The challenge of education for active citizenship
ETGACE – Brussels Mar 02
The Challenge of Education for
Active Citizenship
John Potter
‘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; to build on and to extend radically to young people the best in
existing traditions of community involvement and public service, and to make them individually confident in finding new
forms of involvement and action among themselves.’
Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools1 (Para 1.5 of the ‘Crick Report’)
Community involvement is the purpose – not a side effect - of citizenship education. The idea is
audacious in its apparent simplicity. It is that through education we should 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.’ The success
of the Citizenship Order will, therefore, ultimately be judged on whether or not it achieves this larger
purpose. The Programme of Study is, therefore, a means to this end and should be understood as
such.
This challenge to community involvement through active citizenship stems in the first place from a
widespread and growing concern, particularly among the political establishment, for the condition of
our social fabric and the state of our democracy.
Erosion of Social capital
During the last decade sociologists such as Robert Putnam (1995) have pointed to the erosion of
social capital. The networks of trust that bind communities have become weaker and, in significant
respects, we have lost our sense of community. The erosion of social capital is treated as directly
associated with the growing alienation of people, particularly young people, from the formal
processes of democracy. In 2001 there were riots involving significant numbers of young people in
traditionally ordered and seemingly peaceful cities such as Oldham and Burnley. Furthermore, there
1
Report on Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools (DfEE London Sept 1998). Hereafter referred to a The Crick Report.
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is growing tension between town and countryside, sharpened by the depredations of BSE and foot
and mouth disease.
Democracy under threat?
Political ideologies are in the melting pot and there is widespread disenchantment with the politics.
There is mounting evidence that politicians and the political process are increasingly distrusted in the
west. In the USA 76 percent of people in an opinion poll in 1964 said that they trusted politicians to
do the right thing for all or most of the time. A similar poll thirty years later showed that the
proportion of trusting people had dropped to a mere 25%. In Western Europe confidence in
politicians – and authority figures in general – has also, in many countries, declined.
In the 2001 UK general election fewer of us voted than ever before. Only one in four young voters
went to the polls. The general turnout dropped by 10%, and in many constituencies less than half of
those eligible to vote actually did vote. More people joined the ‘No Vote’ party than voted for the
present government with its landslide parliamentary majority.
Citizenship education in England lays great stress on the importance ‘of playing an active part in the
democratic and electoral processes.’ It remains clear, however, that the goal of re-engaging the
electorate, particularly the young electorate, is a challenging task.
Young people
Young people are increasingly the focus of suspicion and concern. They are depicted as violent and
criminal with no interest in democracy, preferring street protest to reasoned argument. They take
drugs and have abandoned the canons of traditional sexual morality. This malign caricature of young
people is sufficiently widespread to trigger alarm in the media and among sections of the electorate.
Where society is experienced as coming apart at the seams, young people are seen as the agents and
victims of this unhappy state of affairs. In reality, of course, nothing is simple and it is easier to vilify
young people - or asylum seekers, or ‘the Euro’ – than it is to wrestle with the underlying causes of
these alarms and panics.
Nonetheless, it is evident and inevitable that education is called upon to help tackle these challenges.
Citizenship education is a response to our growing and pervasive unease about the way things are. It
is an attempt by the authorities to treat young people as part of the solution rather than the cause of
the problem.
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Citizenship at the Cross-roads
Citizenship education, therefore, stands at a crisis – a crossing point – in the development of our
culture. It is the point where political ideology, education policy and strategies for social inclusion
meet. These three dimensions of the challenge to a new kind of community involvement are held
together by a common set of values and are set against the backdrop of different but related
concerns (Figure 1).
The Context of the
Citizenship Challenge
Political
Programme
Community & Social
regeneration
Values
Erosion of
Social
capital
Democratic
deficit
Education
Policy
& Practice
Young people now
Global context,
including terrorism
Figure 1: The Citizenship Challenge in Context
Terrorism
We live in a state where, until 11September, 2001, we had imagined that we no longer faced external
enemies. The collapse of the Soviet Union had brought to an end the bi-polar world that had defined
and dominated international politics during the past century. The enemy is now the terrorist who no
longer plays to the old rules and the old politics. The assault on the twin towers in New York has
given greater urgency to our need to understand what we mean by democracy and what it is to live in
a global society that is shaped by both economic and cultural imperatives.
The Implications
Together, these themes form the backdrop to citizenship education, and the call for a ‘change in the
political culture of this country both nationally and locally.’ In this article I shall:
(1) Summarise the purpose and nature of citizenship education in schools, and then
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(2) Explore the implications of this challenge for government, the education sector and
schools.
The purpose and nature of citizenship education
‘We state a case for citizenship education being a vital and distinct statutory part of the curriculum, an
entitlement for all pupils in its own right.’ Para 3.1 Crick Report
Citizenship education is now a part of the revised national curriculum. The new subject is defined
by two documents: (i) The Crick Report which provided the rationale and framework for the
Citizenship Order, and (ii) the revised national curriculum that sets out the Programme of Study
for citizenship education in the context of general statements about the purposes of the
curriculum as a whole. David Blunkett, the first New Labour Secretary of State for Education and
Employment, asked Professor Bernard Crick to chair an advisory group and report on the
feasibility of ‘Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools’. Crick recommended that
citizenship education should become an entitlement for all pupils and that it should have statutory force,
particularly in secondary schools. The Report further proposed that as far as possible citizenship
education should be left to teachers to develop and deliver against a simple list of learning outcomes for
each age group. This was in marked contrast to other statutory subjects where the programmes of
study are far more prescriptive and detailed about precisely what should be taught and learned.
Definition
The definition of citizenship education in the Report drew strongly on the work of an earlier
writer. T. H. Marshall (1950) had argued that citizenship comprises three distinct albeit related
dimensions: the civil, the political and the social. ‘The civil is composed of the rights necessary for
individual freedom’ said Marshall and went on, ‘By the political element I mean the right to
participate in the exercise of political power.’ By the social element he meant ‘the whole range
from the right to a modicum of economic welfare and security to the right to share to the full in
the social heritage and to live the life of a civilised being according to the standards prevailing in
the society.’ Since the 1950s, when Marshall wrote, there has been a growing interest in citizens’
responsibilities as well as their rights. Furthermore, welfare was seen to include what people can do
for each other as well as the provision made by the state.
The Three Strands of citizenship education
The Crick Report reinterprets Marshall’s definition and describes citizenship education as comprising
‘three things, related to each other, mutually dependent on each other, but each needing a somewhat
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different place and treatment in the curriculum: social and moral responsibility, community
involvement and political literacy.
Social responsibility
‘Firstly, children learning from the very beginning self-confidence and socially and morally responsible
behaviour both in and beyond the classroom, both towards those in authority and towards each other .) This
learning should be developed, not only in but also beyond school, whenever and wherever
children work or play in groups or participate in the affairs of their communities.’2
Community Involvement
‘Secondly, learning about and becoming helpfully involved in the life and concerns of their communities,
including learning through community involvement and service to the community. This, of
course, like the other two branches of citizenship, is by no means limited to children's time
in school. Even if pupils and adults perceive many of the voluntary groups as non-political,
the clearer meaning is probably to say 'non-partisan': for voluntary bodies when exercising
persuasion, interacting with public authorities, publicising, fund-raising, recruiting members
and then trying to activate (or placate) them, all such bodies are plainly using and needing
political skills.’3 (All Crick para 2.11b)
Political Literacy
‘Thirdly, pupils learning about and bow to make themselves effective in public life through knowledge, skills
and values - what can be called ‘political literacy', a term that is wider than political knowledge
alone. The term 'public life' is used in its broadest sense to encompass realistic knowledge of
and preparation for conflict resolution and decision-making related to the main economic
and social problems of the day, including each individual's expectations of and preparations
for the world of employment, and discussion of the allocation of public resources and the
rationale of taxation. …’4
‘So our understanding of citizenship education in a parliamentary democracy finds three
heads on one body: social and moral responsibility, community involvement and political literacy.
'Responsibility' is an essential political as well as moral virtue, for it implies (a) care for
others; (b) premeditation and calculation about what effect actions are likely to have on
others; and (c) understanding and care for the consequences.’5
Ibid Crick Report para 2.11
Ibid 2.11b
4 Ibid 2.11c
5 Ibid 2.12
2
3
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The Citizenship Order
The government moved swiftly following the publication of the Crick Report in September 1998 and
by November of the following year Citizenship education became a formal and, in the case of
secondary schools, statutory part of the newly revised national curriculum.
In brief, the government ruled that every child in primary and secondary education should undertake
citizenship education. In secondary schools citizenship is to become a foundation subject from
September 2002. This means that the Office of Standards in Education (Ofsted) will formally inspect
citizenship. In primary schools citizenship education was immediately incorporated alongside
personal and social and health education in a shared curriculum framework. A programme of study
was published with learning outcomes for each key stage.6These outcomes were defined in terms of
young people:
(i)
becoming informed citizens and
(ii)
developing the skills of communication and enquiry through
(iii)
participation and responsible action.
It was, in the words of the Secretary of State, David Blunkett, ‘a light touch Order.’ The Government
would set out the framework of what young people will be expected to learn, but it would be left to
teachers to fill in the detail in ways that best meet the needs of their own schools and pupils.
A Unique Subject
Citizenship education is a curriculum subject in its own right, but it is unique and different from
other subjects in three key respects.
1. Linked with other subject: Schools are explicitly encouraged to link citizenship education
with other subjects across the whole curriculum.
2. A way of life: Citizenship education is – to borrow a phrase from television – ‘not so much
a subject, more a way of life’. Citizenship education must be rooted in the ethos and way of
life of the whole school.
3. Participation: Citizenship education requires young people to learn through participation
and real experience.
These three requirements form a mutually re-enforcing cycle. Pupils are expected to develop their
knowledge, understanding and skills through participation and responsible action.
6
DfEE/QCA National Curriculum for England – Citizenship (London, 1999) www.national curriculum.uk.net
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It was clear from the start that citizenship education has profound implications for curriculum
planning, pedagogy, and the relationships between students and staff, and between schools and their
communities. It was also clear that citizenship education shares important philosophical roots with
the thinking behind the not only the New Labour political agenda but with the way in which a new
ideological consensus appears to be shaping up in place of the discarded post-war welfare consensus.
3. The New Politics
Citizenship education was from the start a cross-party issue. The former Tory Education Secretary,
Lord Baker, was a member of the Advisory Group and the government has been careful to ensure
that the provisions of the Citizenship Order are acceptable to all parties. Nonetheless the values and
policies implicit in citizenship education are clearly influenced by what many now call ‘Third Way’
political philosophy. In part this is a reflection of the current turmoil in political ideology; where
there seems growing confusion about what is left wing and what right. In part, however, the new
agenda is an attempt to mark out the political playing field for the new rules of play appropriate for a
global society rooted in a consumer democracy. Anthony Giddens, the British guru of Third Way7
thinking (Giddens, 1998) is, however, swift to emphasis that his interpretation of the new thinking
leans to the left through its commitment to social inclusion and equality.
Citizenship values
Crick was clear about the place of shared moral values at the heart of citizenship education. The
Report stresses the importance of: ‘children learning from the very beginning self-confidence and
socially and morally responsible behaviour both in and beyond the classroom, both towards those in
authority and towards each other. This learning should be developed, not only in but also beyond
school, whenever and wherever children work or play in groups or participate in the affairs of their
communities.
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The Report goes on to list quite precisely the values that underpin a modern, participating democracy
(Crick Report, 1998). Among those detailed are:




Determination to act justly
Commitment to equal opportunities and
gender equality
Commitment to active citizenship and
voluntary service
Concern for human rights and the
environment.
Concern for the common good,
 Belief in human dignity and equality
 Practice of tolerance
 Courage to defend a point of view
The values that touch on equal opportunities and a concern for human rights are likely to prove the most
contentious and, by the same token, important. These issues are contentious and vigorously debated.
Over recent years, for example, there have been reports of racist attitudes in many of our major
institutions, including the police and the health service.
This clearly poses a challenge for citizenship education. There is a significant difference between a
form of citizenship education that simply encourages decency and good behaviour and one that is
rooted in political awareness and a commitment to social justice and equal opportunity. The values
listed in the Crick Report clearly encourage the second and more radical approach.
Citizenship education stands at the confluence of the political, moral and social
developments of our time. It is not bending language too much to refer to this as the ‘crisis’
– the crossing point – of citizenship. A crisis of this order calls for a holistic vision, shared
values and a political framework capable of promoting the larger challenge at every level. In
the words of the report we should 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.’
Third Way Values
Giddens (1998) lists the values that are central to this emerging approach to democratic politics.
These values are (with the possible exception of 5) implied by the Crick Report. Each value has clear
and radical implications for the ways in which both government and schools understand their
purpose and develop their policies.
1.
Autonomy of action
In the post modern-context freedom is defined as autonomy of action that has to be worked out
and lived in the wider social community.
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For schools: This implies as much choice as possible for students and pupils within the general
framework of the curriculum and the ethos of the school. In this context young people will
be expected to develop responsibility for their own learning and behaviour.
2. No rights without responsibilities
Rights are no longer seen as unconditional claims - as some people under post-war social
democracy saw them - but rather as inalienably linked with responsibilities. For example
unemployment benefits now carry an obligation to seek work.
For schools: This applies to pupils, staff and parents. A democratic culture is built up –
through discussion, negotiation and agreement – around mutually agreed rights and
responsibilities. The home school agreements are based on this principle. Here again,
citizenship is learnt as much from the way a school behaves as from what it teaches.
3. No authority without democracy
In a society where custom is no longer king, democracy is the only way in which authority
can be made legitimate. The emphasis on individualism does not necessarily erode authority,
but it does require that it be actively recognised by those over whom it is exercised.
For schools: This is a particularly powerful value and directly relates to the ways in which
schools actively develop their authority in a democratic context. This is probably the biggest
single citizenship challenge to schools. A growing number of schools are treating student
democracy as a means to raising standards, improving behaviour and equipping students for
life in a world where they will be expected to manage their own career.
4. Cosmopolitan pluralism
This welcomes and encourages cultural diversity in a single society, and requires that each
culture respects and allows space for the others. Where there is a fundamental conflict of
interest this has to be resolved through democratic processes and the law.
For schools: citizenship education expects young people to develop the habit of welcoming
cultural diversity. For example, a rural school, concerned about racist attitudes among
children who live in an all white community, is actively seeking partnerships with nearby
inner city schools to enable children from diverse ethnic backgrounds to work together on
shared community projects. The tensions between ethnic and religious cultures provoked by
the events of Sept 11th 2001 underlines the importance of this kind of mutual understanding
and raises questions about the appropriateness of school segregated on religious lines.
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5. Philosophic conservatism
This is essential in a world that is learning to live beyond tradition and custom. It advocates a
pragmatic attitude towards change and a cautious approach to science and technology in
view of the ambiguous consequences of so many discoveries and potential discoveries.
For schools: In a climate of change not only is there a need for philosophic caution about
science, but also about the ways in which changes are implemented. It is important that
heads and their senior mangers take their staff, students and parents with them as schools
move increasingly to model themselves around modern democratic values.
These values (except perhaps the fifth which is not discussed) are clearly present in the Crick Report
which is, so to speak, the gloss that we need to put upon the requirements of the citizenship
Programme of Study. The values have significant implications for the ways in which school are lead
and managed.
Post-modern Political Programmes
The post-modern political values are shaping policies and programmes. These too are having an
impact on schools and on the context of citizenship education.
1. Positive welfare
Third way thinking offers a programme to promote positive welfare through supporting
people’s efforts to earn their living, stay healthy, manage their learning and achieve and enjoy
decent surroundings. Welfare is not chiefly about money but about well-being. Therefore, in
place of the welfare state, we need a society whose members enjoy well being supported by a
state that invests in human capital.
Schools: In this context the task of schools is to generate life-long learning that fosters
attitudes and activities that contribute to other people’s well being. Citizenship education
requires young people to learn through undertaking community projects that help others.
This should be seen at the heart of education, and not simply a bolt-on activity.
2. Social Investment
Policies should promote well being in which citizens are active participants rather than
passive recipients of various kinds of benefit. For example, unemployment and old age are
examples of opportunities for people to seek government help in doing what they need to
do to – including retraining - find work and lead purposeful lives after the age of 65.
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In schools: The task of schools is to invest in the social capital of the communities they serve,
and to equip young people with the habit of investing in the life their school and its wider
communities.
3. The cosmopolitan nation and democracy
Nations bring people together around the idea of identity, mutual obligation and a focus for
self-determination. A balance is necessary between extreme libertarianism where no
commonalities are expected or given and a rigid conformity to so-called mainstream culture.
In Schools: The balance is not easy, but it is one that many schools, working in multicultural
settings are challenged to achieve. There could be no more important focus for citizenship
education. It is the area of citizenship education where there are urgently needed
opportunities for schools to share their successes and learn from the inevitable difficulties.
The Citizenship Order does not, of course, formally set out these principles in precisely these words.
But, it is my contention that the Order and in particularly the Crick Report imply an approach to
citizenship education in school that addresses the values and programmes set out above. These
values and principles offer a coherent philosophical and practical framework for citizenship
education. This framework provides a basis for building strategies for citizenship that can be
developed in tandem within and beyond the education sector. It is conceivable that such an approach
will lead to partnerships between government, business, the voluntary sector and education that
together promote the cultural shift called for in the Crick Report. The long-term success of
citizenship education – measured against its stated objective – will depend upon the extent to which
it is in the mutual interests of the public, private and voluntary sectors to work together on this
shared agenda. There are tentative signs that this could happen.
5. The prospects for citizenship education
What, then, are the prospects for citizenship education? This simple question opens up three others.
I shall address each in turn.
1. Will schools effectively meet the requirements of the programme of study in the context of
the goals of the Crick Report?
2. Will young people be motivated and energised to become informed and active citizens?
3. Will citizenship education achieve its larger purpose of achieving a change in the political
culture of the country?
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Schools
It is already clear from the evidence of CSV’s (Community Service Volunteers) work on citizenship
education with hundred of schools in the UK that a significant number of schools are already well on
the way to meeting challenges of citizenship education. How far all schools will achieve this remains
to be seen. The schools that are most successfully taking on citizenship education are those that: 1. Link citizenship education with their wider vision and mission
2. Recognise that quality education brings together academic standards with education that is
inspired by values and the wider purpose of education.
3. Make the connection between student participation and the habits of lifelong learning
4. Treat students as part of the solution to the challenges faced in schools and their wider
communities
5. Promote continuing professional development around teaching and learning methods that
are rooted in active, experiential and service learning.
6. Build long-term partnerships with their local and wider communities.
The potential threats to schools success are:  A lack of clarity and purpose for citizenship education within the school


Insufficient priority, time and resources given to integrating citizenship education with
school strategy
Lack of continuing interest and support from national and local government.
Recommendation: Citizenship education should become a category for funding specialist schools.
Applicants would need to demonstrate that they have made clear and potentially effective links
between values and standards.
Students
It is already clear from the evidence that where young people are treated with respect and their
contribution to citizenship education genuinely needed, they respond positively, many with great
enthusiasm. The success factors appear to be: 1. Genuine democratic participation around real needs within the school
2. Interesting and relevant project and classroom learning that enables students to develop a
real sense of personal achievement
3. Fair and inclusive methods of assessment in which students themselves have a part, e.g.
summative assessment based on self-assessment, peer assessment and tutor assessment.
4. Celebration and recognition of achievement
Potential threats:

Students are unlikely to do well if they feel: -
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They are not being taken seriously and genuinely involved in participating democratically
within the life of the school.

They are not given real opportunities to achieve worthwhile objective

They are not learning anything significant or relevant to their lives.
Recommendation: There should be a national student council in England as there is in most
European countries.
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Society
‘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.’
Para 1.5 of 8 Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools
The extent to which citizenship education will succeed in this larger and more ambitious aim is more
speculative. First, it is a long-term project and there can be no quick answers. Secondly, The chain of
events between cause (citizenship education) and effect (a change in political culture) is long and
porous. Where there are so many events impacting on one another, who can be sure of what causes
what. Nonetheless certain points can be made with growing confidence: The chances of success will be greater if the following conditions are present: -
Congruence:
There needs to be congruence between what is expected of schools and what is expected of
other institutions in society. The citizenship values – freedom as autonomy, no rights without
responsibilities, and no authority without democracy – must apply generally. They must inform the
behaviour of government, business and civil life. They are also relevant to the way families behave
and children are treated in and beyond the home. Partnerships between local government and
schools will prove important, and initiatives such as Hear by Right9 may well prove critical to the
larger success of citizenship education.

Consistency
Young people (and everyone else) must consistently be given opportunities to contribute to society
and be valued for it.

Local Democracy
The future of local and regional democracy will set standards for participation. If local and regional
democracy is experienced as some kind of sham, young people (and everyone else) are likely to join
the swelling No Vote. At the present time many (on the left and right) consider the Executive
insufficiently accountable to Parliament and local government out of touch with their electorates.
Citizenship education would, if effective, further expose national and local government to criticisms
of this sort because young people are likely to become more politically literate.
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Recommendation: There should be a citizenship forum (supported by the local authority) in every
local authority area comprising representatives from young people (e.g.. City Student Council), local
government, the voluntary sector and business.
Research
It is important to build a research component into the questions thrown up by a systematic attempt
change the political culture of our society through systematic citizenship education in schools.
Recommendation: A longitudinal research programme should be set up to explore these questions
and adopt a range of research tools including the ethnomethodological approaches used widely since
at least the late 1970s in studies of micro-processes? The more recent American approach referred to
as portraiture provides a narrative form of research ideally suited to citizenship education.
A Question of Values
Throughout this paper I have stressed the relationship between emerging political thinking (and
values) and citizenship education. The answer to the larger question about the effect of citizenship
education will probably depend largely upon the extent to which the programme and values of the
new politics gain general acceptance as a framework for political discourse, public policy and
personal engagement in civil society. If the citizenship values are associated with a state whose
purpose is to foster positive welfare, social investment and a cosmopolitan nation and democracy, then perhaps a
new political consensus will emerge in much the same way that the welfare consensus emerged after
the war. Within this consensus there may well continue right / left debates, but the larger parameter
may be agreed. If this happens, the prospects for the cultural shift are probably good. If it does not,
we may be facing a period marked by apathy and anger rather than the kind of active citizenship
anticipated by the Crick Report. It is up to us.
An initiative by the Local Government Association in partnership with the National Youth Association and
other voluntary sector agencies to establish local government benchmarks for young people’s participation in
democracy.
9
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Case Study Colne Community School
Colne Community School is a mixed school with approximately 1300 pupils in Brightlingsea,
Essex. As a CSV Lighthouse School, Colne took a leading part in the CSV American exchange
with Valdosta.
Commitment to active learning in the community
The school has been committed to active learning in the community for many years, and worked
closely in the mid 90s with CSV and CSV’s American partners to develop a whole-school
strategy for service learning. Community involvement is now embedded in the ethos of the
school.
Innovative projects
School Council - A boy and girl from each form are elected to be Year Council Reps. Students
negotiate and contribute to making policy. Senior school representatives from each Year 11
form elect to receive training as mentors or volunteer to take on other responsibilities. It was a
Colne idea to try out different voting systems within different year groups!
Governors committees: Students are represented on Governors’ committees and are involved
in interviews and staff recruitment.
Sense of community: Year group, key stage and whole school assemblies reinforce the sense
of community, responsibility and reward and are frequently used to recognise and celebrate
atonements.
Student lead projects: All students participate in a 'Changemakers' project in Year 7 and are
encouraged to continue with their involvement beyond the first year.
Citizenship Projects include: International service learning Exchange (CSV Lighthouse
Schools); World Challenge 2002; Literacy Project (Year 9 supports Year 7); Drugs education
Peer Group Project (Year 11 work with Year 8); Peer-led sex education (Year 12 work with
Years 9 & 10), PACE programme for personal and social development. Student links with
Primary schools; Project liaison with Brightlingsea Town Council (Year 9 students and local
skate park); Community co-ordinators meeting involving crime prevention panel, youth service,
Police, School nurse, Town and District Council Reps.
Dissemination: through review and celebration, the termly magazine, Colne Courier, form reps
and tutorial.
Faculty Involvement: Each faculty has a commitment to provide a community dimension to the
curriculum area:
Other activities:
The school has received the Sportsmark Award and has been involved in fundraising activities
for the Kosovo Appeal and replacement of school equipment. Pupils have also promoted World
Book Day by participating in events such as book cover design and quizzes, and the school ran
a Numeracy Day for prospective students.
A student involved in the School Council stated:
“We feel responsible to our fellow students and want to do whatever we can to help them.”
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References
Crick, B. (1998)Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy in Schools , DfEE London
Crick, B. (2000) Essays on Citizenship, Continuum, London
Giddens, A. (1998) The Third Way, Polity Press, London
Marshall, T.H. (1950) Citizenship, (Cambridge, Cambridge UNIVERSITY Press)
Putnam, R.D. (1995) Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital, Journal of Democracy,
Volume 6, No 1.
Author Details
John Potter, previously Director of CSV Education for Citizenship is an education consultant with a particular
interest in education for active citizenship. He has recently written for CSV a book on Active Citizenship in Schools,
which explores in detail and with case studies the challenges of establishing whole school strategies for citizenship
education. Kogan Page will publish the book early in April, 2002
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