Fundamental British Values, Michel Foucault, and Religious Education Teacher Subjectivity

This book contributes to the small but growing critical literature on fundamental British values and the Prevent strategy in the British education system. Focusing specifically on RE, a subject concerned with multiculturalism, difference and pluralism, the book will argue that there is a tension between the aims of RE and the agenda of fundamental British values. The author argues that fundamental British values and the requirements of the Prevent duty (2015) amount to a securitization of education which fundamentally alters the relationship between teachers and learners. The book presents these developments in education policy as a radical discursive shift: drawing from in depth individual and group interviews with 52 secondary teachers of religious education, the book foregrounds the views of BAME teachers and argues for a nuanced and inclusive approach to civic and values education.