The current status of citizenship in UK curricula
Citizenship in the national curriculum for England and Wales
The national curriculum for 11- to 16-year-olds contains three strands: developing skills of enquiry and communication, developing skills of participation and responsible action, and knowledge and understanding about becoming informed citizens. A summary of the requirements for Citizenship appears at the end of this document (see Annex 1). The Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) has published schemes of work for the 12 areas of citizenship they have highlighted as being important see Annex 2). There is a framework for post-16 citizenship learning in Annex 3.
Northern Ireland
Learning For Life and Work Area 14-18
Scotland
Scottish Executive Guidance: Citizenship – middle to upper secondary stages; policy on promoting race and equality in schools.
Qualifications
Citizenship has been a GCSE (short course) qualification since summer 2003. It is also available as an entry level certificate.
One board offers it as an AS-level.
Themes studied for the GCSE (Short Course) examinations:
AQA
School, Work and Local Community
National and European Citizenship
Global Citizenship
OCR
Rights and Responsibilities
Citizenship and Government
Citizenship and Participation
EDEXCEL
Human Rights
Power, Politics and the Media
The Global Village
AS-Level course (AQA) entitled Social Science: Citizenship
The Citizen and the State
The Citizen and the Political Process
The Citizen, Society and the Community
What the target age group thinks
A survey carried out in 2003 revealed that 70% of young people feel that Citizenship lessons are either very important or quite important for them. The survey of 400 young people was carried out by members of Young NCB, a part of the National Children's Bureau. Half of the respondents said that videos and CD-ROMs should be used in lessons. The survey showed that the topics young people expected to learn most about were human rights and responsibilities, voting and parliament and the legal justice systems. Human rights and responsibilities was also the topic young people were most keen to learn about, followed by managing money.
Annex 1
The following is a summary of the requirements for citizenship in the national curriculum.
Developing skills of enquiry and communication, to:
• research, investigate and analyse topical issues
• think about and argue a point of view
• contribute to group discussions and debates.
Developing skills of participation and responsible action, to:
• empathise with the views and experiences of others
• critically evaluate and explain views not necessarily their own
• negotiate and participate in community-based activities
• reflect on their participation.
While developing these skills, acquiring and applying knowledge and understanding about becoming informed citizens in the areas of:
Rights and responsibilities – legal and human rights and responsibilities
• Criminal and civil justice systems, and how these relate to young people
• Rights and responsibilities of consumers, employers and employees
Government and democracy – the work of parliament, government and the courts in making and shaping the law
• Central and local government, and the public services they offer
• Characteristics of parliamentary and other forms of government, the electoral system and the importance of taking an active part in democratic processes
• The role of individuals and voluntary groups in bringing about social change (locally, nationally and internationally)
• Ways of resolving conflict
• The significance of the media and the importance of the free press
• How the economy functions, including the role of business and financial services
Identities and communities – identities, communities and diversity, local, regional, national, religious and ethnic, in the UK and the need for mutual respect and understanding
• The UK's international relations with Europe, the EU, the UN and the Commonwealth
• The world as a global community, including global interdependence and responsibility, sustainable development and Local Agenda 21
Annex 2
Headings for the Schemes of work produced by QCA:
Unit 1: Human Rights
Unit 2: Crime – young people and car crime
Unit 3: Challenging racism and discrimination
Unit 4: How and why are laws made?
Unit 5: How the economy functions
Unit 6: Business and enterprise
Unit 7: Taking part – planning a community event
Unit 8: Producing the news
Unit 9: Consumer rights and responsibilities
Unit 10: Rights and responsibilities in the world of work
Unit 11: Europe – who decides?
Unit 12: Global issues, local action
Annex 3
Post-16 citizenship: A framework for citizenship learning
Essential opportunities
Post-16 citizenship should give young people opportunities to:
• identify, investigate and think critically about citizenship issues, problems or events of concern to them
• decide on and take part in follow-up action where appropriate
• reflect on, recognise and review their citizenship learning.
Citizenship learning objectives
Citizenship learning increases young people's skills, knowledge and understanding so they are able to:
• demonstrate knowledge and understanding about citizenship issues
• show understanding of key citizenship concepts (such as rights and responsibilities, government and democracy, identities and communities)
• consider the social, moral and ethical issues applying to a particular situation
• analyse sources of information, identify bias and draw conclusions
• demonstrate understanding of and respect for diversity, and challenge prejudice and discrimination
• discuss and debate citizenship issues
• express and justify a personal opinion to others
• represent a point of view on behalf of others
• demonstrate skills of negotiation and participation in community-based activities
• exercise responsible actions towards and on behalf of others.
