Discovering Citizenship in Higher Education Laura Lannin 15 th December 2008

A higher education concern? “Education for democracy and citizenship has historically been related to the role of the compulsory school system and has not been seen as relevant to higher education.” (Englund, 2002, p.282)

The relevance of citizenship in higher education o White paper, 2003 o Developing educated, critical thinkers  “Developing a global perspective alerts students to how their experiences are connected to the experiences of people throughout the world…and also serves to better prepare students for work, in a society where cross cultural capability is essential to employment” (Shiel, 2006, p.18).

Concepts in citizenship education  Community  Education: reflecting and learning  Ethics and morals  Graduate attributes  Political interests  Society and belonging  Sustainability

The purpose of citizenship education  Political control?  (Foucault, 1991; Oliver and Heater, 1994; Chamberlin, 2003)  “Do modern governments wish to have a politicised population with a world view, or simply a population that obeys the law and picks up the litter?” (Scott-Baumann, 2003, p.357)

The purpose of citizenship education  Civic and moral guidance?  (Heater, 2001; Oliver and Heater, 1994; Arthur and Bohlin, 2005)  “Character development is about the kind of person we become in a particular kind of community. Character implies that we are free to make ethical decisions- it is not merely about controlled behaviour. Whilst character is largely formed in early socialization, the experience of higher education continues to influence what and who the student becomes.” (Arthur and Bohlin, 2005, p.11)

The purpose of citizenship education  The freedom to critically understand and analyse?  (Shafir, 1998; Marshall and Bottomore, 1992; Englund, 2002)  “Citizenship is not just a means to being free; it is the way of being free itself” (Pocock, 1998, p.34).

Masters by research Staff and student conceptions of Citizenship Education: a case study of the University of Gloucestershire. Questions: I. What conceptions of citizenship education do academic staff and undergraduate students hold? II. To what extent and how do academic staff integrate citizenship education in the curriculum? III. How do undergraduate students experience citizenship education?

Methodology and methods  Constructivist approach  “the term constructivism for epistemological considerations focus[es] exclusively on the meaning-making activity of the individual mind” (Crotty, 1998, p. 58).  Focus Groups  Disciplines: Education and Psychology  Nominal Group Technique (Gaskin, 2003)  Semi-structured discussion (Krueger and Casey, 2000)

Frameworks  Marshall and Bottomore, Citizenship and social class, 1992 Civic, Political and Social citizenship Social citizenship introduced  an important element in the 21 st Century? Belief in education  e.g. freedom of speech can only powerful if you have something worthwhile to say.  “Fundamentally, it should be regarded, not as the right of the child to go to school, but as the right of the adult citizen to have been educated.” ( Marshall, in Shafir, p. 100)

Frameworks, continued  Barnett, Supercomplexity (2000) and Learning for an unknown future (2004) Education for an unknown world Open relationships between student & teacher Characteristics of citizenship education?  Carefulness, thoughtfulness, humility, criticality, receptiveness, resilience, courage (discipline specific?)  Barrie, Graduate Attributes (2004) Scholarship, global citizenship Skills, knowledge and abilities of Graduate students

Emerging themes  The implicit nature of citizenship education  Citizenship education is explored and taught without recognition  Recognising citizenship education  Undergraduate students can identify where citizenship education is present  Discourses of citizenship education  Citizenship education is expressed largely through the discourse of each discipline

Emerging themes  The uncertainty of citizenship education  The majority of participants have been uncertain of the term and its meaning  The important concept: a social or political focus?  Literature suggests that political and social aspects to citizenship education are of equal concern. This research questions the impact of politics in citizenship education

Activity 1) In your discipline area where do you witness aspects of a citizenship education? 2) What do you believe should be incorporated into a citizenship education? 3) Why is citizenship education relevant in H.E? 4) When do you witness aspects of citizenship education in H.E? 5) How important is citizenship education in H.E?

Questions…

References  Arthur, J. and K. E. Bohlin, Eds. (2005). Citizenship and higher education: the role universities in communities and societies. Oxford, Routledge Falmer.  Barnett, R. (2000). "Supercomplexity and the curriculum." Studies in Higher Education 25(3):  Barnett, R. (2004). "Learning for an unknown future." Higher Education Research and Development 23(3):  Barrie, S. C. (2004). "A Research-based approach to generic graduate attributes policy." Higher Education and Research Development 23(3):  Chamberlin, R. (2003). "Citizenship? Only if you haven’t got a life: secondary school pupils’ views of citizenship education." Westminster Studies in Education 26(2):  Crotty, M. (1998). The foundations of social research: meaning and perspective in the research process. London, SAGE Publications.  Englund, T. (2002) “Higher education, democracy and citizenship- the democratic potential of the university?” Studies in Philosophy and Education 21:

References (continued)  Foucault, M. (1991). Discipline and punish: the birth of the prison. London, Penguin Books.  Gaskin, S. (2003). "A guide to Nominal Group Technique in focus-group research." Journal of Geography in Higher Education 27 (3):  Heater, D. (2001). “The history of citizenship education in England.” The Curriculum Journal 12(1):  Krueger, R. A. and M. A. Casey (2000). Focus Groups: a pratical guide for applied research. California, SAGE Publications.  Marshall, T. H. and T. Bottomore (1992). Citizenship and social class. London, Pluto Press.  Oliver, D. and D. Heater (1994). The foundations of citizenship. Hertfordshire, Simon and Schuster International Group.  Shafir, G., Ed. (1998). The Citizenship Debates. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.  Scott-Baumann, Alison ‘Citizenship and postmodernity’ Intercultural Education, Vol. 14, No. 4, (December 2003)