Citizenship, in all of its various forms and interpretations, has existed as a common concern throughout the history of schooling in the UK. This concern has been, and continues to be, mobilised through a number of political and ideological interpretations regarding the nature of citizenship and its role in society. Community engagement, civic action, social inclusion, and democratic participation are some of the expected outcomes of a schooling experience concerned with citizenship. However, until relatively recently, specific curricular conversations for how these outcomes were to be produced were largely missing from educational policy and school management in the UK. In recent years, the lack of a coherent and purposeful approach to citizenship education (CE), coupled with a perceived disenfranchisement from electoral politics and community engagement among young people, has caused concern among politicians, policymakers, educators, and community stakeholders regarding the health of democracy in the UK, and by extension, the communities in which young people live and learn.
Additionally, the challenges posed to ethnically, culturally, and economically diverse communities (Stoker and Hay 2009; Kymlicka 1996; Mair 2008; Young 2002) have prompted educational policymakers and educators to develop a more concerted approach to educating for citizenship and ameliorating what some scholars (Marsh et al. 2007; Pattie et al. 2004; Sloam 2007) have described as the democratic disaffectedness experienced by so many in the UK. The political circumstances and social concerns that motivated the introduction of CE in the UK are discussed further on in this book. In this chapter, I focus on how CE is conceptualised and delivered in Wales.
CE in Wales
In its earliest form, CE throughout the UK was implemented as a non-compulsory, cross-curricular theme (Daugherty and Jones 1999). However, it was later endorsed as a statutory subject in England in September 2002 (Watson 2004). In Wales, CE is not a stand-alone subject. Instead, it is delivered through Personal and Social Education (PSE), Education for Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship (ESDGC), and the Welsh Baccalaureate. Conceptually, CE is an attempt to help pupils develop political literacyâmeaning that they are able to recognise, comprehend, and act on the characteristics of citizenship in their communities, the nation, and even on a global scale.
The introduction of CE in the UK comes from concerns over young peoplesâ attitudes towards civic and political participation and the desire to strengthen the public sphere by helping young people understand how political processes work and how to actively engage in those processes (Frazer 1999; Jowell and Park 1998). In the late 1990s, the Advisory Group on Citizenship was established and a report was commissioned to help clarify approaches to CE in school. The report claimed citizenship was more than a subject for learning. In fact, it was a concept that, if taught well and tailored to local needs, would enhance the democratic life of all people in society. In order for schools to be the hub for the development of practices of good citizenship, curricula needed to allow students to approach and meaningfully engage in the basic foundations of citizenship. From its inception, CE in England involved an understanding of people acting together to address issues of common concern. This concern and ability to engage in social and civic processes was believed to lead to a stronger democratic culture and a more inclusive society.
In Wales, the origins of citizenship remained squarely within a communitarian discourse framed within a desire to identify (or promote) a distinctive quality of associated living from that of (primarily) England and the other home nations. As concepts of citizenship in Wales continued to emerge in educational and political discourse, discourses of Welshness remained squarely fixed to concepts of citizenship.
The rhetoric supporting citizenship curricula in schools has typically framed citizenship in lofty terms that propose challenges to teachers who are working to meet the requirements of the curriculum in ways that could be incorporated into lessons, accessible by pupils, and accurately assessed and evaluated. For example, in England teachers were expected to create learning opportunities intended to allow pupils to explore questions about democracy, justice, inequality, and the processes of social governance and organisation. Guidance for teachers in England suggests learning experiences where pupils learn to work together to create solutions that try to address challenges facing their neighbourhoods and wider communities. As part of this process, teachers were also expected to assist their pupils in developing political literacy, which, in turn, will enable them as well-informed and âresponsibleâ citizens to make positive contributions to society. While specific examples for how teachers were to accomplish these lofty goals were not specifically outlined by government guidance, foundations and support groups for CE began to pop up across the educational landscape.
As CE policy and curricula became more defined in England and elsewhere in the UK, Wales too, through its relatively newly devolved powers in education, began to develop its own distinctive approach. In terms of theoretical development, CE in Wales was organised and communicated through two key policies: âCommunity Understanding â and the âCurriculum Cymreig .â In 1991, Community and Understanding was published by the Welsh Government. This document laid out a series of guidelines designed to provide a âcomplex, multi-faceted definitionâ of community (Phillips and Daugherty 2000, p. 93). The document claims that thoughtful approaches to understanding community will help pupils to âidentify and appreciate the common experience of their cultural heritage as well as understand its diverse and distinctive aspectsâ (CCW 1991, p. 2). It further promoted the idea that understanding community in ways that address diversity, inequality, and prejudice is central to situating community within a discourse of Welshnessâof Welsh culture, or Cymreig. Two years following this publication, the Welsh Government published Developing the Curriculum Cymreig , the official guidance for a curricular initiative that was intended to enable educators to incorporate themes of Welshness into their school ethos. More than simply teaching âWelshness,â the Curriculum Cymreig operates as the primary organisational feature for how concepts of citizenship and cultural identity are to be promoted in schools in Wales. Since the early 1990s, this distinctive feature of the national curriculum has survived many changes in policy and personnel, and it continues to exist as a distinguishing feature from other national curricula in the UK.
Surprisingly, even with the popularity of CE in recent years, Wales continues to rely on the Curriculum Cymreig as the primary vehicle through which teachers and pupils come to think about models for associated living and cultural identity. While initiatives promoting sustainable development and global citizenship work in tandem with PSE lessons, the Curriculum Cymreig and the guidance supporting the initiative, remain as the overarching, theoretical framework informing how teachers and pupils interact with discussions of cultural identity. Due to the ubiquitous nature of the Curriculum Cymreig in Welsh schooling and its relationship to citizenship and identity, the primary focus of this book is to present research that engages the Curriculum Cymreig from the perspective of pupils, students, and teachers.
I am interested in the Curriculum Cymreig because I see it as a less useful approach to framing CE, and indeed discussions of cultural and national identity, in schools in Wales than its predecessor. The approach to discussing culture and community in Community and Understanding incorporated more comprehensive themes of citizenship and associated living, providing greater opportunities about the nature and role of culture and cultural identity than the current Curriculum Cymreig policy. Other scholars have felt similarly. For example, Phillips describes Developing the Curriculum Cymreig as âan unashamed attempt to promote the distinctive culture and heritage of Walesâ (Phillips 1996, p. 43). In 2010, I conducted a critical discourse analysis of Developing the Curriculum Cymreig, and my findings resonate with Phillipsâ perspective, and this analysis of the guidance for the Curriculum Cymreig serves as the backdrop for the studies and discussions included in Chap. 4 of this book.
Once the theoretical framework of citizenship and cultural identity was established and communicated to educators through Community and Understanding and its successor Developing the Curriculum Cymreig, the actual implementation of CE curricula in schools had to be organised and initiated. This was accomplished through two curricular endeavours situating concerns for citizenship and cultural identity in global and local perspectives: ESDGC and PSE . The promotion of ESDGC was a key objective of the Welsh Government and is still regarded as a curricular programme that prepares young people for âlife in the 21st centuryâ (ESTYN 2013 Please check ESTYN (2103) has been changed to ESTYN (2013) as per the reference list., p. 4). ESDGC is not a discrete subject for learning, but rather a philosophy or element of a schoolâs ethos. It is a set of âvalues and attitudes, understanding and skills⊠embedded throughout school, an attitude to be adopted, a value system and way of lifeâ (Ibid.).
The presence and health of ESDGC is evaluated and assessed by ESTYN , the inspecting body for schools in Wales. According to ESTYN, it provides advice on the quality and standards of education and training in Wales to the National Assembly and other stakeholders, and makes public findings of good practice based on inspection evidence. Inspections of ESDGC involve a school providing inspectors with a self-evaluation report generated by the head teacher and staff. The inspectors then sample evidence from the report as a means to test the claims of the school and its implementation of ESDGC practices in meeting the aims and goals of their ESDGC strategy. The supplementary guidance for ESDGC provided by ESTYN lists four general areas serving as criteria that are representative of the ways in which inspectors attempt to evaluate the presence and effectiveness of a schoolâs ESDGC ethos. The four criteria are listed below:
1.
The understanding, skills, and values held and applied by pupils of sustainable development and global citizenship
Questions supporting this criterion relate to pupilsâ understanding of their actions on a local, national, and global scale. ESTYN inspectors are concerned with whether or not pupils understand people possess different approaches to, and opinions of, ESDGC and that with this understanding, pupils have the opportunity to learn about a variety of issues in the local and wider world, including environmental, social, political, and economic issues.
2.
Teaching and learning in relation to ESDGC
Concerns for teaching and learning in regard to ESDGC begin with an inspection of the PSE curriculum and its relationship to the schoolâs ESDGC ethos. ESTYN inspectors try to identify specific connections to ESDGC in Geography and Science lessons, as well as cross-curricular applications of ESDGC across the school, similar to how schools are intended to implement the Curriculum Cymreig. Finally, ESTYN inspectors try to identify opportunities for learning ESDGC elements across Key Stages, including considerations of ESDGC in the Welsh Baccalaur...