Citizenship Education in England – Attempting ‘A change in the
political culture’
David Kerr,
Citizenship Foundation / University of Bristol
Background information
Despite its global reputation for promoting parliamentary democracy it is surprising that
England does not have a long track record in citizenship education. Citizenship only became
a formal curriculum subject for 11 to 16 year olds, for the first time in 2002. Prior to this, there
was no official national policy to guide teaching and learning in this area (Kerr, 1999).
Citizenship was introduced following a review by the Citizenship Advisory Group (CAG)
chaired by Professor (Sir) Bernard Crick which declared that:
‘We aim at 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.’ (QCA/ Crick Report, 1998)1
For the CAG, the goal of this policy reform was to increase political literacy and active,
responsible participation, both in the political and in the civic spheres, and at community,
national, European and global levels (Kerr, 2003). The CAG report and its recommendations
initially received support from across the political spectrum and policy field (McLaughlin, 2000).
However, the content of and context for citizenship education has evolved considerably since
2002 to today. One of the key drivers has been changing emphases in education policy brought
by successive governments. This has seen the introduction, over the past decade, of
community cohesion, integration and combatting extremism as core goals of the Citizenship
curriculum. This new emphasis emerged in part as a response to the eruption of racial tensions
(and riots) in Northern England in 2001 and the terrorist attack in London by so-called “homegrown” bombers in 2005. These events prompted a review of the place of diversity in the
curriculum (namely the Diversity and Citizenship Curriculum Review; Ajegbo et al, 2007)2.
Following the Review’s recommendations, the new National Curriculum in 2008 revised and
updated the Citizenship curriculum to add a fourth aim in the guise of a new thematic strand
entitled Identity and Diversity: Living Together in the UK (QCA, 2007). In addition, a series of
additional school policies were also introduced, such as the Duty to Promote Community
Cohesion which placed a legal study on schools to promote cohesion (DCSF, 2007).
1
The full version of the Crick Report can be accessed at:
http://www.teachingcitizenship.org.uk/sites/teachingcitizenship.org.uk/files/6123_crick_report_1998_
0.pdf
It has proved a seminal document in the formation of citizenship education in the UK and in many other
countries.
2 The full version of the Ajegbo review can be accessed at:
http://resources.cohesioninstitute.org.uk/Publications/Documents/Document/DownloadDocumentsFil
1e.aspx?recordId=48&file=PDFversion
The current Conservative government has continued this policy shift with an added emphasis
on Citizenship’s role in countering extremism. To this end, the then secretary of state for
education, Michael Gove, announced that all schools would be required to promote
fundamental British values from September 2014 (DfE, 2014).3 The move followed concerns
about the values being promoted by some schools, particularly perceived concerns about strict
Islamist values in some schools in Birmingham and London. Indeed, the Parliamentary Under
Secretary of State for Schools Lord Nash, in a letter in March 2015, explained the changes
were designed to:
‘Tighten up the standards on pupil welfare to improve safeguarding, and the standards
on spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils to strengthen the barriers
to extremism’. (Nash, 2015)
This has been allied with the introduction of a new National Curriculum in 2014 with an
emphasis on promoting a core ‘canon of knowledge’ for pupils through core subjects. For a
period Citizenship was under threat of removal as a statutory subject but survived. However,
the new Citizenship National Curriculum has a strong emphasis on political, legal and
economic knowledge at the expense of the development of skills and active citizenship
elements (DfE, 2014).4
Definition of citizenship education
The nearest thing to a definition of citizenship education is the Purpose of Study statement for
the 2014 Citizenship National Curriculum which states that:
‘A high-quality citizenship education helps to provide pupils with knowledge, skills and
understanding to prepare them to play a full and active part in society. In particular,
citizenship education should foster pupils’ keen awareness and understanding of
democracy, government and how laws are made and upheld. Teaching should equip
pupils with the skills and knowledge to explore political and social issues critically, to
weigh evidence, debate and make reasoned arguments. It should also prepare pupils
to take their place in society as responsible citizens, manage their money well and
make sound financial decisions.’ (DfE, 2013)
Non-formal citizenship education
There is not a great emphasis on non-formal citizenship education. The closest is, between
2002 and 2015, the host of additional initiatives and policies introduced to encourage student
participation and ‘pupil voice’ in decision-making in schools and in local government (see HM
Government, 2010). For example, schools were strongly encouraged to establish student
councils (see Wisby and Whitty, 2006). At the same time, there has also been an increased
emphasis on encouraging young people to get involved in their local community and to
3
The duty to promote fundamental British values has generated considerable discussion and debate and
led to a range of advice to schools as to how to move forward. For example see:
http://www.doingsmsc.org.uk/british-values/
4
Democratic Life, an umbrella group of organisations with an interest in strengthening democracy in the
UK and promoting effective citizenship education fought a vigorous and ultimately successful campaign
2to preserve Citizenship as a national curriculum subject in schools, including lobbying Michael Gove the
Secretary of State for Education. See: http://www.democraticlife.org.uk/
undertake voluntary work. This trend has been maintained by the current government through
their ‘Big Society’ policy programme and the National Citizen Service (NCS) for young people
(Cabinet Office, 2010).5
Legal Environment
Citizenship is a statutory National Curriculum subject for all 11 to 16 year olds in state
secondary schools with all students having an entitlement to Citizenship teaching and
learning. 6 It is part of a non-statutory framework alongside Personal Social and Health
Education (PSHE) for all 5 to 10 year olds in primary schools7. Schools also have a legal
responsibility to show how they are developing community cohesion, since 2007, and
promoting fundamental British values, since 2014. Ofsted, the schools inspectorate, can report
on how well Citizenship is being promoted in schools, as a contribution to community cohesion
and British values, as part of their inspection of schools. The progress of Citizenship in schools
has been the subject of a government commissioned longitudinal study (CELS), which ran
from 2001 to 2010, as well as three reports from Ofsted8.
Stakeholders
There are a range of key stakeholders who have evolved around the renewed emphasis on
citizenship education since 2002. They include: NGOs such as the Citizenship Foundation
(CF), Amnesty International, UNICEF, CND, Oxfam and the Red Cross; professional
organisations and networks such as the Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT) and
Citized, a network of teacher educators and researchers; lobby groups such as Democratic
Life (DL); exam boards developing citizenship qualifications at GCSE and AS/A level; and
bodies linked to the government and politics such as the Parliamentary Education Service and
DfE Citizenship Expert Group.9
Challenges
The strong evidence base developed for Citizenship around the CELS study and Ofsted report
5
The National Citizen Service (NCS) has considerable promotional material available for those who want
to know more about its aims, practices and outcomes. See more at: http://www.ncsem1.org.uk/
6
The Association for Citizenship Teaching has published a range of advice and resources to help schools
to get to grips with delivering the new 2014 Citizenship National Curriculum. These can be accessed at:
http://www.teachingcitizenship.org.uk/about-citizenship/citizenship-national-curriculum-2014guidance
7
The non-statutory framework for Citizenship and PSHE in primary schools can be accessed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/citizenship-programmes-of-study-for-key-stages-1-and2
8
All the reports and outcomes from the Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study (CELS) conducted by
NFER can be accessed at: http://www.nfer.ac.uk/research/projects/cels/
9
Useful websites include: Citizenship Foundation (CF) at http://www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk/;
Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT) at http://www.teachingcitizenship.org.uk/ and Citized at
http://www.citized.info/
3
highlights many challenges facing this area since 2002 (Benton et al., 2008; Keating et al.,
2009 and 2010; Ofsted, 2006, 2010 and 2013). Perhaps the greatest is that around the
consistency and coherence of links between policy, practice and vision. The CELS report of
2010 showed that citizenship education is most effective for young people over time: where
they encounter it regularly in the curriculum (starting in primary schools); where that curriculum
time for Citizenship is planned and taught by trained specialist Citizenship teachers; where
there are quality teaching and learning materials; where there is clear assessment of students'
learning and, finally, where Citizenship has status in a school, and the active support of school
leaders (Keating et al, 2010).
Ensuring that these conditions are being met has proved challenging in England, largely
because of constantly changing education policies and priorities by government. These have
given mixed messages about the focus on and value of Citizenship in schools and prevented
Citizenship for firmly taking root in schools in the curriculum, school community and through
links with wider communities. The research base shows that the progress of Citizenship has
been bumpy, patchy and inconsistent with excellent practice mixed with less good. As a result,
Citizenship remains a work in progress in England, with the on-going key challenge being that
of how to translate ambitious policies into ambitious practices and meet the vision of the CAG
in effecting ‘a change in the political culture’.
4
References
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