Curriculum, Citizenship and Democracy

Abstract

In the previous chapter I have highlighted that recent thinking about the relationships between education, democracy and citizenship is strongly individualistic in outlook. This is not only reflected in the way in which politicians and policy makers tend to see the problem of citizenship as being first and foremost a problem of individuals and their attitudes and behaviours. It is also visible in educational initiatives that focus on the transformation of children and young people into good and contributing citizens. I have indicated several shortcomings of this way of thinking, both with regard to the conception of democratic citizenship that underlies this approach – a conception which I have characterised as ‘citizenship-as-status’ – and with regard to the views of education that are at stake –which are captured in the idea of ‘citizenshipas- outcome.’ Against this background I have argued for a shift in research, policy and practice from the teaching of citizenship to the many ways in which children and young people learn democracy through their engagement in the practices and processes that make up their everyday lives. This view is informed by the idea of ‘citizenship-as-practice’ and emphasises the crucial role of the actual condition of young people’s citizenship for their formation as democratic citizens. While the teaching of citizenship may have a role to play in young people’s democratic learning, this learning is always mediated by what children and young people experience in their everyday lives about democratic ways of acting and being and about their own position as citizens – experiences that are not always necessarilypositive.