This article reports on research in three secondary schools in England where students were engaged in deliberative discussion of controversial issues. The teaching resources used illustrated rights-based dilemmas and the data analysis focused on the nature of the talk and the types of knowledge the students drew upon to inform their discussions. The article shares four insights: (i) there is a need to be more explicit about what constitutes human rights knowledge; (ii) human rights education requires the development of political understanding, which moves beyond individual empathy; (iii) educators need to value the process of deliberative discussions and avoid a push for conclusive answers; (iv) students need support to draw on knowledge from a range of disciplines. If these issues are not addressed, some students are able to engage in rights-based discussions with little knowledge and understanding of rights.

eBook), 42,79 € Reviewed by Dr Anna Liddle, University of YorkOver recent years, the concept of character education in English schools has become more and more prominent. In 2019, it was announced by Ofsted (the United Kingdom's school inspectorate) that schools would be judged on '…wider work support[ing] learners to develop their character --including their resilience, confidence and independence… ' (2019, p. 11). This was then followed up in November of that year by a document providing guidance to schools on character education, which included a list of benchmarks relating to leadership, curriculum, behaviour, access, and service with claims that character education has the ability to help students develop positive moral attributes, acquire social confidence, and to improve social mobility (Department for Education 2019). It is with claims such as these that the book The Rise of Character Education in Britain: Heroes, Dragons and the Myths of Character takes issue.

The incorporation of peace and war into the curriculum poses problems to teachers, especially in an examination-focussed school system. Whilst recent research concerning conflict has considered conflict-resolution within schools, and difficulties teachers face teaching about terrorism, little has been written on teaching 21 st century war without the high-profile deployment of UK troops. In this article, I examine how peace and war are taught in an English school. After identifying the school's overall war-focussed discourse, I focus on the practices of an ex-services English teacher and his techniques to debate, discuss, and ultimately problematise war creating a space akin to Foucault's heterotopia. I argue this 'other space' allowed him to develop his practice and there is evidence of the heterotopia 'leaking' further afield. I suggest that although there are limitations to the classroom-as-heterotopia, it can nevertheless provide a space for practitioners to disrupt the wider discourse within their schools.

No abstract

No abstract