Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) was a

Junior Certificate Junior Cycle ( ga, An tSraith Shóisearach ) is the first stage of the education programme for post-primary education within the Republic of Ireland. It is overseen by the State Examinations Commission of the Department of Education, the Stat ...

subject offered in Ireland from 1997 to 2019. CSPE was a mandatory, non-academic subject that was mainly focused on project work. CSPE was offered only at Common Level, unlike most other subjects, which are offered at both Higher and Ordinary Level.

Further details

*CSPE is a ''common level'' subject unlike other subjects in the curriculum. The course encourages civic responsibility through the development of skills of active participation and through the undertaking of Action Projects and teaches about the basis of the Irish political system. *There are seven key concepts in CSPE these include the promotion of Rights and Responsibilities, Human Dignity,

Stewardship Stewardship is an ethical value that embodies the responsible planning and management of resources. The concepts of stewardship can be applied to the environment and nature, economics, health, property, information, theology, cultural resources e ...

, Development,

Democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

and

Interdependence Systems theory is the interdisciplinary study of systems, i.e. cohesive groups of interrelated, interdependent components that can be natural or human-made. Every system has causal boundaries, is influenced by its context, defined by its struc ...

Examination

A total of 40% of the marks in the exam were awarded for a written theory test, which included such things as producing a poster, letter or article on a CSPE topic (such as poverty, racism, discrimination, etc.) and interpreting

opinion polls An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...

. The written exam also had a number of short questions. The remaining 60% of the marks were given for a report on an ''Action Project'' performed by an entire class of students at a time. This has to be based on one of the core topics - e.g. workers rights, environmentalism, racism, human rights, etc. As from 2019, CSPE is not a subject in the

exam, but is still taught in schools.

Senior Cycle

The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) have worked on a subject which focuses on citizenship as part of the Leaving Certificate curriculum. Politics and Society is based on key

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

concepts. This subject aims to develop the learner's capacity to engage in reflective and active citizenship, informed by the insights and skills of social and political sciences. Politics and Society was introduced as a new Leaving Certificate subject in September 2016 and was examined for certification for the first time in June 2018.

Global

France

In France, the equivalent of CSPE is called ECJS (''éducation civique, juridique et sociale'').

References

Junior Certificate subjects {{Europe-edu-stub