Citizenship and Schools
Consideration of citizenship education in the UK requires an exploration of three areas: curriculum context, mode of teaching, & teaching context. The 1998 Crick Report Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools will make citizenship a compulsory part of the curriculum at Key Stages 3 & 4. Critics assert that a body of research & knowledge on citizenship education is lacking, making it no more than the controversial opinions of individual teachers. However, some refinement of the recommendations could tie citizenship into the humanities, currently neglected, but meant to teach students of their humanness & create institutions, which respect that humanity. The author argues for attention to the skills, the procedural values, the virtues & dispositions to instill in young people; a respect for the right of teachers to participate & deliberate about the values that are taught; & a context where opinions are allowed & encouraged in a developmental process of criticism & evidence. L. A. Hoffman