- Home
- A-Z Publications
- Citizenship Teaching & Learning
- Previous Issues
- Volume 12, Issue 1, 2017
Citizenship Teaching & Learning - Volume 12, Issue 1, 2017
Volume 12, Issue 1, 2017
-
-
Social change and teaching and learning citizenship education: An empirical study of three schools in Guangzhou, China
Authors: Wing-Wah Law and Shuqin XuAbstractSince the 1980s, China has increased its openness to the world and made tremendous domestic economic and social changes. This study investigates the relationship between social change and pedagogies in citizenship education (CE) and to what extent indoctrination is prevalent in CE in schools in Guangzhou, China. Data were drawn mainly from documents, student questionnaires, observed CE lessons, and interviews with students and CE teachers. Findings revealed the coexistence of various CE pedagogies (e.g., inculcation; values clarification; inquiry-based); perceived open and free classrooms in which students expressed and respected diverse views; rote learning for examination, not political, purposes; and teachers’ tension between reluctantly teaching politically sensitive topics and promoting multiple perspectives to foster critical thinking. These findings may reflect the complex interplay among different actors in the reselection of CE elements and pedagogies, in response to China’s gradual, post-1980s social transition to a less restrictive, more accommodating society.
-
-
-
The model of teachers’ perceptions of ‘Good Citizens’: Aligning with the changing conceptions of ‘Good Citizens’
Authors: Koon Lin Wong, Chi Kin John Lee, Kin Sang Jacqueline Chan and Kerry John KennedyAbstractThe purpose of this study was to investigate teachers’ perceptions of ‘good citizens’ using the Model of Teachers’ Perceptions of ‘Good Citizens’. Teachers play essential roles in the nurturing of students’ civic values because they are key figures in implementing education and curriculum policies in schools. A mixed methods approach was employed to address Hong Kong primary teachers’ perceptions of good citizens. A total of 1089 teachers from 131 Hong Kong primary schools participated in the quantitative study. Subsequently, 29 teachers from twelve schools were chosen for interview. According to the Model of Teachers’ Perceptions of Good Citizens, the findings revealed that teachers perceived good citizens to be those who not only possessed civic knowledge, conservative values, and concern for others in society but were also critical and active citizens. The Model of Teachers’ Perceptions of Good Citizens provided an explanation for the gap between good citizens as advocated by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government and good citizens as embraced by groups within Hong Kong society. This study contributes to the body of literature on teachers’ perceptions of civic education by offering a new lens for thinking about teachers’ perceptions of good citizens.
-
-
-
Heritage schools: A lens through which we may better understand citizenship and citizenship education
Authors: Beatrice Szczepek Reed, Fatma Said and Ian DaviesAbstractHeritage schools are part-time community-based educational institutions offering language and cultural education. In this article we recognize that the UK government is keen to promote diverse, enterprising, community-based educational action and, simultaneously, keen to promote a particular values-based national identity. In general terms, we would expect Heritage schools to be supported for their contribution to communities and as an example of enterprise, but they are instead viewed by the government with suspicion. Following introductory comments, the bulk of the article is given over to an identification of and discussion about seven tensions in debates about Heritage schools that illuminate thinking and practice about aspects of citizenship and citizenship education. Our argument is that by considering these tensions we can illuminate the nature of citizenship and character education. We address two fundamental and contextual tensions by looking at general issues of freedom and control in educational policy and the characterization of Heritage schools. We then discuss five other tensions to do with equality, diversity, achievement, language education and finally the teaching and learning of citizenship and character.
-
-
-
Far from apathetic: Canadian youth identify the supports they need to speak about and act on issues
Authors: Lorna R. McLean, Jennifer K. Bergen, Hoa Truong-White, Jenn Rottmann and Lisa GlitheroAbstractAccording to the government agency responsible for tabulating trends in voting patterns, electoral participation in Canada plunged steadily from the 1990s to early twenty-first century; most of the decline is attributed to a dwindling of interest among youth voters, specifically those between 18 and 24 years of age. Recent national and international research links experiential learning with increased civic engagement. By framing our community student-learning project around student engagement and issues that the students raised, our study evolved as a joint collaboration among a government agency (Elections Canada), a national youth leadership programme (Encounters With Canada) and a Canadian university’s Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa. This study gives particular voice to students to help educators better understand how teenagers see themselves as citizens, what issues they identify as significant, and what resources and materials they claim they need to engage with in the democratic process.
-
-
-
Spatiality and children’s civic agency
Authors: Xiaoying Zhao and Jennifer HauverAbstractThe present research examines intersections between children’s envisioned civic agency and spatiality. In order to understand how space matters in children’s civic agency, the authors conducted in-depth interviews with three 10-year-old children about their meaning makings in three familiar spaces. As part of the interviews, children were asked to describe how they envisioned responding to a hypothetical scenario (parallel across settings). Thematic data analysis suggests that children’s envisioned civic agency is influenced by the social relations and perceived power structures within each space. In light of the data, we identify aspects of spaces that served as facilitative conditions for promoting children’s agentic practice, and pose critical questions about the nature of schools as sites for fostering students’ civic agency.
-
-
-
Reviews
Authors: Shuyi Chua and Andrew PetersonAbstractTHE ETHICS OF PATRIOTISM: A DEBATE, JOHN KLEINIG, SIMON KELLER AND IGOR PRIMORATZ (2015) West Sussex: Wiley-Blackwell, 189 pp., ISBN: 9780470658857, p/bk, £23.50
GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP EDUCATION AND THE CRISES OF MULTICULTURALISM: COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVES, MASSIMILIANO TAROZZI AND CARLOS ALBERTO TORRES (2016) London: Bloomsbury, 240 pp. ISBN: 9781474235976, h/bk £94.99
-