Values in educating for citizenship: sources, influences and assessment

Abstract

This article considers social factors that have led to concerns regarding disaffection and disengagement of young people. The introduction of Citizenship Education in the United Kingdom is seeking to redress conditions of apathy and cynicism about public life. While the indirect transmission of values in relation to democracy and citizenship could previously be relied upon at an implicit level, both the growing diversity of values in society, and the way that values feature in changing concepts of citizenship, require that they be examined and articulated explicitly. The influence of values has been acknowledged in corporate culture and is considered to be a crucial factor in managing educational change. However, the external imposition of values implied by citizenship education appears paternalistic and unrealistic considering the diversity inherent in a multiracial and multicultural society. Rather, the challenge presented to schools lies in taking a framework of democratic values to expose every aspect of education to re-examination. With the values of citizenship and democracy underpinning and directing practice in institutions, citizenship education can become an agenda for democratic change.