What Values May Schools Promote, and How?

Understanding how to move toward futures of flourishing for animals, nature and society requires an investigation into our values; where they come from, how they are shaped, and by whom. On this last question, we might turn to state-provided education as an important site where values are introduced, discussed, and transformed. Shedding light on such questions, Multispecies Collective member Dr Christina Easton has recently published her first monograph, Teaching Values Whilst Respecting Difference (Bloomsbury, 2026).

The book asks whether liberal states can legitimately seek to shape the values of citizens through education, and if so, what values schools may promote and how. It develops a distinctive theoretical approach called "thin comprehensive liberalism" which seeks to respect disagreement while recognising that important considerations such as harm, children's welfare, and their future equal political status can justify substantive values education.

The book explores how this approach changes our understanding of what sorts of justifications are acceptable in law and public policy-making. Dr Easton argues that there is no good reason to exclude the interests of non-human animals from political reasoning. She argues for a broad conception of harm that supports policies that take non-human suffering seriously. and ultimately for “a more thoroughgoing environmental education” than other liberal approaches can justify.

The book has been the subject of two successful symposia and has received high praise from leading scholars in the field. For example, Professor Johannes Drerup has said that “Easton’s conception of a thin comprehensive liberalism and her approach to teaching liberal democratic values will serve as a major reference in philosophical debates in the years to come.”

The book is available online now and in print from 3 September 2026. Look out for details of a launch event on our social media channels.

You can read more about Dr Easton's ongoing work on education toward multispecies flourishing here.