Teaching Tolerance: Navigating Complexity in the English Curriculum

Tolerance is a contested value enshrined as both a British Value (Department for Education, 2011) and a European Value (European Commission, 2024). However, it remains underdeveloped within the English National Curriculum and its citizenship education programmes. Research by Whitehouse & Jones (2024), Kitson & McCully, (2016) highlighted that many teachers actively avoid the teaching of controversial issues in relation to tolerance. The intervention and research effort on which this article reports was underpinned by Petagine’s, (2023) work on the theorising of the value of tolerance and research by Carter & Whitehouse (2023) who related the theory of tolerance to pedagogical practice. These perspectives were used to design and carry out research as part of an intervention that supported teachers in navigating these complexities. The intervention was designed to enable teachers to explore the value of tolerance through the lens of local history – the toppling of the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol. This was set within the context of the city’s involvement in the slave trade and the more recent Black Lives Matter movement. Using an Appreciative Inquiry approach (Cooperrider & Srivastva, 1987), this study gathered data to highlight primary school teachers’ (n=5) from contrasting school settings (n=5) experiences and pedagogical understanding when implementing the teaching intervention. Also, the project explored ten and eleven year old children’s (n=30), understanding of tolerance following the intervention. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. Findings show benefits of contextualising an abstract value such as tolerance, in local history. Participatory approaches were identified as impacting the critical thinking of children. Participatory approaches were also helpful in responding to a need among children. Namely, the need to recognise, children’s, maturity and abilities to debate cultural and social representation in relation to the value of tolerance.