Draft 9 May 2002
by
Audrey Osler

Centre for Citizenship Studies in Education
University of Leicester UK

1        OVERVIEW

This is a distance learning course planned and developed in the UK and aimed primarily at UK learners. It has been developed in direct response to an education policy initiative, namely, the introduction of 'Citizenship' as a new subject into the school National Curriculum in England. Hence the title of the course: Learning for Citizenship.

In planning the course the team were aware of initiatives in a wide variety of countries to introduce citizenship into the school curriculum. This was seen as a unique opportunity to ensure that those engaged in curriculum development were introduced to human rights as a framework in which concepts of citizenship might be explored and which would provide a basis for curriculum development in this field.

This is a distance learning course, which is open to learners from around the world. One of the challenges of the course has been to develop a structure and format which will allow learners to draw on their own contexts and to ensure the course is relevant to a wide target audience.

In reporting on the social, political, economic and cultural contexts in which the training is taking place it is important to bear in mind that the learners are drawn from a range of countries and situations, and from all regions. Nevertheless, the majority of learners live and work in the UK (notably in England) and in other parts of Europe.

European context

Democracy and a commitment to human rights are key defining features of the European Union. Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Europe, living their local realities sometimes based in poverty and unemployment, and subject to racism, inadequate housing and high levels of crime, may not recognise that the European project is, in its intention, inclusive, since an inclusive society is far removed from their actual experience. Citizenship is, by its very nature exclusive: all those who do not enjoy the status of citizen are excluded from the rights of citizenship. Within the European Union (EU) those who are citizens of Member States are also European citizens, entitled to freedom of movement and equal employment rights with other citizens. The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) applies to all residents in Europe, whether or not they are European citizens. All those countries which are Member States of the Council of Europe have signed the ECHR. Both the European Commission and the Council of Europe have education programmes which emphasise human rights and democratic citizenship. There is special emphasis within the EC programme on antiracist initiatives. Recent electoral success by far rights racist political parties such as the front national in France and the British National Party in England have brought home to many people the vulnerable nature of our democracy.

UK context

Perhaps the most significant constitutional development was the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) which incorporated the ECHR into domestic law. The HRA, which came into force in October 2000, is designed to promote a human rights culture in the UK. Human rights are also recognised, in the new National Curriculum for England, as ‘underpinning society’. Under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 schools and other public bodies have a positive duty to promote race equality. This duty comes into effect from May 2002. Citizenship education is seen as a key means by which schools might achieve this goal.

A key element of citizenship is that of identity. Other recent constitutional developments such as the establishment of a Scottish parliament, Welsh Assembly and an agreement between Britain and Northern Ireland have brought issues of rights and identities to the fore. Questions such as what does it mean to be British and English or British and Scottish are a key part of the debate. Questions of identity no longer focus exclusively on visible minorities.

Citizenship education is being introduced with the explicit aim of strengthening democracy by enabling the greater participation of young people in society.

2          CENTRE FOR CITIZENSHIP STUDIES IN EDUCATION        

 The Centre for Citizenship Studies in Education (CCSE) is a leading centre in research and development activities related to social inclusion, citizenship and human rights education. It is part of the University of Leicester. Its Director, Dr Audrey Osler, is Professor of Education at the University of Leicester and Sub-Dean of the Faculty of Education.

CCSE has a particular interest in issues of ethnic diversity and race equality, in children's rights and in policy-orientated research. As well as engaging in nationally and internationally focused work we are engaged in research and teaching to support developments in local schools and community organisations. We are committed to developing more democratic and inclusive approaches to education based on the principles of freedom, equality, justice and peace.

Since its foundation in 1991 CCSE has played a prominent part in developments to promote learning for citizenship, at national and international levels. There is now a broad recognition at local, national and international levels of the need for education for citizenship, human rights and democracy. CCSE aims to support schools in responding to these challenges and so has developed a range of research and training initiatives in collaboration with teachers. These include:

CCSE has also expanded its programme of policy related research and has focused in particular on issues relating to school improvement, addressing the reasons for exclusion from school and diversity, race and gender equality and school inspection. Details of the CCSE research and development programme can be found at: www.le.ac.uk/education/centres/citizenship

Some staff have open-ended University contracts (and other University duties beyond the Centre). CCSE teaching and training activities bring income to the University and contribute to the salaries of those with open-ended contracts. Most of the activities of the Centre have to be self-funding and many of the staff are dependent on short-term research contracts. CCSE also recruits a number of research students, the majority of whom are working towards a PhD. The income of the Centre is derived from research and evaluation activities. There is no core funding. In 2000/01 sources of income included: the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the Commission for Racial Equality, the Economic and Social Research Council, the Department for Education and Skills, and the Department for International Development.

3          LEARNING FOR CITIZENSHIP: AN OUTLINE

The course was first run in a pilot face-to-face mode in spring 2000. It consists of 30 hours of structured teaching time together with a further 20 notional hours of private study. Since then it has been offered twice a year. For example, in 2001/02 the programme was as follows:

Session A
Programme begins: 24 September 2001
Programme ends: 14 December 2001
Assignment submission: 8 February 2002

Session B
Programme begins: 14 January 2002
Programme ends: 12 April 2002
Assignment submission: 17 May 2002

It is accredited in one of two ways:

i           Certificate of Professional Studies in Education

Participants complete nine units of work and each contains a series of short tasks and exercises. By completing these students build up a portfolio of work for accreditation. The tasks are related to the student's own professional context. So, for example a teacher in Leicester might agree with the tutor to complete the tasks and map the opportunities for citizenship learning within the framework of their school. A librarian in Latvia might complete the tasks and establish a framework for supporting teachers or youth workers introducing citizenship with young people.

ii           MA Professional Studies in Education

A Certificate can count as one module out of five for the University of Leicester's MA Professional Studies in Education.

Under credit transfer arrangements between universities, students may be able to use their certificate as part of a Master's qualification at another institution of higher education.

The course can be customised to suit the needs of a particular target group. For example, we are currently negotiating with partners at the American University in Beirut to offer the course in a modified form to colleagues in Lebanon.

Distance mode

Most students follow the course in distance mode. Once they are registered they are provided with printed course materials and have access to on-line support.

At the beginning of the module each student is assigned a tutor who will offer study support and advice about the programme. They receive individual tutorial guidance by Email, fax, letter or telephone. Students are able to share experiences with other members of their tutorial group and with all course participants on the dedicated website.

In some areas the course team arrange group meetings between participants and their tutor. Effectively, such students complete the course following a mixed mode of distance and face- to-face teaching.

Course content

Course outline

Unit 1: concepts of citizenship

Unit 2: conceptualising citizenship education

Unit 3: human rights as universal standards: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Unit 4: citizenship in the curriculum (1): values and dispositions

Unit 5: citizenship in the curriculum (2) knowledge and understanding    

Unit 6: personal, social and health education and citizenship

Unit 7: citizenship in the secondary school

Unit 8: education about, through, in and for citizenship

Unit 9: the human rights school

 4          THE TRAINERS

 Learning for Citizenship was written and designed by Dr Hugh Starkey and Professor Audrey Osler, both recognised leaders in the field of citizenship education and human rights. They have an established record of collaborative projects in this field.

Dr Hugh Starkey teaches on the Postgraduate Certificate in Education in Citizenship at the University of Leicester School of Education. He has considerable experience in higher education and especially in teacher education. He has been an active member of the Centre for Citizenship Studies in Education since 1999, working as a consultant and more recently as a staff member. He has worked collaboratively with Audrey Osler on a number of research, evaluation and research projects, including an analysis of the strategic aims of the UNESCO ASPnet project for the UK Department for International Development (2000) and an evaluation of UNESCO Publications on Human Rights Education (2002). As well as being an internationally recognised expert in human rights education, he is a specialist in foreign language teaching, working for the Open University and in teacher training.  He speaks fluent French and has undertaken key reviews of educational projects for the Council of Europe.  He has represented the Council at UNESCO meetings in Tunis and Geneva.

Dr Audrey Osler is Professor of Education at the University of Leicester, Director of the Centre for Citizenship Studies in Education, and Director of Research in the School of Education. Professor Osler has acted as a consultant on human rights and development education for a number of international organisations including the Council of Europe, Amnesty International, UNESCO, the UN Commission of Human Rights and the Netherlands Helsinki Committee.  In 1997 she represented the UK Department for International Development at the UNESCO European Regional Conference on Human Rights Education and has carried out consultancies throughout Asia, Africa and Europe.  She has conducted research and evaluation projects for a number of UK and international bodies including UNESCO and the European Commission.

The team of course tutors includes teacher education specialists at the University of Leicester and a number of consultants working for CCSE. All staff acting as course tutors/facilitators participate in induction and preparation activities and work closely with a team co-ordinator who is available to offer support. External consultants are well qualified in the field of HRE and a number have themselves completed PhDs in this field. 

5          THE LEARNERS

Learners are drawn from a range of professional groups in the field of education and include teachers, school principals, local authority administrators and education advisers, librarians etc. The majority have a key role in training others in the field of citizenship/HRE. For example, many are responsible for this area of work within a local education authority. The course is open to all professionals who apply. CCSE records suggest that most are motivated by the need to train others as an aspect of their current professional role. Some are community activists. CCSE does not currently have the capacity to support individuals on a one-to-one basis but provides a termly newsletter and offers support with information on training materials and curriculum materials through its websites. CCSE is also developing a resource centre to support those living in the region.    

Recent participants include students from the following countries:

Australia, England, Estonia, Malaysia, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Sweden,

The course has had around 200 participants to date. 

6         CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS

Course materials need to be imaginative and flexible in style so as to meet the needs of learners from a wide range of social and cultural contexts. Necessarily, the course must draw on concrete examples and situations. The course writers have drawn on their experience as trainers working in a wide variety of situations and countries worldwide. Nevertheless, in meeting the needs of a multicultural and geographically diverse student group CCSE recognises it has to stand somewhere. It cannot stand no-where. A capable teacher/facilitator working with an international student group in a classroom can draw on the diverse experiences of the group. Achieving the same ends through distance learning is a considerable challenge. Partly it is achieved through the assessment exercises which demand that students draw on their own experiences, and partly on interaction between students. The course team recognises that this is an area which needs to be further developed.

Over the course students have the opportunity to develop their own understanding of issues relating to:

By the end of the course students have developed skills in curriculum planning and management for citizenship and human rights. They are able to:

Given the social and political context within Europe, described above, considerable emphasis is given throughout the course to issues of human rights, ethnicity and race equality. 

7         CURRICULAR AND PEDAGOGICAL ASPECTS

TO BE COMPLETED FOLLOWING THE MEETING IN MARRAKECH

8          LEARNING MATERIALS

Course units are published in three volumes which include an extensive course bibliography.

These materials are also available on-line.

The logic behind providing printed copies is that not all students have access to the internet. Nor will all wish to download and print extensive amounts of material. On-line access does mean that students can adapt the materials for their own use, providing they fully acknowledge the source.

Students also receive the course text: Teacher Education and Human Rights (1996) by Audrey Osler and Hugh Starkey, London: David Fulton. 

 Students have on-line access to the University library catalogue and full borrowing rights.

Sample course materials can be found on the CCSE website: www.le.ac.uk/education/centre/citizenship

The course is regularly updated for each new intake of students.

The course team anticipates that students will adapt the materials for their own use in future training. CCSE is aware that sample materials on the website are used by a variety of organisations working in HRE/citizenship education.

Local authority advisers who follow the course report they have successfully adapted the materials for use in their own organisations.

9          EVALUATION ACTIVITIES

Throughout the course there is informal evaluation of the course by both students and their tutors. The course team have learnt a lot from new tutors working on the course and this has resulted in amendments to the materials and to the course organisation.

The process of assessment also provides the tutors with a further means of evaluating the course. Students also complete an evaluation at the end of the course

10        IMPACT OF TRAINING

The course is quite new and it is difficult to assess its impact effectively. In order to do this CCSE would require additional dedicated funds for this purpose. 

Within the UK CCSE has gained a reputation for critically evaluating and influencing the development of the new citizenship curriculum for schools in England and for emphasising that human rights principles needed to underpin this curriculum. This is partly the result of the course writers' longer-term research and training in this area. It is also the result of longer-term lobbying through such initiatives as the Education in Human Rights Network (EIHRN). The course writers were both founding members of this organisation, set up in 1986, which sought to bring together in the UK teachers, academics and NGOs to promote the work of the Council of Europe in HRE.

What Learning for Citizenship has done has been to increase awareness of the need for human rights education among a wider target group and among some key curriculum planners. It has enabled many of those developing this new subject to draw on international human rights instruments to provide the key principles and foundation of a new school subject. The course writers have stressed race equality as a key aspect of human rights education. This emphasis is deliberate but is not intended to detract from the importance of the intersectionality.