Citizenship Education: problems and possibilities

The paper suggests three major reasons why the definition and development of citizenship education in British schools has proved problematic. First, guidance from official sources, and notably Curriculum Guidance 8 ‘Education for Citizenship’, has been seriously inadequate; secondly, the political and educational significance of the fact that citizenship is a prime example of an ‘essentially contested concept’ has not been sufficiently examined; thirdly, the objective of educating for citizenship (as distinct, for example, from educating about citizenship) involves complex educational and practical difficulties which cannot be easily resolved, especially in present political circumstances in the United Kingdom.