Prompted by the Labour government's proposal to introduce education on family
relationships into the National Curriculum, this research project was set up to investigate
how teachers portrayed 'family' within the classroom and the reactions that children had to
the images that were presented. The intention was to highlight any problems that might
arise from including 'family' into the formal curriculum.
The fieldwork was conducted in three primary and three secondary schools. Two of
each of the schools were located in the West Country and the remaining two, in order to
give some ethnic and cultural balance to the project, were in the West Midlands. A total of
sixteen teachers and forty children were involved. In each school, three topics or lessons
that concerned 'family' were observed during the course of one academic year; this was
followed by interviews with the teachers, to ascertain their intentions within the lesson, and
with the pupils, to gain their reaction. Final interviews with each of the children
encouraged them to reflect on what they had learned about 'family' during the year.
Government documents concerned with family education suggest an agreement on
the values on which family should be based and appear to regard family as an
uncomplicated concept. The data collected, however, indicate that 'family' is regarded by
teachers as a complex and sensitive subject that should be approached with caution. In
addition pupils show a variety of reactions to the lessons, ranging from anger and distress
to ready acceptance. The project's contribution to knowledge is therefore to demonstrate
some of the complexities that are involved in teaching about 'family' and to inform one
aspect of the ongoing debate on values education within Britain.
Date of Award | 2003 |
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Original language | English |
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Awarding Institution | |
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Supervisor | Mark Halstead (Other Supervisor) |
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- Education
- Sociology
- Human Services
- National Curriculum
- Family Values
- Children
- Education & Training
Children and family values : a critical appraisal of 'family' in schools
Passy, R. A. (Author). 2003
Student thesis: PhD