Respect and Tolerance Workshops for Schools, Colleges, Universities and Staff Training
Respect and Tolerance Workshops from 2020 Dreams help children, young people and adults develop the knowledge, language and practical skills needed to live, learn and work alongside people whose backgrounds, beliefs, identities, experiences and opinions may differ from their own.
Our Respect and Tolerance Workshops for Schools support Citizenship, Relationships Education, RSHE, SMSC, British Values, anti bullying work and wider equality and safeguarding provision. Sessions can be adapted for primary and secondary schools, sixth forms, colleges, universities, SEND and SEMH settings, PRUs and alternative provision, youth organisations, charities, staff teams, professional groups and community programmes.
The workshop does not ask pupils to agree with every belief, political view, lifestyle or opinion they encounter. Respectful participation in a diverse society includes the ability to disagree, question, challenge stereotypes and debate difficult issues without humiliating, threatening, dehumanising or discriminating against other people.
Modern respect and tolerance education also needs to address the way social media, online misinformation, polarised public debate, stereotypes and identity based hostility can shape attitudes. Participants are encouraged to think critically about what they see and hear, distinguish disagreement from prejudice and understand when words or behaviour move from legitimate opinion into bullying, harassment, discrimination or safeguarding concern.
Core Features of Our Respect and Tolerance Workshops
- Respect, tolerance and what the terms mean in practice
- Respectful disagreement and constructive debate
- Different faiths, beliefs and non religious worldviews
- Culture, ethnicity, identity and belonging
- Race, racism and racial stereotypes
- Religious prejudice and intolerance
- Islamophobia and antisemitism awareness where relevant
- Stereotypes, assumptions and unconscious judgements
- Bullying, discriminatory language and social exclusion
- Online hostility, misinformation and divisive content
- Social media echo chambers and polarised debate
- Freedom of belief and freedom of expression
- The difference between disagreement and discrimination
- Human rights, equality and individual liberty
- British Values including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs
- Citizenship, rights and responsibilities
- Community cohesion and participation
- Empathy, listening and perspective taking
- Bystander choices when somebody is targeted
- Recognising dehumanising or prejudicial language
- Respectful communication during conflict
- Staff training on respect, equality, discrimination and difficult conversations
Respect and Tolerance Workshops can be delivered as standalone sessions or combined with related programmes on Racism, Cultural Awareness, Islamophobia, Human Rights, Bullying and Conflict Resolution, Radicalisation, Online Safety, Healthy Relationships and Staff Training.
Respect and Tolerance Workshop Overview
What Are Respect and Tolerance Workshops?
Respect and Tolerance Workshops are interactive education sessions that help participants understand how to treat other people fairly and with dignity while navigating genuine differences in belief, culture, identity, values and opinion.
Respect does not require agreement. A pupil can disagree strongly with another person’s view while still recognising that the other person has rights, dignity and a voice. Tolerance also does not mean ignoring abuse, harassment or behaviour that harms other people.
The workshop therefore develops a more useful distinction between disagreement, discomfort, prejudice, discrimination and harmful conduct. Participants learn how to challenge ideas without attacking people and how to recognise when language or behaviour crosses a boundary.
Why Respect and Tolerance Workshops Matter in 2026
Respect and tolerance remain important school priorities because bullying, race and faith based hostility, polarised debate and online misinformation continue to affect young people and the wider communities around them.
Department for Education pupil voice research published in 2026 reported that 24% of Key Stage 3 pupils surveyed in October 2025 said they had experienced some form of bullying in the previous 12 months.
Home Office statistics for the year ending March 2025 recorded 137,550 hate crimes in England and Wales. Because of a Metropolitan Police recording system change, year on year comparisons exclude Metropolitan Police data. On that comparable basis, race hate crime increased by 6% and religious hate crime increased by 3%.
These figures do not mean every disagreement is hate or discrimination. They do show why schools need space for pupils to practise respectful disagreement, identify stereotypes, challenge prejudice and understand how identity based hostility can escalate.
Key Stage 3 bullying
Pupils reporting any kind of bullying in the previous 12 months in the October 2025 DfE pupil survey.
Recorded hate crimes
Police recorded hate crimes in England and Wales in the year ending March 2025.
Race and religious hate crime
Comparable police data showed increases in race and religious hate crime respectively.
The Respect in Practice Framework: LISTEN → UNDERSTAND → QUESTION → DISAGREE → INCLUDE → ACT
A distinctive feature of our Respect and Tolerance Workshops is the Respect in Practice Framework. It gives participants a practical way to move from abstract values to real behaviour.
LISTEN
Hear what another person is actually saying before responding to assumptions about them.
UNDERSTAND
Separate an individual’s actual beliefs and experiences from stereotypes about a group.
QUESTION
Ask where a claim came from, what evidence supports it and whether online content is reliable or manipulative.
DISAGREE
Express disagreement firmly without humiliation, threats, slurs or personal attacks.
INCLUDE
Make space for people to participate without excluding them because of identity, background, belief or difference.
ACT
Challenge harmful behaviour safely, support somebody being targeted and seek adult help where needed.
Respect Does Not Mean Agreement
One of the most important ideas in this workshop is that respect should not be confused with agreement.
Participants can learn that they are allowed to:
🔹 Hold different beliefs
🔹 Ask challenging questions
🔹 Disagree with another person’s opinion
🔹 Debate political or social issues
🔹 Criticise an idea or institution
🔹 Change their mind
🔹 Decide that a belief is not for them
At the same time, disagreement does not justify racist abuse, religious hatred, bullying, harassment, threats, humiliation or denying another person’s basic rights.
CHALLENGE IDEAS WITHOUT DEHUMANISING PEOPLE
A respectful learning environment should allow disagreement and debate while maintaining clear boundaries around intimidation, discriminatory language, harassment and harm.
Respect, Tolerance and Fundamental British Values
Department for Education guidance identifies the fundamental British values as democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
Our Respect and Tolerance Workshops can help schools explore what these values look like in practice rather than treating them as words for a classroom display.
Democracy
People can participate, vote, express views, hear opposing arguments and influence decisions through lawful democratic processes.
Rule of Law
Rights and freedoms operate within law. Laws also provide protection against certain forms of discrimination, harassment and violence.
Individual Liberty
People have freedom to make lawful choices about belief, identity, expression and how they live their lives.
Mutual Respect
Other people retain dignity and rights even when we dislike or disagree with what they say or believe.
Faith and Belief
Different faiths, beliefs and non religious worldviews should not become reasons for prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour.
Citizenship, Rights and Responsibilities
Citizenship education at Key Stages 3 and 4 is designed to help pupils understand democracy, government, law, rights and responsibilities while developing the skills to research, weigh evidence, debate and make reasoned arguments.
Respect and tolerance education supports those aims because active citizenship requires more than knowing how Parliament works. Young people also need to know how to participate in disagreement, challenge prejudice, listen to evidence and contribute to communities in which people do not all think or live in the same way.
For a deeper exploration of rights and the law, see our Human Rights Workshops.
Respect, Relationships and the 2026 RSHE Guidance
Respect and tolerance also connect directly with the revised statutory Relationships Education and RSHE guidance in force from 1 September 2026.
Primary Relationships Education includes:
🔹 Respecting others even when they are very different
🔹 Practical steps for supporting respectful relationships
🔹 Courtesy and manners
🔹 Understanding stereotypes
🔹 Bullying, cyberbullying and bystander responsibility
Secondary RSHE builds on this through respectful relationships, stereotypes based on sex, race, religion, sexual orientation or disability, bullying, boundaries, conflict and due tolerance of other people’s beliefs.
Schools must also comply with relevant Equality Act duties and ensure that teaching is sensitive, age appropriate and developmentally appropriate.
Culture, Identity and Belonging
Culture shapes language, family traditions, food, music, religion, community expectations, values and the way people interpret behaviour. Cultural difference can enrich a school community, but misunderstanding can also create tension when assumptions replace curiosity.
Our workshops can help participants explore:
🔹 What culture means
🔹 How people can belong to several cultures at once
🔹 Why no culture should be reduced to one stereotype
🔹 How language and humour can be interpreted differently
🔹 The difference between curiosity and ridicule
🔹 How exclusion can affect belonging
🔹 How cultural assumptions can become prejudice
For a more detailed programme, see our Cultural Awareness Workshops.
Race, Racism and Stereotypes
Respect and tolerance education should be able to address race directly where that is relevant to the school or community. Avoiding the subject can leave stereotypes unchallenged.
Participants can explore:
🔹 Racist language and jokes
🔹 Stereotyping based on skin colour, nationality, accent, hair or heritage
🔹 The difference between intent and impact
🔹 Racial bullying and exclusion
🔹 Online racist content
🔹 Bystander choices
🔹 How to challenge a stereotype without escalating conflict
Where racism is the primary concern, schools can book our dedicated Racism Workshops.
Faith, Belief and Religious Tolerance
Young people may encounter strong claims about religion from family, peers, social media, political debate and online communities. The workshop can help pupils distinguish between discussing or criticising beliefs and targeting people because of their religion or perceived religion.
Depending on the setting, sessions can explore:
🔹 Freedom of religion and belief
🔹 Respect for people who follow a faith
🔹 Respect for people who do not follow a faith
🔹 Religious stereotypes
🔹 Islamophobia
🔹 Antisemitism
🔹 Interfaith misunderstanding
🔹 How misinformation can inflame hostility
🔹 How to disagree with a belief without targeting a believer
For a focused session, see our Islamophobia Workshops.
Online Polarisation, Misinformation and Echo Chambers
Respect and tolerance now have a significant digital dimension. Young people can encounter polarising content, edited clips, misleading statistics, conspiracy narratives, identity based hostility and algorithms that repeatedly show similar viewpoints.
Participants can examine questions such as:
🔹 Who created this content?
🔹 What reaction is the post trying to produce?
🔹 Is a whole group being blamed for the actions of one person?
🔹 Is the language trying to dehumanise or humiliate people?
🔹 Is evidence being shown or simply asserted?
🔹 Would the claim survive if the group names were reversed?
🔹 Is disagreement being turned into hatred?
🔹 Is an algorithm repeatedly reinforcing the same worldview?
This content can be combined with Online Safety Workshops or specialist work on radicalisation.
Respect, Tolerance and Radicalisation
Extremist narratives can exploit grievance, fear, identity and simplistic ideas about who belongs or who is to blame. Respect and tolerance education can strengthen critical thinking and help pupils recognise language that divides people into threatening or dehumanised groups.
This does not mean treating every controversial opinion as extremism. Prevent and safeguarding practice require proportionate judgement. Schools should avoid shutting down legitimate debate while remaining alert to material that encourages terrorism, violence or serious hatred.
For specific Prevent and radicalisation work, see our Radicalisation Workshops.
Respect and Tolerance Myth Lab
Our Respect and Tolerance Myth Lab allows participants to test common assumptions before discussing the reasoning behind them.
“Respect Means I Have to Agree With You”
Myth. People can disagree strongly while still treating one another with dignity and remaining within the law.
“Tolerance Means Accepting Harmful Behaviour”
Myth. Tolerance of different beliefs does not require a school to tolerate bullying, threats, discrimination, harassment or abuse.
“A Joke Cannot Be Discriminatory if It Was Not Meant Seriously”
Myth. Intent matters, but impact, repetition, context and whether somebody is being targeted also matter.
“Criticising a Religion Is Automatically Hatred of Its Followers”
Myth. Beliefs and institutions can be discussed and criticised. Targeting people with hostility because of their religion or perceived religion is a different issue.
“Free Speech Means There Are No Consequences for What You Say”
Myth. Freedom of expression operates within law, school rules and responsibilities to other people.
“If Everyone Around Me Agrees, the Claim Must Be True”
Myth. Repetition, popularity and algorithms do not prove accuracy. Claims still need evidence.
Respect Decision Lab: What Would You Do Next?
The Respect Decision Lab uses realistic scenarios to practise judgement without requiring pupils to disclose personal experiences.
Scenario 1: The Group Chat
A meme targeting a particular faith group is repeatedly shared in a class group chat.
Decision point: When does humour become prejudice, and what could a bystander do safely?
Scenario 2: A Heated Debate
Two pupils strongly disagree about a social issue and the conversation starts becoming personal.
Decision point: How can they challenge each other’s arguments without attacking identity or character?
Scenario 3: “People Like Them”
A pupil blames an entire community for something one individual has done.
Decision point: What assumptions are being made and how could they be challenged with evidence?
Scenario 4: The New Student
A student is repeatedly excluded because their accent, food, clothing or cultural background is unfamiliar to other pupils.
Decision point: What could peers do to increase belonging without making the student feel like a display of difference?
Respect and Tolerance Workshops for Primary Schools
Respect and Tolerance Workshops for Primary Schools focus on practical foundations rather than complex political debate.
Age appropriate primary content can include:
🔹 Kindness, fairness and respect
🔹 Differences between people
🔹 Families and backgrounds
🔹 Beliefs and celebrations
🔹 Stereotypes and assumptions
🔹 Hurtful language
🔹 Bullying and exclusion
🔹 Listening to different opinions
🔹 Taking turns and resolving disagreements
🔹 Bystander choices
🔹 Trusted adults and asking for help
Primary Relationships Education already expects pupils to understand the importance of respecting people who may be very different from them in background, character, choices, preferences or beliefs.
Respect and Tolerance Workshops for Secondary Schools
Respect and Tolerance Workshops for Secondary Schools can move into more complex discussion about identity, race, religion, stereotypes, political and social disagreement, online hostility and the law.
Secondary content can include:
🔹 British Values
🔹 Citizenship and democracy
🔹 Freedom of belief
🔹 Freedom of expression and responsibility
🔹 Racism and religious prejudice
🔹 Stereotypes and discrimination
🔹 Online polarisation
🔹 Fake news and misinformation
🔹 Constructive disagreement
🔹 Human rights and equality
🔹 Radicalisation awareness where appropriate
🔹 Community cohesion and participation
Respect and Tolerance Workshops for Sixth Forms and Colleges
Respect and Tolerance Workshops for Colleges and Sixth Forms can use more mature case studies involving freedom of expression, workplace expectations, social media, political disagreement, religion, identity, protest, equality and professional conduct.
Post 16 delivery can include:
🔹 Respectful debate around controversial issues
🔹 Discrimination and protected characteristics
🔹 Online reputation and public communication
🔹 Cultural intelligence
🔹 Faith and belief in diverse communities
🔹 Workplace behaviour
🔹 Hate speech and harassment
🔹 Challenging prejudice
🔹 Bystander intervention
🔹 Community participation and democratic engagement
Respect and Tolerance Workshops for Universities
University delivery can support student induction, residences, student societies, equality programmes, professional courses and wider student wellbeing.
University content can include:
🔹 Freedom of expression and respectful challenge
🔹 Faith and belief
🔹 Cultural difference
🔹 Racism and identity based hostility
🔹 Antisemitism and Islamophobia awareness where relevant
🔹 Online conduct
🔹 Group conflict
🔹 Bystander choices
🔹 Professional communication
🔹 Community cohesion
The emphasis is adult discussion and professional judgement rather than repeating school level material.
Respect and Tolerance Workshops for SEND, SEMH, PRUs and Alternative Provision
Respect and Tolerance Workshops can be adapted for SEND, SEMH, PRUs and alternative provision using concrete language, visual prompts, repetition, smaller group work, structured scenarios and additional processing time.
Depending on learner needs, we may place additional emphasis on:
🔹 What respect looks and sounds like
🔹 Recognising insulting or discriminatory language
🔹 Understanding tone and social cues
🔹 Managing disagreement
🔹 Personal space and boundaries
🔹 Bullying and exclusion
🔹 Trusted adults
🔹 Online behaviour
🔹 Repairing conflict
🔹 Practising alternative responses
Adaptation is based on the actual learner group rather than assuming all pupils with additional needs require the same approach.
Respect and Tolerance Workshops for Youth Organisations and Charities
Respect, discrimination and community cohesion are also relevant outside formal education. We work with youth organisations, charities, community programmes, supported accommodation and other services that want structured discussion about identity, difference and respectful behaviour.
Community programmes can be adapted around:
🔹 Local community tensions
🔹 Belonging and identity
🔹 Race and faith
🔹 Online misinformation
🔹 Bullying and exclusion
🔹 Conflict resolution
🔹 Community participation
🔹 Challenging stereotypes
🔹 Supporting people who have experienced discrimination
Respect, Tolerance and British Values Staff Training
Respect and Tolerance Staff Training is available for teachers, pastoral teams, safeguarding staff, senior leaders, youth workers, college and university teams, charities and other professionals.
Training can cover:
🔹 British Values and SMSC
🔹 2026 RSHE expectations around equality and respectful relationships
🔹 Facilitating difficult discussions
🔹 Distinguishing disagreement from discrimination
🔹 Racist and religiously prejudicial language
🔹 Online misinformation and polarisation
🔹 Political impartiality and balanced discussion
🔹 Prevent and radicalisation awareness
🔹 Responding to pupil questions
🔹 Safeguarding and escalation
🔹 Creating inclusive learning environments without shutting down legitimate debate
Respect and Tolerance for Professional and Workplace Audiences
Respect and tolerance training can also be adapted for professional teams, charities, public services and workplaces where organisations want to strengthen communication, inclusion and professional behaviour.
Adult sessions can address:
🔹 Respectful disagreement at work
🔹 Cultural awareness
🔹 Faith and belief
🔹 Stereotyping
🔹 Discriminatory language
🔹 Inclusive communication
🔹 Online and public conduct
🔹 Bystander responsibility
🔹 Managing difficult conversations
Professional delivery is adapted to an adult audience and does not simply reuse pupil content.
Safeguarding and Sensitive Discussion
Respect and tolerance workshops can generate strong opinions or reveal experiences of bullying, discrimination, religious hostility, racism or other safeguarding concerns.
Participants should not be required to disclose personal experiences publicly. Settings should have clear procedures for:
🔹 Identifying the DSL or safeguarding contact
🔹 Responding to discriminatory incidents
🔹 Responding to bullying or harassment disclosures
🔹 Managing concerns about radicalisation
🔹 Supporting pupils who feel targeted or unsafe
🔹 Managing discussion where views become hostile or personal
🔹 Providing private routes for further support
Workshop facilitators can support discussion and education, but they do not replace a school’s behaviour policy, safeguarding procedures, Prevent responsibilities or statutory equality duties.
Benefits of Respect and Tolerance Workshops
Participants practise disagreeing, questioning and responding without humiliation or hostility.
Pupils explore culture, faith, race, identity and background without reducing people to stereotypes.
Participants learn to question misinformation, generalisations and divisive online content.
Schools can connect respect and tolerance with democracy, law, rights, responsibilities and participation.
Participants consider practical ways to respond when somebody is bullied, excluded or targeted.
Specialist delivery can reinforce wider curriculum and school culture priorities without replacing statutory responsibilities.
How We Deliver Respect and Tolerance Workshops
LISTEN → UNDERSTAND → QUESTION → DISAGREE → INCLUDE → ACT provides a practical structure for respectful behaviour.
Participants examine assumptions about free speech, religion, stereotypes, disagreement and discrimination.
Realistic scenarios focus on how to respond without asking pupils to disclose personal experiences.
Participants practise discussing difference and controversial issues within clear boundaries around evidence, dignity and safeguarding.
Content can draw on current DfE guidance, pupil voice research, hate crime data and relevant safeguarding guidance.
Primary pupils, secondary pupils, post 16 learners, SEND groups, university students and adult teams receive different language, examples and depth.
Related Respect, Equality, Citizenship and Safeguarding Workshops
Schools, colleges, universities and organisations can combine Respect and Tolerance Workshops with related programmes where a wider equality, behaviour or safeguarding programme is required.
Racism Workshops
Race, racism, stereotypes, discrimination, bystander choices, belonging and anti racist behaviour.
Cultural Awareness Workshops
Culture, difference, belonging, communication, stereotypes and living well in diverse communities.
Islamophobia Workshops
Anti Muslim prejudice, stereotypes, media narratives, misinformation and respectful discussion of faith.
Human Rights Workshops
Human dignity, rights, responsibilities, equality, law and debates about rights in modern society.
Bullying and Conflict Resolution
Bullying, conflict, power, communication, de escalation, peer behaviour and practical resolution skills.
Radicalisation Workshops
Manipulation, extremist narratives, online influence, critical thinking, Prevent and safeguarding.
Healthy Relationships Workshops
Respect, trust, communication, boundaries, equality, conflict and recognising unhealthy behaviour.
Online Safety Workshops
Misinformation, online hostility, algorithms, privacy, harmful content and digital judgement.
Staff Training
Bespoke equality, British Values, safeguarding, discrimination and difficult conversation training.
Respect and Tolerance Workshops FAQ
Book Respect and Tolerance Workshops
Bring Respect and Tolerance Workshops to your primary or secondary school, sixth form, college, university, SEND or SEMH setting, PRU, alternative provision, youth service, charity or staff team. Tell us the audience, age group, number of participants, location, preferred dates and the respect, equality, Citizenship or community issues you would most like the programme to address.
We can provide Respect and Tolerance Workshops for Schools, targeted British Values and Citizenship sessions, post 16 and university programmes, Respect and Tolerance Staff Training, youth sector delivery or a bespoke programme combining related equality and safeguarding topics.
Respect and Tolerance Workshops, References and Current Guidance
Our Respect and Tolerance Workshops draw on current education guidance, Citizenship requirements and national evidence:
- Department for Education, Promoting Fundamental British Values Through SMSC, guidance on democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty, mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
- Department for Education, National Curriculum in England, Citizenship Programmes of Study for Key Stages 3 and 4, including democracy, law, rights, responsibilities, evidence, debate and reasoned argument.
- Department for Education, Relationships Education, Primary, including respect for difference, stereotypes, bullying and respectful relationships.
- Department for Education, Relationships and Sex Education, Secondary, including respectful relationships, stereotypes, bullying and due tolerance of other people’s beliefs.
- Department for Education, Parent, Pupil and Learner Voice, October 2025, including current pupil reported bullying data.
- Home Office, Hate Crime, England and Wales, Year Ending March 2025, current police recorded hate crime statistics.
- Home Office, Prevent Duty Guidance for England and Wales, including education settings, visiting speakers, safeguarding and fundamental British values.
These sources support an evidence led approach that values open discussion without normalising bullying, discriminatory behaviour or safeguarding harm. Respect and Tolerance Workshops provide education, skills and facilitated discussion. They do not replace a school’s statutory Citizenship, RSHE, equality, Prevent, behaviour or safeguarding responsibilities.