BT Citizenship Research Summary 2003
The following is a summary of the findings of the BT Citizenship
Research project carried out during June to August 2003. The
research comprised the following activities:
- A review of published surveys relating to Citizenship.
- Six groups discussions, three in Glasgow and three in
London with teachers of Citizenship, parents and pupils
from primary and secondary school backgrounds.
- Six in-depth telephone interviews were also undertaken
with primary and secondary teachers in Northern Ireland
and Wales.
- Self completion questionnaires were also distributed to
teachers (576 were returned) and pupils (308 were returned)
in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
On this page:
Research objectives
The aim of the research was to:
- explore knowledge and attitudes towards Citizenship education
including active Citizenship;
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Management Summary
The research found that Citizenship is perceived to be an
important subject for young people to learn about at school.
Given the evolving nature of the subject, gaps exist in terms
of knowledge and teaching of certain areas of the Citizenship
curriculum.
- Citizenship is visible within primary and secondary schools
but not picked up by parents. In both primary and secondary
contexts, 97 percent of teachers thought it was extremely
or quite important.
- Teachers and pupils defined Citizenship in narrow terms.
It is seen by them as values education.
- Secondary schools in particular needed help to bed-in
Citizenship in terms of teachers' expertise, confidence
and resource material.
- Citizenship is seen as relevant and useful by young people
in providing key life skills and explaining issues that
relate to their lives, indeed 90 percent thought it was
important to learn about Citizenship.
- Citizenship is yet to result in a rise in interest and
engagement with government, democracy and media issues.
- Young people are looking to engage in active Citizenship,
however, they need scope to provide input and participation.
- Parents and teachers logically play a key role in leading
the Citizenship agenda and are seen by pupils as role models
in this field.
- School councils are among the most common methods of encouraging
active Citizenship (86 percent of all schools), allowing
increased participation and active Citizenship in school.
- Common and effective approaches to Citizenship included
discussion and debate, role play and drama, external visitors.
- Communication skills are seen to be a key element of Citizenship
education, 91 percent of teachers felt it was important
for Citizenship.
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Main Findings
Importance and role of Citizenship
- Teachers were asked how important they felt it was for
young people to learn about Citizenship. Citizenship was
seen to be 'vitally important' and considered a priority
in schools and 'within the very crux of learning life skills.'
Indeed, in both primary and secondary contexts, over 95
percent of teachers thought it was extremely or quite important.
- Primary and secondary teachers identified the role for
Citizenship as:
- Learning about being a good person/good citizen
- Defining a positive role or place for young people in
the community
- Preparing young people for the future and adult life
- Promoting social and moral responsibility
- Increasing awareness, knowledge and understanding of the
world.
- In primary schools, Citizenship is already embedded in
the school systems, for example, through school rules, behavioural
policy, PSHE. Teachers have built on good practice in these
areas and these aspects are now considered to be under the
broader heading of Citizenship.
- In primary schools, teachers try to treat the school as
a micro community in which children can learn about good
Citizenship.
- In secondary schools it has been more of a challenge to
implement and put the curriculum in place.
Delivery of Citizenship
- In secondary schools, there is a wide variety of teaching
responsibilities for Citizenship. Some schools have the
benefit of specialist teachers, while others rely on tutors
or all teachers to deliver the Citizenship curriculum. In
96 percent of cases, all teachers deliver Citizenship at
primary level.
- In terms of the subject context in which Citizenship is
delivered, the majority of both primary and secondary teach
through PSHE (80%) and/or across the curriculum (71%).
- Secondary schools are more likely to adopt a variety of
mechanisms which include tutorial programmes (38%), Citizenship
day or week events (48%), discrete subject teaching (29%)
and cross curricular approaches (50%). In primary schools,
teachers reported fewer mechanisms in which to teach Citizenship,
these included Circle time (78%), pupil council and schools
forums (65%) and whole school approaches (69%).
- Teachers try to adopt a variety of approaches that encourage
young people to be engaged in Citizenship.
- Teachers felt that students liked opportunities to be
actively involved in school life and making decisions where
'they have a sense of realism'.
- Teachers reported the best way for pupils to learn is
through active participation and using school as a way of
engaging them in projects that might link to life outside
school.
- 'putting them in situations that they see as real and
valuable'
- 'something that will get them to see the far reaching
outer world until they see and have a responsibility for
what is the small world in the school'
- 'making it real and worthwhile to their lives'
- One of the most common approaches adopted by teachers
was class discussion and debate. This is where teachers
reported the usefulness of presenting pupils with simulated
moral dilemmas and situations where they had to consider
different solutions to a problem. Secondary teachers, in
particular, liked to present pupils with a current affairs
topic and get young people to discuss for and against type
arguments. It is thought that young people benefit from
'hearing both sides of the story, resolving conflict
themselves and making a decision. Pupils are not used to
this'.
Resourcing for Citizenship
- Teachers commented that although Citizenship is considered
a priority in the school and government agendas, the funding
does not always reflect this. Teachers reported a variability
of funding in schools, which illustrated its perceived importance.
- In terms of teaching tools, teachers felt that paper based
resources were in abundance but there were a limited number
of multi-media resources or resources that would assist
effective delivery, such as practical activities that promote
participation and involvement.
- In Northern Ireland, teachers reported a shortage of Citizenship
resources that suit the Northern Irish curriculum and thought
that existing resources are tailored for the English curriculum.
Teachers' knowledge and attitudes
towards Citizenship
- Teachers were asked how confident they felt in teaching
the topics within the Citizenship curriculum. Teachers were
most confident in teaching elements where they can draw
on their own experiences and values. Topics such as 'Right
and Wrong', 'Rights and Responsibilities', 'Making choices
and decisions' and 'Crime, vandalism and stealing' were
more likely to be taught in school because of the higher
level of teacher confidence.
- However, topics such as Europe and the Euro, Politics
and political process and single issue politics were less
likely to be taught in school and teachers felt least confident
in teaching these topics due to a lack of knowledge.
- Teacher training was perceived to be a priority in helping
teachers to deliver Citizenship more effectively; this was
particularly the case in Secondary schools, where 70 percent
felt that teachers needed to be trained to be more confident
in delivering Citizenship. Just over half the secondary
teachers thought if other teachers saw the importance and
value of Citizenship, this would assist with its delivery
across the whole school.
Young people's knowledge and
attitudes towards Citizenship
- Citizenship is visible to 84 percent of young people,
despite its embedded nature in many schools.
- Most young people associate Citizenship with the following:
- Being kind and respectful towards others
- Responsibility to obey rules
- Community belonging and involvement
- Respecting other people's property and possessions
- Looking after their family and friends
- Although young people were aware of Citizenship education,
they only see this at a basic level as a set of behavioural
codes and responsibilities. Young people appear to have
a narrow understanding of Citizenship that excludes knowledge
and awareness of issues and processes.
- Young people had a low association with voting in an election
and watching the news and reading the newspaper or knowing
about Europe.
- The questionnaire revealed that 90 percent of young people
thought it was important to learn about Citizenship.
'You need to know about these things in class otherwise
when you leave school you will not behave as a good citizen'.
'Citizenship is important for when you are older, to get
people to listen and take notice of you'.
- The topics which young people knew least about were the
same as those which teachers felt least confident in teaching,
namely, Europe, voting and elections and media. Similarly,
they thought they knew most about the topics that teachers
feel most confident in teaching, which include being responsible,
right and wrong and dealing with bullying and conflict.
- Two thirds of primary and secondary pupils though it was
cool to be a good citizen. People that were seen to be good
citizens were those with whom young people have regular
contact and trust, for example, their mum or dad, teacher
or a priest. Celebrities were less likely to be considered
good citizens.
Parents' knowledge and attitudes
towards Citizenship
- Parents were not aware of Citizenship being taught in
school, although they agreed that it was important that
their children learn about the topics within Citizenship.
- Parents tended to perceive Citizenship as rights and responsibilities
towards others, community and decision making. They felt
that Citizenship is linked to values education.
- Parents who participate in 'active Citizenship' do so
for the sake of their children, for example, they might
help to run a brownie or cub group, football club or school
events.
- The barriers to participating in 'active Citizenship'
are lack time and the responsibility of being committed
to something on a regular basis.
Active Citizenship
- In both the questionnaire and group interviews, teachers
and young people were asked about their participation in
active Citizenship. According to teachers, the most common
approaches to active Citizenship in primary and secondary
schools were activities that encouraged pupil participation
such as fundraising, school councils and school clubs and
teams.
- Young people were asked why they take part in activities
that could be considered active Citizenship. Almost two
thirds of all pupils claimed to take part because 'it's
a good way to meet people and make friends' (62%) and because
'it's fun' (64%). Just over half of all pupils took part
in these activities because they 'wanted to make a difference'
(56%). The table below describes the factors that would
encourage young people to become more involved in active
citizenship related activities.
| What
would encourage you to become or get more involved
in an activity like this? |
%
|
If my friends took
part as well
|
70
|
| If I knew my efforts
were being recognised |
61
|
| If I knew I could
make a difference |
56
|
| If I could use it
for my school work of record of achievement |
42
|
| If I had more time
|
36
|
| If I knew what I could
get out of it |
33
|
| If I could see quick
results |
26
|
| If it was organized
by someone else |
20
|
| Don't know/no answer |
6
|
| Other |
2
|
| |
(308 pupil respondents)
- School councils were thought to be an accessible way of
schools promoting Citizenship in school and allowing pupils
to have a say, take responsibility and make decisions about
the running of their school, all of which are components
of active Citizenship.
- Teachers identified lack of time and peer pressure as
being barriers to engaging in active Citizenship. This was
particularly the case in secondary schools where young people
face pressures of coursework and exams.
- The factors which make effective Citizenship projects
for young people to be involved in were seen to be 'projects
where you have to exert a certain amount of rights and responsibilities
and ask them [students] what's your view?'. Teachers felt
this might enhance young peoples motivation to become more
involved:
'Giving students a proper sense of power means that they
want more responsibility and are prepared to work for it
in different ways.'
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