Towards a Citizens’
Curriculum
Alex Stevenson, NIACE
Addison Barnett, St Mungo’s Broadway
Dermot Bryers, English for Action
alex.stevenson@niace.org.uk
@alexsNIACE
#citizenscurriculum
Just for starters ...
Consider the steps involved
in planning and carrying out
your journey to the
conference today ...
How did you
• Use language, literacy and numeracy skills?
• Use digital, financial, health and civic (= ability to
participate in society) capabilities?
Make a short list and compare with a partner!
The English and maths challenge ...
 The Skills for Life Survey (2011): 1 in 4 adults have
low levels of numeracy skills; 1 in 6 have low levels of
literacy skills.
 OECD Survey of Adult Skills (2013): 16.4% scored at
the lowest level for literacy; 24% for numeracy.
 Census data (2011) records around 850,000 adults
‘non-proficient’ in the English language.
 BIS / SFA data shows that from 12/13 to 13/14, adult
(19+) participation in English, maths and ESOL
provision has fallen by 7.6%, 10.7% and 4.8%
respectively.
So ....
More flexible, creative and innovative
models are needed to engage and
motivate learners and meet the
challenge of poor basic language,
literacy, numeracy and digital skills in
the context of rapid social change.
“A citizens’ curriculum is learning which
is locally-led, developed with the active
participation of learners, and interlinks
the life skills of language, literacy and
numeracy with health, financial, digital
and civic capabilities.”
Citizens’ Curriculum Capabilities
Health
Financial
Local context
and setting
LLN
Digital
Learner
Involvement
• Schuller and Watson
( 2009)
• NIACE / NRDC
Evidence on impact
of embedded basic
skills – Eldred (2005);
Casey (2006)
• Co-design of the
curriculum - A New
Curriculum for Difficult
Times (Beer, 2013)
Key Overall Findings - Providers
 Added value to the curriculum offer, which
became more engaging through the
interlinking of English, maths and language
skills with other capabilities
 An improved curriculum offer which,
through greater learner involvement, was
felt to be more responsive to the needs of
learners
Key Overall Findings - Practitioners
 Improved ability to make learning relevant to
adults’ lives and articulate the wider benefits of
participation in learning, through a focus on the
interlinked capabilities of the Citizens’ Curriculum
approach.
 For practitioners with less experience in the creation
and co-design of flexible provision tailored to the
needs of individuals, a greater appreciation of the
value and benefits of this approach and keenness
to embed this further in their practice.
Key Overall Findings - Learners
 Improved attitudes to learning, particularly with
regard to English/language and maths, leading to
progression into further learning opportunities.
 Improved skills and attitudes supporting
employability, including increased motivation to
seek work and/or participate in voluntary work, and
for some learners, progression into employment or
work placements.
 Improved engagement in the wider community
and improved confidence and ability to use public
services
Citizens’ Curriculum Pilots
The St. Mungo’s
Broadway Pilot
I find that it's given me the confidence that I
need to step forward into higher education if I
want to, or taking it into the workplace.
Just rebuilding your confidence gradually as you
go along, with regards to team-building and
absorbing all the information that you're
getting in.
St Mungo’s Broadway
We house 2700 homeless people a night across
London and the South East and provide
services to help keep people off the streets:
• Rough sleeping outreach teams
• Hostels
• Mental health support
• Treatment programmes for substance use
• Palliative care
• Skills and employment services
St Mungo’s Broadway Pilot
• Our pilot took place at our Residential College
in Clapham
• The College was a small 10 bed project where
clients could stay for between 3 and 6 months
• The College offered an educational
programme that combines academic learning
with developing independent living skills
• The content of the sessions was client-led,
with staff encouragement and guidance
The timetable
The timetable ran Monday-Friday and included:
• English, Maths and IT (non-accredited) delivered
by a specialist or an IT volunteer
• Cooking sessions run by a homeless client
• Participating in the local Health and Wellbeing
day and helping to run activities
• Reading group
• Monday breakfast meeting to discuss the week
• The clients also wrote and recorded a podcast!
The Citizen’s Curriculum approach
Reading group
Cookery class
Participating in the Health
& Wellbeing Day
Breakfast meetings
IT sessions
English class
Maths class
Podcast
Digital capability
Financial capability
Maths capability
Health capability
English and ESOL
capability
Civic capability
The Citizen’s Curriculum approach
Reading group
Cookery class
Participating in the Health
& Wellbeing Day
Breakfast meetings
IT sessions
English class
Maths class
Podcast
Digital capability
Financial capability
Maths capability
Health capability
English and ESOL
capability
Civic capability
Lessons learnt
• Consistency is key
• Staff who are willing to be creative and
adaptable
• Let the learners lead the way and involve
them in every stage: planning, delivering and
evaluating the learning
• Celebrate achievement
(Listen to our podcast! www.soundcloud.com/lockedonradio)
Citizens’ Curriculum Pilots
The English for
Action Pilot
Frequently Asked Questions ...
 Do we have to deliver all of the
capabilities?
 What content should we teach for each of
the capabilities? What about resources?
 Tutors don’t have expertise in some of these
areas, what can we do?
 What’s the role of accreditation in the
Citizens’ Curriculum approach?
Discussion Questions
1. In what ways could you adopt a more
participatory approach, to involve learners in the
design of your curriculum?
2. In what ways could you embed the Citizens’
Curriculum capabilities in your provision?
3. What would be the benefits and the challenges of
adopting a Citizens’ Curriculum approach? What
would help to overcome the challenges?
Next Steps for the Citizens’ Curriculum
 More pilots in new settings – English and Maths for
unemployed adults, ESA claimants and plans for
work with young migrants
 More detailed evaluation and impact assessment
including longer term analysis
 Further practitioner support around health and civic
capabilities
 A ‘technical consultation’, looking at how the
Citizens’ Curriculum might form the basis of any
‘study programme for adults’
 Potential work in ESOL and Offender Learning
Towards a Citizens’
Curriculum
http://www.niace.org.uk/our-work/life-and-society/citizens-curriculum
alex.stevenson@niace.org.uk
@alexsNIACE
#citizenscurriculum