Skip to content

Donate to support our work

email signup

ForcesWatch

ForcesWatch
  • About
    • About ForcesWatch
    • ForcesWatch FAQs
    • Privacy policy
  • Our work
    • Military power in British democracy
    • Military recruitment & service
    • The military in education & youth activities
    • The military in society
  • Comment, analysis, news
    • Comment & analysis
    • News articles
  • What to do…
    • Before you sign up
    • If you are already in the armed forces
    • In your school/college/community
    • Resources to use with political representatives
    • Get involved in the campaign
  • Resources
    • The Warrior Nation podcast
    • ForcesWatch materials
    • research & reports
    • education materials
    • book/paper
    • audio & film
    • guidance
    • legislation & conventions
    • facts & figures
    • organisation
  • Projects
  • Contact
    • Get in contact
    • Stay in touch
  • Donate
  • Shop
    • Basket

Home » character building

character building

£2m ‘character education’ grant goes to military-style projects

27/06/2016

Schools Week

A third of a £6 million funding pot aimed at building character in school pupils will be targeted at military-style projects, prompting criticism from campaigners.


New critical thinking resources from The Citizenship Foundation

28/07/2015

The Citizenship Foundation

The Citizenship Foundation's new resources focus on facilitating primary school students' critical thinking skills. Discussing the military in this rigorous way would give students a more balanced impression of armed forces life.


‘Character Building’ range of HM Armed Forces toys

06/07/2015

hmarmedforces.com

A 'Character Building' series of armed forces toys licensed by the MoD is discredited by the new Veterans for Peace UK short film on some of the things that these toys don't show, and by developments in 'character education' that indicate there is no need for 'military ethos' initiatives in UK schools.


Military ethos in schools is not character education but recruitment propaganda, claim Mark Thomas and Clare Short

30/06/2015

Citizenship Foundation

Featured Video Play Icon

In a new film from the Quakers, comedian Mark Thomas and former MP Clare Short claim the Government is misusing the education system to encourage support for its wars and to promote careers in the armed forces.


A former cadet’s experience of the Combined Cadet Forces

Looking back on being part of a school-based cadet unit, the author reflects that, despite the fun and experience to be gained, the benefits could be achieved with non-military activities which would not present a dangerous and risk-laden career as an enjoyable and exciting activity or expose young people to an environment where bullying and hazing are normalised.


Why recent developments in character education indicate there’s no need for a military ethos

The Department for Education has given out its £3.5 million ‘Character Awards’ and its £3.5 million Character Education grants, both championed by Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan, to 27 schools and youth organisations in England, and 14 youth projects, respectively.  Despite the DfE's heralding of 'military ethos' as an  excellent means of developing character, none of those awarded mention military-style activities in their descriptions (see here and here).


Veterans bring ‘military ethos’ to schools

27/01/2015

The Guardian

Growing number of organisations employ ex-servicemen and women to work in schools helping children develop ‘character’


Military ethos – where’s the evidence?

26/01/2015

National Youth Agency

Jon Boagey, operations director [at the National Youth Agency], asks why military ethos doesn’t seem to need evidence to get government funding.


Minister: cut teenage pregnancies with army cadets

20/01/2015

The Telegraph

Army cadet units could help cut the rate of teenage pregnancies, an education minister has said.
Lord Nash said teenage girls from single-parent families who had “never experienced the love of a man” could be deterred from forming “unsuitable relationships” if they enrolled in a cadet unit.


More questions raised about the ‘Military Ethos in Schools’ programme

06/01/2015

TES, Telegraph, and BFBS

The Department for Education has committed a further £3.5m to fund organisations building 'character' among school students, and £1m for research to find the most effective ways that character can be taught in schools.


Advanced search
    • from
    • to

Subscribe

Sign up for our newsletter. See more options.


See our privacy policy

Support our work

If you'd like to support our work with a donation, choose Paypal or Patreon, or see more options here.

Become a patron at Patreon!

  • Home
  • About ForcesWatch
  • Comment, analysis, news
  • Our work
  • Projects
  • Resources
  • Contact

Creative Commons Licence

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

ForcesWatch, 2024.
  • Kids with guns introduction
  • Background information
  • Why this should be challenged
  • Local communities taking action
    • Wrexham
    • Leicester
    • Chester
    • Back
  • Strategies & resources

Subscribe to our newsletter for regular reflections and info


In subscribing, you give consent for us to send you our newsletter by email. You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from any email you receive from us. See our privacy policy.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with this.Ok or scroll to acceptNoPrivacy policy