Memorandum submitted by the Nuffield Foundation
The Nuffield Foundation is one of the UK's best
known charitable trusts. It was established in 1943 by William
Morris (Lord Nuffield), the founder of Morris Motors.
Lord Nuffield wanted his Foundation to "advance
social well being", particularly through research and practical
experiment. The Foundation aims to achieve this by supporting
work which will bring about improvements in society, and which
is founded on careful reflection and informed by objective and
reliable evidence.
The Nuffield Curriculum Centre aims to explore
new approaches to teaching and learning by developing, managing
and supporting curriculum projects which aim to be innovative,
practical, generalisable and reflective. Increasingly projects
are run in partnership with others.
The main areas of interest at the moment include
Science, Mathematics, Design and Technology and Citizenship.
The Education for Citizenship project has produced
a book for teachers, teacher trainers and beginning teachers entitled
Learning Citizenship: practical teaching strategies for secondary
schools, published by Routledge Falmer in 2005. It continues
a programme of resource development for Citizenship across the
curriculum which involves working with teachers to produce groups
of lessons which embed Citizenship into other subject areas while
maintaining the integrity of the subjects themselves.
In the course of this work, we have observed
that schools which take Citizenship seriously—or have a
"Citizenship Culture" tend to have an environment in
which young people thrive and succeed. This hypothesis is now
the subject of reseach. In light of this, the project is working
with the National College of School Leadership to organise an
online "Hotseat" staffed by head teachers—for
head teachers.
1. TEACHERS'
AND LEADERS'
ATTITUDES TO
CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION;
WORKLOAD IMPLICATIONS
1(a) Teachers' and leaders' attitudes demonstrate
the full range of responses from enthusiasm to burdensome. A growing
number of teachers and head teachers are, however, realising that
the development of active citizenship and increased participation
gives students a greater sense of ownership of their school and
the local community. There is some evidence from a small research
study that the development of a "Citizenship Culture"
and participation can lead to higher attainment. Research evidence
is currently limited but further work is underway to discover
whether there is an empirical link.
1(b) A key area of weakness lies in schools
where the subject is dealt with by class tutors who often lack
expertise or interest and find that their workload has increased
as a result. Ofsted has reported that this strategy leads to lower
performance.
1(c) Many teachers are not trained to deal
with controversial issues and uncomfortable when doing so. In
some subjects there is usually a "right" answer. In
Citizenship this is unusual. Young people hold a variety of views
and they should be encouraged to question and develop a rationale
for their own and other people's ideas. There is a need for training
to support the discussion of controversial issues.
1(d) School leaders must be committed to
the development of the subject and give it a clearly defined role
in the curriculum if it is to succeed, as Ofsted discovered from
inspection.
2. IN -SERVICE
TRAINING
2(a) In many schools there is a need for
in-service training. There are few "experts" in the
field and even those who have been trained as Citizenship teachers
come from backgrounds which contributes to the programme of study
rather than covering all of it.
2(b) Instead of sending teachers on courses,
the outcomes would be much more powerful if teachers were given
time in school to work together, with support, to develop strategies
and materials that met the needs of their schools and their students.
Schools vary greatly and a controversial issue in one is an abstract
concept in another so approaches need to be developed to meet
the needs of the locality. Diversity is an example of the need
for different approaches as students' experiences vary according
to the nature of their communities. Advanced Skills Teachers,
are in a strong position to assist in such developments as they
are familiar with the local community and the mix of the student
population.
2(c) The number of places for PGCE students
training to become citizenship teachers is being reduced in line
with national policy as the school age community declines. Although
the reduction is less than in some other subject area, there is
already an inadequate supply of trained citizenship teachers so
it would seem logical to retain the current number of places.
3. ROLE OF
LOCAL AUTHORITIES
IN SUPPORTING
SCHOOL STAFF
In many parts of the country, LA staff offer
strong support. In Swindon, for example, the Citizenship advisor
organises regular meetings which, despite being at 4 pm on Friday,
are very well attended. Good practice and information are willingly
shared among teachers in the borough. Many are, however, overstretched
and are unable to over the degree of support necessary to develop
the teaching skills of teachers with no Citizenship training.
4. CONTINUITY
OF CITIZENSHIP
EDUCATION BETWEEN
PRIMARY, 11-16 AND
POST-COMPULSORY
STAGES
4(a) There is a lack of coherence from stage
to stage, partly because the subject is not statutory in primary
schools and is integrated into PSHE rather than made distinct.
There are hotspots of excellent, innovative work in primary schools
but this is not general. As a result students arrive at secondary
schools having had very different experiences and have a variety
of expectations of their new schools.
4(b) The absence of statutory citizenship
in the post-compulsory stage often means that A level students
are unwilling to participate because it appears to be an added
burden in a heavily examined two year period. Greater participation
occurs on a range of other courses where students are involved
effectively in a wide range of activities.
4(c) In the post-compulsory phase, citizenship
has been used effectively as a core for courses which aim to attract
young people, who have failed at school for a wide range of reasons,
back into education. Kingston College's Pathfinder course is one
example of the use if citizenship to restore young people's confidence
particularly through active participation. These students are
often following a GCSE course in the subject.
5. QUALITY OF
CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION
ACROSS THE
FULL RANGE
OF SCHOOLS,
INCLUDING FAITH
SCHOOLS
This is not a focus of work at Nuffield but
in my role as Chair of Examiners for Citizenship Studies at Edexcel,
I have observed that high quality work is appearing from across
the range of schools. Faith schools, however, tend to submit internal
assessment which has been teacher led rather than genuinely student
focused.
6. RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN CITIZENSHIP
EDUCATION AND
CURRENT DEBATES
ABOUT IDENTITY
AND BRITISHNESS
At its best, citizenship education focuses on
aspects of identity that people have in common and can therefore
help to bridge the divide between communities. Students explore
identities and develop a concept of Britishness, which aims to
incorporate the current ethnic and religious mix across the country.
7. CITIZENSHIP
EDUCATION'S
POTENTIAL TO
CONTRIBUTE TO
COMMUNITY COHESION
7(a) Active citizenship can be a useful
technique for developing community cohesion, particularly when
used on a larger scale than the individual school. There are examples
of students being brought together for on Citizen's Day which
was held in a range of cities across the country in October 2005.
Other smaller scale events have encouraged students from diverse
backgrounds to share their cultures in order to bring about greater
understanding.
7(b) Edexcel's GCSE short course expects
young people to be able to argue a case from more than one point
of view. This training encourages them to develop the ability
to see issues from more than one point of view, a skill which
many adults find difficult to understand or acquire. There are
clear links to the development of an understanding of the perspectives
of others in a community.
8. IMPLEMENTATION
OF "ACTIVE"
ASPECTS OF
CURRICULUM—IE
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
AND INVOLVEMENT
IN THE
RUNNING OF
THE SCHOOL
8(a) Active aspects of the curriculum provide
students with a strong sense of involvement and ownership which
can enhance commitment to the school, the community and learning.
The use of effective school councils, with democratic participation
and implementation of the decisions, encourages young people to
feel that they can make a difference. Schools are finding that
there is a link to attainment when students develop these skills
of participation. Chamberlayne Park School in Southampton and
Deansfield School in Wolverhampton have both benefited from student
participation in the running of the school and activities in the
local community.
8(b) Outcomes from Edexcel's GCSE course
demonstrate how participation can impact on students from the
full range of schools, including pupil referral units. There is
currently debate about the role of coursework/internal assessment
in GCSEs. It clearly has a strong part to play in such courses
which could become arid unless students have opportunities to
put theirs skills into practice. It can be argued that because
participation is important, teachers would include it in their
teaching. This is unlikely to occur as there is always pressure
on time and resources. Unless it is a necessary part of the exam,
it will not occur. Ofsted have said that the subject is taught
to a higher standard when students are on GCSE courses so it would
be unfortunate to undermine the current success.
9. DESIGN OF
CITIZENSHIP CURRICULUM
AND APPROPRIATENESS
OF OTHER
DFES GUIDANCE
9(a) The programmes of study for KS3 and
4 are very open ended which reduces possible coherence. This was
deliberate from the inception of the subject but has led to uncertainty
about what should be taught. This works well in the hands of experts
and enthusiasts but can leave practitioners with little training
in the subject confused. "How the economy functions, including
the role of business and financial services" is a case in
point. Because teachers are uncertain about the coverage of a
topic as broad as this, they often leave it out completely. Many
text books ignore it too or treat it in a traditional way, reminiscent
of an old O level economics course! As Citizenship has now been
in place for three years, it is time to review the programmes
and define the content more carefully.
9(b) Schemes of work were also developed
to support teachers when the subject became statutory. They are
in need of revision. Many are far too extensive in light of the
time that is devoted to Citizenship. Teachers are left feeling
uneasy because they cannot allocate enough time to each topic.
9(c) Much of the support work provided by
QCA is excellent. Teachers would benefit from more of it, particularly
to support the active aspects of the subject.
10. PRACTICE
IN OTHER
COUNTRIES
At a recent Volonteurope conference delegates,
who are involved in organisation which work with volunteers were
very envious of the UK's commitment to active participation through
citizenship. It seemed rare across other European countries.
March 2006
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