment and training has been available in libraries throughout the UK, since the Blair government made the funding available in 1997.

    One of my first tasks in East Dunbartonshire was to write the successful bid for government funds from what was then known as the People’s Network. PCs, because that was the cutting edge technology at the time, were installed in libraries across the UK. Buddies were recruited for training programmes. People were taught, and can still be taught to use the appropriate technology in classes run through the various library services.

    Unfortunately, once the initial tranche of funding was exhausted, libraries were required to have their own sustainability programmes, but no funding was ring-fenced for this purpose.

    It is hardly surprising that there are differences in digital uptake between Dowanhill and Possilpark, or between Shawlands and Cardonald. Glasgow Libraries are now trying to deal with that digital difference, without any funding from the Scottish or UK Governments to do so. It is my view that they should be applauded for this initiative, which is an extension of the work that has been done over the last 18 years.

    You are quite right to say that this is a social justice issue. It is also vital to the success of the economy of the country. Perhaps we need to think about the creation of a new tranche of funding so that libraries can offer the cutting edge resources in ICT that people across Scotland need.

    Reply

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