So today is the last day to respond to the National Curriculum Review Consultation.
involver’s primary interest in this is the threat to Citizenship. To this end we’ve been founding members of Democratic Life and I’ve just used their excellent form to submit a personal response to the consultation (we’re submitting an organisational one too).
Please do go and give your own response too (Democratic Life have even filled out some answers for you too if you just want to adapt them): http://www.democraticlife.org.uk/curriculum-review/curriculum-review-response-form/
I thought I’d put it up here in case it might serve as inspiration to anyone.
If you are responding as an individual, please describe yourself
I am a primary school governor and a parent with a child starting primary school in September. I am also an educational consultant with an interest in promoting political and active democratic education in schools.
Should citizenship be a National Curriculum subject, and if so at what key stages?
Yes, I believe there is a place for citizenship at all levels of schooling. A functioning democracy needs citizens who understand the political system, how they can use it to effect change and how they can change the system.
We do not become citizens at 18, we are citizens from birth.
What does citizenship education bring to the National Curriculum?
State education is about ensuring that everyone can play an active part in the society, this needs to cover the political and social spheres as well as economic and cultural.
Unfortunately most families do not understand well enough the links and boundaries between parish, local, regional, national and European branches of government to explain them to an adult, let alone a child. How many letters do MPs get every week about pot-holes? Formal education has a key role to play here in renewing our democracy.
Whilst the specific ins and outs of the town hall, Westminster and Brussels may be too much for a 7 year-old, learning the underlying principles is not. Most (over 90%) will have a school council, but could any of them tell you if it was democratic? Now, pull that forward, how many 27 year-olds can explain to you which is more democratic, ‘First Past the Post’ or the ‘Alternative Vote’?
What areas of knowledge does the citizenship curriculum cover?
Citizenship teaches how our current political structures work. Those things that have a direct impact on the schools the pupils go to, the services they use and the streets they live on.
It teaches them their rights are how these are linked to responsibilities.
It places British society in an international context; explaining the rights and privileges that we enjoy and making people aware that these are not enjoyed universally.
Furthermore it encourages deep learning of all of these by getting pupils to apply them in a real-world context. This adds skills and agency to the knowledge.
How is citizenship education best delivered in schools?
Whilst any good school will have the principles and values of citizenship embedded in everything it does, it is incredibly difficult to teach the knowledge in this way.
For this reason I believe it should be a discrete subject.
It also needs properly trained and motivated teachers who have graduated in politics or a related subject. Many of the best citizenship teachers have spent time in other professions before entering teaching and so bring additional skills and knowledge to the classroom. This is to be encouraged.
In many cases where citizenship is being poorly delivered it is because it has been given to a non-specialist as an ‘add-on’ responsibility. Encouraging pupils to get a qualification as part of the course seems to help schools to put more weight in to the teaching of the subject.
I believe these views are all backed up by Ofsted’s findings.
What is citizenship education’s international standing? How do English pupils compare internationally in their civic and citizenship knowledge?
I think Democratic Life have summed this up very well:
Citizenship education is an internationally recognised and respected subject. The recent IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) shows that 20 out of 38 countries surveyed include a specific subject for civic or citizenship education in their national curricula. Finland, the country who tops the international comparison tables for reading and science in PISA 2009, also had the highest country civic knowledge scores (along with Denmark). England was 13th in the ICCS civic knowledge country scores and 24th (or last) amongst European countries in civic knowledge of the European Union, its institutions, laws and policies. England needs a world class National Curriculum, that includes robust citizenship education and high quality citizenship teaching to ensure our students can compete with the best in the world.
How can the Government improve pupils’ civic and citizenship knowledge and their attitudes towards participation in society?
By having citizenship as a discrete subject at secondary school and as a strand in the curriculum at primary.
By ensuring that citizenship education combines knowledge of civics with active application of that knowledge to develop the skills and passion for civic participation.
By ensuring that those teaching or leading the teaching of citizenship are well-trained experts in the subject.
Again, please do go and give your own response too: http://www.democraticlife.org.uk/curriculum-review/curriculum-review-response-form/