Intimations of Utopia: sustaining environments and the flourishing of children and teachers

In five values-centred primary schools well beyond ‘The West’ this research asked established teachers about the personal values that led them to stay in and continue to enjoy teaching. This questioning revealed the importance of the subtle but life-changing events that shape us and the importance of generating classroom atmospheres where positive stories are more likely than negative ones. Extended discussions showed that working in institutions which revered and ‘lived’ similar values to those teachers claimed at the beginning of their careers, sustained them and built their capacity to connect, create and learn. Together with detailed observations, conversations also demonstrated that teaching in schools and classrooms of values-congruence constructed an ethos that could be described as a little Utopia.