Citizenship Education

Citizenship education is about using education to train people to become citizens. Education can refer to formal schooling, or to public information more broadly circulated, e.g. through the media, through legislation, or through informal adult education. It also presumes that citizenship is more than an issue of legal status or political identity, but involves a set of values and commitments. Nevertheless, Citizenship education is not about trying to fit everyone into the same mould, or creating an ideal, or good citizen. It is rather about empowering citizens to make their own decisions and to assume responsibility for their own lives and their communities.
Definition:
The term citizenship has different meanings:
1- A legal and political status
At the simplest level, citizenship is used to refer to the position of being a citizen and part of the community or state. Thus, in this regard, citizenship brings about certain rights and duties stipulated by law. Sometimes, the term means nationality, such as when we talk about "applying for citizenship".

2- Involvement in public life and sector:
The term citizenship is also used to point to the engagement in public life. It is the behaviors and actions of a citizen, and sometimes known as an active citizenship. It refers to many activities, ranging from participating in elections, and assuming a political position and status. It doesn’t only point to the duties and rights stipulated by the Constitution and law, but also to wide range of behaviors which societies expect from their citizens.

3- Citizenship education:
In this sense, citizenship refers to an educational process, to make people learn how to be active, responsible, and aware citizens. It includes broad scope of education, from information education at home, or through the civics course provided by schools, universities, and colleges. (Greenwoond and Robins, 2000).

In most countries, there is recognition that school structures must support citizenship education. Carole Hahn's important research in Europe and the USA demonstrates a clear connection between positive attitudes toward participation in democratic civic life and schools which encourage students to be involved in school governance and openly discuss and take action on important public issues. Many countries are looking for ways to engage students in school and community decision making as a principal element of citizenship education.
In contrary, there is a growing recognition that schools are not the only sites where citizenship education takes place. In many jurisdictions, service learning is becoming a requirement for high school graduation. In service-learning programs, students are often placed with a community groups and earn school credit for their work there. This volunteer service may or may not — depending on the program — be accompanied by academic work and discussion around the issues dealt with by the organization.. These kinds of programs aim at connecting the students to real issues in their community, and at the same time, developing their knowledge and skills in the area of democratic participation.

Goals of Citizenship Education:

“We should not, must not, dare not, be complacent about the health and future of British democracy. Unless we become a nation of engaged citizens, our democracy is not secure.” (Chancellor, 1998)
The key reason behind citizenship education stems from the nature of democracy. Democracies require informed, active, and responsible citizens who are eager and capable of taking responsibility for themselves and their communities and partake in the political process. These capacities are not innate. They have to be learned and acquired. While certain level of citizenship may be attained through ordinary experience in the home or at the workplace, it can never in itself be sufficient to equip citizens for the sort of active role required of them in today’s complex and diverse society.
Wherever it occurs, citizenship education has the same basic aims and purposes. It is education for citizenship – that is, education which aims to help people learn and know how to become active, informed and responsible citizens. More particularly, it aims to prepare them for life as citizens of a democracy.
Different characteristics are required by citizens in different types of political system. The characteristics required of people living as free and equal citizens in a democratic society differ significantly from those of people living under, say, a totalitarian regime.
My personal vision for the future of citizenship education emulates that of Derricott, (1998). School is a community where values and beliefs are in the formation stage. If the whole culture and experience of school can be one of true pupil-led participation and active citizenship, with the right skills this can be transferred to the world outside as children move into adult life. School is a blank canvas for designing a better society.
Derricott (1998) examined case studies of citizenship education both within and beyond the UK and remarks on how the values of British society do not entirely reflect the values of citizenship. But I argue that this is a core reason for the introduction of statutory citizenship education – to move towards this ideal.
A school is indeed one community that all young people identify with and belong to. Derricott propose that school should aim to become a ‘model of multi-dimensional citizenship’ with entirely democratic and globally responsible policies and practices including environmental stewardship, ethical use of technology, and entrenched values of co-operation and community partnerships. Indeed this is a key criticism of the current position of citizenship in the curriculum – pupils are being taught about democracy in a school environment which is likely to be very undemocratic. Schools need to internalize the values of citizenship in their daily business for children to realize that democracy is effective and that they have an important part to play in it. Data from Derricott (1998) also indicates the importance of community contributions to education and that there must be a sense of collective responsibility for the education of the young.

Lebanon: Why Education and Citizenship

How well are young people in Lebanon equipped and ready to exercise the rights and obligations of citizenship? What is the levelof their understanding of key concepts related to democratic citizenship and how does this impact their attitudes, values and actions? At this time of intense political turbulence, how do they address questions of identity, social solidarity and democratic participation?
What are key factors in their educational setting that impact their civic attitudes and how do they compare to their peers in different countries? These questions were addressed by a study undertaken as part of the National Human Development Report (NHDR) for Lebanon is trying to respond to.
This year, the study of NHDR, entitled Towards a Citizen’s State tried to examine the role of the state and citizenship in Lebanon and identify the problems that mark the relationship of Lebanese citizens with their state and with each other. A key premise of this report is that citizenship is the foundation of democracy, that democratic practices cannot be limited to the procedural dimension, despite its significance, and that effective citizenship concerns not only voting without coercion, but also the formation of relations between citizens and the State and between citizens themselves. The study carried out in Lebanon this year indicates that civic knowledge amongst Lebanese students is low compared to their peers in other countries. However, their comprehension of the three main concepts related to citizenship, democracy, good citizen and state responsibilities was relatively high.

The outcome of the study also revealed strong support by students for the military role of the state as well as strong patriotic and independent sentiments amongst students, which in part may be a reflection of the general political turbulence that Lebanon is undergoing. In addition, although student interest in politics seems to be high, their expectations of political participation appear to be limited – a potential source of future friction. As can be expected, this survey also illustrates the extent to which student’s preference for political leaders is guided by their confessional affiliation, reflecting both the nature of Lebanon’s social makeup and its strong political polarization. Civic knowledge of ninth-graders in Lebanon is modest in comparison to their peers in the 28 other countries covered by the survey.

The achievement of Lebanese students in international civic content knowledge was varied and better than their achievement in civic skills. For example, Lebanese students scored higher percentages than the available percentages for the 28 countries that participated in the study in 4 out of 9 questions (political rights, multiple organizations, more than one political party in democratic systems and on the implications of one publisher buying up the smaller newspaper. Their scores decreased substantially in 5 other questions particularly around the laws and gender discrimination. Lebanese students show a relatively high understanding of citizenship concepts as indicated by their percentages and mean average when compared to their peers in other countries in the IEA study, including developed ones. Even though unexpected [given the ongoing political turbulence], this level of understanding is not reflected in their civic skills where they performed quite poorly. National sentiment amongst Lebanese students is also very strong with a powerful penchant toward protectionism and sovereignty. But, there is no consensus amongst the youth on political options that may be described as national or common (such as name of historic leader, states that may be considered friends or foes to Lebanon etc.). A question on the most important historic leader for Lebanon gleaned an ambiguous result at best


Conclusion:

Because democracy requires informed participation, citizens must understand ideas about citizenship, politics and government. They need knowledge to make decisions about policy choices and the proper use of authority, along with the skills to voice their concerns, act collectively and hold public officials accountable.
A curriculum for citizenship will be enquiry based, with students making connections between their own and others' experiences, learning to think critically about society and take action for social justice. Educational institutions where this is achieved embody learning for citizenship in their organizational leadership and in their self evaluation. Citizenship education enhances the professional values and practices of teachers and others.
In addition, citizenship education requires students to consider public and individual issues of an ethical and political nature. These issues will be topical and often controversial. Effective education for citizenship includes the integration of conceptual understanding and the skills for civic engagement.
Citizenship education requires an integrated approach to assessment which incorporates evidence about knowledge, skills and understanding, values, dispositions and social action. The overall assessment must integrate learners' self evaluations and reflections which take account of others' observations and the teachers' evaluations of pupils.
In conclusion, citizenship education in schools has the potential to bring huge benefits to individuals, schools and community life. Citizenship can truly prepare pupils for adult life and grant them the skills and awareness to contribute positively as young people. For this to work, the values of citizenship need to penetrate the whole school environment and should develop skills transferable to other areas of work, school and adult life.
References:
Chancellor, R. (1998). What is citizenship and why teach it. Retrieved on May 29, 2008 from http://www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk/main/page.php?286.

Derricott, R. (1998). National Case Studies of Citizenship Education’ in Cogan Citizenship for the 21st Century. Retrieved on June, 1, 2008, from http://gse.ed.uiuc.edu/citizenship.html

DfES, (2007). Diversity and Citizenship in the Curriculum: A Research review. Nottingham, DfES. Retrieved on May, 30, 2008 from http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RB819.pdf.

Greenwoond, J. Robins, L. (2002). Citizenship Tests and Education; Embedding a concept Parliamentary Affairs. Retrieved on June, 1, 2008, from http://pa.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/citation/55/3/505

Hebert. Y, Sear. A. (1996). Citizenship Education. Canadian Education Association. Retrieved on June, 1, 2008, from http://www.cea-ace.ca/media/en/Citizenship_Education.pdf

Sears, A., Hughes. A. (1996). “Citizenship Education and Current Educational Reform”. Retrieved on May, 28, 2008, from http://www.csse.ca/CJE/Articles/FullText/CJE21-2/CJE21-2-03Sears.pdf

UNDP report (2008). Education and Citizenship, Analysis of survey results of the 9th grade students in Lebanon, United Nation Development Program.