But in one fifth of schools citizenship is marginalised in the curriculum

Today, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Schools, David Bell, will address an audience of teachers, pupils and members of the public when he delivers the Roscoe Lecture on ‘Education for Democratic Citizenship’ at John Moores University in Liverpool .

At the same time, the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) is publishing two reports on citizenship: An evaluation of the post-16 citizenship pilot 2004/05 and Initial teacher training for teachers of citizenship 2004/05: an overview report.

In his speech, Mr Bell will talk about the importance of citizenship lessons, a subject which can address the core skills, attitudes and values of young people. But he will say that citizenship is marginalised in the curriculum in one fifth of schools, overall it is less well established in the curriculum than other subjects, and is less well taught.

Mr Bell will say that the main problems standing in the way of the implementation of citizenship continue to be: the lack of commitment by many school leaders who undervalue the subject; its uncertain place in the curriculum; and the lack of initial or inservice training to ensure that every school can call upon teachers with subject expertise.

In his speech Mr Bell will argue that the humanities provide opportunities to develop the citizenship curriculum. The popularity of geography is diminishing in many schools and teaching is sometimes dull and does not sufficiently draw upon issues which are likely to capture pupil’s imagination, such as globalisation and sustainable development.

Mr Bell will argue that a partnership between geography and citizenship could give energy and substance to these subjects. He will also suggest that history departments should link events in the past, such as the Empire and colonialism, with issues of the present in a manner that specifically addresses the citizenship curriculum and its requirement for pupils to know about the “origins and implications of diversity”.

Mr Bell will suggest that national and global events of the last few months give impetus to the need for good quality citizenship education that develops young people as “global citizens”. He will argue that pupils should be examining the issues of the day and that the best resources for lessons on global issues will often be the morning’s news rather than a textbook.

He will say that if this area of the curriculum is to succeed there needs to be core provision taught by trained specialists, and a National Curriculum model which emphasises enquiry, communication, participation and responsible action, as well as knowledge and understanding.

Finally, Mr Bell will focus on Europe and acknowledge the potential of the European Year of Citizenship for education in England. He will say that pupils must debate European issues if they are to become informed citizens in an area that is particularly susceptible to prejudice.

In the first of the two reports published today, An evaluation of the post-16 citizenship pilot 2004/05, Ofsted and the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI) visited 48 schools, sixth form colleges, youth organisations and work-based learning providers between 2004 and 2005 to observe teaching and learning in the fourth year of the pilot citizenship programmes.

Inspectors found that teaching and training were good in the majority of centres. Successful projects were characterised by the enthusiasm and commitment of those leading them; they also provided opportunities for practical citizenship activity.

Good programmes have been established in two thirds of the centres visited. In the remaining third, most are satisfactory but a small number do not meet the project requirements. Inspectors found tutors in large scale programmes were generally not trained effectively to teach citizenship, and lacked the confidence to tackle important or controversial issues.

Most teachers and trainers made little attempt to relate work in citizenship at post-16 to learners’ previous experience. This often meant learners did not build upon the knowledge and skills they had acquired during citizenship studies at Key Stage 4. Underachievement occurred in a small minority of cases where young people regarded the programmes as irrelevant or a distraction.

The second report published today by Ofsted, Initial teacher training for teachers of citizenship 2004/05: an overview report, looks at the quality of training provided by Postgraduate Certificate in Education courses inspected during 2004/05.

More than half of the courses inspected prepare trainees well to teach citizenship. The remainder are satisfactory but improving rapidly. The most successful courses develop trainees’ understanding of the principles of citizenship by setting clear curriculum context.

The less effective courses do not provide trainers with opportunities to consider key aspects of citizenship knowledge and understanding and how it might be used when teaching citizenship as a subject. Trainees are sometimes placed in schools where they have little opportunity to teach citizenship and have mentors who are not well equipped to support them.

Mr Bell said:

“ Citizenship is an important part of curriculum and should be taken as seriously as other subjects. It is good to see the post-16 citizenship pilot programme is successful in promoting high achievement for the majority of young people. But we must ensure that citizenship at post-16 builds on the knowledge and skills learnt at Key Stage 4. We must also ensure our teachers are not afraid to tackle the important and controversial issues that make citizenship such an interesting topic.

“ Many of our teacher training courses for citizenship prepare teachers well. But where there are weaknesses these must be addressed so that pupils get the high quality teaching they deserve.”

1. An Evaluation of the post-16 citizenship pilot 2004/05 and Initial teacher training for teachers of citizenship 2004/05: an overview report is available on the Ofsted website today.
2. Ofsted is a non-ministerial government department established under the Education (Schools) Act 1992 to take responsibility for the inspection of all schools in England . Its role also includes the inspection of further education, local authority children’s services, teacher training institutions and some independent schools. During 2001, Ofsted became responsible for inspecting all 16-19 education and for the regulation of early years childcare, including childminders.