What is education for citizenship?
'Education for Citizenship in Scotland', Learning and Teaching Scotland 2002, describes citizenship as being about: the exercise of rights and responsibilities within communities at local, national and global levels; and making informed decisions, and taking thoughtful and responsible action, locally and globally.
The paper also endorses the view that young people are citizens of today, not citizens in waiting. Children are born with rights and gain more rights and responsibilities as they grow. Education for citizenship is about learning to be a good citizen now – and having opportunities to exercise that citizenship – as well as learning to be an effective citizen in the future.
Responsible citizenship is one of the four purposes of A Curriculum for Excellence. The strategies for learning and teaching that support education for citizenship also contribute to the other purposes of A Curriculum for Excellence - they help to develop young people’s ability to be effective contributors, successful learners and confident individuals.
The Scottish approach to education for citizenship differs from others areas of the United Kingdom, because it has not introduced a new subject or curricular area called ‘Citizenship'. Instead, it is expected that all subjects will make their relevance to education for citizenship explicit, and that the purposes and issues associated with citizenship will be developed through whole-school and cross-curricular activities.
Raising awareness of important citizenship issues facing communities now and in the future is an important part of education for citizenship. These issues include: human rights, sustainable development, peace and conflict resolution, social equality and appreciation of diversity.
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Recommended learning and teaching approaches include:
participation by young people in decision making, within classroom activities and at whole-school levels
development of authentic community links
active approaches to learning, including discussion, debate and investigation, and
whole-school activities that raise awareness of citizenship issues, ethical decision making and shared values.