Challenges of Citizenship Education in Small States--Issues of Context vs. Content. A Background Paper Prepared for the Pan-Commonwealth Project on Heritage, Multiculturalism and Citizenship.

Ten years ago in the Harare Declaration, heads of government from across the British Commonwealth committed to upholding critical commonwealth-held values. While initially focusing on Human Rights Education, the Commonwealth Secretariat set about enabling member governments to promote greater awareness, education, and training supporting democracy, human rights, and respect for individual freedoms. In 2002, the Commonwealth Secretariat's Education Department undertook a deeper level of study of the education institutions which, through their programs, are seeking to further this initiative and to assess lessons learned and to determine the future. The Ministries of Education of two Caribbean small states, Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, both with issues of multiculturalism, diversity, and ethnicity high on the political agenda, have supported a Secretariat-driven initiative to enable information gathering on citizenship education in school-based and non-formal education forums. Following identification of and interviews with potential partners, a search conference activity in both states was conducted, culminating in a draft Caribbean Action Agenda for Citizenship Education to solidify and deepen the thrust. This paper discusses the impact of state size on the education system; citizenship education as cultural values transmission; issues of context vs. curriculum content; Jamaica: socioeconomic challenges to education; Montserrat; and impact of environmental hazards. The paper finds that the future of the Citizenship Education Initiative must consider the context, milieu, and environment in which the curriculum is taught. It is important to approach the dissemination of the initiative from the perspective of the learner rather than the teacher. (Contains 12 notes.) (BT)