Teach Secondary Issue 14.7

Flying the FLAG Alex Standish ponders the increasingly complex question of how schools should relate to British culture M ost readers will be familiar with the story of student CourtneyWright, who in July this year arrived at her school’s Culture Day wearing a Union Jack dress – only to be told by her teachers that this was ‘not appropriate’. She had composed a personal – and compelling – speech about why British culture was important to her, but was instead placed into isolation and denied the opportunity to read it. The reactions of parents and the local community around Bilton School in Rugby was, understandably, one of outrage, prompting the school to close early for the holidays. Ashared history Why would a school shame a pupil for wanting to celebrate their culture and national identity? How have we arrived at a situation where some British schools are uncomfortable with expressions of national culture? This isn’t the case in most countries around the world – so here, I want to examine the relationship between culture and education, and showwhy it matters. Firstly, what is British culture? Great Britain first emerged following the 1707 Act of Union between the kingdoms of England (includingWales) and Scotland. A further Act of Union in 1800 then joined Ireland with Great Britain, until Ireland was partitioned in 1921. Notwithstanding some differences, British culture encompasses the values, traditions and shared history of our four nations – Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England. Immigrants settling here have become British subjects, thus producing hybrid cultures within British identity. We recently had our first British Asian Prime Minister, for example. For the most part, we value liberalism, democracy, common law, individualism, property and equality of civil and political rights, regardless of sex and ethnicity. Our indigenous Celtic culture was transformed through the Roman invasion, the arrival of the Saxons and Christianity. Our languages, government and traditions (including education) have been shaped by European influences fromAncient Greece, Rome, France and Germany. Individualistic values Why, then, is it so difficult to talk today about a ‘shared British culture’? It’s because we’ve largely been avoiding the question. In his 2024 book, The Crisis of Culture , French political scientist Olivier Roy discusses the decline of national culture as an international phenomenon, tracing this back to the 1960s and the promotion of individualistic values. This accelerated from the 1990s onwards, driven by globalisation, migration, multiculturalism, the internet and growing secularisation. These developments have all, to some extent, disrupted our established cultural practices – from relations at work to family life, and even our relationship with time and space (through, for instance, working from home). Roy suggests that our collective culture has become de-socialised, de- territorialised and more individualised. As a national culture diminishes, migrants are able to bring their own cultural practices with them – albeit separated from the society which gave them meaning. Instead of socialising young people into a common culture, the void has been filled with alternative narratives built around neoliberalism, diversity, inclusion and, more recently, traditionalism. Roy argues that all are symptoms of ‘de-culturation’, since none provide a basis for the development of a new common culture. Bilton School advertised its Culture Day as one that would ‘ Celebrate the rich cultural diversity within our school community ’ (see tinyurl.com/ts147-TP) – though this evidently wasn’t extended to British culture. We may well want students to learn about different cultures at school – but are we losing sight of how education can serve as an induction into culture? Laudable intentions A 2023 survey of English secondary teachers conducted by the English & Media Centre found that 90% of respondents had ‘diversified’ their curriculum since 2020, by drawing on a wider range of texts and authors (see tinyurl.com/ ts147-TP1). In practice, this meant replacing traditional books like Steinbeck’s Of Mice andMen withmore ‘relatable’ texts like Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. Some respondents cited racist and problematic language in texts as their motivation for doing so, but most wanted to expose students to a wider range of voices, especially those from minority perspectives. Another stated aim of respondents’ diversity efforts was to ensure that all students and teachers were ‘represented’ in the texts they studied, via characters of different races, religions, sexes, genders, physical abilities and social classes. There’s been a similar trend in history lessons, with some teachers moving away from a ‘Euro-centric’ curriculum by including alternative perspectives of marginalised historical figures or people. This might entail undertaking a study of pre-Colonial Africa, examiningWWII from the perspective of a soldier from a British colony or showing students howAngo-Saxons were also immigrants. While the intentions here “Whywoulda school shamea pupil forwanting to celebrate theirnational identity?” 12 teachwire.net/secondary

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