Commissioned Research Article
Title: Citizenship Education and
Geography Teaching case study: local
government
Author: David R. Wright
Produced by citizED
(supported by the Training and
Development Agency for Schools)
SUMMER 2006
More information about the series of
Commissioned Research Articles can be
found at www.citized.info
Research Article – CE and Geography Teaching
‘CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION’ AND GEOGRAPHY TEACHING: CASE STUDY – LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
OVERVIEW
In this provocative paper David Wright, a retired teacher, teacher-trainer and inspector, offers a
personal perspective on the links between Geography and Citizenship. He also discusses the
potential mileage in exploring both representation at the ‘parish’ level and the various
geographical ‘layers’ of government, using a ‘Russian Doll’ metaphor.
Specifically :

A lesson on the tiers of local government is described; the problems and opportunities for
studying this topic are considered.

Active citizenship education is explored through a consideration of very local issues.

A lesson which involves a parish councillor visiting a class is described.
The lesson involves relatively young pupils but the author argues that his suggestions hold good
for secondary schools and pupils too.
………………..
David R Wright, BA, MA, has been a parish councillor, a teacher, a threshold assessor for
teachers, a school inspector and a teacher-trainer at the University of East Anglia.
He is co-author of 15 books, including ‘Maps with Latitude’ (GA 2000) and ‘Philip’s Children’s
Atlas’ (11th edition 2005). His website is www.dandjwright.co.uk
Research Article – CE and Geography Teaching
‘CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION’ AND GEOGRAPHY TEACHING: CASE STUDY – LOCAL
GOVERNMENT
David R. Wright
The third paragraph of this article will come as a surprise – or even a shock. It is an attempt to
bridge the gulf between the ‘greyocracy’ of advisers / inspectors / consultants / experts on the
one hand, and teachers who wish to try out new ideas on the other hand. I am one of many in
the ‘greyocracy’ – a large group that is mostly ageing, mostly male, mostly in secure and wellpaid high-status jobs [or comfortably retired], and in some cases with little recent, relevant
experience of teaching real children or teenagers. The innovating teachers, by contrast, are
mostly young, not mostly male, less secure in status and salary, and in close touch with children
or teenagers. This paper represents a modest attempt to bridge this gulf.
I do not blame thousands of teachers for responding negatively to the thousands of words that
flow from the ‘greyocracy’. In particular, anger at the criticism of Citizenship Education lessons
from Ofsted inspectors is an understandable response: the topic is new to all of us, and
inspectors do not have recent relevant experience of teaching Citizenship Education in schools
[See Editorial Note]. So I switch from being a grey expert to being a learner and a ‘tryer-out’. Let
me take you on a journey of curriculum development of a type that is rarely experienced or
described or analysed or discussed by the ‘greyocracy’ of curriculum experts, advisers and
inspectors – yet I believe is a widespread experience of the real innovators – the teachers who
crave inspiration, ideas, creative thoughts, in order to inspire their students.
I wake up with a jump. The digital clock states 04.06. The idea was as clear as crystal:
RUSSIAN DOLLS. Was this the answer to a big problem? I must have fallen asleep wondering
how children could be ‘switched on’ to understanding how local government works. Adults are
bored and confused by the various tiers of local government, so what hope is there for children?
I woke up with the idea of Russian dolls, and by 04.07 my vision had widened – if the smallest
Russian doll was the School Council, or the Parish Council, the largest one – 7 stages later –
could be the United Nations. We could “think global” as well as “act local”. Problem solved: I
could go back to sleep.
Research Article – CE and Geography Teaching
I hope that the above paragraph conveys the sense of uncertainty on whether an idea will work.
I also hope that it shows that we will ALL benefit by being learners and experimenters – and we
need to recognise that experimentation may involve failure.
Will my idea work? Later in this article is the story of what happened in practice, but first I try to
offer some background [but if you feel it is typical ‘greyocracy’ verbiage, I cannot stop you
skipping this section].
Is it geography? I would argue that the tiers of local government are deeply and fundamentally
geographical, because they involve the concepts of village, town, city, region, nation. [In the
recent furore over the definition of ‘Great Britain’ in a booklet for people seeking UK citizenship,
the territory could have been claimed equally by geographers rather than leave it as the sole
prerogative of the Historical Association].
Is it teachable? That is where the Russian Dolls come in – but first we need to recognise that
any attempt at tackling “Our System of Government” within Citizenship Education soon hits
FIVE big problems:
1. It seems remote.
2. It seems boring.
3. It is complicated – most adults are confused by the different tiers of government and their
roles, and children have little or no knowledge of the tiers.
4. The system of local government varies from place to place, so it is hard to find an
accurate description of local government for a specific location. Furthermore, the
valuable ‘real world’ knowledge that a teacher brings to the classroom fits where s/he
LIVES, but may not apply where s/he TEACHES.
5. There is no fund of long-established good ideas: no equivalent of the visual prompt of an
orange to understand the globe!
If this topic seems complex and boring to adults, it seems like a guaranteed “non-starter” to
children. It is also susceptible to being taught in dry, old-fashioned, civics-style ways. And yet –
it is such an important topic. Local issues can be interesting to children. We need examples of
approaches that work.
This approach was adopted to try to solve the five problems listed above. It was used with two
classes in a school in a “suburbanised village”, but should work, with minor amendments, in
other contexts. Areas with a ‘unitary council’ will of course have a different list of ‘tiers’: the
unitary council replaces both the district and the county councils.
Research Article – CE and Geography Teaching
The idea of RUSSIAN DOLLS – definitely a memorable, ‘concrete’ starting-point – hopefully
makes the ‘abstractions’ of the different levels of local government more understandable. We
started – in a good child-centred way – with the SMALLEST doll…
We then reassembled the dolls one by one, with successive tiers of local government.
But before we encountered the smallest doll, we discussed the pupils own School Council. This
is a real example of democracy in action. The children knew all about it, and were keen to tell
me more. I was genuinely impressed, and it helped greatly with understanding other councils.
Doll 1 - The Parish Council
We established that ‘Parish’ means ‘village’ – their village. The 3000 people of Mulbarton had
recently elected their 11 parish councillors. Many other villages and suburbs have a legally
constituted parish council. I asked if anyone knew a Mulbarton parish councillor, but I received
blank looks - until I asked who lived in other villages. Some of the children from smaller villages
knew “who was on the council”. For two of them, it was ‘Dad’. I then promised an “ask a
question” session with a parish councillor. I was a parish councillor, and I told them that a former
chairman of the Parish Council had been a teacher at their school. But it was time to move on
to the bigger Russian Dolls.
Doll 2 – The District Council
The 3-tier structure in much of England is complex. It confuses adults and its absence in some
areas creates even more confusion. And district councils do not appear on their home
addresses, so it is not an easy concept.
I sought concrete examples from their own
experience, and we agreed that ‘RUBBISH’ was definitely a ‘District Council’ responsibility – the
children were experts on recycling and on wheelie-bins and the big lorries that took the
wheelie-bins. So was ‘PLANNING’: a few children knew about planning applications for house
extensions. This tier really does impact on every child. But there is real confusion here, for
adults as well as children – for example, the common land (just outside the school gate) is a
District Council concern – but roads across the common are a County Council responsibility.
Doll 3 – County Council
We all know we live in Norfolk, so the idea of a county council is an easier concept than a
district council. Eventually we agreed that schools and roads need a council; so do lots of other
Research Article – CE and Geography Teaching
everyday issues. No one knew who our County Councillor is – not surprising, for he was rarely
seen!
Doll 4 was missing
The dolls rattled and there was a gap. The missing doll was the ‘Regional Council’ that might
be set up. I guessed that there would be plenty of news about this “tier” soon – it seemed a
good idea to introduce it now. We agreed that East Anglia was a region, not a county. But
perhaps the missing doll was prophetic – regional assemblies have been rejected.
Doll 5 – Parliament
They had an idea that we had an “MP”, but no-one could name him. We then agreed that “Mr
Bacon” was a good name: he will want to “save his Bacon” by working hard for us! I was
impressed to hear that one pupil had written to Mr Blair asking him not to go to war – and she
had been very pleased to receive a reply. I was able to tell the class that I had written to my MP
with the same request. Mr Bacon may get even more letters in future.
Doll 6 – European Parliament
They weren’t at all sure about this one, but I persuaded them that there really is such a body,
somewhere in Europe, and we really do have ‘MEPs’. This is definitely a topic to be followed
up…..
Doll 7 – Finally: United Nations
We agreed the UN was very important – especially for peace. We did not discuss the burning
issue of who ignores the UN and why…..
Our six dolls made a nice display, and the children re-capped with enthusiasm. They treated the
topic as interesting and important, rather than boring and incomprehensible.
Then I met a parallel class, and yes, it went better – I was more relaxed and more confident.
Clear memories of long-ago teaching practice as a student-teacher came flooding back – one of
many reasons that the ‘greyocracy’ needs recent, relevant experience of teaching.
Research Article – CE and Geography Teaching
At the end of both sessions, the children were invited to write down their ‘evaluations’ in two
columns: they were invited to put something they liked with a tick on the left; something they
disliked on the right with a cross. Among the written comments (with their own spelling) are:-
Lydia
I liked evrything, aspelly the Russian dolls how you use them.
Katrina
I like the Rushin doll. I have got wun at home
Sophie
I liked everything apeilly when you used the Russian dolls, it made
under sand more than it would have without them.
Rachel
I liked to learn the different councils
I didn’t like to sit down to long
Tim
I liked it all
Anon
‘It was amazing to find out that there was a council for the world’
Anon
I liked it when we got to the little doll
Katherine
I didant like the doll that was missing
My own evaluation is that this was a successful lesson, but it could have been as successful
with the regular teacher – or possibly more successful, because the teacher knows who lives
where, and can follow it up next day and at election-time. Some teachers may be quick to say
that Russian dolls would only work with young children, but in my experience a visual item
always makes a lesson more successful – even if I have to apologise for bringing it in! These
children, as you will have guessed by now, were young children, but I don’t believe in Piaget! I
use the ‘shiny eyes’ test, and take children of any age as far as their eyes shine. When they
stop shining, it’s time to change tack or shut up. Many members of the greyocracy disagree with
me – especially those who like to define ‘levels’. The key point is that if young children can
understand and enjoy learning about tiers of government, I refuse to believe that older pupils
are not capable of such concepts.
Research Article – CE and Geography Teaching
ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION
We now move on to something more interactive. Geography has a patchy record on ‘active
Citizenship’, but there are some good examples which reach back many years. My favourite
quotation is from a Geog-Ed person who later put his words into practice, by becoming a District
Councillor himself, and undertook ‘practical local citizenship’: Michael Storm, who at one stage
was chief Geography adviser for ILEA. I quoted him in 1986 [Wright, 1986] but the original
quote is from 1970:
Too often, it appears, programmes of local study set out to deal with the question ‘What should
people know about their locality?’. An apparently minor alteration of this question to ‘What
issues are currently alive in this area?’ would in fact occasion a complete reconsideration of the
programme…. Wherever the school is situated, a problem-orientated approach to local study is
possible.
(“Schools & the Community: an issue-based approach”, M.Storm, Bulletin of Environmental
Education No.1, 1970; reprinted in ‘Perspectives in Geography education, Bale, J. et al, 1974)
Other Geog-Ed people have been active councillors, too – for example Colin Harris [ex-Herts
LEA] was Mayor of Hertford; Barry Coleman, former Head of Geography at Flegg High School,
Norfolk, was Mayor of Great Yarmouth, 2005-6. My own experience is as a humble parish
councillor in my village for over 20 years. I will now seek to explain some of the possible
relevance of this experience to education.
Twenty years ago, full of the enthusiasm of youth and the freshness of my first experience of
local democracy, my first article on the subject was published, entitled ‘The Parish Council
Meeting: an opportunity for Environmental Education’ (Environmental Education Vol. 24,
Summer 1986, pp.17-18). Extracts from that article are reprinted below. This was long before
‘Citizenship’ appeared in the Curriculum. These extracts can provide ‘hard evidence’ of the
value of geographical education in Citizenship Education – and also indicate that there is
existing expertise available both from geography teachers, and from the local councillors.
There is now much more relevance to the whole topic. We all know that it is the local issue that
makes citizenship ‘come alive’, so Parish Council deliberations should be the ideal focus.
Research Article – CE and Geography Teaching
Geographers will doubtless welcome the suggestions that their local focus, and their ‘issuebased’ approach, are ideal for Citizenship Education. Instead of complaining that geography
has been sidelined, geography can be seen as central to the new and welcome topic of
Citizenship Education.
The 1986 article recognised that the Parish Council only existed in villages and some suburbs.
Since then, the development of various ‘action zones’ and regeneration projects has given
many urban areas a similar local issue-based forum. There is talk in government about the
creation of Neighbourhood Forums with their own budgets. For small towns, the ‘Market Towns
Initiative’ has raised the profile of environmental issues in that context. Seaside towns have had
a similar focus. So there is now much more opportunity to tap in to organisations which focus on
local issues, than there was when the original article was written.
The examples have not been changed or updated from 1986: here is a selection from the
original article.
Too many heavy lorries
Residents and Councillors complain, but we need to know where the heavy lorries come from
and why. We contacted the HGV training department to see if they have to use our lanes. We
have tried to decide whether it is best to ask for more ‘UNSUITABLE FOR HEAVY LORRIES’
signs: opinions are divided. Pupils could conduct a traffic survey. They could discuss the
reasons for and against heavy lorries. They could try to work out alternative routes.
Too few buses
We look at “the cuts” and oppose them. The ‘triangular’ route around the village is studied: what
are the pros and cons of clockwise and anticlockwise routes? We persuade the bus company
that their clockwise triangle should become anticlockwise…Bus services are an ideal topic for
classroom discussion: perceptive ideas and suggestions come from pupils. It would not be
difficult for the ideas to be passed on to the parish Clerk or to a parish Councillor.
“Can we have a BMX track?”
A group of teenagers organised a petition to the parish Council, asking for permission to make a
BMX track on the Common. After detailed discussion and a site meeting, approval was given.
Subsequent strong complaints from older residents about tree-felling provided an interesting
Research Article – CE and Geography Teaching
example of conflicting interest. For once, the teenagers “won” – they had used their democratic
rights successfully.
In 1996 – a decade later – I returned to the theme in another article in Environmental Education
(Vol.53, Autumn 1996):
Active participation in decision-making
Environmental Education (EE) needs to go outside the school gates. For example, few children
realise that there is an important environmental dimension to decision-making in transport. They
would like a cycle-track…how do they put this idea forward?
They want to stop the slaughter of ducks that stray onto a road near a pond – how do they
make contact with councillors to discuss warning signs or a speed limit?
They want to protest when trees are to be felled to make way for new housing – how can they
have any effect? This is where EE meets Citizenship Education – yet so often these two crosscurricular dimensions seem poles apart. {in a sign of the times this would now be characterised
as Education for Sustainable Development !…)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------The opportunities…..
There are several positive things that can be said by comparison with the situation in 1986.
Money is much more plentiful in schools now. However for those who do not believe this,
money is hardly needed: the local resources are FREE! The local context offers free
information, free expertise, and free ideas. The Citizenship Curriculum is not highly prescriptive:
teachers are encouraged to develop their own ideas and resources. There are quotations to
confirm this – for example in ‘Mapping News’ (OS) Autumn 2004 ‘Citizenship education is
designed to encourage and engage young people in discussion and debate about issues that
are important to them and the wider society.’ (Stephen Twigg, MP – then a schools’ minister).
Moreover, there is talk of more flexibility in the curriculum – this should help local Citizenship
Education. Time is not the huge problem it is often made out to be: there is often opportunity in
a geography lesson to raise a local citizenship issue. And finally, geographers’ acceptance of
debate as a way to explore controversial issues is much more widely understood and accepted
than 20 years ago.
Research Article – CE and Geography Teaching
…and the problems
1. Targets and tests are an all-purpose excuse for not doing things! But if we are serious about
being a profession rather than merely a workforce we should have the courage to state that a
focus on Citizenship will help us to meet our geography targets, and a focus on geography will
help to meet Citizenship targets.
2 Lack of knowledge of local issues is a real problem, because often teachers live some way
from their school. But a problem can become an opportunity: I can show respect for the local
knowledge the students have, and they can teach me, for a change.
3 Fear of controversy has to be taken more seriously to-day: any evidence of ‘lack of balance’
could lead to complaints and accusations. This is where a debate can be so helpful: the
structure of a debate is designed to be fair to both sides.
4 A big new problem is the strict demands on councillors: they are now required to declare
every membership and are required to ‘declare an interest’ on every matter discussed where
they may have a personal or prejudicial interest. Most serious of all, any citizen can report any
councillor to the Standards Board (SB) for anything – fact or fiction. If the SB investigates, it
publishes the accusations – true or false – on their website. The councillor is named, while the
accuser stays anonymous. The intention may be good, but I fear that it will make some citizens
reluctant to stand for a council, and hence may damage local democracy in some communities.
But to end on a positive note, the list of problems is much shorter than the list of positive
features.
BACK TO THE CHALK FACE!
I now discuss a real lesson in a real school, on the occasion that I was invited to the local
school as a parish councillor. We soon launched into question time about the village and the
parish council. I offered them some “question starters”: what, when, who, why, how
much/long/often, where, which. This question–time was very interesting and wide-ranging.
few “switched off” but most were keen to join in.
A
Research Article – CE and Geography Teaching
They asked about ME: the personalised approach certainly helped them to find the topic
interesting and meaningful:
What do you do to be a Parish Councillor?
How old do you have to be?
How long have you been on the P.C.?
Is your job very hard?
Can you give up any time you like?
Why did you choose to be a P.C.?
Do you like being on the P.C.?
……. and they asked about the parish council
Where is the P.C.?
How many people on the P.C.?
How often do you have meetings?
We could have gone on and on and on.
I would commend this approach to every school and to every parish council. The councillor will
receive no expenses, and a sore throat – but also some shining eyes, which make it all seem
worthwhile. If there is a teacher or a retired teacher serving as a councillor, that is the ideal
person for school visits, because there are many skills involved in engaging 30 children and
keeping them switched on.
I then sought to find out if the lesson was successful, with a short evaluation from each student,
and used their wise advice to plan the next lesson. Here are some of their evaluations:
Anon
I liked asking questions about the village
In fact I like everything
Anon
√ I loved your speech (Oops - I thought I was interactive!)
X I have nothing to write (on the negative side)
Anon
I enjoyed meeting a council person
Research Article – CE and Geography Teaching
Anon
I didnit like not being aball to ask all my qweisgens
Anon
I liked the infomation
The invitation to a local councillor seems so important to me, that I am offering guidelines for the
visit:
THE VISIT BY A COUNCILLOR: SOME SUGGESTED GUIDELINES:
1 Be very selective which councillor you invite. A retired teacher would be
ideal.
2 Insist on NO lecture and NO talk: few councillors will hit the right
wavelength
3 Encourage questions from the students; remind them that good questions
often begin why or when or what or where or when…..
4 Make ISSUES the theme
5 Have some reserve questions in case they are needed
6 Keep it short: 20 minutes maximum, then the councillor goes to another
class. If your students would like longer, invite the councillor to come again for
another visit.
7 No payment! But letters of thanks from your students will be appreciated
I believe geography teachers are ideally placed for developing these local Citizenship links, not
least because of their long experience of local fieldwork. So I offer some guidelines which may
seem obvious to some geography teachers, yet could be very helpful in the broader Citizenship
context:
Suggestions for action
1 Discover who the local councillors are
2 Identify all links – past and present – between the councillors and the school
for example:
former pupil of the school
Research Article – CE and Geography Teaching
children at the school (past or present)
grandchildren at the school
worked at the school(past or present)
governor of the school(past or present)
3 Make sure the local newspaper and parish magazine are delivered to the school regularly
4 Use the local wisdom of the cleaners, the lunchtime supervisors, the caretaker: these are the
people who live locally
5 Tell the local newspaper and parish magazine about what the pupils have been studying in
CITIZENSHIP and geography
Conclusions

This whole area remains ‘under-explored’ and deserves more attention.

Many teachers would welcome more news from the area local to their school.

Pupils and students can benefit from awareness of ‘how their local community functions.

An offer of a visit by a local parish councillor will probably be welcome in a school –
whether for a single Citizenship lesson, or for a whole-school assembly.
……………….
And finally……. Geography teachers have many other contributions to make to Citizenship
education – especially in green issues and in GLOBAL citizenship. But there is an inverse
correlation between length of article and numbers of readers, so it is high time to stop…...
………………..
With thanks to the staff and students of Mulbarton First School, Norfolk.
Editorial Note :
In the interests of balance, those who would like to see a countervailing view from OFSTED can
turn to a range of their publications published since 2001 (see :
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/index.cfm?searchString=Citizenship&fuseaction=pubs.search).
The staff involved would argue that they consistently seek to make a range of constructive
suggestions in relation to the effective teaching and learning of citizenship.
Research Article – CE and Geography Teaching
They also look to highlight and exemplify good practice where they find it.
REFERENCES:
Parts of this paper are based on my articles which have been published in these journals:
‘The Parish Council Meeting: A Resource for Issue-based Environmental Education?’
(Environmental Education, Vol.24, Summer 1986, pp.17-18)
‘Towards REAL Environmental Education for Children in the Next Century’, (Environmental
Education, Vol.53, Autumn 1996, pp.12-13)
‘Tiers Before Home Time’ (Primary Geographer, No.56, Spring 2005, pp.30-31)
‘Citizenship and Education’. (Local Council Review, Vol 57/1 May 2005, pp.20-21)
‘The Parish Council Meeting: Where Citizenship Education Meets Environmental
Education.’(Environmental Education, Vol 81, Spring 2006, pp.16, 25)