Citizenship Education and the Curriculum

Citizenship education is a current concern of policymakers in various parts of the world. Debates focus on modern notions of citizenship, and the need for citizenship education in a rapidly changing world. This need for citizenship education and corresponding definitions have changed over time, but a persistent characteristic would seem to be a fear of indoctrination and a lack of a coherent vision due in part to the notion of citizenship being a contested concept. Different notions of citizenship in turn underpin different theories of citizenship education, and a number of commentators have examined its role and rationale at various points in time and identified ideal forms of pedagogy, values, skills, curricular content, and assessment.Contributors address the following concerns: universality and equal opportunity, social literacy and citizenship, citizenship education and curriculum, race, different citizenship patterns in civic education, assessment, cultivating respect in human relations, and global citizenship education. Adopting a comparative approach discussing citizenship education in New Zealand, England, Iceland, Israel, Ireland, and Europe, the book presents various debates and develops new frameworks for understanding the issues.