Citizenship Education: an Investigation of Crick’S Model and Citizenship Coordinators’ Perceptions of the Subject’S Purpose
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CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION: AN INVESTIGATION OF CRICK’S MODEL AND CITIZENSHIP COORDINATORS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE SUBJECT’S PURPOSE WILLIAM FERGUS O’SULLIVAN A thesis submitted to The University of Gloucestershire in accordance with the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Business, Education and Professional Studies June 2014 1 2 Abstract In 2002 the delivery of Citizenship Education, at Key Stages Three and Four, became compulsory in English Schools. The National Curriculum Order (QCA, 1999), which defined the nature of this new subject, drew heavily on the report by the Advisory Group on Education for Citizenship and the Teaching of Democracy (The Crick Report) (QCA, 1998). This thesis examines Crick’s model of citizenship education and the way that it is perceived by citizenship coordinators, those teachers most directly responsible for its delivery. The research methodology involved two major components; a literature based analysis of Crick’s model and semi structured interviews with ten citizenship coordinators. My findings relate to four key research questions. What underlying principles and philosophies exist regarding the purpose of citizenship education in a Liberal Democracy? Which principles and philosophies did the Crick Report adopt and how are these reflected in the National Curriculum subject of ‘Citizenship Education’? What do citizenship coordinators perceive as the purpose of Citizenship Education, and to what extent is their approach influenced by theory and policy issues? And finally, Could a greater understanding of the philosophical underpinnings of Citizenship Education among citizenship coordinators, improve its provision? With regard to the first two questions I argue that Crick established a sensible compromise position between competing conservative and progressive interpretations of the subject’s purpose. With regard to the third, the interviews with citizenship coordinators indicate that whilst all showed progressive intentions for the subject the majority (80%) showed a lack of consistency in their approach, often demonstrating a much more conservative approach than they intended. I suggest that the reason for this is a combination of two factors; a lack of conceptual understanding and the impact of various policy pressures. Finally, addressing the fourth question, I argue that a clear understanding of the subject’s philosophical underpinnings could have a positive impact on the problem, and make recommendations about how this may be achieve through adjustments to both government policy and schools’ training programmes. 3 4 I declare that the work in this thesis was carried out in accordance with the regulations of the University of Gloucestershire and is original except where indicated by specific reference in the text. No part of the thesis has been submitted as part of any other academic award. The thesis has not been presented to any other education institution in the United Kingdom or overseas. Any views expressed in the thesis are those of the author and in no way represent those of the University. Signed …………………………………………… Date……………………………………………… 5 6 Contents Introduction p.13 Citizenship and Civic Education p.13 Origins of this Research p.15 Research Questions p.18 Structure of the Thesis p.20 The Theoretical Component p.21 The Fieldwork Component p.22 Research Outcomes p.23 Contextualization 1) The History of Citizenship Education p.25 Citizenship Initiatives in English Education p.29 Citizenship and the National Curriculum p.35 The Failure to Establish Citizenship as a Curriculum Subject p.35 Perspectives on the History of Citizenship Education in England p.37 New Labour: New Consensus on Citizenship Education p.41 Developments that Led Towards the Establishment of Compulsory Citizenship Education in the 1990s p.43 The Future of Citizenship Education: The 2010 Coalition p.46 2) Methodology p.51 Research Questions p.51 Research Framework p.53 Ontology and Epistemology p.54 An Interpretive Study p.55 A Qualitative Study p.57 The Pilot Study p.60 The Pilot Study – Questionnaire p.63 The Pilot Study – Response p.64 How Did the Pilot Study Inform the Fieldwork Research? p.65 Research Design p.67 Research Diary p.69 Research Design - Data Analysis p.70 Triangulation and Positionality p.72 Ethical Considerations p.73 Interview Sample and Access to Schools p.75 The Interviews p.79 Producing Transcriptions p.81 Data Analysis - Analyzing the Transcriptions p.83 Reflections on the Data Collection p.87 7 Literature Analysis 3) Citizenship Education in a Liberal Democracy p.89 Civic Republican and Liberal Forms of Citizenship p.90 Why Citizenship Education is Comparatively Problematic for a Liberal Democracy p.94 Why Citizenship Education is Necessary in a Liberal Democracy p.97 Tensions within Liberal Citizenship Education p.99 Galston, Gutmann and Autonomy p.101 Galston p.103 Gutmann p.106 Galston and Gutmann p.109 Comprehensive and Political Liberalism p.111 Other Significant Viewpoints on the Maximal/Minimal, Autonomy/Diversity, Comprehensive/Political Question p.113 Rejection of a Virtue Based Approach to Liberal Citizenship Education p.115 ‘Living with Tension’ and the Acceptance of Autonomy p.117 Incorporating Elements of Civic Republicanism into Liberal Democratic Citizenship p.118 4) Crick and Citizenship Education p.121 Crick, Politics and Democracy p.125 Crick: Participation, Autonomy and Civic Education p.131 The Development of Crick’s Position Over Time p.137 The Opportunities and Dangers of a Light Touch Approach p.141 5) The Crick Report p.143 The Crick Report and the Purpose of Citizenship Education p.144 Criticisms of the Crick Report p.156 The Crick Report and Race p.162 Overview p.164 6) The Ajegbo Report p.167 The Background to the Ajegbo Report p.168 The Findings of the Ajegbo Report p.172 The Effect of the Ajegbo Report on the Citizenship National Curriculum p.175 Response to the Ajegbo Report p.178 Does the Ajegbo Report Indicate a Change in the Purpose of Citizenship Education? p.181 8 7) Citizenship Education and Policy – Vertical Policy p.185 Colebatch – Vertical and Horizontal Policy p.186 The Crick Report, Light Touch and the Original National Curriculum Order p.189 The Development of Citizenship Education as National Policy p.196 The CELS, Horizontal Research and Vertical Policy p.196 The National Curriculum, OFSTED and the QCA p.200 8) Citizenship Education and Policy – Horizontal Policy p.213 Timetabling and Discrete Status p.215 Link to PSHE , Lack of Specialist Staff and Lack of Status p.217 Assessment p.221 Failure to Integrate Strands and a Lack of Understanding of Purpose p.225 School Ethos and Pedagogy p.226 Student Representation p.228 Conclusions on Policy p.229 Data Analysis 9) Research Findings - Pilot p.233 Personnel p.233 Curriculum p.235 Citizenship and Pupil Voice p.236 Citizenship and Purpose p.238 10) Research Findings – Policy p.245 Discrete Status and the Link to PSHE p.248 Citizenship Coordinators and Citizenship Departments p.252 Timetable Allocation p.257 Assessment p.259 Conclusion p.262 11) Research Findings – Purpose p.265 How Would You Defend Citizenship Education to a Sceptical Colleague? p.269 Familiarity with the Crick Report p.271 Views on Crick – Traditionalism or Progressivism? p.272 Citizenship and the Iraq War p.276 Crick’s Three Strands p.279 Social and Moral Responsibility p.281 Community Involvement p.283 9 Political Literacy p.285 Active Citizenship p.289 Conclusion p.294 12) Research Findings – Ajegbo, Student Voice and OFSTED p.297 The Ajegbo Report p.297 Student Voice p.303 Integration of Citizenship and Student Voice p.304 The Potential for Undermining Citizenship p.306 OFSTED Reports p.309 13) Conclusions and Summary of Findings p.319 Overview p.319 Primary Findings p.320 Underlying Principles and the Crick Report p.322 Additional Findings p.323 Explaining the Disconnect p.326 Inconsistency and the Light Touch Approach p.327 Policy Issues, The Influence of OFSTED and the ‘Perception Gap’ p.329 Minimizing the Disconnect p.332 Recommendations p.335 Dissemination and Further Research p.339 Bibliography p.341 Appendix 1: Letter to Gloucestershire Association of Secondary School Headteachers (GASH) regarding the Pilot Study p.351 Appendix 2: Pilot Study Questionnaire for GASH Members p.352 Appendix 3: Introductory Letter for the Main Study p.354 Appendix 4: Interview Questions Provided to Citizenship Coordinators in Advance p.355 Appendix 5: Interview Schedule p.356 Appendix 6: Sample Interview Transcript p.359 10 List of Tables Table 1 Key Themes for Analysis p.84 Table 2 Tagging Map for Transcript Analysis p.86 Table 3 Essential Elements (Learning Outcomes) Included in the Crick Report p.151 Table 4 Methods of Citizenship Education Delivery in Pilot Schools p.234 Table 5 Headteachers’ Perceptions of the Purpose of Citizenship Education p.240 Table 6 Participant Schools with Contextual Data p.247-248 Table 7 References to Citizenship in OFSTED Reports of Participant Schools p.310 11 12 Introduction Citizenship and Civic Education The role that education plays in developing the relationship between young people and the democratic state in which they live may be described either as civic education or citizenship education, and often the terms will be used interchangeably. However, the choice of one term or the other when dealing with this area of education can be significant, and it is useful to explore the potential differences in interpretation, both for the purposes of clarification and because they illustrate how different educational establishments have focused upon the general area of the relationship between the individual and the state. This thesis focuses on citizenship education because it is a distinct and relatively recently established compulsory element of the National Curriculum. As a result of the requirement for all state schools to provide citizenship education (QCA, 1999), the focus of discussion in this country over the last decade has been overwhelmingly on the content and delivery of ‘citizenship’ as a curriculum subject (Keating et al., 2010).