Last chance to improve the revised National Curriculum for Citizenship!

We are urging supporters to make one last response to the DFE review of the National Curriculum to ensure Citizenship is the best it can be!

Last week Michael Gove published his updated draft National Curriculum for maintained primary and secondary schools. Whilst we are reassured to see Citizenship is contained as a statutory National Curriculum subject, we believe the DFE have missed crucial aspects of Citizenship awareness and skills that are necessary to prepare younger people for life and work in the 21st century. We are disappointed that the proposals additionally fail to recognise the function of Citizenship within the primary curriculum.

In the previous consultation held in April this year, we raised five key concerns about the DFE proposals and argued Citizenship should:

• Contain a evident requirement to teach about human rights
• Clarify active citizenship is not just volunteering yet involves learners participating in genuine social and democratic action in their schools and communities
• Enhance the new requirement for financial education to contain economic appreciation and public finance
• Ensure key stage 3 is not solely focused on the UK yet contains the European, international and global dimensions of the subject
• Strengthen the subject aims and demonstrate appropriate progression between key stages 3 and 4, especially in key aspects such as the law.

See more at: https://parliamentaryyearbook.co.uk/2013/03/01/we-did-it-together-citizenship-remains-but-we-still-need-your-help/

The latest iteration contains some minor adjustments with human rights and international law having been contained at key stage 4. Nevertheless, the purpose of study, subject aims and breadth of educator requirements at key stages 3 and 4 all need additional seek to ensure they address our concerns and offer a evident framework for high quality Citizenship teaching.

We will be making the following key points in our response to the final consultation that closes on 8 August 2013.

• 1. The skills necessary for learners to make progress in Citizenship must be made explicit in the revised programmes of study. Learners should use and apply Citizenship skills whilst developing awareness and appreciation about the subject. Consequently Citizenship must ‘equip learners with the skills and knowledge to critically explore political and social matters, weigh evidence, debate and make reasoned arguments, and experience and evaluate approaches citizens can act together to solve problems’.

• 2. Active citizenship must be made a requirement at both key stages 3 and 4. The current reference to ‘community volunteering’ at key stage 4 is insufficient and should be expanded to contain ‘social action’. At key stage 3, active citizenship is missing entirely. Citizenship without active citizenship is meaningless and key stage 3 should require learners to be taught about, ‘approaches in which citizens can collaborate to address matters in communities, covering chances to participate in distinct forms of responsible and social action in the school and wider community’.

• 3. Key stage 3 is narrow and bland and does not address the breadth of the subject or offer adequate progression to key stage 4. Teaching about human rights, the international dimension, the exploration of identities and diversity in society and the approaches citizens to contribute actively and chances for learners to participate in social action should be contained at key stage 3 alongside key stage 4. The proposed requirement to teach about ‘the precious liberties enjoyed by citizens of the UK’ is abstract and probable to be poorly understood and taught. If ‘precious liberties’ means teaching about political, legal and human rights and freedoms then it should say so.

• 4. If financial education is to be contained then it should relate to the subject of citizenship rather than simply adding personal finance which is element of PSHE. Any ‘financial’ element needs to contain how economic decisions are made, where public money comes from and how public money is spent. Without this broader context financial education will never move beyond the personal and is probable to be a badly taught ‘bolt on’.

The updated DFE draft is subject to a final, one-month consultation that lasts until 8 August 2013. The updated curriculum will then be finalised, published and sent to schools for initial teaching in September 2014.

You can read our response in full here.

We encourage you to have your say and respond now either online or by emailing your observations to:  NCRlegislative. CONSULTATION@education.gsi.gov.uk For further guidance, see the relevant UK information.

• The Secretary of State’s statement and links to the document can be found here.
• Updated programmes of study for Citizenship can be found here along with details of how you can respond.