RESEARCH CITIZENSHIP LEARNING RESEARCH IN PRACTICE


How to make ‘better citizens’ of your students – a college’s journey


Michael Conway-Jones College on ways in which citizenship learning can be embedded across programmes.


In 1919, a Ministry of Reconstruction report into adult education said that the aim of Fircroft College was “to make better citizens”.


By suggesting that students are not


yet ‘good enough’ citizens, that phrase is problematic in itself. Indeed the whole area of citizenship in education is still a matter for debate a century later. Nonetheless, the purpose of our


research was to explore what the 1919 report means 100 years later, using a typology developed by James A. Banks, director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington, in a series of workshops and focus groups with learners.


Our work began around the time that the new Education Inspection Framework (EIF) was published with this descriptor for ‘Good’ personal development, which says: “The provider prepares learners for life in modern Britain by: helping to equip them to be responsible, respectful, active citizens who contribute positively to society; developing their understanding of fundamental British values.”


FAILED CITIZENSHIP Banks says that citizenship fails when individuals “do not internalise the values and ethos of the nation-state; feel structurally excluded from it”. Arguably, the duty to promote British Values in education and training was a policy response to this perceived failure. Fircroft is a delivery partner in the


REFERENCES


• Banks, J.A. (2017) Failed Citizenship and Transformative Civic Education. Educational Researcher, Vol. 46 No.7, pp 366-377


• This research was presented at the 2019 conference of the Standing Conference on University Teaching and Research in the Education of Adults (SCUTREA) and is available in full at


• In November the #adulteducation100 Centenary Commission will publish a report on the needs and possibilities of adult education.


inTUITION ISSUE 37 • AUTUMN 2019 15


award-winning Talk English project, funded by the Government’s Integrated Communities English language programme, “designed to help participants integrate into life in this country”.


In a workshop on citizenship, we asked


a group of students to complete the sentence “A good citizen…”. The words ‘law’ and ‘respect’ appeared in most of the students’ responses.


RECOGNISED CITIZENSHIP In our workshops students were also asked to choose one symbol of citizenship from a sheet of 12. The most popular choice was the passport, even for those who don’t have a passport. This


in terms of status. The Learning and Work Institute has


a Citizens’ Curriculum. Five of the six Functional Skills: literacy, numeracy,


reminded me that part of our curriculum intent in offering these Functional Skills is to equip learners to exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens.


PARTICIPATORY CITIZENSHIP Banks makes the point that citizens participate at different levels. Like other providers, Fircroft encourages more active participation by promoting political engagement and by equipping adult learners with skills like mentoring


TRANSFORMATIVE CITIZENSHIP We know that the FE and training sector encourages critical thinking and transforms lives. Banks highlights the importance of social studies teaching “to actualise transformative citizenship education”.


This was best illustrated by the Access


to HE students at Fircroft who led a focus group following their visit to Parliament, and they turned the tables by asking “How do you think politicians could be better citizens?”


CONCLUSION One outcome of this action research has been the introduction of a Social Justice programme at Fircroft. This is explicitly to develop the civic capabilities required for active engagement and transformation. Just as importantly, the research has helped us recognise how much of our offer, which isn’t labelled “citizenship education”, is nevertheless developing responsible and respectful citizens.


Michael Conway-Jones is vice principal at Fircroft College of Adult Education and is a Fellow of SET.


and advocacy so that they can “put something back”. Our key performance indicators include


the percentage of learners more likely to vote and the percentage volunteering as a result of attending the college.


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