Democratic Life is delighted to make a submission today to the latest Youth Select Committee inquiry chaired by 18 year old MYP for Solihull, Natasha Browne. The Committee is the initiative of the British Youth Council and supported by the House of Commons and politicians including the Speaker, Rt Hon John Bercow. In our submission [...]

This week, Democratic Life supporter, the British Youth Council announced a new inquiry by the Youth Select Committee into the role of the education system and the National Curriculum in equipping young people with the skills for later life. The inquiry, chaired by 18 year old Natasha Browne, Member of the Youth Parliament for Solihull, will [...]

Democratic Life would like to thank everyone who responded to the DFE consultation on the proposed secondary curriculum. We know well over a hundred of you used our handy response form and many others have told us they have submitted responses by email. Thank you for taking the time to make your views known about [...]

Democratic Life is urging everyone to respond to the DFE consultation on proposals for the secondary National Curriculum. We have made it easy for you by creating a handy form. It is pre-filled with our response, which you can leave in, edit or replace. When you click ‘Send’, it goes straight to the Department for [...]

Democratic Life’s campaign has hit the headlines again this week, with a feature in free education news publication SecEd. The article highlights the success of our work together so far and that there is still more to do to. You can help us improve the DFE draft programmes of study which are out for consultation [...]

The former Education Minister and peer, Andrew Adonis made a passionate speech in the House of Lords debate on votes at 16 last month, highlighting why education and democracy go hand in hand and why he believes Citizenship education is so important. Lord Adonis said in his speech, It was Aristotle who said: “We are [...]

Democratic Life would like to thank you for your support in securing Citizenship in the secondary National Curriculum. This is a significant achievement. However, there is more work to do to ensure the new curriculum is the best it can be. We still need your help! The announcement made in the House of Commons on [...]

Democratic Life is delighted that Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education has confirmed citizenship will continue as a National Curriculum foundation subject in secondary schools. The announcement made in the House of Commons signals this government is committed to citizenship as a curriculum subject that every child, in every school must be taught. Responding [...]

David Blunkett MP opened the North of England Education Conference in Sheffield this week by calling on Head teachers and governors to rise above the current politicisation of education and demand high quality Citizenship in their schools. In his speech David Blunkett, who is President of the North of England Education Conference 2013 (twitter #NEEC2013), [...]

Democratic Life is delighted to have been accepted as a partner in Parliament Week, an initiative to build greater awareness of, and engagement with parliamentary democracy in the UK. Our supporting organisations have a range of events and resources to support learning about democracy and parliament and there is more on the Parliament Week website. [...]

Great news for teachers and others as Democratic Life supporter the Five Nations Network launches a new round of funding for Citizenship projects. The Five Nations Network is encouraging teachers and others to apply for small grants to undertake action research projects into Citizenship and values education. Applicants will need to ensure their projects meet [...]

Today the Association for Citizenship Teaching (ACT) has launched a teacher survey to find out about the state of Citizenship education in schools across England. In particular the Association is keen to hear from teachers about the impact of the Ebacc on GCSE Citizenship Studies and the effects of the government’s National Curriculum review on [...]

As all eyes are on the Olympics and debate continues about what Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony says about who we are and what we value – its a great time to talk about Citizenship Education. At Democratic Life, as well as keeping one eye on our athletes, we continue work on our goal of building [...]

Last week, representatives from Democratic Life were involved in two meetings at the Department for Education (DFE) to discuss the future of Citizenship education. The fact that dialogue continues is in itself, we think, positive. The discussions allowed us to raise a range of concerns about the way in which recent government policies and the [...]

This week the Secretary of State, Michael Gove MP announced his proposals for a new primary curriculum with a focus on high expectations for all subjects. Details of the proposed secondary curriculum have not yet been announced but are expected soon. In a letter to Tim Oates – who has led the Expert Panel advising [...]

There might be much uncertainty in Europe right now, but there is consensus over at least one thing. All European countries now teach Citizenship education. Yesterday the European Commission published a report compiled on their behalf by the Eurydice network which showed all EU member states have integrated Citizenship education into their primary and secondary [...]

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Teachers, subject experts, politicians and organisations joined together today to discuss the ‘Future shape of the National Curriculum beyond Core Subjects’. This timely discussion was organised by the Westminster Education Policy Forum. Shadow Minister for Schools, Kevin Brennan MP chaired the first part of the event. I was there to represent the Association for Citizenship [...]

Today, David Blunkett MP writes in the TES, ‘We need a curriculum that is truly national’. Citizenship must be included and is ‘essential for democracy’. Mr Blunkett, former Secretary of State for Education argues the Government’s curriculum review is a contradiction. First because schools with academy or free school status are not required to follow [...]

When we mentioned to some of our students that the Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove, was considering downgrading the status of Citizenship in the national curriculum, they scurried off (and without any prompting from us), came back with this letter. Our local MP happened to be visiting the next day, so they personally [...]

Citizenship could lose its National Curriculum status if the Government accepts the recommendations of the Curriculum Review Expert Panel to downgrade the subject to the basic curriculum. What kind of curriculum framework will help ensure the next generation of citizens get the civic and political education they need? Our new paper Curriculum Thinking defines the [...]

English PEN are delighted to be part of the Supporting Group for Democratic Life and we will do all that we can through our own campaigns, projects and networks to promote this work. English PEN comes to citizenship through literature and free speech.

The Curriculum Review Expert Panel has told the government that citizenship is ‘of enormous importance’, but should not remain a National Curriculum subject. The Expert Panel, which is charged with providing detailed advice on the shape of the new curriculum, delivered its report to the Department for education yesterday, the content of which prompted Education [...]

David Blunkett calls on the Prime Minister to ensure Citizenship stays in the National Curriculum during Prime Minister’s Questions.

An official from the Department for Education has responded to Democratic Life’s letter to the Secretary of State, Michael Gove MP, regarding initial teacher training for citizenship. … Thank you for your letter of 10 November, addressed to the Secretary of State, about initial teacher training bursaries and the teaching of citizenship. I am sure [...]

Lord Norton of Louth is a Conservative Peer in the House of Lords, as well as Professor of Government in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Hull. Here he writes for Democratic Life on why he thinks the Government should be embracing citizenship education ‘with vigour’. When I visit schools [...]

Democratic Life has written to the Secretary of State, Michael Gove MP and the Chief Executive of the Training and Development Agency to clarify the plans for Initial Teaching Training for Citizenship. The plans, published on 8 November 2011, leave Citizenship as a ‘non priority’ subject and without any bursaries to help attract the best [...]

Democratic Life skipped trick or treating this week in favour of attending the Hansard Society’s Question Time event for young people, part of Parliament Week. Chaired by Channel 4′s Krishnan Guru-Murthy, the panel featured Chris Bryant MP (Labour), Sam Gyimah MP (Conservative), Caroline Lucas MP (Green) and Jo Swinson MP (Liberal Democrat). More than 200 [...]

Democratic Life has briefed all MPs and Peers ahead of Parliament Week, calling on Parliamentarians to use Parliament Week to visit citizenship education classes in schools and colleges in their constituencies. The briefing also provides a summary of Democratic Life’s evidence to the National Curriculum Review currently being undertaken by the Department for Education (DfE). Download our [...]

The first annual Parliament Week is launching on 31 October 2011 and running through 6 November. This is an exciting opportunity for teachers and young people to explore the work and role of Parliament and, through the theme of ‘Stories of Democracy’, to see how decisions made in Westminster have an impact on everyone’s lives. [...]

On stage at the Conservative Party Conference on Tuesday, Danny Bartlett, founder of Hands Up Who’s Bored, told delegates that young people have a ‘huge appetite’ for political engagement and that citizenship has become ‘the fastest growing GCSE subject’. Although they are often portrayed as being apathetic, Danny believes young people are just bored by [...]

Hands Up Who’s Bored, a new campaign to protect the future of political education, has been backed by celebrity Reggie Yates and a £1.25 million cinema promotion. With the Government considering the fate of citizenship education as part of its ongoing review of the national curriculum, this new campaign launches today to inspire young people [...]

Danny Bartlett’s campaign for political education seems to have struck a chord: on Tuesday he will speak on the main stage at the Conservative Party Conference. Danny, who set up Hands Up Who’s Bored because he found politics boring, will discuss his support for citizenship education as well as how to engage apathetic young people [...]

The UK’s first ever Parliament Week takes place between 31 October and 6 November 2011. The week comprises a programme of activities exploring how and why the Houses of Parliament matter to everyone. At Democratic Life we think this is a great opportunity to show your MP a citizenship class in action. The theme for Parliament [...]

This November will see the UK’s first ever Parliament Week. It’s a great opportunity to get your MP in to your school to talk with students and staff about the relationship between youth, politics and citizenship. Why not invite them to one of your Citizenship lessons (or even to teach one)? You can then ask [...]

Party conference season is fast approaching and with it comes innumerable opportunities for campaigns to gather information and influence debates. We know many of our supporters will be attending party conferences and we’re hoping that you will help spread the word about our campaign to keep citizenship education in the National Curriculum. Whether you’re attending [...]

Citizenship teachers are in a unique position to be able to engage their pupils in conversation about the riots; developing pupils’ thinking around concepts such as personal responsibilities towards each other on the one hand and the government’s responsibilities towards its citizens on the other. Citizenship education encourages teachers to use current affairs in their [...]

More than 130 teachers and a wide range of organisations met in the British Library yesterday to discuss the future of citizenship and the National Curriculum, at the Association for Citizenship Teaching’s annual conference in London. At Democratic Life we believe teachers and pupils have a key role in influencing the future of the curriculum [...]

New report shows that teaching approaches can help young people build their resilience to extremism. There is growing recognition of the need to combat extremisms and develop young people’s resilience to potentially harmful ideologies to prevent them from being radicalised. Teachers and others working with young people have been identified as having a key role [...]

The International Centre for Education for Democratic Citizenship’s conference, ‘Citizenship, Society and Social Justice: new agendas?’, is taking place on Friday, 1 July at Birkbeck, University of London. Democratic Life is a proud supporter of the conference, which will explore the many possible relationships between citizenship and education, including formal citizenship education. Through its plenary [...]

Writing on the Guardian’s MortarBoard Blog, Alicia Brown tells how her students at Villiers School in West London have been inspired to campaign for citizenship education. They even joined Democratic Life!

It’s been hard work, on top of encouraging people to respond to the review, providing support for same and canvassing opinions for our own response. But now it’s done: we’ve submitted our response, which you can download to read at your leisure. Our response to the Government’s National Curriculum Review (pdf) is informed by our [...]

Today’s Times Education Supplement features a comment piece from four members of Democratic Life. David Barrs, headteacher, Anglo European School; Keith Ajegbo, former headteacher, Deptford Green School; Rachael Warwick, headteacher, Didcot Girls’ School and William Atkinson, headteacher, Phoenix High School all discuss why citizenship education is vital to their school and the National Curriculum.  It’s [...]

Citizens in a democratic society have a fundamental responsibility to engage in public life. Teachers and students have an obligation to promote equality, justice, respect for others and democratic participation. These ideals should be integral to cultures of educational institutions and embedded within and beyond the curriculum in schools. Education for democratic citizenship is a [...]

Democratic Life has created a form to make submitting your response to the National Curriculum Review’s Call for Evidence easier. We’ve included our key messages for the Department for Education on citizenship education in this template. If you agree with the statements, keep them in and add comments. If you do not agree with a [...]

We want your views to inform our response to the National Curriculum review. By answering just 10 questions about citizenship education, you’ll help us better represent how teachers feel about citizenship education and how citizenship is being taught in schools. Respond to the questionnaire here. We need as many teachers to answer this as possible [...]

Two days ago Alastair Campbell wrote that we need more politics teaching in schools. Here he explains why he thinks citizenship education is worth fighting for. The hints that the Government is thinking about removing citizenship from the curriculum are becoming a little louder. It would be yet another mistake by Michael Gove, at a [...]

We have submitted evidence to the Education Select Committee’s inquiry into the EBacc to argue that Citizenship Studies, with its requirement for active citizenship, should be an essential inclusion in any broad and balanced measure of student attainment. Our evidence: IB, Welsh Bacc and England’s standing in the ICCS A ‘Baccalaureate’ is respected for a [...]

In this article written originally for Operation Black Vote, Conservative Councillor Imran Khan sets out his vision for multicultural Britain and argues the importance of citizenship education in shaping it. A great multicultural society should offer genuine democratic citizenship for all the communities residing in it, regardless of colour and religion. Democratic citizenship may be [...]

Baccalaureate qualifications come in many forms. The International Baccalaureate (IB) combines academic subjects with creativity, action and service involving civic action/active citizenship, and a dissertation style essay. The European Baccalaureate, a different variation of the qualification, is used by European schools in England. Other versions are on offer through the awarding body AQA and the [...]

On Wednesday the Commons Education Select Committee announced an inquiry into the English Baccalaureate and a call for evidence. It is very short, ending on 8 March. The Committee is inviting written evidence on: the purpose and benefits of the E-Bac and its value as a measure of pupil and school performance; the choice of [...]

The UK government is considering dropping citizenship from the National Curriculum. If it does, it could be in danger of breaking an obligation to teach International Humanitarian Law. John Lloyd explains why. International Humanitarian Law (IHL) serves to protect those not taking part in fighting and to restrict the potential for war. It is set [...]

There’s only one week left to enter the Amnesty International, Guardian and SecEd competition to find this year’s Young Human Rights Reporters! Find out how to enter and get supporting materials for older and younger pupils on Amnesty International UK’s education pages.

Democratic Life member Lee Jerome writes to Graham Holley of the TDA querying the apparent lack of training places for citizenship teachers in 2011/12, following a letter from Michael Gove outlining the allocations for the coming year. 2nd February 2011 Re: Allocation of secondary training places for 2011-12 Dear Mr Holley Michael Gove’s letter of [...]

On Monday, 31 January, a Democratic Life delegation – led by David Blunkett MP – met with the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove MP, to discuss the review of the National Curriculum and citizenship education’s future. We presented a robust case for citizenship education’s contribution to schools and communities and the positive impacts [...]

The Democratic Life team have been working almost non-stop over the last few weeks, with the reception event at the House of Commons and the curriculum review yesterday. So we were really pleased that our hard work paid off with two positive pieces of coverage in the Guardian this week! The first piece ‘Citizenship education [...]

Democratic Life welcomes the coalition Government’s plans for a review of the National Curriculum as an opportunity to demonstrate the benefits of citizenship education.  Citizenship education – the only subject in the National Curriculum that teaches about the way democracy, politics, the economy and the law work – is one of the subjects (among others [...]

This morning the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove MP, took to the airwaves to announce the launch of a review of the National Curriculum. Speaking on the Today programme, Mr Gove said that he wants to see a system which does not tell teachers ‘how to teach, it tells them what to teach.’ [...]

In an article in today’s Guardian, Chris Waller from the Association for Citizenship Teaching and Andy Thornton, Chief Executive of the Citizenship Foundation, both argue that losing citizenship education from England’s National Curriculum would be a retrograde step that would negatively impact on young people’s political literacy. Also speaking to the Guardian, David Blunkett said: [...]

Students from Biddenham International School and Sports College decided to add to the Democratic Life campaign by giving their own testimonies about why they feel that citizenship education is essential to the curriculum. They wrote letters in support of keeping citizenship education in the curriculum and in their own way described how it is important [...]

After hearing about the Democratic Life’s campaign, teachers and administrators from Biddenham International School and Sports College felt that it was important to share their support for citizenship education. Mr. Doug Wise, Head of English at Biddenham showed his passion of the subject through connecting citizenship to the English curriculum; “It gives the texts we [...]

I had the frantic task at this week’s Democratic Life reception of tweeting the whole event using our (highly original) hashtag of #democraticlife.  It was great to see people both at the event and online  engaging in the discussion about citizenship’s future. Here are some of the comments; @DemocraticLife Blunkett speaking now, ‘for young people [...]

After what would seem to be months of planning, the Democratic Life reception last night went off without a hitch. We filled the Member’s Dining Room in the House of Commons full of citizenship enthusiasts, teachers, students and Lords and MPs. Our aim for the event was to generate a lively discussion about the future [...]

The Democratic Life campaign is building a strong support base all the time. It was great to have a passionate blog from a student at Swansea University fall into my inbox today heavily advocating the importance of citizenship education. Zahid Raja highlighted the impact of the subject and went on to dispel the many myths [...]

Some children do not have families who encourage them to read newspapers to know what is happening in the world at that current moment. Whether or not you are not interested in politics, it doesn’t differ as no matter what you say politics will affect you. Not to mention that this generation of young people [...]

Democratic Life are thrilled to have Oxfam join and support the campaign to champion citizenship education. They wrote to us to tell us why they feel citizenship education is so important: “According to Ipsos-MORI, over two thirds of pupils believe they can do something to help make the world a better place, and three-quarters believe [...]

The UK National Commission for UNESCO has formally joined Democratic Life as a supporting organisation. Citizenship is a key vehicle in the delivery of study themes for the UNESCO Associated Schools network and in promoting the values of UNESCO such as human rights, peace, tolerance and sustainable development and cultural diversity. The provision of citizenship [...]

The Five Nations Network has joined Democratic Life. The Five Nations Network is a unique forum that brings together teachers, educationalists, policy makers, NGOs and young people from England, Wales,  Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland every year for an annual conference to share practice in education for citizenship and values. In September 2009, the Five [...]

David Blunkett MP has tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) calling on the Government ‘to affirm its commitment to citizenship education as an entitlement for all students in English secondary schools.’ The EDM (no 1142) has been signed by MPs David Miliband, Pat Glass, Tom Blekinsop, Ian Mearns, and Caroline Lucas. We need more MPs [...]

Democratic Life will be hosting a drinks reception in the House of Commons on Wednesday, 12 January 2011. Distinguished speakers from both educational and political backgrounds will highlight citizenship education’s unique position in England’s National Curriculum (as the only subject that teaches young people about our political system and how they can get involved in [...]

Following the launch of  “The Importance of Teaching” white paper in the House of Commons yesterday, the white paper was introduced to the  House of Lords by Lord Hill of Oareford, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools. Whilst there was no explicit mention of citizenship in the paper itself, Lord Beecham raised the issue in [...]

Today the Department for Education has published ‘The Importance of Teaching’, the schools white paper outlining the Government’s plans for reforming England’s school system. White papers are issued by the government and lay out policy, or proposed action, on a topic of current concern, and can lead to public consultations or review processes. The White [...]

Liverpool Mp Stephen Twigg made a short speech on citizenship education in an education debate on Wednesday 17th November. We’re really pleased that he has become such a vocal champion for citizenship and that he is so supportive of Democratic Life. In the debate he said; “My final point is about citizenship education. As a [...]

Democratic Life has published a press release which calls on the Secretary of State for Education to pay heed to two new pieces of research that highlight the need for high quality citizenship education lessons in schools, taught by specialist teachers. The studies published today, both conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) [...]

Last Thursday (18 November), the House of Lords held a debate entitled ‘To call attention to the role of active citizenship in society’. Citizenship education’s contribution towards building the knowledge and skills young people need to become active citizens was promoted by no less than seven Peers during the debate. In particular, Lord Norton of [...]

Yesterday I went to the Studio Schools launch at Allen & Overy’s swanky offices. As many of us within the education and third sectors know, language and terminology around schools is like a minefield at the moment and I wasn’t quite sure if this was an academy, a free school or something completely new. Studio [...]

The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, has written to all schools urging them to take part in his School Council Awards, designed to celebrate the achievements of students’ school councils. The awards are given to projects, according to age categories, that have made a difference to relationships in school or with the [...]

A new survey dispels the widely held myth that young people just want to be famous. The research released by The Co-operative – as part of its ‘Inspiring Young People’ campaign – shows that more than half of adults (58 per cent) think that the younger generation just wants fame and celebrity status. The reality, [...]

Rachael Warwick, Headteacher for Didcot Girl’ Schools has written to Democratic Life about her thoughts on citizenship education, stressing the importance of the subject in creating a Big Society.  The full letter is copied below. ‘If the Big Society has any prospect of becoming a living reality in our country, then citizenship must remain a [...]

A group of PGCE students have established a campaign called Defenders of Citizenship Education (DOCE) . Aware that the subject is under review following the change in Government, the group are aiming to get as many supporters as possible to sign their petition which they plan to send to Michael Gove . DOCE  stated that  [...]

The Guardian has written about Unicef UK’s report which recognises that when children learn about human rights bullying, exclusion and challenging school environments can be reduced. The report followed an evaluation by researchers at the Universities of Brighton and Sussex of Unicef UK’s human rights projects in schools. Some of the key findings of the [...]

The Law Society, the representative body for solicitors in England and Wales, has joined Democratic Life. We are tremendously excited to have an organisation who has championed young people’s entitlement to public legal education for many years on board and we are looking forward to working closely with them on Democratic Life’s campaign.

We are extremely pleased to announce that The Co-operative has joined Democratic Life. Commenting on their decision, Michael Fairclough, Head of Community & Campaigns at The Co-operative, said: ‘Given the chance, young people have the creativity and vision to affect tremendous change. As part of its Inspiring young people programme, The Co-operative is proud to [...]

Democratic Life has sent a letter to the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove MP, asking that, as his department reviews the National Curriculum, he will consider the positive gains citizenship has made in secondary schools in England, as well as the role citizenship can play in supporting the Big Society. The full letter [...]

Imagine if everyone in your school was on your school council, how much could it get done? Well, ok, if they were all in one big meeting together, probably not much. But if you broke the whole school down into small groups, giving each one specific tasks, we might be getting somewhere. If each of [...]

Sec Ed’s front page today features a story about Democratic Life, and the need for our campaign, entitled ‘Battle is on to save citizenship from the axe’. With quotes from Democratic Life members (the Citizenship Foundation, Amnesty International and ACT) and from passionate citizenship teachers, it’s a fantastic introduction to Democratic Life’s aims and what [...]

The United Nations Association of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UNA-UK), having just joined Democratic Life last week, is already active championing citizenship education to policy-makers. In a letter sent yesterday to the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove MP, UNA-UK’s chair Lord Hannay writes: ‘UNA-UK strongly supports the continued inclusion of citizenship as [...]

Yesterday Democratic Life sent a briefing to all MPs and Peers entitled ‘Setting the record straight: an introduction to citizenship education’. We hope all Parliamentarians will read our briefing and join Democratic Life in championing the benefits citizenship education brings to young people, schools and communities. To support our outreach to Parliamentarians you can contact [...]

The British Youth Council is running a consultation for children and young people to have their say on the Big Society and the National Citizenship Service. The deadline to contribute to the survey is Sunday, 17 October, go to www.surveymonkey.com/s/bycbiglisten to take part. The results of this survey will be sent to the Prime Minister [...]

I’ve been to the Liberal Democrats and Labour party conferences so far this conference season (and will be heading off to the Conservatives in Birmingham on Monday). Conferences are a strange experience, where work and play get all muddled up together and sore heads at breakfast meetings are de rigueur. But, while it might sound [...]

Democratic Life is a group of interested individuals and organisations who have come together to champion citizenship education in the face of uncertain political support for the subject. We have agreed to work together as a coalition to refresh and restate the arguments for the value of citizenship education. Our aim is to strengthen and [...]