Opinion

Michael Pettavel: Shared values

The recent riots across the country highlight how community cohesion is one of the most valuable lessons we in education can support, says our columnist Michael Pettavel
Michael Pettavel: 'I now judge from the walk and not the talk'
Michael Pettavel: 'Nurseries are by definition "woke", we preach values such as respect for others, empathy and emotional intelligence.'

It’s been quite the month. A decisive election result followed by a push back from a violent, disgruntled minority using an utter tragedy as camouflage for malice. It showed us at our worst, but also at our best in how the genuine communities that were most affected responded.

Between 2007 and 2010, community cohesion was a focal point for inspection in schools and nurseries. More recently there has been a shift towards British Values (so easily misinterpreted), and then came cultural capital.

Cultural capital is more focused on the development of the individual and a more singular understanding of the world (often for individual achievement). It focuses on the belief that there is standard or specific sort of intellectual ‘capital’ that is worthwhile. It starts with a pre-requisite; that to succeed, there is a type of knowledge that needs to be acquired by those with less social expertise and cultural depth. Conversely, community cohesion is a more co-operative approach; it puts the school population and local community in the driving seat, taking their own experience as the starting point for inter-communal understanding.

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