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Citizenship education has been a feature of the school curricula in many western democracies since the 1990s. Consequently, there is a proliferation of research which explores its efficacy in instilling political literacy and encouraging democratic engagement amongst pupils. Less is known however about how citizenship is taught in societies emerging from conflicts which are [at least in part] motivated by competing narratives around citizenship. This paper examines this issue within the context of Northern Ireland. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 18 post-primary citizenship teachers, it argues that whilst the curricular text for citizenship education has encouraged teachers to discuss 'the past' in Northern Ireland only a minority of teachers do so. The paper suggests that teachers are constrained in their attempts to explore the past by a complex interplay of factors including cultural norms of avoidance and their interpretation of the current socio-political context. The paper argues that it cannot be assumed that teachers themselves possess the critical capacities that they are expected to nurture in pupils, yet, where efforts are made to harness teachers' critical skills, they are more likely to display the confidence and skill to discuss contentious issues related to the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the continental tradition of phenomenological pedagogy, this paper focuses on the lived time and space of school – and on contexts in which school is understood as a democratic community. It does so by comparing and contrasting related works of G.W.F. Hegel (1770–1831), Martinus Langeveld (1905–1989) and Eugen Fink (1905–1975). It shows how, within the school, social questions and problems are transformed into pedagogical ones, allowing pedagogical action to become socially productive. In so doing, it articulates a systematic approach to the general question of purposes of the school as a distinctive social institution with its own logic of teaching and learning. First, it is shown via Hegel that in school a pedagogical practice is taking place in an institutionalised and artificial manner which is opposed to other social spheres, institutions and practices. With Langeveld the logic of pedagogical action is worked out, in which extrinsic questions and problems are implemented in a temporal, spatial and social pedagogical order. Fink locates school in a dynamic and scientific-technical (post-)modern and (post-)democratic society. In this context he sees the action and communication occurring in school as able to add to the production of meaning and experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports results from a six-state study of 62 USA social studies classrooms. We examined the extent to which intellectually challenging authentic pedagogy was present in study classrooms, the characteristics of classroom practice at different levels of authentic pedagogy, and how those characteristics may promote or inhibit high levels of authentic intellectual work (AIW). Like earlier AIW studies, we found generally low levels of AIW in observed classes. However, we did find several cases of classrooms scoring in the highest AIW range. We examined characteristics of practice that typified teaching of exemplar lessons at four different levels of authentic pedagogy and identified noteworthy differences in teacher purpose, the ways teachers structured and enacted lessons to accomplish their purposes, and the ways that the structures of the lessons encouraged different lesson narratives that communicated different epistemological assumptions about the complexity of social reality and the process of sense-making. Teachers at the higher levels of the AIW scale sought to promote autonomy and civic competence. We conclude that to maintain democratic societies, educators must expand the number of classrooms offering students this essential preparation for civic life and provide suggestions for how this might be accomplished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government advice in relation to 'countering violent extremism' (CVE) in English schools requires teachers to identify students 'at risk' of radicalisation whilst also encouraging them to facilitate open classroom discussions of controversial issues. Data collected in seven schools illustrate how teachers are responding to this advice and illuminate three tensions within 'controversial issues' pedagogy. First, we discuss the tension between depth and coverage in case studies, which risks treating history as parable. Second, we identify a problem with finding a genuinely open ethical dilemma to discuss, which entails the risk of adopting a hypocritical stance in the classroom. Third, we identify a tendency to perceive school as the antidote to undesirable social attitudes. The teachers' responses highlight the usefulness of framing certain issues as 'controversial' but also illustrate how difficult this can be in practice, especially in the context of CVE, which is perceived by many as a controversial policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this essay I question the liberal faith in the efficacy and morality of citizenship education (CE) as it has been traditionally (and is still) practiced in most public state schools. In challenging institutionalized faith in CE, I also challenge liberal understandings of what it means to be a citizen, and how the social and political world of citizens is constituted. I interrogate CE as defended in the liberal tradition, with particular attention to Gutmann's 'conscious social reproduction'. I argue that CE in practice does not operate on the bases of non-repression or non-discrimination, and has weak claims for legitimacy. In fact, CE in many forms reproduces social inequalities, and contributes to the expulsion of disadvantaged students from schools and from the ranks of recognized citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the absence of a dedicated subject for teaching general religious education, the inclusion of Civics and Citizenship education as a new subject within the first Federal Australian Curriculum provides an important opportunity for teaching the religious within Australian schools. The curriculum for Civics and Citizenship requires students to learn that Australia is both a secular nation and a multi-faith society, and to understand religions practised in contemporary Australia. The term ‘secular’ and the need for students to learn about Australia’s contemporary multi-faith society raise some significant issues for schools and teachers looking to implement Civics and Citizenship. Focusing on public (state-controlled) schools, the argument here draws on recent analysis within the Australian context to suggest that religion remains an important factor in understanding and shaping democratic citizenship in Australia, that this should be acknowledged within public schools, and that a constructivist, dialogical-based pedagogy provides possibilities for recognising the religious within Civics and Citizenship education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1-country, 2-systems approach of “self-governance” for Hong Kong much depends on the quality and wisdom of its citizens. The teachers' view on important qualities of a good citizen were collected by questionnaire, focus groups, and interviews in this study. Primary schools were selected randomly from 2 areas not located adjacent to each other. The study found that teachers from faith-based schools held stronger agreement with both the importance of teaching citizenship and the various qualities of “good citizen” as compared with teachers from schools operated by government. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]