Citizenship curriculum to focus on identity,
diversity and belonging
Summary
In light of the recommendations of the Crick report on
citizenship education published in September 1998, the subject was introduced
into the school curriculum in 2002, on a compulsory basis for secondary schools
and as part of the non-statutory framework for primary schools.
The
Committee's report
‘Citizenship
education’ (HC 147 2006-07) assesses the progress made during the last
four years to deliver quality citizenship programmes and examines the barriers
that exist to its successful implementation.
It finds that, when
well done, citizenship education motivates and inspires young people, but the
quality and extent of these programmes are still inconsistent across the
country. This patchiness needs to be tackled head-on, and progress accelerated,
requiring strong support from the DfES and Ministers as well as action from
those on the ground.
The Committee welcomes the Government's decision to
accept the recommendations of the report by Sir Keith Ajegbo which highlighted
the need for citizenship curriculum to have a closer focus on issues of
identity, diversity and belonging.
Law-Making Explained
This is a House of Commons Paper (HC 147
2006-07): it is a Report from the House of Commons Education and Skills
Committee.
Find out more about Select
Committees.
How does it affect
me?
If you work in education, this affects you.
The Committee
finds that more can be done to disseminate good practice information,
particularly in relation to 'whole-school' (or college) approaches that develop
opportunities for active citizenship, although it is essential that programmes
are locally-owned and relevant to the particular context.
The
development of the workforce is also important to the success of citizenship
education, and although the expansion of the Continuing Professional
Development (CPD) citizenship certificate programme is welcome, more resources
are needed to develop capacity in initial teacher training places for
citizenship education.
You may also be interested in
‘Life
in the UK: A Journey to Citizenship - 2nd Edition (2007)’.
Download
the Crick
Report from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) website.
Download
Sir
Keith Ajegbo’s Diversity and Citizenship Curriculum Review from
Teachernet.
See more on
the
work of House of Commons Education and Skills Committee.
