EPPI Citizenship - Citizenship Education Review Group
The Citizenship Education Review Group (CERG) has been established to support and guide the development of systematic reviews of empirical research evidence relating to citizenship education. It is supported by the EPPI Centre (Evidence for Policy and Practice Co-ordinating Centre) which is based at the Institute of Education. The first review was funded partly by the EPPI Centre and partly by the ITT CitizEd Project. The second review is being funded by the EPPI Centre.
The reviews are designed to be useful to practitioners, policy makers and researchers by addressing questions relevant to all three groups.
The Review Group represents a significant range of expertise in citizenship education and totals twenty people, representing teacher educators, researchers, NGOs and practitioners. The Chair of the group is Professor Bart McGettrick (University of Glasgow) and the co-ordinator is Dr Ruth Deakin Crick (University of Bristol). Click this link to see the membership of the Review Group.
The First Review
The question for the first review was: What is the impact of citizenship education on the provision of schooling?
The provision of schooling is understood to mean those structures and processes that constitute the school as a learning organisation (Alexander 1992). These are:
- learning and teaching
- school context and ethos
- leadership and management
- curriculum construction and development
- external relations and community
In order to achieve all the aims of the review it will be necessary to address the further question 'What are the implications of the findings of the review for teacher education?'
The first review is now complete and will be published at the REEL database (Deakin Crick R, Coates M, Taylor M, Ritchie S (2004). A systematic review of the impact of citizenship education on the provision of schooling. In: Research Evidence in Education Library, London: EPPI Centre Social Science Research Unit, Institute of Education.)
Main Findings Of This Review
The evidence gathered from fourteen studies makes a significant contribution to knowledge about the context of delivery of citizenship education, for policy, practice and research.
The fifteen combined findings are grouped below according to their relevance to one or two of the six themes. The chief sources of evidence for each finding are indicated by the numbers in brackets (referring to the studies listed in Appendix 1). Where findings are listed twice, they are cross-referenced in brackets as [also in…]:
(i) Learning and teaching
- The quality of dialogue and discourse is central to learning in citizenship education. (3,4,5,12)
- Transformative, dialogical and participatory pedagogies complement and sustain achievement rather than divert attention from it. (3,4,5,12)
- Students should be empowered to voice their views and name and make meaning from their life experiences. (4,5,9,12)
- Listening to the voice of the student leads to positive relationships, an atmosphere of trust and increases participation. It may require many teachers to 'let go of control' [Also in (vi) below]. (5,6,12,13)
- A facilitative, conversational pedagogy may challenge existing power / authority structures [Also in (iii) below]. (2,6,13)
- Such pedagogies require a quality of teacher-pupil relationships that are inclusive and respectful [Also in (iii) below]. (5,12)
(ii) Curriculum construction and development
- Dialogue and discourse are connected with learning about shared values, human rights, and issues of justice and equality. (4,7,8)
- Opportunities should be made for students to engage with values issues embedded in all curriculum subjects and experiences. (5,8,12)
- Engagement of students in citizenship education requires educational experiences that are challenging, attainable and relevant to students' lives and narratives [Also in (v) below]. (5,8,14)
(iii) School ethos and context
- Schools often restrict participation by students in shaping institutional practices but expect them to adhere to policies and this can be counter-productive to the core messages of citizenship education. (2,6,13)
- A facilitative, conversational pedagogy may challenge existing power / authority structures [Also in (i) above]. (2,6,13)
- Such pedagogies require a quality of teacher-pupil relationships that are inclusive and respectful [Also in (i) above]. (5,12)
(iv) Leadership & Management
- Strategies for consensual change have to be identified by and developed in educational leaders. (5,6,8,11)
- A coherent whole-school strategy, including a community-owned values framework is a key part of leadership for citizenship education [Also in (v) below]. (1,5,6,8,9,10,13)
- Participative and democratic processes in school leadership require particular attitudes and skills on the part of teachers and students [Also in (vi) below]. (1,5,9,11,12,13)
(v) External relations and community
- Contextual knowledge, and problem-based thinking can lead to (citizenship) engagement and action. (5,9,10)
- Engagement of students in citizenship education requires educational experiences that are challenging, attainable and relevant to students' lives and narratives [Also in (ii) above]. (5,8,14)
- A coherent whole-school strategy, including a community-owned values framework is a key part of leadership for citizenship education [Also in (iv) above]. (1,5,6,8,9,10,13)
(vi) Teacher learning, knowledge and practice
- Teachers require support to develop appropriate professional skills to engage in discourse and dialogue to facilitate citizenship education. (1,3,4,5,12)
- Listening to the voice of the student leads to positive relationships, an atmosphere of trust and increases participation. It may require many teachers to 'let go of control' [Also in (i) above]. (5,6,12,13)
- Participative and democratic processes in school leadership require particular attitudes and skills on the part of teachers and students [Also in (iv) above]. (1,5,9,11,12,13)
The full review can be found at http://eppi.ioe.ac.uk/EPPIWeb/home.aspx?page=/reel/review_groups/citizenship/review_one.htm
The Second Review
The second review has recently been completed and a summary is available.
| March 2006 |  |