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Does 'Britishness' need to be taught in schools? #trojanhorse If so, what is it?

In light of the #trojanhorse scandal that seems to be taking up every page in the papers not occupied by the world cup, should British values be a compulsory addition to school curriculum?

If so, what are british values? Surely not as simple as saying they are just christian values + football. Since the start of the british empire, Britain has been a globalised country incorporating all walks of life. Perhaps then, Britishness = Accepting and moderate stances towards society?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17218635

https://sturents.com/news/post/2014/06/24/religious-extremism-threatens-uk-education-system/183/

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Reply 1
Avatar for Jacob-C
Jacob-C
5
Rule of law, democracy, how to make tea...?
No,the fact that we don't teach Britishness, is in fact British enough. Being British is about being democratic, diverse and accepting. People should have the freedom to follow whatever culture they desire.
This is quite frankly, extremely embarrassing of the Tory government to say this and it's like what they do in the US.

Countries (like people) who are secure in themselves, don't need to have lessons explicitly stating what is *GREAT* about being British.

I thought we were too good for this.

"We like making tea and eating fish and chips, aren't we great mummy?"

Teach kids the IMPORTANCE OF DEMOCRACY anywhere. Then maybe we can claw our own one back.
Original post by WitnessMO
No,the fact that we don't teach Britishness, is in fact British enough. Being British is about being democratic, diverse and accepting. People should have the freedom to follow whatever culture they desire.


Couldn't agree more
As for Christian values and football: Most of the country isn't practicing Christian! Cameron himself isn't a bloody Christian!

How can you teach Christian values and diversity? The reason why we are one of the best countries is that we practice acceptance, not hanging, for people who don't agree with us. Surely, that is the epitome of supremity.

As for football: well, yeah kids - let's build our national self-esteem based on something we're nationally sh*t at. The only thing that works for British football is foreign money and foreign players.

As a country, we have many good and admirable qualities. Like, that we care more about our fellow man than the majority of other countries (this can be seen by charitable giving stats and simply by trying to queue for a bus in the UK vs. virtually any other nation (perhaps excluding Australia and Canada - we taught them well!)) and our strengths and virtues have been embedded in our culture and do not need to be taught in classroom. Except, I understand, that Cameron wouldn't see humanity as a virtue, which is why he's trying to change us, like Thatcher did.

The lack of this kind of right-wing nonsense is EXACTLY what made me proud to be British (until now, when it seems the whole world has swung to the right as Brits are actually entertaining and not laughing at this).

Edit, on second thoughts, this is actually more sinister and not laughable: Values of a nation are embedded in its culture - *teaching values* is explicitly pure propaganda in an attempt to mold and change the public and is actually very scary.
(edited 9 years ago)
I sensibly wonder how many of us could pass the test that is given to people who want to naturalise, practice versions here: http://www.theuktest.com/life-in-the-uk-test/6
I think the vast majority of people know what British culture is, without needing to be taught it and without necessarily being able to articulate it.

The issue is that many Muslims in this country see themselves as Muslim first and foremost, and identify more with fellow Muslims than with fellow Brits. This is why there were protests against Rushdie in this country after the Fatwa was issued against him, why Lee Rigby was killed, and why several Muslims are now going to fight in Syria.

There is no easy way to tackle this issue, but banning faith schools, deporting hate preachers and not allowing those fighting in Syria to ever return would be a good start.
Original post by tengentoppa
I think the vast majority of people know what British culture is, without needing to be taught it and without necessarily being able to articulate it.

The issue is that many Muslims in this country see themselves as Muslim first and foremost, and identify more with fellow Muslims than with fellow Brits. This is why there were protests against Rushdie in this country after the Fatwa was issued against him, why Lee Rigby was killed, and why several Muslims are now going to fight in Syria.

There is no easy way to tackle this issue, but banning faith schools, deporting hate preachers and not allowing those fighting in Syria to ever return would be a good start.


Very true, I also think immigration testing is a good way to stop this ghetto-ization of Muslims.

They should have to speak a certain amount of English, and have *THEM* stringently tested on British values, idioms, cultural norms etc before being able to gain citizenship.

Teaching British values to British kids is pathetic.
Reply 9
Avatar for navarre
navarre
20
I think it can only be a good thing. Tolerance, diversity, democracy and the rule of law are absolutely core British values, and they've taken hundreds of years of British history to develop. I think it's a very good thing that children should learn such values in schools.
I'd rather we saved school time for learning how to read/write/do maths/understand science.
Reply 11
Avatar for Tom78
Tom78
18
This is a slippery slope imo, we'll end up with kids having to sing the national anthem at the start of the day. Patriotism gone mad.
Reply 12
Avatar for Tom78
Tom78
18
Kids should be taught that the world doesn't revolve around Britain not the opposite.
The so called Trojan horse plot is a hoax used to continue the "war on terror"


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How does a bunch of very unintegrated people who attempted to spread very outdated values in schools constitute a plot to continue "the war on terror"?
Original post by WitnessMO
No,the fact that we don't teach Britishness, is in fact British enough. Being British is about being democratic, diverse and accepting. People should have the freedom to follow whatever culture they desire.


'Diverse and accepting' basically shows Britishness is nothing more of a yes man for all the worlds cultures and people in your opinion, that's idiocy. What a False sense of responsibility if there ever was one.
Original post by navarre
I think it can only be a good thing. Tolerance, diversity, democracy and the rule of law are absolutely core British values, and they've taken hundreds of years of British history to develop. I think it's a very good thing that children should learn such values in schools.


Diversity is racial social engineering. That's extremism and racism.
Original post by CryptoidAlien
Diversity is racial social engineering. That's extremism and racism.


No, diversity is a fact of life. We're just lucky enough to live in a nation that celebrates diversity rather than suppress it.
Original post by navarre
No, diversity is a fact of life. We're just lucky enough to live in a nation that celebrates diversity rather than suppress it.


You don't celebrate diversity, you enforce it onto a specific homogenous group without their consent because you dislike their originality and individuality. You suppress homogeneity entirely and reject the idea of a traditional, native Britain and replace it with a reformation of the rest of the world. If you appreciated diversity, you respect every nations right to sustain their originality which contributes to global diversity. All the cultures here exist elsewhere. The origins of mass immigration were a political experiment, even Labour admitted that previously.
(edited 9 years ago)
Queuing.

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