Teaching Values Whilst Respecting Difference
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A01=Christina Easton
Author_Christina Easton
Category=JNA
democratic values
education policies
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
forthcoming
liberal civic education
liberal values
liberalism
religious education
schooling
Product details
- ISBN 9781350255180
- Dimensions: 156 x 234mm
- Publication Date: 03 Sep 2026
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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Should schools promote values to children? Most people are happy with schools teaching the value of kindness and that bullying is wrong. But since 2014, schools in England have also been required to teach “British values”, including “democracy”, “liberty” and “mutual respect and tolerance”. To the dismay of some parents and conservative religious groups, some schools are also teaching more controversial values: that it’s okay to be gay, for example, or that we must appreciate religious traditions that we regard as making mistakes about how to live. Is this value-shaping justifiable in the liberal state? If so, what values may students be directed towards, and how may teachers in schools go about this? This book answers these questions by first defending a distinctive theoretical approach, ‘thin comprehensive liberalism’. This approach shows respect for persons by seeking minimally controversial justifications for policy and curricula, whilst also considering other important normative commitments such as protecting children from harm and securing their future equal political status. This ultimately justifies a substantive and controversial values education. The book also discusses the approach that should be taken to teaching values in schools. Using the British values policy as a platform for discussion, it recommends that values education should become a compulsory, high-status subject, with dedicated curriculum time and taught by experts at managing discussions of controversial issues. This change would help secure the welfare of children and a society where the free and equal status of all individuals is respected.
Christina Easton is an Assistant Professor in the Ethics of Non-Violence at the University of Birmingham, UK. Her work has been published in journals including Philosophy, American Political Science Review, Theory and Research in Education, the Journal of Philosophy of Education, and the Journal of Applied Philosophy. She co-authored Critical Religious Education in Practice (2019), a book widely used by teachers of religious education. Before going into academic research, Christina taught philosophy and religious studies at secondary schools for eight years.
