Part 2 – British Values – Promoting mutual respect and tolerance
British Values are so incredibly important to building a better society where children and adults are respectful of those around them. British Values are all about teaching children how modern society operates in Britain today. There are four parts to the British Values that Ofsted expects to see and we have discussed these in various articles.
We are now going into more depth about how practitioners can promote each British Value throughout daily practice and specific activities. The Euros have been taking place this summer and have involved various countries playing against one another. Many of the children may have been excited about the Euros sharing interests of their parents and supporting friendly rivalry. This is, therefore, the perfect time to be teaching children to have mutual respect and tolerance for other people, other countries and other beliefs, values and ways of life.
What is Mutual Respect and Tolerance?
Mutual respect and tolerance is about accepting another person’s beliefs, values, and heritage. All children should be actively learning about the world they live in and celebrating a range of festivals during their time in childcare settings. Much of this is supported in the understanding of the world element to the EYFS. This is something that can be instilled in children right from when they are born. It is the responsibility of practitioners to question any narrow thoughts or opinions held by children and to show them that it is important to respect everyone for who they are.
Top ways of promoting mutual respect and tolerance –
- Celebrate ALL festivals – Especially those celebrated by the children and families within the setting.
- Discover children’s backgrounds, ethnicities, and beliefs – All about me forms are great for this. This will enable practitioners to fully support each child
- Take trips into the community and discuss various things that can be seen such as a mosque or a Polish food shop
- Dressing up clothes – Discuss what is worn in various cultures and why. Suggestions on ideas click here
- Multicultural resources such as books, puppets and CD’s in other languages. For suggestions click here
- Food Tasting – A fun way to introduce culture to the children
- Question negative attitudes
- Positive behaviour cards – These can remind the children to respect others opinions, beliefs and to be kind and share with everyone
- Safeguard and report any concerns about extremist or racist views held by children or parents
- Emotions – Discuss how it makes other people and children feel when narrow views are displayed.
- Role play – Set up different role play scenarios that show different cultures – home corners from around the world
- All about me activities – So the children can learn what makes them different to others and what makes them similar to others.
British Values should be promoted every day through the actions displayed by practitioners. Giving all children equal opportunities and encouraging other children to treat everyone equally. Ofsted will not consider making small tokenistic gestures such as just multicultural resources as proof that all of the British values are being promoted. Children need to be respectful of one another, and all children should feel respected for who they are. Children should be tolerant of others, and this comes from having an understanding that everyone has a different background with different cultures and religions. For help providing evidence to Ofsted that all of the British values are being promoted go here