Courage, patriots
Dave Hill Feb 5, 2008
Approached bravely, in a spirit of intellectual exploration, patriotism could actually be a great subject in schools
Last Friday, there was a burst of media interest in an academic paper about teaching patriotism in schools. I half heard one its co-authors, Doctor Michael Hand of the Institute of Education (IoE), having a slightly tricky time discussing it with Nicky Campbell on Five Live, and it generated a lively open thread here at Cif. There was close focus on the term "morally ambiguous" being used to characterise national entities, including Britain. This ambiguity, the authors felt, was why patriotism would have to be approached as "a controversial issue"; a matter for discussion rather than indoctrination.
I read the paper at the weekend. I recommend it. It's only six pages long and despite finding the specialist language exacting, I was engaged by its arguments. One conclusion struck a particular chord: "Recent calls by political leaders for the promotion of patriotism in schools lack a sound philosophical justification."
On the government's part these calls have been a component of its ongoing promotion of "Britishness," which Gordon Brown, of course, strains so hard to personify. This campaign is sometimes characterised as refreshing a sense of national purpose rooted in a modern form of shared identity. Responding to the IoE paper, schools minister Jim Knight said, "There is nothing wrong with being patriotic and proud of being British. We firmly believe that in today's diverse society all children should learn about events and themes, which have shaped this country. At the same time it is important that children learn tolerance, respect and understanding of other cultures and countries. We see no contradiction between the two."
But what if there are some "events and themes" in our history, some things about "being British" that don't make every Briton proud? What if those very virtues of "tolerance, respect and understanding of other cultures and countries" add legitimacy to that question? The daft thing about Knight's insisting there's "no contradiction" is that it undermines the strongest case for patriotism being on the curriculum. For pity's sake, man! The whole subject is a mass of contradictions! Could there be a more fascinating topic for a classroom debate?
Even settling on which "events and themes" best define Britain would generate a fruitful discussion. There are so many different cases to be made. The prime minister himself is well aware of this. Historian Tristram Hunt wrote recently in New Statesman of the difference between the accounts of Britain he presents for domestic consumption - all social democratic solidarity and decency - and the spiel he used for wooing those Chinese billions, "a version of Britain as a trading nation dominated by the City, the docks and a broadband, coffee-house culture. Gordon Brown, biographer of James Maxton and the Red Clydeside docks, has embraced a Brand Britain strangely devoid of industrial heritage, political inheritance, or socialist virtue."
Which of Brown's Britain's should we be most proud of? Discuss. And while we're at it class, what if our affinity with one of Britain's component parts is greater than that for its whole? Is it not a feature of "today's diverse society" that increasing numbers of Britons see themselves as Scottish, English or Welsh first and British second? Or as none of the above? Or as any one or more of them and something else besides? If I ask you what's "your country" will your answer be short and sweet or require a conversation like the one I had with my nine-year-old on Saturday as we attempted to pin down why both England and Ireland are countries he calls his own.
Such debates could be fruitfully, perhaps dazzlingly, integral to teaching about patriotism in schools all over Britain. Wisely conducted, they could enhance pupils' understanding of history, of identity and of how cultural conflicts and solidarities evolve. They could be just the kinds of debates needed in adult Britain too, if stronger bonds of social unity and mutual obligation are to be forged. A patriotism born of such generous and brave intellectual inquiry would be quite a prize. Pity our leaders don't see it that way.
See also
Nationalism A man thing
Britain - what is it?
English fascism
Values are not learnt through teaching
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