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Introduction...

Last month Ofsted published their latest report on Citizenship education: Citizenship Established? Ofsted’s previous report ‘Towards Consensus?’ (2006) painted a picture of a subject at the ‘developing’ stage, only grade three on the four point scale of the ‘Citizenship self evaluation tool’*. ‘Citizenship Established?’ (Ofsted, 2010) leaves the reader with a question mark- but if the answer is yes, then citizenship is moving into grade 2 territory.

Chris Waller, Professional Officer said; "ACT is delighted to see this report demonstrating the achievements of Citizenship education teachers and pupils. Along with the NFER Report from November 2009-the CELS Report- the evidence demonstrates the impact the subject is having on schools, learners and communities."

A positive report for Citizenship eduation

The report shows that significant progress has been made since 2006 – despite press coverage of the report mainly focusing on the 10% of schools in the Ofsted sample where citizenship was deemed inadequate.

Crucially, students’ achievement was good or outstanding in citizenship in over half the secondary schools visited. Generally, students expressed their enjoyment of citizenship, especially the discussion of topical issues. Ofsted say this was the result of increasingly good teaching, particularly associated with specialists willing and able to tackle sensitive and controversial topics. (Well done to all those specialist teachers and well done to the heads for employing them! – ed.)

Much of pupils' increased enjoyment of the subject can be attributed to excellent teaching by specialist teachers.

In half of the schools there was a well developed curriculum, often with a strong core programme. And even in the schools where citizenship was still weak the penny had dropped and something was being done about it.

The report doesn’t underestimate the difficulties of getting citizenship firmly established and moving forward to ‘advanced’. As well as consolidating the curriculum and improving teachers’ subject knowledge and skills, especially in the area of assessment , the report deliberates on issues such as making active citizenship an entitlement for all; teaching about politics in greater depth; and maximising the contribution of citizenship towards the promotion of community cohesion. See ACT’s work supporting assessment.

Congratulations are due to the schools whose work is cited in the report. It’s great that the report has also included a small scale inspection of primary schools, most of which were judged outstanding. Post 16 providers and teacher trainers are also mentioned.

Recommendations from the report include

DCSF should:

• With the Training and Development Agency for Schools, maintain the numbers of trainee places for initial teacher education and the level of provision for continuing professional development in citizenship.
• The DCSF should also promote the take-up of courses for continuing professional development in this area.

Local Authorities should:

• consider how they can support schools in developing citizenship programmes and facilitate networks of teachers and, in particular, encourage schools where provision is weak to become involved.

Schools should:

• Develop the quality of citizenship teaching by taking advantage of existing expertise in the school, capitalising on training opportunities and recruiting specialist teachers when the opportunity arises.
• Establish a clear link between citizenship and community cohesion, in particular highlighting the contribution that pupils can make to their local community.
• Ensure that all their staff understand the principles defining citizenship and how these relate to other subjects, particularly the humanities and PSHE education.
• Ensure that the citizenship curriculum and opportunities for participation and responsible action are available to pupils of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.

ACT recommends that teachers and school leaders read the report!

Notably, there are also important recommendations for government, urging the continuation of support for training and materials. Well used, this report could contribute to three more good years- and possibly a title of ‘Citizenship Advanced?’

* The Citizenship self-evaluation tool is a tool for schools to identify which aspects of Citizenship education they are doing well and where they need to do more. It is downloadable from here.