House of Commons - Education and Skills

Select Committee on Education and Skills Written Evidence

Memorandum submitted by The Mayor of London

SUMMARY

1. Citizenship education should be based around a definition of citizenship that has at its core realizing the potential of all citizens no matter what their background. The education should be linked to local community initiatives and reflect how different individuals experience living in Britain and emphasize that difference is a strength.

MAYOR OF LONDON

2. Under the 1999 Greater London Authority Act, the Mayor has a range of specific powers and duties, and a general power to do anything that will promote economic and social development, and environmental improvement, in London.

3. While the Greater London Authority (GLA) is not a direct provider of educational or children's services, education is of vital strategic importance to the GLA's responsibilities for economic development, regeneration and social inclusion. To ensure London's economic development, the employment needs of business require high levels of achievement across the London school system. The quality and future of education are major concerns of the citizens the Mayor represents.

4. The Mayor's Children and Young People's Strategy (CYPS)— Making London Better for All Children and Young People (2004) contains policies and action points for the GLA and functional bodies[26] to better promote children's well-being, inclusion and rights in areas of education alongside social care, health, transport, planning and culture.

5. This evidence paper only responds to the appropriate terms of reference outlined in the Committee's call for evidence where there is a clear link to the Mayor's roles and functions.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION AND CURRENT DEBATES ABOUT IDENTITY AND BRITISHNESS

6. In the GLA's response to Home Office Strength in Diversity[27] the importance of identity and diversity in modern Britain was emphasized. The Department of Constitutional Affairs' (DCA) research study[28] found that students from all year groups associate citizenship more with rights and responsibilities and issues of identity and equality.

7. London is a diverse and cosmopolitan city of people from different backgrounds; its seven million people encompass 14 faiths and 300 languages. Definition of citizenship, therefore, is crucial for London because of its diverse and complex patterns of migration and settlement along with the impact of globalisation. London's demography shows first, second, third generation black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and a transient workforce. Citizenship has some difficult connotations for children of these groups particularly if citizenship is tied up in British citizen status and rights.

8. The Mayor believes it central to the debate that a definition of citizenship is developed. A citizen of London is considered by the Mayor as an individual with rights and responsibilities where their diversity is a strength, they have respect for difference, with a core value of inclusion whatever faith, gender, race, disability or sexuality, everyone should be able to live their lives free from discrimination. The Mayor says "No-one should have any advantage over another except the ones they create for themselves through their talent and hard work".

ROLE OF ALL PUBLIC BODIES IN CITIZENSHIP

9. The Mayor would support the notion that all public bodies should be required to meet a duty of public involvement in their decision and policy-making processes. [29]In terms of children and young people, the Mayor's policy (in his Children and Young People's Strategy) is to "promote the systematic participation of young Londoners in decision-making in all areas of their lives"[30]. The school is and should be a key community resource in the locality and therefore its role should be considered beyond delivering the school curriculum.

IMPLEMENTATION OF "ACTIVE" ASPECTS OF CURRICULUM—IE COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT AND IN THE RUNNING OF THE SCHOOL

10. All schools have a duty to promote race equality and community cohesion through the implementation of the Race Relations Amendment Act (RRAA) 2000. There is a specific duty to take proactive steps to tackle racial discrimination, and promote equality of opportunity and good race relations. Given London's diversity this should be a key component of citizenship education.

11. Schools need to recognize their role as one of the key delivery agencies involved in a range of community initiatives including safer neighborhoods, anti-social behavior plans, community education, and the Government's neighborhood agenda. Schools could also be the home of democracy hubs. The idea developed by the Power Commission to have resource centers based in the community where people can access information and advice and "navigate their way through the democratic system." [31]

12. Developing this role would help schools deliver a more effective citizenship programme within the curriculum. It would also help define the continuity of citizenship education from primary to post-16 education. There needs to be proper capacity building available to schools and for local people to engage in this way.

13. Policy and decision makers that affect lives need to ensure they set up mechanisms, which facilitate engagement with schools and young people. For example:

— The Mayor has set up a Young London Network, with Government Office for London, to better coordinate initiatives and opportunities for young people to have their say and influence London government decision-making.

— The Mayor and London Assembly has developed a highly-popular Schools Information Pack, with over 20,000 requested by London schools.

— The GLA has linked with schools across London, offering tangible resources and activities, and real opportunities for pupils to become active citizens.

These developments are a result of extensive consultation including one thousand children making online questionnaire responses to the Mayor's consultation on his draft Children's Strategy mostly through ICT and citizenship classes. They also support London pupils to meet the DfES London Challenge "Student Pledge" and GLA developments will continue in line with the new "Youth Matters" agenda.

CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION'S POTENTIAL TO CONTRIBUTE TO COMMUNITY COHESION

14. "A well resourced programme of engaging young people in the decision making process affecting their communities should be established" was a key recommendation of the Cantle Report (2001) [33]in relation to addressing "disaffected youth" in several Northern towns which had experienced disorder.

15. The report argued for the production of a Community Cohesion Strategy which should embrace the school citizenship curriculum, so as to ensure a stronger linkage between school-based programmes (and outreach work), the voluntary sector and the various statutory services.

16. In September 2003 in response to the Home Office launch of Community Cohesion Pathfinders the GLA commented:

"It is really important that social or community cohesion is not seen as the next new initiative that overrides or takes precedence over existing initiatives. There is a danger of this as most people are not clear as to what is meant as by social or community cohesion and start to develop special projects in response."

17. Here lies the dilemma, trying to have the debate and discussion with public agencies to ensure there is a common understanding that community cohesion should be an objective of all initiatives and programmes that are operating in diverse communities.

18. Community cohesion should not be seen in isolation but part of a broad palette of policy, funding measures, initiatives and programmes. For the GLA, and this will apply nationally, celebrating diversity and promoting equality are very important for London but are meaningless unless the complex issues and inter-relationship of diversity, equality, disadvantage and exclusion are addressed.

19. This was reinforced in the response to the Home Office consultation on community cohesion, Strength in Diversity (2004), where the Mayor developed the argument:

"London's experience is that the threats to good community relations lie much less in difference between people's own cultural outlooks or values, than in differences between them in their real life-chances, deprivation and shortfalls in local services, combined with a political climate which does more to foster resentment between them than to encourage mutual support and understanding. These are all factors which public policy can and must tackle."

20. The response also highlighted the need to properly understand the extent and complexity of disadvantage and deprivation for London in order to acknowledge the scale of public policy intervention that is required to make any demonstrable change.

21. This understanding of community cohesion should underpin citizenship education across primary, secondary, tertiary and community education sectors.

QUALITY OF CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION

22. Citizenship education is in place and has been linked to civil renewal programme for post-16 education with three elements of active citizenship, strengthened communities and partnerships in meeting public needs.

23. The links need to be further strengthened with other government programmes to ensure all aspects of citizenship, as experienced by different groups, are drawn upon. For example there are already programmes to strengthen local communities such as £525 million to London's 10 New Deal for Communities partnerships. A dimension of this programme should be earmarked for citizenship education so that young people are informed and skilled up to participate more effectively in their communities. In time citizenship education delivered in school will prepare people to be active, involved stakeholders in their communities.

24. More needs to be done to link the theoretical to the lived experience and local action. The Mayor would agree with the finding in the DCA strategy of an implementation gap between the vision of the policy makers, as laid out by the Citizenship Advisory Group and in various curriculum frameworks for citizenship education, and the ability of those in schools and colleges to understand, act upon and own that vision in practice. [34]

25. The Mayor supports the proper training and certification of teachers to deliver citizenship education. There needs to be consistency of quality and delivery of citizenship education from Key Stages 2-4. Ofsted inspections in 2002 found that the implementation of the new subject of citizenship was unsatisfactory in over half the schools inspected. More recent analysis still found the subject was being taught and delivered in different ways and there was very little systematic support or initial in-service training for teachers. [35]Huddleston argues that for citizenship education to be effective and relevant to children and young people so that they become active and engaged in the democratic process there needs to be a paradigm shift[36] in the concept and teaching practices for citizenship. This can only be achieved if teachers are properly trained in citizenship education.

March 2006