Appendix 1
Education and Skills Select Committee Report on
Citizenship Education: The Government's Response
The Select Committee's recommendations are in bold
text.
The Government's response is in plain text.
Some of the recommendations and responses have been
grouped.
1. As has been argued by many during the course
of our inquiry, citizenship education is about more than knowledge—it
is a skill which can be developed and applied only through active
participation. At their best, good citizenship education programmes
clearly involve whole school action—including engagement
with the local, national and global communities, and the exploration
of new, more participative forms of school or college management.
The Government welcomes the recognition given by
the Committee to the importance and value of active participation.
This reinforces the commitment in Youth Matters: Next Steps
to the principles of active citizenship and the benefits that
both young people and their local communities can derive from
this sort of activity.
The Government's endorsement of the Russell Commission
report on a national framework for youth action and engagement
has seen the establishment of the "v" project
to implement the recommendations, and the commitment of up to
£150 million of public and private funding to provide quality
volunteering opportunities for young people.
In the context of citizenship education, the DfES
will continue to encourage schools to adopt the Active Citizens
in Schools programme, which provides resources and materials
for them to establish active participation schemes that link to
the citizenship curriculum. It has also embarked upon a 2 year
pilot to establish formal peer mentoring schemes in secondary
schools. This will see many pupils taking their first steps in
active participation by supporting their peers through a range
of issues that they have to face. The evaluation of the pilot,
due to be published in March 2008, will provide information to
enable schools to make informed decisions about implementing similar
schemes.
2. It is too early to say with any degree of confidence
whether citizenship education is producing the wide range of impacts
originally hoped for. Initial evidence from small-scale studies
and the experience of individual institutions is promising but
on its own not enough. A large-scale study is being undertaken
by the National Foundation for Educational Research to look specifically
at this issue. This project needs continued strong support from
the Government and a sustained involvement and progress reports
from Ofsted.
The Department will continue to fund the National
Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) lead Citizenship Education
Longitudal Study. This study began in 2001 and is tracking a cohort
of young people from age 11 to 18, who entered secondary school
in September 2002 and became the first students to have a statutory
entitlement to citizenship education. So far, the study has published
four annual reports, with a fifth report due this summer. Its
findings will continue to inform policy decisions.
In addition, Ofsted will continue to monitor citizenship
education through focussed visits to a sample of schools.
3. As far as we are aware, there is currently
no research underway to examine the links between citizenship
education and general attainment; we recommend that the DfES should
remedy this.
The Government recognises that Citizenship education
has a range of positive impacts, which may include improved educational
attainment.
In July 2006 the National Foundation for Educational
Research (NFER) published a report called Exploring the link
between pupil participation and pupil attainment at school level.
The analysis revealed links between pupil attainment and participation
in the school and wider community, in extra curricular activities,
and political participation.
It is difficult to prove conclusively a link between
citizenship education and general attainment, since schools that
are pre-disposed to provide good citizenship education are also
likely to provide other types of support for pupils, which contribute
to educational attainment.
The NFER lead Citizenship Education Longitudal Study
will continue to measure and evaluate the extent to which effective
practice in citizenship education develops in schools.
4. The Government has indicated that it accepts
Sir Keith Ajegbo's recommendation for the development of a fourth
strand of the citizenship curriculum. We support his proposals
that many different aspects of British social, cultural and indeed
political history should be used as points of entry in the citizenship
curriculum to engage students in discussing the nature of citizenship
and its responsibility in 21st century Britain.
The Government welcomes the Committee's support for
the inclusion of 'Identity and Diversity: Living Together in the
UK' into the secondary curriculum for citizenship education. We
have asked the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) to
include this new element into the revised programmes of study
for citizenship education on which they are currently consulting
as part of the broader secondary curriculum review. The new programmes
of study will be available to schools from September 2007 for
teaching from September 2008.
5. Such coverage should rightly touch on what
is distinctive in the inheritance and experience of contemporary
Britain and the values of our society today. But it should not
be taken to imply an endorsement of any single explanation of
British values or history. Indeed, it should emphasise the way
in which those values connect to universal human rights, and recognise
that critical and divergent perspectives, as well as the potential
to have alternative and different layers of identity, are a central
part of what contemporary Britishness is.
The Government agrees with Sir Keith Ajegbo's view
that we should not prescribe a single version of British history
or values. However, the Government's view, which is reflected
in the revised secondary curriculum programmes of study, is that
in the UK, we share certain values such as freedom, respect and
understanding within a just and democratic society.
It is important that schools are able to discuss
these and other values, the role they play in shaping identities
and how they can link into a wider discussion about universal
human rights. This is not about prescription, but rather about
engaging young people in open discussions about identity and what
it means in live in the UK.
6. We recommend that the National College of School
Leadership be more closely involved in engaging with these changes
and in incorporating the challenges of citizenship education in
its training programmes and other initiatives.
The Government recognises the importance of engaging
school leaders and managers in improving the quality and provision
of citizenship education.
The DfES is working with the National College for
School Leadership (NCSL) and Ofsted to run a seminar for school
leaders to explore successful methods of citizenship provision
and the possible role of consultant leaders as champions for citizenship
within the NCSL.
DfES is also working with the Association for Citizenship
Teaching (ACT) and NCSL to highlight with school leaders the 'whole
school' benefits of citizenship education and the NCSL and the
TDA are currently developing plans around further support for
school leaders in the crucial area of extended services in schools.
7. The issue of identities and belonging can be
challenging and sensitive for students and teachers alike; meaningful
and productive discussions are more likely to take place if teachers
have appropriate training in this area.
As the Government takes forward the recommendations
of the Ajegbo report, it will be crucial that it develops concrete
plans as to how it will equip those teachers and lecturers to
deal with the teaching of these often challenging issues on the
ground.
As part of the revised curriculum for citizenship
education, we expect schools to tackle sensitive issues through
meaningful and productive discussions with young people. As Sir
Keith Ajegbo notes, many teachers around the country are already
comfortable addressing issues of identity and diversity in schools,
but we acknowledge that some teachers will need additional support.
There will be subject-specific support for schools
to deliver the revised secondary curriculum, which will be made
available from autumn 2007 through the Subject Associations and
will include face to face training events and web based guidance,
building on examples of best practice.
We will adapt the citizenship continuing professional
development programme to reflect the new curriculum. This programme
is supported by a financial bursary for teachers taking up the
offer and gives teachers practical support in the delivery of
the programmes of study. There is also guidance on the teaching
of controversial issues in the citizenship CPD handbook Making
Sense of Citizenship. Two free copies of this handbook were
sent to all secondary schools in England.
In addition the Historical Association, with support
from the DfES, has recently published a report that explores the
opportunities, constraints and effective practice in education
for teaching emotive or sensitive issues. The premise of
the report is that there is widespread recognition that the way
many past events are perceived and understood can stir emotions
and controversy within and across communities.
8. We recommend that far more use is made of the
opportunities provided by activities outside the classroom—as
well as discrete events such as Holocaust Memorial Day or this
year's commemorations of the 200th anniversary of the abolition
of the slave trade—to stimulate this.
The Government is committed to supporting
schools in providing high quality learning outside the classroom
experiences across the curriculum through the Learning Outside
the Classroom Manifesto Partnership launched in November
2006. To deliver the aims of the manifesto, the DfES is taking
a range of measures including the development of a new
'Out and About' package of training and guidance that will support
teachers in delivering high quality, safely managed, low
paperwork visits and events. There will also be a new, independent Learning
Outside the Classroom Council that will bring together providers
from the public, private and voluntary sectors, to help co-ordinate
the wide range of programmes and activities that already exist
and to deliver the wider aims of the manifesto.
Many schools already use discrete events outside
the classroom to enhance teaching and learning within citizenship
education. However, the choice of activities is for
schools to determine according to local needs and school priorities. The
DfES reminds schools about key dates in the calendar through electronic
updates, via Teachers TV and magazine and suggests ways that they
might support teaching and learning.
9. The imperative now is to ensure that patchiness
is not allowed to remain, that high quality provision becomes
the norm, and that progress is accelerated. This will require
action from those on the ground, but also needs strong support
from the DfES and Ministers.
10. There is an enduring risk that in a minority
of cases, schools could be adopting a passive approach to citizenship
education, believing no action needs to be taken as they are doing
it anyway. The DfES has a role to play here in driving home the
message that what is important is a systematic and explicit—as
well as comprehensive—approach to citizenship education.
DfES Ministers and Government as a whole remain firmly
committed to improving the quality of citizenship education. We
are paying close attention to monitoring reports from QCA and
Ofsted and funding the NFER Citizenship Education Longitudal Study
to inform future policy.
We are training over 200 new specialist citizenship
teachers every year and developing the skills of existing teachers
through a continuing professional development programme, with
600 places available in both 2006-07 and 2007-08. DfES has also
published a dedicated handbook for citizenship education entitled
Making Sense of Citizenship, provided two free copies to
all secondary schools in England and supported a national dissemination
effort to provide training on its use.
DfES continues to fund The Association for Citizenship
Teaching (ACT), which was established in 2003 and continues to
provide a focus for professional development amongst teachers
and advice, training and support for schools.
The QCA is developing a new full GCSE in citizenship
studies to compliment the existing short course GCSE (which is
the fastest growing GCSE in schools), which will be available
by 2009 and a new A level qualification, which will be available
from 2008.
These actions represent a significant investment
of time and effort in the development of citizenship education.
11. We believe it is very important that faith
schools recognise their specific responsibility to make space
in their studies for the discussion of what citizenship means
in a diverse and pluralist 21st century Britain and to examine
openly the differences and differing views that come with this,
in the context of mutual respect and human rights, and that it
requires a more explicit approach than simply asserting that an
overall ethos of citizenship permeates the school and its curriculum.
Schools with a religious designation must teach citizenship
according to the statutory programmes of study. This is inspected
by Ofsted in the normal way. While the Government recognises that
there will be circumstances where issues in citizenship education
touch on or deal directly with issues of faith and belief which
may relate to the religious commitment of specific pupils, Ofsted
has told us that faith schools are generally well equipped to
deal with the sensitivities involved in such discussions.
We know that the providers of maintained faith schools
take the requirements of maintained status seriously and that
they are committed to promoting integration and mutual respect.
The new duty on all maintained schools to promote community cohesion
makes explicit in legislation the contribution that many faith
schools already make to enable their pupils to learn with, from
and about those from different backgrounds. We are also working
closely with the faith providers to agree a shared vision statement
on the contribution of faith schools to the school system and
to society .
12. Most witnesses agreed that solely cross-curricular
approaches to citizenship education are likely to be insufficient—as
one of our witnesses pointed out, "everywhere often can be
nowhere". Ofsted makes this clear in their subject reports,
but stops short of prescribing one particular delivery model.
We understand schools' concerns about where time is to be found
in the curriculum. The case for more overt prescription in terms
of models of provision has not yet been made, but this does not
preclude sending a clear message to schools about what is working
best on the ground, and why. Ofsted should continue to monitor
closely the development of citizenship studies in schools and
particularly in the light of the implementation of the Ajegbo
recommendations and their resource and teaching implications.
13. In respect of the active, participative dimensions
of citizenship education, and adopting a "whole school"
approach, we think there is a greater role for the DfES to play
in disseminating best practice examples and case-studies. This
should capitalise on the experience of those schools which have
found space in the curriculum for creating "active"
citizenship opportunities, and those which have allowed young
people a real say in institutional management. The links with
Every Child Matters' focus on designing services
around the needs of young people, with their input, should be
stressed.
The Government believes that it is schools themselves
who are best placed to decide how to deliver citizenship education
for their pupils. Different schools will have different approaches
and while there is evidence that citizenship is taught best through
discrete provision with dedicated curriculum time, with strong
leadership from a committed head teacher or dedicated specialist
teacher, a cross curricular approach can be equally effective.
The Association of Citizenship Teaching (ACT) exemplifies
and disseminates best practice within the subject area, by publishing
case studies from schools in its journal Teaching Citizenship,
highlighting best practice on its website and actively promoting
such work at its local and national events, through workshops
and by encouraging teachers to share their experiences, resources
and activities. ACT also publishes exemplar lessons and activities
about active participation on its website for teachers to download.
These were designed along with partners in the field, for example
the English Secondary Students Association.
Ofsted monitors citizenship education as part of
its subject survey programme and visits up to 30 secondary schools
each year. Additionally, in whole school inspections Ofsted inspectors
are asked to check that statutory requirements are met, using
citizenship as a possible case study. In addition, the citizenship
education self evaluation tool for secondary schools, developed
by the DfES in association with ACT for use by the National College
for School Leadership, has proven to be very helpful to inspectors
as well as schools in identifying gaps in provision and planning
for improvement.
14. We warmly welcome the Government's practical
support for school councils to date, including through the funding
it provides to School Councils UK for the provision of materials
and other development work. There is scope for information about
schools with effective, innovative councils to be made more widely
known. As in other respects concerning the sharing of best practice
on citizenship education, supporting organisations (including
the DfES) have a fine balance to maintain between the potential
merits of offering "replicable models" to assist schools
who have perhaps made little progress to date, and the potential
risk of implying "one size fits all" approaches that
may be entirely inappropriate in certain contexts. It would be
undesirable to give the impression that a certain "model"
could just be adopted and implemented in a school, giving end-users
(students) little say in the design of the council. This needs
to be stressed alongside any support materials or exemplars that
are offered. It is important to situate councils within the wider
citizenship education programme, and to ensure participation and
ownership among the whole school population—not just an
elite group.
15. Subject to the findings of the Institute of
Education review, we recommend that the Government makes school
councils compulsory. The Government should, however, resist the
temptation to define tightly what form they should take—as
this is likely to add little and may even be counter-productive.
16. The Government should look at how training
for students can best be supported to give them the skills to
participate fully.
The Government values the impact that the existence
of a good school council can have on the school as a whole and
on the pupils as individuals.
School Councils UK, with support and funding from
the DfES, has established an online network which allows schools
and their councils to talk to each other and share good practice.
This sophisticated on-line tool provides an opportunity for schools
to find examples of good practice, both close to their own location
as well as nationally. In addition, the site provides free downloadable
resources to help schools improve the effectiveness of their councils.
We believe that it is important that schools have
the flexibility to decide how they engage pupils in the ways which
best suit their needs. Schools are obliged to have regard to guidance
issued by the DfES on pupil participation and in 2004 we issued
Working Together, Giving children and young people a say,
which suggests ways in which schools can involve pupils in decision
making.
The School Councils UK handbook for students exists
as an excellent training resource for members of school councils,
providing them with guidance and encouragement to help them understand
their role.
The DfES has commissioned Professor Geoff Whitty
and Emma Wisby at the Institute of Education to conduct a review
of school councils. We expect the report to be published in early
summer and will await its findings before making any changes to
the requirements surrounding school councils.
17. The DfES needs to issue further guidance to
local authorities about citizenship education.
The Government recognises the need to further engage
local authorities in good citizenship education and particularly
in the benefits of active citizenship for communities. We will
be working to strengthen our network of local authority advisers
in the coming year, through more regular communication and dissemination
of relevant materials and guidance.
In addition to the Working Together, Giving children
and young people a say guidance mentioned above, we have made
available copies of the citizenship CPD handbook Making Sense
of Citizenship, which has been used successfully by local
authorities to share best practice amongst their schools, and
QCA schemes of work.
18. One area of considerable agreement in the
evidence we have received has been the need to disaggregate PSHE
and citizenship education at the conceptual level, even if it
often makes sense for citizenship education and PSHE to be delivered
in tandem, particularly at the primary stage. Schools do best
when they see citizenship as a separate subject.
The Government believes that it is appropriate for
PSHE and citizenship to be taught as part of a joint framework
in primary schools, where many of the issues, skills and processes
within the two subjects are shared. They are, however, recognised
as subjects in their own right.
The school self-evaluation tool for PSHE and citizenship
in primary schools (produced by Association for Citizenship Teaching
and funded by the DfES) helps school leaders to chart the development
of PSHE and citizenship as individual subject areas, while appreciating
where links between the two can be beneficial and tie in with
other programmes, such as Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning
(SEAL).
At secondary level, there are clear distinctions
within the curriculum between PSHE and citizenship, defined by
their programmes of study.
We have recently set up a new subject association
for PSHE to raise its status, quality and impact within schools.
Along with the Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT), the
new PSHE subject association will seek to highlight the importance
of disaggregating the two subjects in teachers' minds. The two
associations plan to hold a joint event later this year, to help
teachers distinguish between the two subject experiences, particularly
those who are responsible for delivering both subjects.
19. Since we took evidence, the DfES has confirmed
that it will continue to provide funding for the post-16 citizenship
support programme. We welcome this commitment and hope that DfES
will look at how further developments, including the Ajegbo recommendations,
can be integrated into this programme.
The Quality Improvement Agency, which assumed responsibility
for the Post-16 citizenship Support Programme in April 2006, will
ensure that it continues to communicate current citizenship issues (including
diversity) and promote best practice in how they might be
addressed within institutions. The programme has played a
leading role in promoting young people's understanding of and
positive attitudes towards diversity. It is well-placed
to help post-16 learners build upon the enhanced focus on diversity
within the National Curriculum, following the recommendations
of Sir Keith Ajegbo's review.
20. What is currently absent at the national level
is a truly lifelong citizenship education strategy—which
joins up primary, secondary, tertiary, adult education and training.
Worthwhile activity is happening in all these phases of education
yet it is hard to see these activities—particularly those
in further, higher and adult education—as belonging to a
coherent programme, with common aims and purposes. It will be
vital that the lifelong strategy is developed in co-operation
with other Government departments active in the citizenship arena—and
in particular, the Home Office and the Department for Constitutional
Affairs.
Collaboration forms a key part of our approach to citizenship
education policy. For example, the Post-16 Citizenship Support
Programme provided best practice models which informed the
creation of the Adult Learning for Active Citizenship network.
We maintain close links at official level across and between Departments
and meet regularly with key partners outside of government.
We recognise the need for more coherence and will
continue to work to forge new links and to strengthen existing
working relationships with other Government Departments.
21. In the medium term there is a very strong
case for increasing -substantially the number of Initial Teacher
Training (ITT) places for those who want to specialise in citizenship
education. In the short term, no further cuts in the annual number
of places available should be made. These actions would send a
strong signal about the seriousness with which citizenship education
is viewed. In tandem, there needs to be a campaign to encourage
schools and colleges to employ ITT graduates in citizenship posts.
This campaign needs to convey the expectation that all secondary
schools should have a fully trained citizenship teacher in post.
Consideration should be given to what incentives and support need
to be offered so that schools are willing and able to fulfil this
expectation.
Since the introduction of citizenship education in
2002, we have made around 1000 initial teacher training places
available and, in the current year, there are over 200. There
are already over 60 Advanced Skills Teachers in citizenship who
spend 20% of their time working with other schools to improve
their provision, which includes giving advice to other teachers
less experienced in the subject.
We will be working in the coming year to highlight
the importance and benefits of citizenship education to head teachers
and the value of having a specialist trained citizenship teacher
in the school. If demand for citizenship teachers increases,
the DfES will respond accordingly using the teacher supply model
to consider the consequence of increasing the number of ITT places
available in citizenship. Two of the important factors that
provide input to the model are the level of demand in particular
subjects and anticipated pupil numbers in the survey period. During
the next few years secondary rolls are expected to fall significantly
and training places for all subjects will need to be allocated
accordingly.
22. We welcome the expansion of the Continuing
Professional Development (CPD) citizenship certificate programme,
which responds to a clear need from within the existing school
workforce, and seems to indicate the start of a more co-ordinated,
national strategy. Our main concern is that the level of skill
and knowledge that can be gained through the equivalent of five
days' training is in no way comparable to that likely to be gained
in the course of a full-year ITT course. A primarily CPD based
approach would not be considered as appropriate for teachers of
other statutory secondary subjects (such as maths) and we cannot
see why it should be so in the case of citizenship. While CPD
is crucial, it should not be allowed to serve as the main developmental
route for citizenship education.
The continuing professional development certificate
(CPD) in citizenship education is neither designed nor intended
to be a replacement for initial teacher training (ITT). As stated
in previous answers, we are training more than 200 new specialist
teachers each year through our ITT programmes. However, given
that citizenship is a recently introduced subject, in many cases
it is being delivered by skilled teachers already in the workforce
that have taken on citizenship as a new responsibility since 2002.
These professionals are already equipped with the skills to plan
and deliver high quality lessons and in many cases have relevant
experience of the subject matter, through a background in a related
subject, for example history, geography or social sciences.
The CPD programme, run centrally by the DfES in partnership
with higher education institutions across the country, non-government
organisations, the Learning and Skills Network and local authorities,
requires teachers to meet the standards for teaching citizenship
in schools, with a particular focus on imparting knowledge and
understanding of the subject area. The 5 day course is also supported
by self study, undertaken by the participants in their own time
and CPD handbook Making Sense of Citizenship. We are making
available 600 places a year available in 2006-07 and 2007-08.
The DfES does not routinely provide central funding
for teachers' professional development, as extra funding is now
made available directly to schools, which enables them to take
decisions about what professional development best meets their
and their teachers' needs. As citizenship education is a recently
introduced subject, this extra training been made available to
teachers as additional support for those new to the subject area.
23. We have received evidence of some effective
practice in primary schools—for example, in Hampshire. We
are nevertheless concerned that trainee primary teachers following
the PGCE route may not have the opportunity to cover citizenship
education in adequate depth, given the intensiveness of the course
and the number of other areas which have to be covered. If this
is indeed the case, there is a risk that new teachers entering
the profession are starting out with only limited awareness of
what it means and what it can offer. More generally, there is
a risk that an opportunity to make citizenship education an integral
part of the curriculum in all primary schools is being missed.
The DfES, working with the Training and Development Agency and
Ofsted (which inspects teacher training), needs to assess the
priority currently being given to citizenship education on primary
PGCE courses, and to consider whether any remedial action is needed
in this regard.
There is no prescribed curriculum for initial teacher
training (ITT) that sets out how much time must be spent on each
subject within a primary ITT course. The current requirements
for ITT require providers to ensure that their courses are designed
to enable their trainees to demonstrate they have met all the
standards for qualified teacher status (QTS). Regarding subject
knowledge, the revised standards for QTS will require trainees
to:
- Have a secure knowledge and
understanding of their subjects/curriculum areas and related pedagogy
to enable them to teach effectively across the age and ability
range for which they are trained; and
- Know and understand the relevant statutory and
non-statutory curricula, frameworks, including those provided
through the National Strategies, for their subjects/curriculum
areas, and other relevant initiatives applicable to the age and
ability range for which they are trained.
The TDA works closely with Ofsted in developing the
quality and appropriateness of ITT and will continue to collaborate
on this and other issues.
The TDA funds the Citizenship Subject Resource
Network www.citized.info which is designed for use by ITT trainers
and trainees and provides conferences, seminars, workshops, research
papers and practical resources for teaching citizenship. This
contains a primary strand which has over 400 resources and a dissemination
strategy is in place to ensure take up of this website by trainers
and trainees. The TDA also funds an ITT professional resource
network (IPRN) in diversity: www.multiverse.ac.uk which again
contains resources relevant to primary initial teacher training.
24. We would welcome a clear statement from the
National College for School Leadership on what it is currently
doing to ensure heads are sufficiently aware of citizenship's
whole school implications, and specifically through its 'leading
from the middle' and 'National Professional Qualification for
Headship' training courses.
The NCSL is fully aware of the importance and implications
of citizenship education and has regard to citizenship in all
its programmes and activities. The College undertakes a continuous
process to update programmes and to ensure that they remain fit
for purpose. Currently, there is a review being undertaken of
the National Professional Qualification for Headship, which involves
extensive consultation, with a range of stakeholders, including
Sir Keith Ajegbo. The revised programme is planned for 2008.
The DfES continues to work closely with Sir Keith
Ajegbo to disseminate his experience of adopting a whole school
approach to citizenship. Until last year, Sir Keith was head teacher
of Deptford Green School and his expertise in this area will be
invaluable in convincing school leaders of the benefits citizenship
can bring, not just in the classroom, but to the whole school.
We anticipate working closely with the NCSL on this
work. Next month a group of head teachers and their citizenship
teachers are being brought together to ensure that best practice
is shared most effectively.
25. Currently, there is little concrete evidence
about the consistency or scale of teaching on issues—such
as homosexuality or abortion—which are considered problematic
or controversial by some. Schools should be positively encouraged
and supported in looking at ways to incorporate such discussion
both into their lessons and other out of-lesson citizenship activities
as part of the acknowledgement and acceptance of diversity and
difference. The DfES needs to make this expectation clear—and
look at the support and guidance it provides to enable teachers
to meet it.
The Government is clear that schools should not shy
away from teaching about, or encouraging debate on, issues which
might be seen as controversial or sensitive. Debate and discussion
of such issues can be stimulating and add value to pupils' learning.
There is guidance for teachers on the teaching of
"controversial" issues in the citizenship CPD handbook
Making Sense of Citizenship and further guidance is available
on the QCA website. The specific issues of homosexuality and abortion
are issues covered by DfES guidance issued to head teachers, chairs
of governors and local authorities.
26. Balancing the need to ensure faster progress
with the need to avoid overt prescription, thus risking stifling
innovation and local appropriateness, is very difficult. Too prescriptive
an approach on citizenship education could result in schools and
other settings being formulaic and box-ticking, but Government
should look seriously at how QCA and others speed development.
As we have noted throughout this report, we see a much greater
role for the DfES—along with partner agencies—in terms
of sharing best practice on what other schools have found to work;
of particular use would be access to whole-school "case studies"
explaining the approach that other institutions have taken, and
the reasons they have pursued that approach.
The Government recognises the value of sharing best
practice and providing access to case studies showcasing effective
citizenship education. DfES provides practitioners with up to
date information and resources through a regular email newsletter.
The Association of Citizenship Teaching (ACT) exemplifies
and disseminates best practice within the subject area, by publishing
case studies from schools in its journal Teaching Citizenship,
highlighting best practice on its website and actively promoting
such work at its local and national events, through workshops
and by encouraging teachers to share their experiences, resources
and activities. ACT also publishes exemplar lessons and activities
about active participation on its website for teachers to download.
27. Several Government departments have legitimate
interests in citizenship education, broadly defined. However,
it is not always clear that they are working to the same ends,
nor that they are working in a truly collaborative way. Rather
than just issuing a commitment to work together, we ask the Government
to tell us what practical steps it intends to take to ensure greater
co-ordination between the departments with responsibilities in
this area—and in particular, between the DfES, Home Office,
the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Department for
Culture, Media and Sport. We would also like the Government to
undertake a review to explicitly identify areas of overlap and
complementarity in existing policies across departments.
The Government recognises that there are areas of
citizenship education which hold an interest for more than one
Government department. The DfES has organised cross-Government
seminars for practitioners, focusing on areas of particular interest,
for example the joint DfES/Home Office seminar Working Together
for a Common Purpose: The Role of Community Involvement within
Citizenship Education for Young People.
We will undertake to examine the effectiveness of
relationships with other Government Departments and will consider
the possibility of a cross-departmental group, if the need for
one is identified, and will seek to hold more cross-Government
seminars on issues of cross-cutting interest.
28. At the time of its introduction, citizenship
education enjoyed strong personal support from Ministers. This
was crucial to its establishment and acceptance as a discipline.
Four years, however, have passed since then and we are concerned
about the potential for a waning of interest at a stage when much
of the hard work in terms of implementation still remains to be
done. To some, citizenship education's aims, objectives and methods
remain opaque, and difficult to grasp. There is a need for a clear
public narrative on what citizenship education is setting out
to achieve, and why it is considered important.
29. We consider that the level and consistency
of Ministerial attention to citizenship education needs to be
increased—and that Ministers need to be publicly seen to
be engaged in this agenda. One way of doing this would be to revisit
the decision to remove Ministerial representation from the citizenship
education working party. Such a move would send out an unambiguous
message regarding the seriousness with which citizenship is taken,
at the highest levels.
Ministers remain resolutely committed to citizenship
education, as evidenced by the programme of work being undertaken
in this area described during this response.
Sir Keith Ajegbo has recently completed a significant
review of citizenship in the curriculum and has helped to define
a new role for citizenship education in schools. Ministers are
continuing to work closely with Sir Keith to take forward his
recommendations.
The Government appreciates the many and wide-ranging
benefits that citizenship education can bring to schools and to
individuals and Ministers remain dedicated to realising those
benefits in all schools.
We welcome this Report from the Select Committee,
which will further raise the profile of citizenship education
and highlight its importance for schools.
30. As well as providing development opportunities,
a change in the rules to allow schools to obtain a primary specialism
in citizenship would send a powerful signal that citizenship education
is considered important and a "serious option" rather
than an add-on to an already crowded curriculum. The primary objection
given to date has been a lack of adequate assessment tools to
measure progress in citizenship. The QCA has recently produced
guidelines for assessment at Key Stage 3—so it is clear
that methods for measuring citizenship attainment, even for those
schools that choose not to offer the half-GCSE, are developing.
It is now up to the Government to work with the QCA to ensure
that similar assessment guidelines are developed for Key Stage
4, with the presumption that as soon as suitable arrangements
are in place schools will be allowed to apply for primary specialisms
in citizenship education.
Schools applying to become Specialist Humanities
Colleges are required to set targets in three humanities-based
specialist subjects one of which is a main subject. From
September 2007 schools will be able to select citizenship
as a main subject from a pool of: citizenship, English,
geography or history. They will continue to select two other subjects
from: citizenship, classical civilisation/latin/greek,
drama, English, geography, history or religious education.
The DfES, in consultation with stakeholders, is currently
reviewing the specialist target setting requirements. New
Guidance is likely to be published in May 2007 and will reflect proposed
changes to Humanities Colleges selecting citizenship as one
of their options.
Existing specialist schools will be able to switch
their main target setting subject to citizenship from this date.
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