The beauty of a BLOG is that one may use a familiar tone, speak about matters of the heart and
generally muse. This is not the case with academic writing, such as that required by our PGCE assignments.
With this in mind, I am going to share a personal reflection on the recent death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and how I see monarchy and teaching overlap, or come into conflict.
Firstly, I must confess that I met The Queen in Banbury (Oxfordshire) Town Hall in 2008, as part of a celebration of the town's 400th Anniversary of the Town Charter. The Town Major, Anne Bonner (pictured, above) invited Her Majesty to visit Banbury and was surprised her invitation was accepted.
At that time, I was running my own climate change business innovation consultancy, and supporting the Young Enterprise charity by driving participation across schools in North Oxfordshire. Anne Bonner was a big fan of the changes our team had made. She included me in the group of charity volunteers to be introduced to The Queen and Prince Philip and chose me as the first person to whom The Queen was guided, as she entered the room.
Mixed Emotions
I cannot easily put into words the emotions I had on that day. As a volunteer of a local charity, I was honoured to be representing them. As the daughter of a Royal Navy sailor, I was honoured to meet his "former boss". As a girl brought up until the age of nine on a Plymouth council estate, I was a staunch believer in meritocracy, not privilege. I felt both conflicted and, somewhat, in awe.
I have recently put my thoughts of the meeting into a poem for my mother, June.
The Queen |
|---|
 The Queen. Has been. And gone. She was one in a trillion or more. Adored. By so many. Across the globe. In her ermine robe. And her crown of jewels. She rules. Our hearts still. I met her once. Locked eyes with mine. I saw deep black pools. Of history. Transcendent. She smiled. I did not expect that. So did her hubby Phil. Both of them. Full of smiles. Shaking hands with me. Talking to me. This legend of histo-ry. |
Gone. But never forgotten. |
It happens that, before the Queen's death, I had been grappling with how we, as educators, could marry the need to include British values in lessons, with the additional agenda of decolonisation.
Colonialism and Diversity
In a previous PGCE assignment, I explained how I included Winston Churchill and Nelson Mandela as subjects of one of my exercises. On reflection, I was concerned that Churchill had extensive links to colonialism, which made me question his inclusion in my lesson. I decided, on balance, that he was such an icon of the best of British values - that his stand against fascism shone through, so strongly - that I would keep him in. Many would probably laugh at my doubt.
British Values
Since The Queen's funeral, I have been wondering about how British Values marry with Monarchy. As Charles was proclaimed King by right of his birth, I joined others in the country who wondered, "why?".
The detail, in all five of the British values shown in the image below, includes the word: equality.
Are we equal, in a monarchy? How about 'subservience'? That is not a British value we are directed to teach. In fact, Democracy indicates "we all have a say", whereas in fact, only the monarch can appoint a Prime Minister or give assent to new laws. That power is gained purely because of bloodline. In the United Kingdom, we are not citizens, we are subjects.
Not many students could get into Cambridge university with two A-levels at B and C grades, however (the former) Prince Charles did gain a place. Is this equality?
Likewise, any organisation in the United Kingdom would be criticised if it consisted only of white British employees. Yet all working Royals are indeed of this group. Megan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, whose mother is a social worker with African-American heritage, stepped back from Royal duties with her husband, Harry. This removed the one person who could bring a touch of diversity to the Royal family.
Garratt and Piper (2003) frequently refer to the Crick Report (2000) on examining the difference between being a citizen and being a subject; the implicit caste dependency of the latter and the need for education to include social justice in the former.
Waters are further muddied by religion.
It is part of the coronation ritual that the monarch is anointed, not appointed. Ultimately, the church provides the legitimacy for the coronation and, in turn, the monarch becomes 'Defender of the Faith'. This time, one may recall the historic quote of The (former) Prince of Wales saying he would rather be "defender of faiths" than "defender of the faith". He clarifies his meaning and includes words from The Queen here. This is consistent, in terms of the British value "Tolerance of Different Cultures and Religions", however, do his words de-legitimise his imminent 'anointing' by the Church of England?
Monarchy - Pros?
Does a monarchy bring any benefits to a country? Royalists cite a number of benefits:
Popular with the public
Boosts international relations
Boosts national unity
Reduces governmental corruption
Whether or not you agree that these benefits existed for Queen Elizabeth, you must indeed ask the question as to whether they apply to King Charles, and subsequent monarchs. Many people see The Queen as a singular figure in history, having reined for so long and circumvented most of the scandals which plagued the rest of her family, including Charles and his wide, Camilla.
A YouGov poll for quarter 2 of 2022 showed the popularity of the Queen as 75%, yet that of King Charles as 42%; less than half of the respondents.
The Rule of Law
Ultimately, although the words "Monarchy", "King" and "subject" do not appear in the list of British values, the Rule Of Law, does.
The rule of law in the UK depicts a constitutional monarch, and so yes, as educators, I believe this means that we are duty bound to support the Crown in our lesson design and classroom discussions.
We are also, however, duty bound by those other values of mutual respect and individual liberty.
I believe it is important to mention this fact: civil and criminal proceedings cannot be taken against the Sovereign as a person under UK law. This means, the monarch, himself, does not have to obey one of the five British values; the rule of law. This seems contradictory,
I will leave that as a discussion for another day, but invite you, reader, to reflect on it.
Conclusion - The Critical Thing
The fundamental thing I want to impress on my learners, is to develop critical thinking. In so many aspects of a young adult's life today, critical thinking is a skill which can help protect them from those who would manipulate them and inform their judgement on the path they should follow.
Therefore, when discussing the role of the Monarchy within an educational setting, I believe healthy debate, criticism and respect of others' views has an important place, in fact is central, to the inclusion of our British values.
References
Dean Garratt & Heather Piper(2003), Citizenship Education And The Monarchy: Examining The Contradictions, British Journal of Educational Studies, 51:2,128-148, DOI: 10.1111/1467-8527.t01-1-00230
Crick, B. (2000) Essays on Citizenship (London, Continuum).
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