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Citizenship education
For social change or social control?
NIACE Annual Spring Conference
| Date: | Thu-Fri, 25-26 April 2002 |
| Venue: | Ramada Hotel & Resort, Penns Hall, Sutton Coldfield |
| Ref: | C9-05/04/02 |
[Background & Aims] [Audience] [Programme]
Background & Aims
The Citizenship Debate has returned to the policy agenda in relation to David Blunkett’s move to the Home Office and as the Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy gathers momentum. Promoting, recognising and valuing active citizenship has long been a concern of adult and community educators who are keen to see ordinary people more in control of their own lives and actively engaged in shaping them.
Citizenship education as part of this tradition implies democratising the ways in which priorities are agreed, decisions are made and services are supplied at local level, in ways that help to build a culture of participation and local activism. It assumes that the centralisation and professionalisation of national politics, and overly bureaucratic systems of devolved responsibility to regional bodies, have contributed to widespread feelings of cynicism about political involvement among the population as a whole. These are perceptions which must be addressed and reversed if active democratic engagement is to be protected and developed. Governments are also concerned about citizenship in relation to questions of immigration, nationality, social cohesion and social responsibility. Conflict between citizens in a society in which inequalities of identity, opportunity and resources are endemic is dangerous for those involved, and dangerous, it is argued, for the general democratic health and well-being of society as a whole. Hence the renewed interest of the Home Office in citizenship education. But are citizenship classes for selected groups of adults - young men, immigrants and prisoners, for example, the answer? Is citizenship education in danger of being co-opted by New Labour as a way of ‘civilising’ and controlling ‘difficult groups’ at the expense of wider political concerns about persistent social inequalities and social divisions? This is an important debate for adult and community education workers because we shall be responsible for delivering this agenda and we should be clear about its purpose and its implications.
The aims of this conference are to:
 | Explore the current debate about citizenship and citizenship education. |
| Consider its controversial issues for adult and community education workers. |
| Consider its implications for minorities. |
| Consider the issues involved in working through conflicts between citizens. |
| Think about what kinds of citizenship education would be useful to people in socially deprived neighbourhoods to help re-build damaged solidarities. |
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Audience
The conference is relevant to staff at a number of levels but in particular those charged with widening participation in adult learning and those with a brief for community education and development.
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Programme
| DAY
1 - Thursday 25 April 2002
Chair: Alan Tuckett, Director, NIACE |
|
| 10:00 | Registration (Tea/Coffee available) |
| 10:45 | Introductions and Aims of the
conference Alan Tuckett, Director, NIACE |
| 11:00 | Keynote address from a Minister (Lord Rooker invited) |
| 11:45 | Citizenship Education: Issues
for Minorities Stella Dadzie, Education Consultant and author of Making a Difference: A resource pack for people who want to become more active citizens. |
| 12:30 | Lunch |
| 13:45 | Citizenship Education: Lessons
from Europe Dr Simon Wilson, Acting Co-ordinator, Social Platform, Brussels. |
| 14:30 | Working Groups: Citizenship and
Democratic Renewal To devise a citizenship education strategy to promote political literacy, active citizenship and social inclusion |
| 15:30 | Citizenship and Democratic
Renewal - feedback on strategies Sessions 1 and 2 |
| 16:00 | Tea break and check-in for residential delegates |
| 16:45 | Citizenship and Democratic
Renewal - feedback on strategies Sessions 3 and 4 |
| 18:15 | Summing up by the Chair of each Group |
| 18:45 | Publications Launch - Lifelines
Series Drawing on the expertise of NIACE research and development officers and practitioners further a field, the NIACE Lifelines series provide invaluable pocket guides and staff development resources for those working in Further Education, Local Authorities and Voluntary Organisations. |
| 19:15 | Supper |
| 20:30 | End of Day 1 (Networking and Health Club for residential delegates) |
| DAY
2 - Friday 26 April 2002
Chair - Sue Cara, Director for Programmes and Policy, NIACE |
|
| 09:00 | Networking (Tea/Coffee available) |
| 09:30 | Welcome back Sue Cara, Director for Programmes and Policy, NIACE |
| 09:45 | Debating the Citizenship Debate Ian Martin, Reader in Adult and Community Education, Department of Higher and Community Education, University of Edinburgh |
| 10:15 | Witness Session / Syndicates This session will look at how approaches to citizenship issues and citizenship learning are being developed in projects in the contexts of poverty, social exclusion and social change - including issues of race and gender. i) Bernie Grant Trust ii) Scottish Parliament Project iii) Southall Black Sisters iv) Northallerton Wheelers |
| 11:15 | Repeat of Witness Session / Syndicates |
| 12:15 | Citizenship Education: Social
Inclusion, Neighbourhood Learning and Adult Learning - The Contribution
and the Challenges Margaret Hodge, MBE, MP, Minister of State for Lifelong Learning and Higher Education |
| 12:45 | What needs to happen next? Cheryl Turner, Development Officer - Staff Development and Voluntary Sector, NIACE |
| 13:15 | Lunch (Networking and Health Club for residential delegates) |
| 14:15 |
Close of Conference |
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Also in April 2002...
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