Our local MP happened to be visiting the next day, so they personally handed it to him, and he assured them that he would get a response for them from Mr Gove.

If Gove won’t listen to us Citizenship teachers, or Democratic Life, or the Association for Citizenship Teaching, or Stephen Twigg MP, or Simon Hughes MP, perhaps he’ll be convinced about the vital role Citizenship plays in our children’s eduction… by children. The letter speaks for itself.

Dear Mr Gove,

On behalf of the pupils of Blackfen School for Girls, we would like to complain about your plan of action to get rid of Citizenship. We think highly of this subject as it gives us a chance to share our opinions about society. This subject gives us a chance to express out feelings about how things are handled in today’s world.

We understand that you may not agree with us, but our parents have noticed a big difference in our knowledge and attitude, since we have been studying Citizenship.

Citizenship gives us the confidence to make a change in society. It also shows us what we can do to contribute to our community, and teaches us to be open-minded about the variety of cultures within our community.

We ask you kindly to reconsider, as we think highly of this subject and the teachers who teach us. They make us want to do bigger and better things with our lives.

Thank you for giving up your time to read this. We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

The pupils of Blackfen School for Girls

Pete Pattisson is a senior teacher at Blackfen School for Girls, London. His blog “Power up!”contains new ideas and resources for teaching citizenship every week.

Our new paper Curriculum Thinking defines the essential elements of citizenship education and sets out five principles for effective citizenship teaching.

Please share it. And we’d love to hear what you think: is it useful, have we missed anything, are there key people that we should be showing it to?

Curriculum Thinking was developed in partnership with the Association for Citizenship Teaching.

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 freedom to write and read depends on much more than a purely legal framework. It requires a society that is able and willing to educate, to inspire and to support developing writers and readers, and a state that understands citizenship as something that embraces conflict and change as much as respect and stability.

Asher Jacobsberg, of involver, a founding member of Democratic Life, welcomed English PEN’s involvement:

Having the support of the writers and campaigners of English PEN demonstrates the broad need for strong, engaging, statutory Citizenship education in schools. This gives the lie to the false choice cited by politicians of either teaching citizenship or literacy: the two support and enhance one another as PEN’s members attest. We welcome them to the campaign.

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 Secretary Michael Gove to change the timetable of his Review.

In its report the Panel says:

‘Citizenship is of enormous importance in a contemporary and future-oriented education.

‘However, we are not persuaded that study of the issues and topics included in citizenship education constitutes a distinct ‘subject’ as such. We therefore recommend that it be reclassified as part of the Basic Curriculum.’

At present citizenship is a National Curriculum foundation subject in secondary schools. This means it has programmes of study setting out what must be taught and an attainment target that describes the standard at which pupils should attain knowledge, understanding and skills in the subject.

If reclassified as part of the Basic Curriculum schools will still be expected to provide citizenship education but what they teach, how and to what standard will be up to them.

Whilst Democratic Life is pleased that the Panel has recognised the importance of Citizenship, we are disappointed with the recommendation that it be downgraded to a statutory requirement rather than a foundation subject.

Most schools devote only relatively small amounts of their curriculum to citizenship. This downgrade in its status may result in the subject being squeezed out altogether.

The repercussions for society could be alarming as no other subject teaches pupils about our political system, law and democracy. The incentive to hire specialist teachers and the expertise that has built up over the last decade may disappear, with citizenship left as an extra responsibility for non-expert teachers who are already busy.

When Kenneth Baker as Secretary of state for Education introduced citizenship to the National Curriculum as a cross-curricular theme, most schools did not make it a priority, provide adequate resources or space in the curriculum for effective teaching.

In 2002, citizenship became a statutory national curriculum Foundation Subject in secondary schools.

Evidence from Ofsted inspections and the NFER Longitudinal study show significant improvement in the quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils.

We ask that the government takes time to consider the future for Citizenship education and recognises that a subject with ‘enormous importance’ must have resources and status to match.

The DFE have announced a revised timetable for the curriculum review and will be providing further details on the next stage of consultation early in 2012.

This post is based on an article for the Citizenship Foundation.

Further information

• Statement from the Secretary of State for Education
• Expert Panel report [pdf]
• Summary of evidence [pdf]
• Report on subject breadth in international jurisdictions [pdf]

Mr Blunkett put it to the Prime Minister:

“In the early new year the Government intend to announce a wholesale revision of the national curriculum. May I put it to the Prime Minister that it would be perverse—in fact it would be absurd—to require those coming from abroad to settle in Britain to learn about our democracy and to take citizenship courses while withdrawing the teaching of citizenship and democracy to our own children in our schools?”

The Prime Minister responded:

“I listen very carefully to what the right hon. Gentleman says, because I agree with some of the proposals about citizenship that he put forward when he was Home Secretary. Many Members will have been to the citizenship ceremonies that he was responsible for, which have been a good addition to our country and our democracy. On behalf of the whole House, I pay tribute to him for that. We will look very carefully at what he says about the curriculum, but the key aim has to be to making sure that we teach the basics properly and well, and that we test on those basics, because if someone cannot read and write properly, no lessons in citizenship will mean anything at all”.

Mr Blunkett later added: “I hope the Prime Minister will be as good as his word and take another look at this, as the contradictions in policy are self-evident and the consequences (as we saw in August) of those alienated from and unconnected with their community and nation, can be devastating.”

The full transcript of Prime Minister’s Questions can be found here: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm111214/debtext/111214-0001.htm#11121472000010

…

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 you will appreciate that as the Secretary of State for Education receives a great deal of correspondence he is unable to respond to each one personally. On this occasion I have been asked to reply on his behalf.

As you know, the review of the National Curriculum is currently underway. We have confirmed that English, mathematics, science and physical education will continue to be a part of the National Curriculum in all four key stages. We are also considering which of the other subjects that currently form the National Curriculum, including citizenship, should be part of the National Curriculum in future and at which key stages. We plan to announce our proposals next year following which there will be further consultations before final decisions are made.

For the training place targets for 2012/13, social studies includes citizenship and health and social care. The Training and Development Agency for Schools will continue to ensure that there is a specific allocation made to training providers for citizenship for that period.

The bursary arrangements set out in the implementation plan for the initial teacher training strategy “Training our next generation of outstanding teachers”, published on 8 November, have been designed for the specific purpose of incentivising teacher recruitment. They reflect the extent of the recruitment challenges in the various subject areas and to meet the intention of attracting the best people into teaching. Citizenship has a good record in attracting enough high quality trainees to meet the demand from schools for new teachers. Ministers therefore decided to continue not to offer a bursary for citizenship in 2012/13.

No trainee will need to pay the cost of tuition charges up front. They will only pay once they are in full time employment and earning above £21,000. Monthly repayments will be less than under the current student finance arrangements. Trainees will also receive loans and grants of up to £7,675 towards living costs, a rise from previous years.

The Government believes that it is important that young people learn about the history of our parliamentary democracy and how our system of government has developed. The Government is committed to ensuring that all children and young people develop as responsible citizens and play an active role within society.

When I visit schools as part of the House of Lords ‘Peers in Schools’ programme, I begin by explaining why Parliament matters. Parliament matters because politics matter. We exist within a society where we are bound by rules. Politics constitute the means by which those rules are debated and agreed. Rules that are to have legal force – that constitute the law – are agreed by Parliament. Acts of Parliament are enforced by the courts, police and by other public agencies. Parliament is thus a central part of our constitutional arrangements. Government may wish to pursue a particular policy – that is, apply a particular rule – but that policy will not be enforceable until approved by Parliament.

Our lives are shaped by what law permits and what it does not permit. Acts of Parliament stipulate the age at which individuals can drive, buy cigarettes, leave school, vote and get married. Acts of Parliament prohibit people physically assaulting other people, stealing from them, from supplying or possessing particular drugs and from driving while under the influence of alcohol.

Parliament does not exist in a vacuum. Laws are made as a result of a particular party being elected to government on a particular programme of public policies. It may respond to pressures from the public to introduce new laws or to change existing ones. At the moment, there is pressure building up to introduce a law to allow for assisted dying (enabling people to provide some assistance to individuals who are terminally ill and wish to die) and for a review of the existing law on the supply and possession of drugs. Over the years, laws have been changed in response to demands for change.

Knowing not only what constitutes politics but also the process by which law is made are not just attributes of an active citizen but also important for influencing one’s own future. If we do not understand the political process, we cannot expect to be able to influence the outcomes of public policy. Without such an understanding, we are subject to rules that we may not like but which we are powerless to influence. To understand the political process is thus a form of empowerment. It enables citizens to know how to act to influence the outcome of policies. It is no use complaining about a particular policy if you have been silent and taken no steps to express a view on it while it is being considered by Parliament.

Engagement in the political process is the sign of an active citizenship and a healthy democracy. But how to ensure people have a grasp of the political process? Those who are especially keen can study politics at A-level and at university, but that encompasses only a minority of citizens. There are not the resources to provide that level of education to every citizen. The answer is through teaching citizenship in schools. That is the only means of reaching each generation of young people. Broader programmes of public education may reach some adults but there is no means of being comprehensive in the same way as citizenship teaching in school.

Given that, citizenship teaching should not be viewed as some optional extra but rather as an essential component of a healthy democracy. It needs not only to be defended but also promoted and, indeed, given far greater priority. Far from moving away from it, Government needs to be embracing it and with vigour.

The plans, published on 8 November 2011, leave Citizenship as a ‘non priority’ subject and without any bursaries to help attract the best quality graduates to teach the subject. Democratic Life has called for a change in policy to align Citizenship with all other National Curriculum subjects, which have been designated ‘priority subjects’ and which attract bursaries.

Our letter to the Secretary of State is copied below.

Dear Secretary of State,

Initial Teacher Training and Citizenship

We are writing to you today to seek clarification about the plans for Initial Teacher Training and Citizenship. The announcement this week by the TDA shows that the government is committed to investing in the best quality graduates as trainee teachers. We support this approach. However, we are extremely disappointed to see that this commitment does not appear to extend to the National Curriculum subject of Citizenship.

The published ITT allocations for some reason does not list Citizenship separately but within ‘Social Studies’. According to the information in the ITT plan, Citizenship is ‘a non priority’ subject and therefore Citizenship trainees would not be eligible for a bursary. Future trainees will in effect be penalised for choosing Citizenship, as they will need to find up to £9000 for fees on top of living expenses in order to train.

The evidence from Ofsted inspection of Citizenship in our schools and from NFER’s Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study (CELS) highlights a clear correlation between trained specialist Citizenship teachers and the quality of teaching and learning in the subject. Citizenship is delivered best where it is planned and taught by trained specialist teachers. Despite the small numbers of available places, the role of PGCE in Citizenship has been crucial to improving the quality of Citizenship teaching in many schools across the country. It is therefore essential that PGCE Citizenship courses are able to attract high calibre trainees to ensure improvements in the subject continue.

Citizenship is the only National Curriculum subject not to have been designated a priority subject and therefore attract a bursary. We are unclear as to why this is the case, especially at a time when the National Curriculum is under review and having received assurances from you during a meeting in January this year that no decisions would be taken affecting the status of Citizenship until the review had run its course. We are also uncertain why some optional non National Curriculum subjects, including Classics and Economics, have been designated ‘priority’ subjects when Citizenship, which remains statutory, has not. There is a danger that the non designation of Citizenship as a priority subject, combined with a lack of a bursary for those looking to train, may be interpreted in some quarters as a lack of Government support for Citizenship ahead of the publication of the National Curriculum review proposals.

Through high quality Citizenship teaching students learn about politics, the law and the economy and essential skills to contribute to our economy and to take part responsibly in our society and shared democratic life. This is particularly important at this time of considerable change in society, with concerns about the impact of the economy on social and political life in the UK. Children and young people in this country deserve the best quality Citizenship education and the best quality Citizenship teachers. We urge you to reconsider this policy and demonstrate the government believes this is important too.

We look forward to hearing from you on this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Democratic Life

Before the event got under way, Democratic Life asked some young people about citizenship education. Reflecting on their experiences of citizenship and politics classes, Archie from Emmanuel College and Morenike from Richmond College felt teaching should include more on political parties and their ideologies and teachers should ensure politics is relevant to young people’s lives. While Archie, Cormack and James (also from Emmanuel College) were unsure about the subject of citizenship, as they had not been taught it at their school, they were keen on politics. Morenike and Tara, from Haberdashers Aske, felt the government would be wrong if they removed citizenship education as a result of the curriculum review. As Tara said, ‘No other subject covers what is in citizenship, its unique.’

Morenike and Tara

Other questions from young people were on the topics of tuition fees, the EU referendum vote in the Commons last week, compulsory conscription, what mistakes the MPs have made in office and how to get young people engaged with politics when they aren’t able to vote yet. Many in the audience felt that young people were frustrated at not able to formally take part in the political process and that this frustration was putting them off formal politics all together. All the MPs were quick to say that if young people want to see things change, they can’t disengage from politics, but instead have to become more active.

Emma and Helmi

When we caught up with Helmi after the event she said the MPs didn’t quite answer her question about citizenship education directly. Both she and Emma, also from Anglo-European School, felt that politicians need to take citizenship education seriously as ‘it’s not just about getting young people interested in politics, but also helps them gain skills and experiences that can help young people get into university and get jobs’.

All in all the evening was a great success, with young people speaking out on issues that are important to them and challenging the MPs on the panel to explain some difficult political choices. Many thanks to the Hansard Society and Parliament Week for organising and also to all the young people who kindly answered our questions.

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 Parliament Week briefing [pdf]