The study has produced many findings to date. These findings shed light on three main themes:
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How schools and colleges are approaching citizenship education
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The factors that underpin the most successful citizenship education provision
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The reality of citizenship experiences for young people and the factors that influence them
Key findings in each of the thematic areas are outlined below, and further information about these and other findings can be found in the study reports and resources.
Taken together, the study’s findings provide a fascinating picture of the progress of citizenship education over time in England in relation to young people, their schools and colleges and the world in which they live. These findings have implications for a number of groups who are interested in learning how best to take citizenship education forward. They include national policy-makers, school and college leaders, teachers, young people and community representatives.
1. How schools and colleges are approaching citizenship education
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Citizenship education in schools and colleges is still evolving. Practice remains patchy and uneven, with some schools making better progress with citizenship education than others
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There are four main types or models of delivery of citizenship education, underpinned by a range of visions and philosophies. The most successful is the ‘citizenship-rich’ where citizenship is embedded in the curriculum, has links to student participation across the school/college, and encourages links with the wider community.
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Although there has been considerable progress inschool policy and practice, there are still some aspects of citizenship education which require further development, including improving the availability of teacher training; teacher confidence in teaching political literary topics, increasing the use of active teaching and learning methods and improving assessment policies and practices.
2. The factors that underpin the most successful citizenship education provision
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The factors that underpin the most successful provision of citizenship education are found at a number of levels.
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At management level, effective citizenship education requires senior managers who actively support and promote the subject, and who engage in regular planning and review
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At institution level, practitioners need a clear and coherent understanding of what citizenship education is, and to be supported by a respected co-ordinator who is a ‘citizenship champion’
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At classroom level, citizenship education benefits from dedicated, enthusiastic and skilled staff who encourage the active involvement and participation of young people and look to develop ‘student voice’.
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3. The reality of citizenship experiences for young people and the factors that influence them
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CELS has found that a range of factors shape young people’s development of citizenship knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes. These factors include school-level, individual-level, and community-level factors, as well as socio-poloitical institutions. For example:
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Based on their school/college experiences, students define citizenship as more to do with rights and responsibilities, and issues of identity and equality, than with political literacy and active participation in formal political processes.
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Influenced by their age, students’ sense of belonging to the school/college community increases with age in comparison to their attachment to other communities such as family, local, national and European communities.
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Young people are aware of wider contexts and of the pervasive impact of politics, but their attitudes and intentions towards civic participation tend to be more influenced by what goes on in closer, familiar contexts such as school, family, peers and local neighbourhood.
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Publications and reports available from this site