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Objectives:
- Focused research into post primary needs North and South
- Identification of common needs North and South
- Identification and response to common challenges North and South
- Addressing whole school and classroom challenges at post primary level North and South
- Promotion of the inclusive post primary schoolo/classroom
- Enhanced provision for post primary sector
- Sharing best practice
A conference for 120 delegates was held in the Grand Hotel Malahide on Friday 3rd April 2009 to disseminate best practice in this area.
See the report .
Contacts
Ms Mary Yarr, North East Education and Library Board
Ms Barbara Simpson, Trinity College Dublin
SCoTENS Seed Funding 2008-2009 £3,000
 WHAT IS CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION?
Citizenship education is about educating for democracy, equality and peace. It entails the key concepts of: rights and responsibility, democracy and justice, diversity and inclusion in a local and global context. It requires active participation and learning methods, critical thinking and enquiry based approaches.
SCOTENS AND CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION
SCoTENS’ members identified citizenship education as a particularly beneficial area for collaboration and interaction North and South. In the Republic of Ireland citizenship education has been a mandatory component of the curriculum since 1997. In Northern Ireland citizenship education was made compulsory with the revised curriculum introduced on a statutory footing in 2007. While citizenship education, as framed by each curriculum, retains distinctive feature in the two jurisdictions, both refer to local and global contexts, use active learning methodologies and cover substantially corresponding themes.
THIS WEBSITE
This website has been set up to facilitate the exchange of citizenship related news, teaching materials, resources and research findings. It is designed primarily to support students, teachers and teacher educators and will be of interest to anyone involved with education for citizenship in the formal or non-formal education sector. If you have any relevant resources or information we would be delighted to include them on this website. Please email rowan.oberman@spd.dcu.ie in this regard.
CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION IN THE FORMAL SECTOR
In Northern Ireland citizenship education forms part of the revised curriculum, introduced on a statutory footing in 2007. In the new primary curriculum, citizenship education is framed as Mutual Understanding in the Local and Wider Community forming one of the strands of the curriculum area, Personal Development and Mutual Understanding. The strand explores the themes of relationships, rules, rights and responsibilities, managing conflict, similarities and differences and learning to live as members of the community. At post-primary level, Local and Global Citizenship forms part of Learning for Life and Work at Key Stages 3 and 4. Local and Global Citizenship is delivered through four key themes: Diversity and Inclusion, Equality and Social Justice, Rights & Responsibilities, Democracy and Active Participation.
 In the Republic of Ireland at Primary level, Developing Citizenship forms a strand of Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE). It explores themes including: diversity and inclusion, participation, interdependence, rights and responsibility, equality and stewardship. At a post primary level, Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) has been a part of the curriculum since 1997. CSPE focuses on seven core concepts: Human Dignity, Rights & Responsibilities, Democracy, Development, Law, Interdependence and Stewardship, and is taught to pupils from Year 1 to Year 3 in all post-primary schools as a timetabled class period. Formal assessment in the Junior Certificate Examination includes credit for a report on an action project.
CITIZENSHIP IN THE NON-FORMAL SECTOR
To a large extent, youth work is all about making citizenship a reality for young people. Responsible citizenship is regarded as a primary objective of youth work by both the Youth Service in Northern Ireland and The National Youth Council of Ireland in the Republic. According to these bodies youth work is underpinned by values such as: equality and inclusion; respect for others and participation. The programmes and activities engaged in by youth workers and young people are often citizenship orientated project including those grounded on social action, youth participation, rights and equality issues, the environment, development education and politics. Core principles of citizenship education are reflected across and integral to the youth work sector:
- encouraging youth participation;
- promoting acceptance and understanding of others and
- developing appropriate skills, values and principles.
 The Non-Formal Sector in Northern Ireland
http://www.deni.gov.uk/index/19-youth_pg.htm
The Non-Formal Sector in Republic of Ireland
http://www.youth.ie/work/yw.html
A key to change lies in the establishment of “Discursive arenas”, or participative dialogic processes within and between institutions. As Cooperrider & Srivastva (1987) suggest,
“The most powerful vehicle communities have for transforming their conventions (agreements, norms, values etc) is through the act of dialogue made possible by language…alterations in linguistic practices have profound implications for change in social practice”(p, 6-7).
JISCmail – WWW
A SUPPORTING-CITIZENSHIP list has been established to support professional dialogue around Education for Citizenship within and between Initial Teacher Education Institutions North & South.
Both those engaged in professional preparation for teaching and their tutors, should find this “Discursive Arena” helpful and convenient.
Archives of SUPPORTING-CITIZENSHIP@JISCMAIL.AC.UK
Announcement list for the Standing Conference North and South (SCoTENS) web
- Post to the list
- Join or leave the list (or change settings)
- Manage the list (list owners only)
- Email list owner(s)
- File area for the list
- Surveys
- Discussion Room (Help)
Contacts
gerard.jeffers@nuim.ie
c.burke@ulster.ac.uk
Citizenship education projects such as Civic, Social and Political Education (CSPE) in the Republic and Education for Local and Global Citizenship provide opportunities for young people to get involved in action projects. In addition, a wide range of youth and community groups undertake actions to improve their communities.
By gathering accounts by individuals about their involvement in action projects, others will, we expect, be encouraged, inspired and gain practical advice about taking future action. Typically accounts will be no more than 800 words. They should be submitted electronically with your name, age, home address, school address, and the name of a teacher or youth leader who we can contact to confirm the accuracy of your account. The following headings are offered as guides to help you write your account.
- What we actually did in our action projects and its focus;
- Why we did this and the process by which we made the decision;
- The effect our project had on me/the class/ the school/the community;
- What I learned from doing the project;
- Difficulties we encountered and overcame;
- Benefits of this action;
- Include: date (month & year) when project was executed, numbers involved, student’s name, class group, school’s name, class group, school’s name,
Submitting an account is no guarantee that it will be included in the website.
Rowan Oberman Tel 01-8842060
Rowan.Oberman@spd.dcu.ie
(lesson plans and other resources included here are provided by Susan Whitla, PGCE student 2003-2004, University of Ulster, School of Education)
Art has a long history of taking an active and critical look at society; communicating ideas, commenting and aspiring to social change.
From Picasso’s Guernica to the photographic images of the Vietnam War, the visual arts have highlighted the wrongs of society and the pain that conflict delivers to both victims and perpetrators (New Releases project)
The integration of aspects of Art and Design and Citizenship is potentially rewarding. Citizenship advocates active, creative and experiential learning and art can be an effective and engaging tool, providing a non-verbal mechanism for exploring difficult issues and a visual language for expressing and communicating personal views and feelings. The development of creative thinking skills are important in finding new responses to conflict in the future, and the artistic process develops this capacity, encouraging a sense of ownership and responsibility. Viewing an artwork in relation to a particular issue can be an effective way to raise awareness and stimulate discussion. Art has the power to enrich learning experiences by bringing an affective and emotional dimension, conveying the quality of a particular human reality.
A work of art encountered is an experience, not a statement or an answer to a question. Art is not about something: it is something (Susan Sontag)
Links between the Programmes of Study for Art & Design and Citizenship at Key Stage 3
CCEA are expected to recommend that Citizenship be given discrete time in the timetable and be taught through other subjects, in order to embed the ethos of the programme fully throughout the school, promote ‘joined-up’ learning and counteract the fact that pupils frequently do not make connections between subjects. The key concepts within Citizenship translate into broad themes for investigation in art, and could potentially enhance motivation by increasing personal engagement with the subject, increasing relevance and interest, and so encouraging creativity and the development of artistic skills. The Programme of Study for Art and Design is framed in terms of key experiences and the development of skills, rather than content, allowing space for exploration of issues.There are natural areas of overlap within the remits for Citizenship and Art & Design.
- be encouraged to develop their knowledge, understanding and self-confidence in expressing their ideas and feelings about themselves and the world they live in
- respond intuitively, draw upon memory, imagination, observation, first hand experiences
- explore, express & communicate ideas
- make a personal response
- discuss the development of their ideas and meaning in their work
- make informed, critical comments about their own and other peoples’ work
- analyse and compare the work of artists, craftworkers and designers from different cultures and contexts… including works which reflect a range of non-European traditions
- become familiar with images and objects which represent the expression of ideas within a wide range of cultures and traditions.
Year 8 – Diversity and Inclusion
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| Year 8 LP intro |
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| Year 8 Unit map |
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| Year 8 unit portrait |
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| Notes on portrait |
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| Portrait LP1 |
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| Portraits |
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| Community |
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| Early Art Forms |
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Year 9 – Equality and Social Justice
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| Unit conflict |
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| LPs |
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Guernica, Pablo Picasso (1937)
Year 10 – Democracy and Active Participation
Mural painting – Transformation
Mural painting is a form of artistic expression giving voice to the political and social views of ordinary people in ordinary communities. Because of its public use, it automatically becomes a social statement. The ubiquity of murals within Northern Ireland and their prominence in the minds of many young people make them a powerful medium through which to begin to address some of the issues of identity and community at the core of the statements of entitlement for Citizenship education, and also to explore art as a communicative tool.
Many young people identify strongly with the murals and graffiti art of their community, and this project aims to channel that enthusiasm, using it to broaden the pupils’ appreciation of art and the social context of art.
The title of the project is ‘Transformation’ and the theme of the mural should reflect a future-orientated vision for the community and society, considering positive and negative aspects of society and how a better future can be achieved. It is important however that the teacher facilitates the project, allowing students to have ownership over the final outcome.
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| Mural Unit |
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| Notes Mural |
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| Lesson Plan 1 |
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| Lesson Plan 5 |
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What is the relationship between the Citizenship programme in Northern Ireland and Community Relations?
Hartop et al’s (2005) definition helps here. As can be seen, one way to think about this is to view community relations as the “local” part of “Local and Global Citizenship”…
“With regard to school-based community relations, we understand this to carry the explicit expectation that, as part of their teaching, teachers will attempt to address issues relevant to community divisions in Northern Ireland. Consequently, we define school-based community relations as purposeful activity, through the whole-curriculum and whole-school experience, that facilitates young peoples’ identities as citizens who:
- are accepting of equity and non-oppression in the civil domain, such that everybody can enjoy equally their human rights
- are accepting of diverse ethnic identities
- understand the central importance of, and value, interdependent relationships within Northern Irish society”
(Hartop, B., Kelly, C., McCully, A., Neill, J., O’Connor, U. & Smith, R.A.L. 2005 p, 3)
Have a look at the Community Relations Index. This incorporates a range of useful frameworks and tools to help teachers undertake a deep scrutiny of everything that makes up institutional life in order to improve school-based provision for community relations.
The Community Relations Index: self-evaluation tools for schools and classrooms [894 Kb]
Exploring the relationship between citizenship and community relations –In the context of education in Northern Ireland – Helen Henderson, MSc: Education for Contemporary Society  [107kb]
Further Information
http://www.creni.org
http://www.transformconflict.org
| Document |
Author and Details |
Type
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Classrooms as Learning Communities: What’s in It for Schools? 
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Chris Watkins (2005)Available from:
Taylor & Francis Group Ltd
2 Park Square
Milton Park
Abingdon
Oxford OX14 4RN
UK |
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Community Capacity Building ProgrammeNorth Belfast Developing Leadership Initiative |
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Contested Spaces |
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Gaslight ProductionsEpilogues: A multimedia exploration of the underlying causes of conflict.
Stephen Gargan / Jim Keys. Tel: 028 7130 8980 |
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Group Work: InfedA new set of pages that explore the principles, theory, practice and development of work with groups |
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| Learning Citizenship: Practical Teaching Strategies for Secondary Schools |
Jenny Wales, Paul ClarkeISBN: 0415335345 |
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Classroom Teaching Methods |
NICIESection Three: Building a Positive Learning Environment: Using Groupwork and Facilitation
• Introduction
• Groupwork
• The Facilitation Process
• Co-facilitation: Working Together
• Personal Preparation for Facilitation
• Building Positive Relationships
• Group Members and Group Dynamics
• Enabling Group Members
• Useful Tips for Facilitating Discussions
• Responding to Behaviour which is “Challenging”
Section Four: Exploring Controversial Issues
• Diversity Dictionary
• Acknowledging Fears and Concerns
• Working with Emotions
• Managing Conflict
Section Five: Developing Programmes for Children, Young People and Adults
• Introduction
• Creating Safe Space
- Working in a Circle
- Developing a Contract/Learning Agreement
- Developing Skills within a Group
- Using Games
- The Importance of Closure
• Other Groupwork Tools and Strategies
• Practical Preparation for Groupwork
• Developing a Programme
• If Things “Go Wrong” . |
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Reflective Teaching: Effective and Evidence Informed Professional Practice
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Andrew Pollardpps 229, 297, 369, 421 |
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Readings for Reflective Teaching 
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Andrew Pollard (Ed)pps 204; 226 & 272 |
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Thinkbucket |
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Embracing Diversity: Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Environments
Bangkok: UNESCO Bangkok. 2004, 7 booklets
ISBN 92-9223-032To facilitate the process of promoting a rights-based approach to education programming, UNESCO Bangkok has developed a “Toolkit for Creating Inclusive, Learning-Friendly Environments”. It provides teachers and school administrators with concrete guidelines, case studies and tools to improve the learning environment at the school and community levels. This toolkit contains six booklets, each of which contains tools and activities for self-study to start creating an inclusive, learning-friendly environment (ILFE). The toolkit is very comprehensive, and is designed to be user-friendly and a source of inspiration for teachers. In addition, it can be used in both formal and non-formal education settings. UNESCO Bangkok is now in the process of disseminating, translating, adapting and piloting it to different country contexts to promote its wide usage in schools and for pre-service teacher education.
See, www.unescobkk.org for a range of resources designed to help educators apply a Rights-based approach to education programming.
This provides a conceptual, analytical and methodological framework for identifying, planning, implementing and monitoring development activities based on international human rights standards
Katarina Tomasevski
Collaborative project between the UN Special Raporteur on the Right to Education and UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education
Bangkok: UNESCO Bangkok, 2004, 60 p.
ISBN 92-9223-023-9
http://www.unescobkk.org |
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Whole Schooling Consortium |
The whole-schooling consortium is an international network of schools, teachers, parents, administrators, university faculty and community members. The consortium aims to promote excellence and equity in schools throughout the world- to build inclusive and democratic societies. The Whole Schooling Consortium links individuals and schools in work to build schools based on the following six principles.
- Empowering citizens in a democracy
- Including all
- Authentic, multi-level teaching
- Building community
- Supporting learning
- Partnering.
Several tools and frameworks have been developed to assist schools in using the Six Principles of Whole Schooling for self-assessment and school improvement. Despite the American context, this site is rich with ideas suitable for adaptation within various cultural contexts. |
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Youthnet |
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Educators for Social Responsibility Educators for Social Responsibility (ESR) helps educators create safe, caring, respectful, and productive learning environments. We also help educators work with young people to develop the social skills, emotional competencies, and qualities of character they need to succeed in school and become contributing members of their communities.See also:
ONLINE TEACHER CENTER :http://www.esrnational.org/otc |
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Education should give pupils the chance to exercise real responsibility and to make an impact on their school and Community. Citizenship teaching, building on the curriculum, has the power to transform the lives of pupils in areas that many people have written off. David Blunkett, 2000
Northern Ireland
| Education for
Reconciliation Project |
Education for Reconciliation Project“On Track” A Handbook for Citizenship Education Teachers
Further information available from the Curriculum Development Unit (CDU) website |
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ImpetusWhat are we trying to achieve?
To encourage young people to explore what our shared values are – and should be – and to help them develop the confidence and courage to put those values into practice in their communities.
The achievements of several Northern Irish Citizenship projects were recognised at a ceremony in the Calgagh Centre, Derry, including:
- IMPETUS Showcase Presentation – Stranmillis Primary School –
A Scottish Case study – http://www.impetusawards.org.uk/cms/14.0.html#31
Kilbowie Primary School, Clydebank, Scotland Kilbowie Primary School’s project was organised and managed by the pupil council in the school. The motto of Kilbowie pupil council is ‘They do make a difference’. The pupils in Kilbowie are very clear as to the reason the school has a pupil council – their justification is based on Article 10 of the Human Rights Act:
 Everyone has the right to freedom of expression. This right shall include freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart information and ideas without interference by public authority and regardless of frontiers.
The pupil council came up with the idea that it would help learning and concentration if pupils were allowed to have water to drink throughout the day. This suggestion was put to the senior management team of the school, and it was agreed that it would be necessary to consult pupils, staff and parents. As this was a pilot scheme, the pupil council decided it would be sensible and practical to start with Primary 7. Questionnaires were put together and issued to all pupils in P7 and their parents, and to all members of staff. There was an overwhelming response in favour of ‘water at work’. However, it was agreed that there would have to be some conditions. Another discussion took place and the following agreement was reached:
- the bottle must be see-through
- it must be plastic
- the top must not leak
- you must put it back in the tray when you are told
- it must be filled at home
It was agreed that P7 would pilot the project and would be allowed to have water at work, if they wished it, for a three month trial period. In order to be allowed to participate in the pilot, a pupil had to apply for a water licence.
Throughout the trial period, the pupil council monitored the project by checking that the privilege of having water was not being abused. They also prepared a survey to check on pupils’ views as to how it was going. Most pupils viewed it as a great success because the water helped them:
- to concentrate
- to cool down
- to work better
- to be healthy
Teachers noted that most pupils had got a water licence and that it was now considered to be a right of P7 pupils. This led to class discussion about rights and responsibilities. Whilst recognising that it was a right to have water, they agreed that with this right came some responsibilities – the need to abide by the rules of the licence. It was also noted that no pupil had his/her licence removed during the trial period.
The pupil council met again to decide how to take the project further – into the local community. Various suggestions had been made but it was the pupil council itself which came up with the idea of a consultation with local businesses on their knowledge and use of ‘water at work’.
Another survey was drawn up and issued. Results indicated that very few businesses allowed their staff access to water at work. The pupil council decided that as this was due to lack of knowledge of the value of ‘water at work’, it should invite managers into the school for a presentation, which they did.
In evaluating this innovative project, the local LVP felt strongly that it had met all four of the criteria. The concept of rights with responsibilities had been explored. The whole school had been involved, and there had been engagement with the local community. |
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Public Achievement – Public Achievement recognises the creative capacity of individuals of all ages to actively participate in the civic life of their communities and in the building of a more just, peaceful, democratic and pluralist society. This is done by supporting small groups of young people – and adult volunteer ‘coaches’ who work with them – in addressing issues that are important and around which they design, carry out and evaluate their own projects. In the process, they learn skills of active citizenship and democracy. |
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St Columb’s Park House: Action Projects – |
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Verbal Arts CentreSee Me See You Post Primary
See me See You is a community relations programme for schools. The programme uses creative methods to explore difficult issues using areas and targets within the curriculum.
See Me See You Primary.
This programme uses listening and talking role play and visual stimulus to look at individual identity, becoming part of a group, interacting with others and acceptance of difference.
This programme is aimed at children in Key Stage 3. The materials are suitable for use across all ability levels and look at personal identity, grouping, labeling in groups, symbols and flags. The activities introduce factual information relating to political party’s religious groups and cultural groups. This programme uses games, stories, role-play and practical exercises as triggers for discussion of sensitive topics. |
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WIMPS – WHO ARE WIMPS?
10 young people from across Northern Ireland were recruited in July 2004 to develop an interactive website run by and for young people aiming to inspire and empower young people in Northern Ireland, giving them a voice in the decisions that affect all our lives, trying to get young people talking and influencing politicians and public representatives.
WIMPS (Where Is My Public Servant) was the product of these young people’s ideas, hopes and aspirations – it is a website with a vision; to provide young people with easy and instant access to clear information that allows them to take action on issues that are important to them.
WHAT DOES THE WIMPS SITE DO?
The site has a database of all public representatives in Northern Ireland searchable by using your postcode to identify all your representatives from local Council to European Parliament level. Users can then click on a button to send emails to these representatives about the issues they are interested in.
Young people will update the site on a daily basis with articles and information about a range of issues of interest for young people, and reports on projects and issues that groups of young people are working on. Young people all over Northern Ireland can also contact the site to receive direction and advice in how to take action on community issues that affect them and that they feel strongly about.
THE WIMPS VISION
To be a website that helps create real relationships between young people and the decision makers who influence their lives.
A website that is informative, inspiring, un-biased and accessible to everyone; creating, sustaining and multiplying educated and empowered young people as a significant force for good in Northern Ireland.
WANT TO BE A WIMP?
WIMPS is about young people being heard and taking action, that means that ANY young person who wants to be taken seriously can join us in the work we are trying to do. So if you want to get involved in any way at all, surf the WIMPS site, see what you think and then contact us and join our team! |
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
ADDITIONAL USEFUL LINKS
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Active Participation – National Service Learning Partnership – Service-learning is a teaching method that engages young people in solving problems within their schools and communities as part of their academic studies or other type of intentional learning activity. Service-learning helps students master important curriculum content by supporting their making meaningful connections between what they are studying and its many applications. Service-learning also helps young people develop a range of service skills, from acts of kindness and caring, to community stewardship, to civic action. |
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Service-Learning in Higher Education (2005)
Dan W. Butin. Published by Palgrave MacmillanAbstract:
Service-Learning in Higher Education critically examines the assumptions and implications of service-learning and offers exemplary models of practice and scholarship. It explores the limits and possibilities of teaching for social justice; it examines paramount issues of institutionalization; and it investigates issues of student resistance,student voice, and contested issues around race, class, and gender. Transformational models across the humanities and social sciences arepresented and new directions for the future of service-learning are explored. By bringing together rising scholars and established expertsin the field, this book offers an essential and state-of-the-artexamination of the service-learning field in higher education. |
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