This book contributes to the small but growing critical literature on fundamental British values and the Prevent strategy in the British education system. Focusing specifically on RE, a subject concerned with multiculturalism, difference and pluralism, the book will argue that there is a tension between the aims of RE and the agenda of fundamental British values. The author argues that fundamental British values and the requirements of the Prevent duty (2015) amount to a securitization of education which fundamentally alters the relationship between teachers and learners. The book presents these developments in education policy as a radical discursive shift: drawing from in depth individual and group interviews with 52 secondary teachers of religious education, the book foregrounds the views of BAME teachers and argues for a nuanced and inclusive approach to civic and values education.

Francis Farrell is Senior Lecturer in Theology and Religion at Edge Hill University, UK.