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Qualifications and Curriculum Authority
Submission of evidence to the Education and Select Committee Citizenship Education
Teachers and leaders attitudes to citizenship education; workload implications 1. Attitudes to citizenship vary between schools across the country and within school communities amongst staff, learners and parents. An increasing number do see citizenship as a subject that can help to re-invigorate teaching and learning and create a meaningful curriculum experience that meets the needs of learners and society. A future curriculum must engage and motivate learners to enjoy learning and develop the necessary skills and capabilities to play their part in society as informed members of communities, as workers, voters and parents. This requires a rigorous and robust approach to citizenship education. 2. In many schools and communities momentum for
citizenship is building; but challenges do remain. In
3. Levels of confidence amongst teachers have improved with 77% at key stage 3 and 60% at key stage 4 saying the feel reasonably confident they are addressing the national curriculum requirements for citizenship. However, this needs to be balanced against Ofsted and QCA monitoring evidence that find some key aspects of the subject are not yet well addressed including teaching about our democracy, parliament and laws.
Initial and in-service training and role of local authorities in supporting school staff 4. The question of who teaches citizenship?' has been key in the development of the subject and is closely related to the model of provision that schools have chosen. Whilst it is encouraging to see that a subject leader for citizenship has been appointed in nearly every secondary school, few volunteered for the role. Many were given the responsibility on top of existing ones and only 15.6% say they have a subject leader solely responsible for citizenship.
5. There is considerable interest in developing citizenship as a specialist' subject. There are now about 70 advance skills teachers for citizenship and 1000 NQTs who have qualified as citizenship teachers. Providers say initial teacher training courses in citizenship are often oversubscribed. In QCA's annual citizenship survey, almost two thirds (65%) of teachers expressed an interest in the proposed new National Certificate of Professional Development in Teaching Citizenship.
6. The role of Local Authority citizenship advisers has been varied across the country, but their impact is still notable. 78% of schools say they have attended external training for citizenship organised in the Local Authority and 51.5% said they still receive limited but helpful support from Local Authority citizenship adviser.
1 copies of the report can be downloaded from wwwucaorcuk!crtzenshjp. All statistics quoted are taken from this report.
0CM 7. There remains a very clear demand for further training and development in citizenship teaching and 80% requested training on assessing citizenship.
Continuity of citizenship education between, primary, 11-16 and post-compulsory stages 8. Continuity of citizenship education can be explored in different ways. The specification of citizenship through the national curriculum and qualifications is not straightforward and may be one reason for the lack of continuity and progression between ages and phases of citizenship education. Currently citizenship is specified in the following way: · key stages 1 and 2, citizenship is part of a joint non-statutory primary framework with PSHE · key stages 3 and 4 the subject is specified separately as a National Curriculum foundation subject that all schools must teach · Qualifications are available in Citizenship Studies at entry level, GCSE (as a short course) · Post -16 citizenship is not statutory (as indeed no subjects are). There is an AS Social Science: citizenship qualification (developed prior to the existence of the National Curriculum for citizenship and the GCSE). In 2004 at the request of the DfES, QCA published a learning framework for citizenship post-16 as part of the Play your part; post-I 6 citizenship'2 guidelines. This builds on the national curriculum and encourages schools, colleges, training providers and youth and community organisations to develop opportunities for citizenship learning and action post-i 6. There are two further developments which are relevant here: · QCA has begun work on criteria to establish a new A level in Citizenship Studies so that Awarding Bodies can develop the qualification for first teaching in centres from 2008. · Work is in hand to explore how opportunities for citizenship are developed 14-19 through general education and through the new specialised and general diploma qualifications, in particular 3 through extended project qualifications
9. Continuity should also be considered in terms of children and young people's citizenship learning and progress. Learning that relates to citizenship education begins in the foundation stage curriculum where early years practitioners recognise the important role they play in laying the basis for future learning in citizenship. Many primary schools see citizenship as part of their core business but the lack of a clear national framework for citizenship at key stages I and 2 makes planning and assessing progress in citizenship difficult. Currently little in the way of information about children's progress and learning is transferred between key stages 2 and 3 and in year 7 work in citizenship can be low level when contrasted with other national curriculum subjects.
10. At key stage 3, unlike other National Curriculum foundation subjects, national data on pupil attainment in citizenship is not collected under current arrangements. Schools are required to keep their own records of pupil achievement and report on each pupil's progress and development needs annually to parents. Teachers are required to make an overall judgement about pupil attainment in citizenship at the end of key stage 3 (schools should keep this information in their records for citizenship). They do this by drawing on evidence of pupil progress and achievement from assessments made during years 7 to 9 and against the standard set out in the end of key stage description in the national curriculum. More than 50% of teachers say they have real problems using the current key stage 3 standard (end of key stage description) to make such a judgement.
11. Assessing citizenship has been an ongoing concern in many schools. New QCA guidelines 'Assessing citizenship. Example assessment activities at key stage 3' (2006) have been extremely well received. These materials support schools with practical examples of how to undertake teacher assessment in citizenship and set out clear expectations for pupils in key stage 3 through criteria and examples of pupil work. The key stage 3 review provides an opportunity to do further work here and to look at developing an 8 level scale for the subject which 63% of teachers say they are in favour of. This development would also bring citizenship into line with the other National Curriculum foundation subjects and enable national data on performance to be collected.
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Examples included and content draw heavily on the L5OAs programme of post-i 6 citizenship, which began in 2001
OCA has commissioned the awarding body AQA to run a small trial for a new post-16 active citizenship studies qualification for level 3 learners. It is likely to be piloted from September 2006 as one version of the new extended project qualification. 2 12. Beyond key stage 3, schools have to teach the key stage 4 programme of study for citizenship. The key stage 3 review provides an opportunity to consider further progression between these key stages and post-16 citizenship. Schools have a choice about whether or not to offer qualifications in the subject at key stage 4 and beyond. Citizenship Studies is the fastest growing GCSE subject (according to the Joint Council for Qualifications) with 38,000 candidates taking the examination in 2005 - an increase of 11,000 from 2004. QCA undertook an evaluation of the short course GCSE qualification during 2005 and found that many schools wished to see a full course GCSE citizenship studies qualification in the future. The evaluation also showed that use of the GCSE had raised the status and credibility of the subject with learners, staff and parents at both key stages 3 and 4.
Quality of citizenship education across the full range of schools, including faith schools 13. The curriculum for citizenship and the quality of teaching and learning in the subject are improving according to Ofsted findings and evidence through QCA's monitoring. Citizenship is the newest subject in the national curriculum and there remains a lack of understanding about its aims, purpose and definition, in some schools. Further curriculum development work around what a sufficient' and high quality programme of citizenship education looks like should be a priority for the future.
14. Delivery models for citizenship vary considerably school to school, involving a mix of: discrete and separately timetabled citizenship lessons (25% of schools teach some citizenship discretely with 15% stating this is their main form of provision); teaching aspects of citizenship alongside other curriculum subjects; suspended timetable activities; and school and community based activities.
15. There continues to be confusion in some schools about the relationship of citizenship with other national curriculum subjects and PSHE and the distinctive contribution to other subjects that citizenship can provide when properly planned. A declining but significant number (74%) indicate citizenship is taught part of the time within programmes of PSHE. About half (51%) state this is their main form of provision. Worryingly 22% said their main form of provision was teaching citizenship in combination with PSHE where no distinction is made between the two subjects.
16. In 2002 the DfES published 'National Strategy: designing the key stage 3 curriculum' which recommended a minimum of 3% of curriculum time (about 50 minutes a week) be allocated to citizenship. Whilst one in five schools saying they have increased curriculum time for citizenship, the current average is nearer to 2%. But more important is how schools are planning and using the time they do have and whether the quality of teaching and learning provided is satisfactory or better.
17. The key stage 3 review has already begun to identify specific areas that are not well addressed at key stage 3 and which could be incorporated into citizenship teaching at key stage 4. For example, European, international and global issues and themes present a key part of many schools citizenship work at key stage 3, but formal teaching about European and international institutions such as EU, UN and Commonwealth are generally seen by teachers as complex for this age. The emphasis on local and national governance and institutions at key stage 3 provide the building blocks for further work of this kind at key stage 4 and beyond.
Relationship between citizenship education and current debates about identity and Britishness and Citizenship education's potential to contribute to community cohesion 18. Citizenship clearly makes a real contribution to young people's sense of personal and national identities, their cultural awareness and values. The National Curriculum for citizenship requires that pupils are taught about 'the diversity of national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom and the need for mutual respect and understanding' at key stage 3. At key stage 4 they must be taught about 'the origins and implications of diverse national, regional, religious and ethnic identities in the United Kingdom and the need for mutual respect and understanding'. Linking this with teaching about rights, responsibilities and communities and skills of discussion and debate is key to ensuring all young people are given a firm grounding in debates about British culture and values and understanding and tolerance of diversity within the UK as a democratic society. Encouraging schools to create links with work in other subjects that also contribute to these areas (history, geography and RE in particular) should be a priority. Promoting confidence amongst teachers to address and handle sensitive and controversial issues is rightly a key plank of both initial and continuing teacher training.
3 lmF~lementation of 'active' aspects of the curriculum - ie community involvement and involvement in the running of the school 19. Providing pupils with appropriate and effective opportunities to develop citizenship skills and put into practice knowledge and understanding through participation and taking action in school and community based activities, has been a challenge for many schools to organise and manage effectively. This may reflect lack of staff time, resources, expertise or timetable restrictions. There also remains a significant level of misunderstanding about the type of activities that are required. In particular, the skills of enquiry, participation and taking action should be developed in the context of developing citizenship knowledge and understanding as set out in section one of the National Curriculum programme of study.
20. Within the school community there are manageable ways in which opportunities for pupils to take action on real citizenship issues working with different members of the community whilst on the school site. Mock elections are the most frequently mentioned example of this; others include fair trade events, charity fundraising activities, crime and prison awareness days, human rights events, student councils/youth parliament. Volunteering or other activities based in the wider community, increase from 47% at key stage 3 to 55% at key stage 4. This may in part reflect the frequent use of work-related learning by schools. However, the citizenship learning through such opportunities is often not made clear or explicit to pupils. As a minimum pupils would need to plan to analyse what is going on in the work place for example in terms of employment rights and responsibilities, equality and diversity practices, trade union or staff representation, and to make recommendations for change or improvement on the basis of their research.
21. The every child matters agenda should ensure children and young people have opportunities to make a positive contribution to their communities and that the student voice is listened to in schools and settings. The vast majority of secondary schools do have student councils (96%), almost always comprising representatives elected by pupils. Activities that student councils are responsible for include: consulting with pupils on school based issues (88%); and planning and organising school activities such as fundraising for charities (72%). In one third, the student council has a budget, spent at the discretion of pupils on activities such as improving the school environment. However the extent to which all pupils in a school are engaged with and participate in student councils is less clear and the real potential for student councils to play a genuine role in developing citizenship skills and knowledge remain underdeveloped. Proper consultation with children and young people about the services and provision that relate to them will be necessary to ensure the every child matters objectives are demonstrated. The opportunities to use citizenship as a curriculum vehicle for this is not yet well recognised and few links are made between this kind of activity and learning in citizenship subject lessons.
Dissemination of the citizenship curriculum and other DfESIQCA guidance Citizenship publications have been disseminated widely both nationally and internationally with more than 180,000 documents having been despatched by QCA since 1998 as the following table indicates:
Crick report,
1998 28,166
Practice in other countries Last year QCA commissioned the National Foundation for Educational Research to undertake the second international thematic study of citizenship (the first was undertaken in 1999). Delegates from Singapore, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands, Ireland, Canada, Wales, Scotland, the United States and the UK have participated in an international seminar exploring 'active citizenship' in March 2006. Background and issues papers are available from www.incaorci~uk and a final report on this work will be available in the July this year.
4 Coi'tclusions In summary there are considerable opportunities through existing QCA work programmes in particular 11- 19 reform, to ensure citizenship develops with a clear and coherent curriculum and assessment framework and with appropriate opportunities for accreditation through qualifications. Priority should be given to:
· Ensuring the key stage 3 review lays the basis for developing a clear and continuous citizenship curriculum experience for learners 3-19 · Reviewing policy regarding assessment with a view to developing an 8 level scale for citizenship to ensure progression and standards · Promoting curriculum development work to create appropriate and 'sufficient' models following the key stage 3 review and supporting plans for extending CPD opportunities in citizenship · Researching opportunities to ensure citizenship is included in both general and future diploma qualifications and the potential for extended project qualifications.
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