Section 3: Effective education for citizenship in practice
3.2 An active participatory ethos
Education for citizenship is a key part of the responsibility of every teacher and early education practitioner. It is part and parcel of every area of study and of all teaching and learning.
It is essential to effective education for citizenship that learning experiences provide opportunities for active engagement and that they are perceived by young people as purposeful and personally relevant. The ethos and climate for learning in classrooms and beyond should be:
- positive and challenging, reflecting and encouraging high expectations on the part of both pupils and teachers
- characterised by respect and care for individuals and their communities
- stimulating and motivating, promoting thoughtful interaction and critical debate
- conducive to enterprising, constructive thinking.
The realisation of the goals of education for citizenship, as with other key purposes of the curriculum, is profoundly affected by the ethos of educational establishments. Schools and early education settings need to function as active learning communities in which participation by all members is encouraged and where there are effective links and partnerships with the wider communities in which they are located. Such learning communities can model, in very powerful ways, the qualities and dispositions associated with education for citizenship. Young people should see that all people in the school are treated with respect and their views sought and taken account of on relevant matters. The way an establishment is organised and managed, the manner, attitudes and quality of the relationships evident among its members, and the ways in which it interacts with pupils, parents and the wider community can all provide important, tangible indications of what inclusive, participative communities are like in practice. By helping young people to have some first-hand experience of what being an active and responsible member of a community means, early education settings and schools can make important contributions to the development of capability for citizenship in the world outside school.