Citizenship education is taught in schools, as an academic subject similar to

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

. It is known by different names in different countries - for example, ‘citizenship education’ (or just ‘citizenship’ for short) in the UK, ‘civics’ in the US, and ‘education for democratic citizenship’ in parts of Europe. The different names for the subject is mirrored in the different approaches towards citizenship education adopted in different countries. These are often a consequence of the unique historical and political developments within different countries. In many countries, the focus of the teaching is on

active citizenship Active citizenship or engaged citizenship refers to active participation of a citizen under the law of a nation discussing and educating themselves in politics and society, as well as a philosophy espoused by organizations and educational instit ...

. The purpose of "active citizenship" is to teach students to work together and take practical action, using their citizenship knowledge and understanding to contribute to a better society. For example, after learning about

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

and

inequality Inequality may refer to: Economics * Attention inequality, unequal distribution of attention across users, groups of people, issues in etc. in attention economy * Economic inequality, difference in economic well-being between population groups * ...

, students might decide to set up a project to address

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

in their school or local community. Other examples of active citizenship projects include starting

recycling Recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new materials and objects. The recovery of energy from waste materials is often included in this concept. The recyclability of a material depends on its ability to reacquire the p ...

programmes, setting up student action groups to address

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...

or promote

fair trade Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and enviro ...

or campaigning to lower the

voting age A voting age is a minimum age established by law that a person must attain before they become eligible to vote in a public election. The most common voting age is 18 years; however, voting ages as low as 16 and as high as 25 currently exist (s ...

to 16.

Countries

England

Citizenship education has been a statutory subject in the English

National Curriculum A national curriculum is a common programme of study in schools that is designed to ensure nationwide uniformity of content and standards in education. It is usually legislated by the national government, possibly in consultation with Federated stat ...

since 2001. It must be taught as part of the school curriculum to all pupils aged 11–16 years old in maintained schools in England. The current Programme of Study was introduced in 2014, and identifies four key areas in detail: * Politics:

Parliamentary democracy A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of the ...

in the UK;

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

voting Voting is a method by which a group, such as a meeting or an electorate, can engage for the purpose of making a collective decision or expressing an opinion usually following discussions, debates or election campaigns. Democracies elect holde ...

election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

political parties A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or pol ...

; Influence of citizens through democratic processes; Other

systems of government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

beyond the UK; UK relations with Europe, Commonwealth, wider world. * Financial Skills: The functions and uses of

money Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...

; Personal

budgeting A budget is a calculation play, usually but not always financial, for a defined period, often one year or a month. A budget may include anticipated sales volumes and revenues, resource quantities including time, costs and expenses, environmen ...

money management Investment management is the professional asset management of various securities, including shareholdings, bonds, and other assets, such as real estate, to meet specified investment goals for the benefit of investors. Investors may be institut ...

;

Wage A wage is payment made by an employer to an employee for work done in a specific period of time. Some examples of wage payments include compensatory payments such as ''minimum wage'', ''prevailing wage'', and ''yearly bonuses,'' and remuner ...

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

es,

credit Credit (from Latin verb ''credit'', meaning "one believes") is the trust which allows one party to provide money or resources to another party wherein the second party does not reimburse the first party immediately (thereby generating a debt), ...

debt Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The ...

financial risk Financial risk is any of various types of risk associated with financing, including financial transactions that include company loans in risk of default. Often it is understood to include only downside risk, meaning the potential for financial ...

financial product Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, ...

s and

services Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...

Volunteering Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group wikt:gratis, freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. O ...

: The ways a citizen can contribute to the improvement of their community; Opportunity to participate actively in community volunteering * Law: The precious liberties enjoyed by citizens of the UK; Nature of rules and laws,

criminal In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Can ...

and civil law; The

justice system The contemporary national legal systems are generally based on one of four basic systems: civil law, common law, statutory law, religious law or combinations of these. However, the legal system of each country is shaped by its unique history and ...

;

Diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

in the UK – need for mutual respect and understanding

History

Citizenship Education was introduced as a statutory subject in the English National Curriculum in 2001 following the recommendation of the

Crick Crick may refer to: Places * Crick, Monmouthshire, Wales * Crick, Northamptonshire, England * Crick Road, Oxford, England People with the name * Crick (surname) Other uses * Crick, the cricket from ''Beat Bugs'' * Francis Crick Institute ...

Report in 1998. This report, which had been commissioned by the New Labour government following its election victory in 1997, called for ''“no less than a change in the political culture of this country both nationally and locally: for people to think of themselves as active citizens, willing, able and equipped to have an influence in public life and with the critical capacities to weigh evidence before speaking and acting.”'' The report went on the recommend ''‘that citizenship and the teaching of democracy…is so important both for schools and the life of the nation that there must be a statutory requirement on schools to ensure that is it part of the entitlement of all pupils’'' Prior to this, since 1990, there had existed a Cross Curricular Theme, ‘Education for Citizenship’ (CG8). At the same time as the subject was introduced in 2001, a Longitudinal Study, run by the NfER, began. This studied the impacts of the teaching of citizenship over a 10-year timeframe. The Citizenship Education curriculum was revised in 2007/8 to focus on the ‘Key Concepts’ of Democracy and Justice, Rights and Responsibilities, and Identities and Diversity (Living together in the UK); and the ‘Key Processes’ of Critical thinking and enquiry, Advocacy and representation, and Informed and responsible action. This version of the curriculum in particular was concerned with the practical side of citizenship - going beyond just the knowledge of institutions. After the 2010 General Election, with the election of a new Coalition Government, the Government launched a review of the National Curriculum, including the Citizenship subject. Despite early fears that the subject would be removed from the National Curriculum altogether, it was retained. However, a revised content was published which was considerably scaled back and re-focused on knowledge rather than skills and practice. Much of the central support for the subject, such as teacher training, was removed.

Current situation

In 2018, the House of Lords published The Ties That Bind: Citizenship and Civic Engagement in the 21st Century. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a
Open Parliament Licence
© Parliamentary Copyright. which was highly critical of the state of citizenship education in English schools, which had been allowed to 'degrade to a parlous state' (para 162). It called for a statutory entitlement to citizenship education from primary to the end of secondary education, which should be inspected by Ofsted and should be taken into consideration when Ofsted is deciding whether a school should be rated as outstanding. It also calls for Ofsted to undertake a review of the current provision and quality of citizenship education in schools and highlight best practice. Other recommendations include: * The Government should establish a target of having enough trained citizenship teachers to have a citizenship specialist in every secondary school (para 132). * The Government should establish citizenship education as a priority subject for teacher training, and provide bursaries for applicants. Urgent action should be taken to step up programmes of Continuing Professional Development for those willing to take on and lead citizenship education in their school (para 133). * The Government should ensure that the National College for Teaching and Leadership allows citizenship teachers to apply to be specialist leaders of education (para 135) * Ofsted should undertake a review of the current provision and quality of citizenship education in schools and highlight best practice. This should be followed up with long term monitoring of whether citizenship education achieves the set of criteria or goals that the Government sets out for it (para 143). * The Government should work with exam boards to ensure that citizenship qualifications feature active citizenship projects as a substantial part of the qualification (para 148). * The Government should conduct a review of the citizenship curriculum and formulate a new curriculum that includes the Shared Values of British Citizenship, the NCS and active citizenship projects. Piecemeal changes made without reference to the existing curriculum should be avoided (para 161). The ‘academisation’ of the education system in England has had a dramatic impact on the teaching of citizenship. Academies do not need to follow the National Curriculum, and as more than half of all English schools (¾ of secondary schools) are now academies, this has undermined the teaching of citizenship as a discrete subject. School attainment has been focused on a small number of core subjects, leading to less importance being placed on other subjects such as art, drama, music, and citizenship education. There is also a greater emphasis on exam results rather than coursework, which has discouraged more experiential learning. As a consequence, few secondary schools now have qualified citizenship teachers, and few maintain the subject as a discrete subject in its own right. More encouragingly for the subject, in 2019 Ofsted published its new inspection framework, which was more positive for citizenship - schools would in future be graded taking into account a more balanced curriculum, including citizenship. A

GCSE The General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) is an academic qualification in a particular subject, taken in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. State schools in Scotland use the Scottish Qualifications Certificate instead. Private sc ...

in "Citizenship Studies" is available for students in key stage 4. The three main awarding bodies in England (AQA, OCR and Edexcel) offer this qualification as a full and a short course. The qualification includes a controlled assessment based on an active citizenship project they have taken part in. There is also an

A level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

in Citizenship Studies which is available through AQA. This qualification is valued by leading Universities including the University of Cambridge. More than 500,000 young people have now attained qualifications in Citizenship Studies since 2002.

Ireland

Citizenship studies was introduced as a compulsory subject in the 1990s in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. It is known as CSPE (Civic, Social and Political Education) and is taught to 12- to 16-year-olds. In 2009 it is expected that an additional subject currently under the working title 'Society and Politics' will be offered as a subject to students between 16–18 years of age in secondary schools in the Republic of Ireland.

France

In France citizenship education is known as ECJS (education civique, juridique et sociale) in the high school and "éducation civique" in the middle school and primary school.Tutiaux-Guillon, N. (2002)
Civic, Legal and Social Education in French Seconcary School
. Retrieved 30 June 2011. As a response to the terror attacks in Paris on 7–9 January 2015, France announced a new plan to reintegrate citizenship into the French educational system. The plan seeks to restore authority to teachers, reinforce the values of the Republic, and promote community values and service. It includes training for teachers, a yearly charter to be signed by both student and guardian, community service assignments for student misbehavior, and a day of

laïcité (; 'secularism') is the constitutional principle of secularism in France. Article 1 of the French Constitution is commonly interpreted as discouraging religious involvement in government affairs, especially religious influence in the determin ...

, or secularism, yearly on 9 December.

Poland

In Poland, citizenship is known as WoS ("Wiedza o Społeczeństwie", literally "Knowledge of Society") and studied as one of the

matura or its translated terms (''Mature'', ''Matur'', , , , , , ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

subjects.

Spain

In Spain a recent law introduced EpC (Educación para la Ciudadanía). However, a new education law that has passed is going to remove it from the curriculum. See

Education for Citizenship (Spain) Education for Citizenship and Human Rights ( es, Educación para la Ciudadanía y los Derechos Humanos, abbr. ''EpC'') is the name of a school subject designed for the last cycle of primary education and all secondary education in Spain, introduc ...

formation.

Finland

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

citizenship education is known as YH, YT or YO. (yhteiskuntaoppi)

Norway

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

citizenship education is the primary mandate of Social Studies.Boerhaug, K. (2010)
Norwegian Civic Education - Beyond Formalism?
. Retrieved 30 June 2011.

Sweden

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

citizenship education is mainly focused in the subject of Social Studies - ''Samhällskunskap'', but also in

Consumer Economics Consumer economics is a branch of economics. It is a broad field, principally concerned with microeconomic analysis behavior in units of consumers, families, or individuals (in contrast to traditional economics, which primarily government or b ...

within the subject of ''Hem- och konsumentkunskap'' which is most closely related to

Home Economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

Indonesia

Citizenship education in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

is nationally designed and implemented.

China

There is a curious kind of citizenship education in China which could be called "peopleship" education.

Honduras

In Honduras, to graduate from 6th grade, students are required to pass the "

Anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...

Test". This test aims to measure students' understanding of the country's history as well as the

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

and

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

Criticism of citizenship education in schools

There are two kinds of criticism of citizenship education in schools. Firstly, some philosophers of education argue that most governments and mainstream policies stimulate and advocate questionable approaches of citizenship education. These approaches aim to develop specific dispositions in students, dispositions conducive to political participation and solidarity. But there are radically different views on the nature of good citizenship and education should involve and develop autonomy and open-mindedness. Therefore, it requires a more critical approach than is possible when political participation and solidarity are conceived of as goals of education.Van der Ploeg, P.A. & L.J.F. Guérin (2016)
Questioning Participation and Solidarity as Goals of Citizenship Education
''Critical Review'', . Secondly, some educationalists argue that merely teaching children about the theory of citizenship is ineffective, unless schools themselves reflect democratic practices by giving children the opportunity to have a say in decision making. They suggests that schools are fundamentally undemocratic institutions, and that such a setting cannot instill in children the commitment and belief in democratic values that is necessary for citizenship education to have a proper impact.Greenberg, D. (1992), Education in America - A View from Sudbury Valley
"Democracy Must be Experienced to be Learned."
Retrieved 14 June 2011. Some educationalists relate this criticism to John Dewey (but see critical comments on this interpretation of Dewey: Van der Ploeg, 2016).Van der Ploeg, P.A. (2016)
Dewey versus ‘Dewey’ on democracy and education
''Education, Citizenship and Social Justice'', .

Notable academics

Joel Westheimer Joel Westheimer is an American-born academic, and is a full professor at the University of Ottawa, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He is known for his work in citizenship education (subject), citizenship education. Biography Joel Westheimer was born ...

, professor of citizenship education at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottawa ...

References

External links

;Citizenship education in schools
Learn and Serve America's National Service-Learning Clearinghouse Citizenship Education Bibliography

Time for Citizenship - a UK based Primary Education site

Department for Children, schools and families Citizenship site

QCDA Citizenship

The Association for Citizenship TeachingWhat is citizenship and why teach it?Young Citizens

CitizedPatriotism and Nationalism in Music Education (Ashgate press, 2012)

Desh Apnayen - Citizenship Education Club in India

Spatial Citizenship for Education
;European Citizenship Education
NECE - Networking European Citizenship Education
{{DEFAULTSORT:Citizenship Education Educational programs

Education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...