Memorandum submitted by CSV
INTRODUCTION
This submission is presented by the Director
of CSV Education for Citizenship, Peter Hayes. CSV had campaigned
for the introduction of citizenship as an essential part of the
curriculum and an entitlement for all pupils and made submissions
to the Speaker's Commission on Citizenship (1989) and to the Crick
Working Group (1998). Dame Elisabeth Hoodless, the Executive Director,
was a member of this Group. When the Association for Citizenship
Teaching (ACT) was inaugurated in 2000, CSV was, and remains,
a founder member. The ACT submission to the Committee has been
shared with CSV and our organisation supports its tenets and conclusions.
CSV contends that citizenship education should
be focused on the experiential and the participative, with young
people facing up to problems in their communities (local and global),
researching and finding the means to solve them, taking positive
action and reflecting upon their achievements. We believe that
what transforms a volunteering experience into one of active citizenship
is the process of reflection. Our aim is that all young people,
having been introduced to citizenship in schools should become
an asset to their communities for the rest of their lives.
CSV Education has been promoting, supporting
and providing resources for active citizenship in schools, colleges
and universities for nearly 40 years. For the past three years
we have produced annual reports on the implementation of citizenship
in secondary schools (from 2002).
TEACHERS' AND
LEADERS' ATTITUDES
TO CITIZENSHIP
EDUCATION
Our reports have shown that there is considerable
support for citizenship among teachers, many feeling that it has
helped to develop links between school and community. They also
think that attitudes towards it have improved since it was first
introduced. 30% of teacher respondents in 2004 thought it had
improved pupils' behaviour, although there is a split view on
the extent to which citizenship has improved levels of achievement
overall. Those who teach it refer to the need for more support,
in particular for finding opportunities for active citizenship
beyond the classroom.
We have a less clear view on school leaders'
attitudes. Anecdotally we are told that successful implementation
of citizenship is highly dependent on support from SMT where they
perceive gains in whole school ethos and learning beyond the intrinsic
value of the subject. It is reported that some leaders do not
see citizenship as a priority area and do not always appreciate
the synergies between the subject and other "new" areas
of the curriculum including enterprise and work-related learning.
INITIAL AND
IN -SERVICE
TRAINING
CSV's has, and continues to contribute to, both
these forms of training. Through a staff member's involvement
with Citized we are making a distinctive input to the cross-curricular
strand of citizenship in ITT. For CPD our Active Citizenship Toolkit
(2000) and its associated training course for teachers and LA
advisers remains popular, and another staff member has worked
with a team piloting certification in the north-west.
From the outset we have noted a serious deficit
in the number of teachers of citizenship being properly trained.
In 2003 we found in 51% of cases that only the citizenship co-ordinator
in schools had been trained and just 8% revealed that the majority
of staff had received training. 37% indicated that they would
like additional training in community involvement. A year later
there was no significant change in the nature of these responses.
CSV believes that for ITT the quality of the
training experience for the 150 or so new trainees each year has
been generally positive and beneficial to schools and that these
are the "expert" citizenship teachers of the future.
The amount of CPD training has been insufficient, due, in large
part, to under-funding and the inability or even unwillingness
of schools to release teachers for training. This may have had
a detrimental effect on the all-round quality of citizenship teaching
and, in some circumstances, on the morale of teachers who feel
under-prepared to teach the subject.
CONTINUITY OF
CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION
BETWEEN PHASES
CSV has not yet researched this area, although
we have a small grant from CfBT to study continuity and progression
in active citizenship between Year 9 and Year 10 in 2006-08 in
10 schools. Our impression is that children at the upper end of
primary have often received positive experiences of citizenship
and many have a well-developed voice for expressing views and
developing active projects based on their ideas and research (cf
the BBC/CSV "Citizen UK" programme at KS2, 2005-06).
There will be particular challenges at secondary level for sustaining
and progressing this momentum, with an overcrowded timetable and
subjects competing for space. It is encouraging that the examining
bodies who offer the GCSE in citizenship studies have placed a
clear emphasis on the active and practical both in coursework
and examinations.
QUALITY OF
CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION
ACROSS THE
FULL RANGE
OF SCHOOLS
CSV is not qualified to provide scientific feedback
in this area although the Barclays New Futures award scheme for
citizenship (1995-2006) has enabled us to gain regular access
to more than 900 secondary schools. Our impression is that overall
quality is patchy, with some excellent and embedded practice at
one extreme and some tentative steps to full provision at the
other. Anecdotally we have observed some effective practice in
faith—notably Roman Catholic—schools whose ethos frequently
provides a foundation on which active citizenship can be built
(eg an expectation of helping and providing support to others
in the public domain. We have been particularly impressed by the
contribution of special schools to innovative practice in citizenship
and some of those we have worked with have given a lead to their
mainstream partners.
CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION'S
POTENTIAL TO
CONTRIBUTE TO
COMMUNITY COHESION
We believe there is enormous potential in this
area and a significant number of schools are already forming effective
partnerships with the private, public and voluntary sectors to
contribute to neighbourhood renewal and regeneration. Young people
through activities, including advocacy and campaigning can tackle
issues including racism, bullying and homophobia. In particular,
active citizenship can be an effective vehicle for intergenerational
working whereby the young work in partnership with their seniors
on ICT projects, community histories etc.
Young people who may be otherwise disengaged
or excluded from the formal education system have often found
an "alternative curriculum" through citizenship by which
they can make a positive contribution and be recognised as a resource,
rather than a liability, to their communities.
It remains incumbent on national and local government,
Local Strategic Partnerships and cross-sector working to ensure
that the glue is provided to join citizenship programmes in schools
with agendas for local cohesiveness and sustainability.
IMPLEMENTATION OF
"ACTIVE" ASPECTS
OF CURRICULUM
CSV champions those aspects of curriculum which
promote opportunities for the student voice, "empowerment"
and community involvement. In addition to training, teachers need
guidance on how to work most effectively with external organisations
to build effective practice of mutual benefit to school and community.
They need additional human resources: since
2003 CSV has been running Teacher Support Teams of community volunteers
who can provide various forms of support to hard-pressed teachers.
They can help to identify opportunities for active citizenship
locally, provide additional support in the classroom to aid groupwork
and, if all health and safety checks are adhered to, work with
groups of young people outside the classroom.
It is vital that schools, with whatever support
is available, "grasp the nettle" of genuine community
action for their pupils. At the moment lack of time for planning,
over-rigid timetables and the fear of litigation cloud the development
of citizenship beyond the classroom. But new opportunities abound,
with Extended Schools and the full range of activities beyond
the school day. Pupils can volunteer to play a major role in these
activities (eg as Sports Leaders) and so develop as active citizens.
RECOMMENDATIONS
1. The issue of CPD should be urgently addressed
with suitable funding from Government and time for teachers to
be released to train and go on to achieve certification and qualifications
in citizenship.
2. Local funding eg through LAs or GOs should
be made available to extend the volunteer Teacher Support Teams
concept nationwide. This will help to support overstretched teachers
and build effective and sustained partnerships between schools
and their communities.
3. Further work should be commissioned on
how schools can best address the entitlement to active citizenship
for all pupils.
4. Schools, with their partners, should
review and extend the scale and range of out of school activities
which are genuinely citizenship and allow for skills development
beyond the classroom.
5. Partnership models for effective citizenship
that combine businesses, schools and the voluntary and community
sectors should be promoted and developed at regional and local
levels.
March 2006
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