Lights, Camera, Civic Action! Film as a pedagogical tool for the teaching and learning of social justice- orientated citizenship education. Daryn Bevan Egan-Simon A thesis submitted to the Department of Education, Edge Hill University, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. July 2020 Abstract Citizenship education in England is largely based on a deficit model of young people that positions them as compliant economic subjects rather than active agents of change (Olser and Starkey, 2003; Kisby, 2017; Weinberg and Flinders, 2018). Furthermore, provision for citizenship education has been described as inadequate, ineffective, sterile and lacking in pedagogical innovation (Turner, 2009; Garratt and Piper, 2012; Kerr et al., 2010). This study addresses the question: how can short animated film be used as a pedagogical tool for the teaching and learning of social justice-orientated citizenship education? Within the study, social justice-orientated citizenship education is conceptualised within a framework consisting of four constitutive elements: agency; dialogue; criticality; and emancipatory/ transformative knowledge. As part of the enquiry, a film-based social justice-orientated citizenship education programme (Lights, Camera, Civic Action!) was designed and organically developed with twelve Year 5 children during the Spring, Summer and Autumn Terms of 2018. An intrinsic case study (Stake, 1995; 2005) was employed as the strategy of enquiry with the preferred qualitative methods of data collection being focus group interviews, participant observations and the visual and technical documents created by the children. Thematic Analysis was used as the analytical method for identifying and reporting themes found through the codification of data sets (Braun and Clarke, 2006; Castlebury and Nolen, 2018). The research is underpinned by a social- constructivist positionality that views children as meaning-makers, social actors and active participants in their own right (Gibson, 2012; Khoja, 2016). The findings from the study suggest that short animated film can be used as a medium for children’s meaning-making around social justice issues; as a stimulus for dialogic engagement; and as a vehicle for developing children’s critical consciousness. 1 Acknowledgements There are many people who have supported me throughout this doctoral journey, for which I am extremely and eternally grateful. To my supervisory team, Fiona Hallett, Mary McAteer and Francis Farrell for all their time, guidance and invaluable feedback. I could not have wished for a more supportive, understanding and wonderful team. To my wife, Jess, for all her patience, encouragement and overwhelming support over the past four years. She has been my rock. To my children, Nye and Osh, for always providing the perfect and often much-needed distraction from thesis writing… usually in the shape of a ball. To my parents, Paula and David, and my parents-in-law, Jude and Tony, for believing in me. Finally, to the wonderful children who participated in this study – Buffy, Christy, Bobbie, Dave, Morty, James, Emma, Justin, Dav, Plasma, DJ, Harley. You were an absolute joy to work with and the reason that this research exists. Thank you. 2 Table of Contents ABSTRACT ________________________________________________________________________1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS _____________________________________________________________2 LIST OF FIGURES ___________________________________________________________________7 LIST OF TABLES ____________________________________________________________________8 CHAPTER 1 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY __________________________________________9 1.1 INTRODUCTION ___________________________________________________________________9 1.2 AIMS AND SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH _____________________________________________________9 1.3 RATIONALE AND MOTIVATION ______________________________________________________ 10 1.3.1 FILM AS A PEDAGOGICAL TOOL _____________________________________________________ 10 1.3.2 CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION IN ENGLAND ________________________________________________ 11 1.3.3 WORKING WITH CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE__________________________________________ 11 1.4 SITUATING THE STUDY WITHIN THE NEOLIBERAL EDUCATIONAL LANDSCAPE IN ENGLAND _______________ 12 1.5 OUTLINE OF THE THESIS ___________________________________________________________ 15 1.5.1 CHAPTER TWO ________________________________________________________________ 15 1.5.2 CHAPTER THREE _______________________________________________________________ 16 1.5.3 CHAPTER FOUR________________________________________________________________ 16 1.5.4 CHAPTER FIVE ________________________________________________________________ 17 1.5.5 CHAPTER SIX _________________________________________________________________ 18 1.5.6 CHAPTER SEVEN _______________________________________________________________ 18 1.5.7 CONCLUSION _________________________________________________________________ 19 CHAPTER 2 A CRITICAL HISTORY OF CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION IN ENGLAND _________________ 20 2.1 INTRODUCTION _________________________________________________________________ 20 2.2 THE CONTESTED NOTIONS OF CITIZENSHIP AND CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION __________________________ 21 2.3 A HISTORY OF CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION IN ENGLAND _______________________________________ 26 2.3.1 THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION IN ENGLAND ______________________________ 26 2.3.2 NEW LABOUR’S VISION FOR CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION ______________________________________ 30 2.3.3 FROM 2010 ONWARDS; A SHIFT TOWARDS CHARACTER EDUCATION ____________________________ 35 2.3.4 ‘FUNDAMENTAL BRITISH VALUES’ ___________________________________________________ 37 2.4 CONCLUSION __________________________________________________________________ 38 CHAPTER 3 A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE-ORIENTATED CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION ____________________________________________________________________ 39 3.1 INTRODUCTION _________________________________________________________________ 39 3.2 PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS ______________________________________________________ 40 3.2.1 CRITICAL THEORY ______________________________________________________________ 40 3.2.2 CRITICAL PEDAGOGY ____________________________________________________________ 42 3.2.3 CRITICISMS OF CRITICAL PEDAGOGY __________________________________________________ 47 3 3.3 A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE-ORIENTATED CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION ______________ 49 3.3.1 AGENCY ____________________________________________________________________ 52 3.3.2 DIALOGUE ___________________________________________________________________ 55 3.3.3 CRITICALITY __________________________________________________________________ 60 3.3.4 EMANCIPATORY/ TRANSFORMATIVE KNOWLEDGE ________________________________________ 62 3.4 CONCLUSION __________________________________________________________________ 65 CHAPTER 4 FILM AS A PEDAGOGICAL TOOL AND SITE FOR LEARNING ______________________ 66 4.1 INTRODUCTION _________________________________________________________________ 66 4.2 FILM AS A PEDAGOGICAL TOOL AND SITE FOR LEARNING _____________________________________ 67 4.2.1 THE USE OF FILM AS A SITE FOR LEARNING WITHIN THE HUMANITIES ____________________________ 69 4. 3 ANIMATED FILM AS A FORM OF PUBLIC PEDAGOGY ________________________________________ 72 4.3.1 HISTORICAL ORIGINS ____________________________________________________________ 73 4.3.2 DISNEY AS A SITE FOR LEARNING ____________________________________________________ 74 4.4 CRITICISMS AND CONCERNS ABOUT USING FILM AS A PEDAGOGICAL TOOL AND SITE FOR LEARNING _______ 76 4.5 CONCLUSION __________________________________________________________________ 79 CHAPTER 5 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ___________________________________ 81 5.1 INTRODUCTION _________________________________________________________________ 81 5.2 A CRITICAL PHILOSOPHICAL PARADIGM ________________________________________________ 81 5.3 THE STRATEGY OF ENQUIRY; INTRINSIC CASE STUDY ________________________________________ 84 5.4 THE RESEARCH SITE, PARTICIPANTS AND PROGRAMME ______________________________________ 87 5.4.1 THE RESEARCH SITE _____________________________________________________________ 87 5.4.2 THE RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS: _____________________________________________________ 88 5.4.3 THE LIGHTS, CAMERA, CIVIC ACTION! PROGRAMME _______________________________________ 90 5.5 DATA COLLECTION METHODS _______________________________________________________ 95 5.5.1 FOCUS GROUP INTERVIEWS _______________________________________________________ 96 5.5.2 PARTICIPANT OBSERVATIONS ______________________________________________________ 98 5.5.3 VISUAL AND TECHNICAL DOCUMENTS _________________________________________________ 99 5.6 TIMELINE OF FIELDWORK _________________________________________________________ 100 5.7 DATA ANALYSIS _______________________________________________________________ 100 5.7.1 THEMATIC ANALYSIS ___________________________________________________________ 101 5.7.2 THE INTERPRETATION OF THE DATA _________________________________________________ 104 5.8 ISSUES OF TRUSTWORTHINESS ______________________________________________________ 105 5.8.1 CREDIBILITY _________________________________________________________________ 105 5.8.2 TRANSFERABILITY _____________________________________________________________ 106 5.8.3 DEPENDABILITY ______________________________________________________________ 106 5.8.4 CONFIRMABILITY