Northern College Prevent and FBV project – Evaluation Report “I now know how important it is in teaching to allow spaces for disagreement, exploration and uncertainty” Programme participant
Project Summary The overarching aim of this project was to provide a space for existing and trainee teachers to critically discuss and analyse the issues raised by the Prevent and Fundamental British Values (FBV) agenda together, as professionals. We work in a spirit of affirmation, inspired by vitalism of posthumanist thought, always seeking out and extending ‘horizons of hope’ which take us beyond places of pain (Braidotti, 2013). Our hope in this instance was that we could enable trainee teachers to find ways of working and thinking together (‘assemblages’) which would allow them to take affirmative action and gain confidence both within and beyond the classroom. Background Context The Prevent Duty (Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015) came into force on 1st July 2015 and was immediately enshrined in Ofsted’s guidance. Emphasis is placed on the promotion of ‘Fundamental British Values’ (FBV) through education (British values defined here as democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs), whilst extremism is “…vocal or active opposition to fundamental British values.” Educators and trainee educators across the sector have been uncertain of how to respond to this agenda as evidenced through discussions on social networks. Current approaches to Prevent training (such as courses provided by ETF, Channel and WRAP) are largely online and focus on transmitting information, which is then tested by multiple choice questioning. This covers the bases in terms of organisations evidencing that staff are trained. It comes nowhere near addressing the concerns, fears and prejudices of educators, who, in the experience of our pilot, are left either further confused and bewildered, or hardened in pejorative assumptions. The process We facilitated four sessions at the widest reaches of the Consortium; Liverpool, Northumberland, Easton and Otley, and Northern College (a further session is planned for North Lindsey College at the start of the 2016-7 academic year). Over 60 trainee teachers and tutors took part together in half-day workshops; additional sessions also took place at Barnsley and Northern Colleges as part of on-going Cert Ed/PGCE curriculum delivery. Starting with an examination of personal and professional values, we considered the wider concept of ‘British values’. We then went on to outline the professional duties of education under Prevent before using various artefacts to stimulate a community
philosophy (CP) inquiry. The sessions concluded with practical consideration of the developing of ‘belonging’ within our own classrooms. Community Philosophy (CP) was deliberately chosen as an appropriate vehicle to instigate discussions. CP is an inquiry-based learning technique which encourages questioning and critical thinking; ‘[it] brings people together, gives them a chance to access practical, transformational philosophy, develop a thoughtful, purposeful voice, and take pleasure in these purposeful, collaborative activities.’ (Sapere, 2011). Participants are encouraged to ‘problematise’ and question accepted concepts, connect ideas and use reflection and action to gain a critical awareness of social reality. In a CP inquiry participants create their own questions, and in this way the views of the teacher can be minimised, helping to remove (as far as possible) bias in discussions. Given the emotive nature of the topic we felt as facilitators that it was important to maintain criticality, limiting the imposition of our own views and values as leaders of the sessions. The questions that participants created for discussion included: ‘What does it actually mean, to be radical?’ ‘Is Prevent racist?’ ‘How can we build community in our classes?’ ‘Who is Prevent for?’ Philosophical inquiries always conclude with a call to action, and in the case of every session this was a consideration of how to build community and identity, flipping the idea of ‘Prevent’ to the idea of ‘Enable’. We introduced concepts of restorative practice as possible methods to create communities that extend beyond teacherstudent, to deeper peer support, sustained beyond the classroom. Techniques such as circles and restorative language were explored and discussed; each participant then identified an action to take away and instigate with their own classes. Evaluation Feedback from the workshops has been extremely positive. The sessions were evaluated qualitatively by each participant, using a Critical Incident Questionnaire (Brookfield, 1995). When asked for views on the use of philosophical enquiry comments included: ‘I have realised how much I need to learn to really listen’ ‘This process makes me stop and think’ ‘The process [of philosophical enquiry] brought the whole class together’ ‘I now know how important it is to allow space for disagreement and uncertainty’ ‘I want to build enquiry-based approaches into my own teaching to develop critical thinking’ In the spirit of affirmative action, participants were also asked to comment on what they would do as a result of attending the session. Actions included the following:
re-reading and critically analysing the original government Prevent guidance following diverse voices on Twitter and joining campaigns learning more about other cultures and religions researching 'non-violent communication’ as means of facilitating respectful debate running a philosophical enquiry on British Values with their own classes doing identity and values work with their own groups using Restorative Practice approaches to build classroom communities.
Full copies of the CIQs will be provided as an appendix to this report. Following the workshops a number of participants have gone on to run successful inquiries with their own students; they are being encouraged to reflect on these (both the process and the product) as a part of their on-going Cert Ed/PGCE work. Discussion about the key issues has also been instigated on social media via a blog and initial findings disseminated at the inaugural Research and Scholarship Conference at University Campus Barnsley on 27 April 2016. Recommendations Since the project took place, global and local issues issues such as Brexit, the refugee crisis and rise of hate crime have reinforced the clear need for thinking spaces for both educators and their students. Whilst this is clearly useful in the context of Prevent and FBV, there are clearly possibilities for wider applications of inquiry approaches and restorative practice. We would therefore recommend that:
approaches such as community philosophy, that encourage critical thinking and questioning are included (or considered) more explicitly in the teacher education curriculum sessions going beyond the standard e-learning packages on Prevent/FBV, delivered via CP inquiry or as a minimum facilitated reflection time are offered to all Cert Ed/PGCE students pro-social behaviour management methods which emphasise belonging and community, such as restorative practice, are included in sessions on classroom management.
Kay Sidebottom and Karol Thornton Northern College
References Braidotti, R. (2013). The Posthuman. Cambridge: Polity Press. Brookfield, S. (1995). Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey Bass. Community Philosophy (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.sapere.org.uk/Members,Schools,Partners/CommunityPhilosophy.aspx Sidebottom, K. (2016). Prevent and Critical Pedagogy. Retrieved from http://adventuresinlifelonglearning.blogspot.co.uk/
