Last month, we had our first British schools overseas (BSO) inspection since March 2016.

Covid restrictions prevented a team from visiting Hong Kong before now and the seven-year gap was telling.

The senior school and sixth form had more than doubled in size in that time, and there was only one member of the senior team in post for the last inspection. We had lost all institutional knowledge of how inspections work and had to start building that up from scratch.

Although I had led Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) Dubai through eight inspections in four years, my detailed knowledge of the framework was, at best, shaky.

Schools in Dubai are always inspection-ready because of the annual Ofsted-style inspections conducted by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority - no chance of the loss of institutional knowledge there - and we had a great team in place who did the heavy lifting of pulling all the evidence and documentation together.

So it was with fresh eyes that I approached the preparation for our BSO visit.

How do promote ‘Britishness’?

Most of the standards are familiar - teaching and learning, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, suitability of staff, etc. However, one of the things that makes a BSO inspection different from other inspection frameworks is that international schools have to demonstrate that they are sufficiently British.

You might think that being a British school is about teaching the English curriculum, sitting GCSEs and A levels, flying the Union Jack flag, holding tea parties and school fetes, and putting up the bunting to celebrate key royal events; but you would be wrong.

For BSO, Britishness is about having the right attitudes and values.

According to the inspection standards, standard 5 about the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils at the school is met if the proprietor “actively promotes the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs’” and “encourage respect for other people; paying particular regard to the protected characteristics of age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex and sexual orientation as set out in the Equality Act 2010.”

Problematic in a post-colonial context

One of the challenges of schools teaching British values is that so many international schools are operating in a post-colonial context.

Hong Kong is a case in point. Hong Kong was formally founded as a British colony in 1842 when the Chinese Qing Emperor ceded the Island as one of the terms of the Treaty of Nanking.

This ended a period of gunboat diplomacy aimed to promote the Victorian British value of free trade of opium, a Class A drug.

As far as the promotion of democracy is concerned, Britain’s current rhetoric is out of kilter with its practice. During its 155 years of rule over Hong Kong, the British never granted full universal suffrage to its colony before the handover to China in 1997.

The same applies to social equality legislation. Hong Kong under the British lagged behind the reforms in the UK: homosexuality was only decriminalised in 1991 in Hong Kong, 24 years later than in the UK.

Given the history of the colony, those in Hong Kong might be forgiven for feeling that the concept of promoting fundamental British values is a little hollow.

Similar stories can be told in other contexts around the world that still operate in the shadow of the Empire on which the sun never set.

Sensitivity to the local context

The UK government might insist on the promotion of “British values” and paying particular regard to UK-defined protected characteristics, but the situation that schools face on the ground is far more complex.

British schools in the Middle East are prevented by local laws from talking about homosexuality and gender reassignment; not to mention Judaism and the State of Israel.

There were three years (2016-18) when schools in Arabic countries were unable to pass a BSO inspection because of failing to meet the protected characteristics standard. This was hugely detrimental to the promotion of UK safeguarding standards in the region.

Reassuringly, after some effective lobbying by the Council of British International Schools and other international organisations, the Department for Education policy since October 2018 “is now to accredit schools in countries where to meet certain standards would be in breach of the host country laws, as long as there is evidence to substantiate this, and all other standards are met”, so they can achieve full BSO accreditation.

We are fortunate here in Hong Kong that the school can discuss the full range of issues relating to respect for those with protected characteristics.

Kellett has a thriving LGBTQ+ student group within the school, and many openly gay role models on the staff; and recently achieved the Educate and Celebrate Pride in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Bronze Award.

The challenge that we have in Hong Kong is that we have to operate within the framework of the national security law, so promoting the value of democracy needs to be done very sensitively.

So, at Kellett, we teach democratic principles through elections to student leadership and prefect roles, rather than commenting on the politics beyond our walls.

Values appropriation and soft power

The concept of “fundamental British values” itself is telling. It certainly begs the question of what makes “democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs” British values?

Britain does not hold the title deeds on democracy and the rule of law. These are values enshrined in the constitutions of most, if not all, liberal Western societies.

There is nothing inherently British about them. So, what is going on here?

The BSO standards need to be understood within the UK government’s soft power strategy.

Soft power is a measure of a nation’s influence: it is about hearts and minds.

The results from the British Council’s 2018 youth perceptions survey of the G20, and those of various other rankings - such as the Portland Soft Power 30 - both conclude that the UK is one of the leading soft power nations in the world.

Britain’s influence in this area is disproportionate - this is in no small part due to the role that UK education plays.

Britain has a long history of educating the world’s elite. Its soft power is embodied most visibly by the prime ministers, chancellors and presidents who studied in the UK in their younger years.

At present, the UK educated 55 current world leaders - around one in four countries in the world. 

As a consequence of the formative times spent studying in the British system, these senior figures around the world have a greater bond and affinity with the UK, which can manifest itself in diplomatic, ethical and trade decision making.

For this reason, international students have been called ”the best ambassadors a nation has”. 

The BSO framework, which enshrines the promotion of British values around the world, is a key component in the UK government’s soft power strategy; and the growing expansion of British international schools around the world is an opportunity for the British government, once again, to extend its reach.

What aspiring leaders should know

As such, for new or aspiring leaders wondering what any future BSO inspection will entail, it’s worth thinking hard about “Britishness” - for it is one of the distinctive features of this framework.

It is vital that schools look beyond the superficial aspects of flags, tea parties and teaching Shakespeare and focus on the bigger and more important element of values education.

This is something that requires careful navigation between (rightly) promoting important values while also working within the laws and customs of whichever nation you are lucky enough to call home.