Forms of Citizenship in the British Education System - Literature review Example

Manifestation of Various Forms of Citizenship in British Education System Since 1944 This paper is an effort to evaluate the various forms of citizenship as manifested in the British education system since 1944. The paper looks at the citizenship as being a member of a given political community where one is entitled to some rights and expected to behave in a certain way. There are three types of citizenship manifested in British education system. They are: social citizenship, right based citizenship, consumer citizenship and global citizenship. These forms of citizenship are reflected in various policies and reforms made in the history of British education System. These policies and education reform acts includes: Butler (1944), Crosland Circular of 1965, Circular 10/70 of Thatcher, Education Act of 1988, Education Act of 1996 and finally the recent recalls of Callaghan's Ruskin Speech. In all of the above citizenship manifestations, each one is embedded in the British education system and serves a unique purpose. However, the Callaghan suggestions underpin them all; whether the policy is social or right based they are all consumers and the success of each approach have a trickle effect to local as well as global economy. Manifestation of Various Forms of Citizenship in British Education System Since 1944 Introduction The term citizenship have a number of implications: it means to be a member of a particular political community or state. It implies that, one has certain rights and responsibilities that are defined in law, such as the right to vote, the responsibility to pay taxes among others. This type of citizenship is referred to as nationality. Citizenship can also refer to individual's involvement in public life and affairs- that is the behaviours and actions of a citizen. This type of citizenship is sometimes referred to as "active citizenship". This definition of citizenship applies to a number of activities. They include among other; voting in elections, standing for political office and having interest in current affairs. It widens its wing to capture the moral and behavioural expectations of being a citizen of a particular political community (Citizenship Foundation &DfES, 2004, Chap 1). According to Crick report, citizenship education should be included in the National Curriculum in order to educate the children the importance of knowing the rights of being a citizen and the role of a citizen in the society (Crick, 1998). Social citizenship British education system manifests various forms of citizenships. Since 1944, Social citizenship has been the defining element in British education system policies characterized by a number of Acts of parliament and Circulars. The social citizenship was brought about in the 21st century as the British and most of capitalist states embraced the concept of welfare states after 1944. These welfare states systems brought a drastic and radical change to the paradigm of political, social and economic constraints of British citizens as well as many social institutions. The education system was not an exception. Welfare states since then have affected the citizens' choices in life by redistribution of resources which have so far opened and widened social opportunities and possibilities as noted by Twine. (Twine, F, 1994, p. 2). According to Wincott, post-war welfare state in Britain remained powerful. The welfare propagated by then stated that Citizens should have equal access to public services based on need not place of residence. However, he laments that Britain devolution policy led to the loss of initial status as an exemplary welfare state. The system failed to provide an adequate territorial framework for the development of social policy. Nevertheless, individual federal units in government have been championing the social citizenship in various sectors of the British society. The most conspicuous of these sectors where social citizenship is widely applicable is education sector. The British education policy hold that every citizen has a right to education irrespective to his/her place of residence. (Wincott, D, 2006, pp. 169-188). Right based citizenship Right based citizenship integrates all forms of citizenship. This type of citizenship is right based where by every citizen in the British education system is clearly aware that he/she has a right of education and services that comes with it irrespective of his status and social background. This includes asylum seekers, immigrants and local citizens. The welfare states calls for right based approach in the human resources that produce and distribute these vital services. It demands better pay for staffs and manpower from utility personnels to administrators. The cost of education under this citizenship is double pronged. It argues that the low prices a student may enjoy as consumers may be due to the low pay and dangerous working conditions of those who produce the commodity. There is social interdependence between consumers and producers. Ones benefit is someone else cost. As twine explains, economic growth has been relied on by all political parties as a means of improving everyone's level of living over time. Consequently, during the post war period, economic growth has taken the pressure off any politics of redistribution. It promised that everyone could be better of without anyone being worse off. (Twine, F, 1994, p.3). The education reform propagated by the famous British politician Butler, in 1944 immediately after the second war was one of the milestones of the social citizenship and right based citizenship in British education system. The education Act of 1944 targeted the education system for secondary schools in both England and Wales. The act introduced what have long been referred to as "Tripartite System" 1and made secondary education free for all. As a reflection of welfare states principles and social citizenship, the Act proposed raising the school leaving age to 16 years to pave way for the social disadvantaged to be able to catch up with the rest of the society, a move that was not implemented until 1972. The Act also proposed the introduction of school feeding programmes in primary and secondary schools. This was meant to encourage enrolment of more children from socially disadvantage groups. In addition, the Act provided for opening of community colleges to provide learning opportunities for adults as well as children from minority communities, a provision that was never adhered to apart from in Cambridgeshire. Moreover, it was followed by introduction of health programmes in schools such as immunisations and free medical services. The above provisions were meant to put in place favourable social structures to the working class children in order to effectively compete with children from affluent British community (Dunford, John, Paul Sharp, 1990, pp. 17-24). The outcome of this education reform was mobilization and education of working class. This encouraged more and more working class citizens to enrol in secondary schools which eventually enabled them to pursue high education to university level. It is one of the most hailed moves to support welfare states and social citizenship agenda in British society. Education Act of 1944 was in line with Plowden report that put a child at the centre of British education system. The report suggested that every primary school should establish close contact with the home of every child in primary school. This was to enable the school to monitor the child progress and ability and any other impediment that may hinder the child from achieving desired education results. To supplement this, the report called for increase in number of men teachers and more grammar teachers to teach immigrants the English language. It even went further to suggest the change of the term "slow learner" with "sub normal". This is a clear indication that social development of the child was at the heart of Plowden report which is another manifestation of social citizenship manifestation (Education Act 1988). The tripartite system was later rejected in 1965 by the then Education Secretary Anthony Crosland and suggested for replacement with a 'Comprehensive system' which according to him was more equitable. He even suggested the abolishment of the 11 plus examination which was used as litmus test to decide which type of school one should join in a circular commonly known as Circular 10/65. To make this circular a success, Ministry of Education refused to pay for any tripartite school which forced many to adopt 'Comprehensive system'. However, some Local Education Authorities continued with tripartite system and 11 plus test for some time such Bromley and Surrey. (Jenkins, 2004, p.3). Another milestone in social as well as right based citizenship manifestation in British education system was in the Education Act of 1988. This act is regarded as the most important single piece of education legislation in England and Wales. This Act passed a number of resolutions with big policy implications as far as social and right based citizenship is concerned. The Act introduced grant maintained schools where schools under this provision could remove themselves completely from their respective Local Authorities and would completely be funded by Central Government. In a move seen as incorporating consumer citizenship in the social welfare principles, the Act introduced local management of schools. In this provision, head teachers and governors of schools could have full financial control- free from Local Authorities' interference. It also reduced secondary school power in selection of children at age 11 and granted parents the right to choose the secondary schools of their choice for their children. This was in recognition that, parents are consumers of education offered in British education system and have a right to choose a secondary school they perceive will meet the needs of their children (Education Act 1988). In addition, the Act proposed for the introduction of a National Curriculum and key stages of schools' education system were introduced each with specific objectives. Finally this Act also amended the provision of compulsory daily prayers in schools as passed by 1944 Act to allow the freedom of worship for diverse religious groups and in classes rather than during assemblies. (Plowden Report) Consumer citizenship In 1970, when a conservative government was elected to power the new Education Secretary, Margaret Thatcher withdrew circular 10/65 and issued a consumer based citizenship circular 10/70 which allowed the Local Education Authorities to decide for themselves which education policy they want. For her, Local Education Authorities are in closer contact with British citizens who are the consumers of education offered in Britain with its policies than the central government. This puts them in a prime position to make better decision as pertains to improving and raising education standard in their localities. This she said would stimulate school competition in national examination performance thus leading to improved education standards (Thatcher, M, 1970). In what is viewed today as the greatest and boldest speech ever to be made by a British Prime Minister in history, Callaghan was critical about the lack of political good will and poor policies in British education system. In his 1976 speech, he pointed out that British education system need to undergo a drastic policy reformulation so as to raise the literacy and numeracy levels which were very low. This was due to the numerous complaints from the industries that new recruits from schools sometimes do not have the basic skills to do the job. Callaghan concern though distant in history is much echoed in the current social economical set up where link between the education offered in schools and industry requirement is paramount. Consequently, the pace at which the world is becoming a global village and the ever increasing technological innovations, calls for education system to be what is commonly referred to as "market driven". The education system in response to Callaghan concerns should not confine itself to local job market but should open up to train British children so as to reflect global market demands (Policy Watch, 2006, p.1). The education system should be such that it raises the child to the level of being a global citizen. Callaghan was concern with the increasing gulf between what schools were offering and what employers were seeking. (Policy Watch, 2006, p.2). In his expositions, Callaghan argues that there is urgency in improving the teaching profession which should be dynamic with time. The use of old teaching methods was seen as not compatible with changing educational and technological needs of our global job market. Callaghan argued that teaching professions should be given responsibilities to develop a workable and fitting curriculum in what he called "core curriculum". This was later to become National curriculum. In agreement with Thatcher policy directives, Callaghan faulted the government tendency to force policies down the throat of the teaching professions. Instead, he suggested that government should seek the expertise advice and guidance on how to improve the education system so as to reflect the modern education needs of our industries, and economy both locally and globally (Policy Watch, 2006, p.3). The critical role of human resource in economic development calls for a well established education system. A well trained personnel means efficiency, high productivity and technical know how. As inputs in an economy they propel the economic growth and development to greater heights. Lack of proper trained personnel in economic sectors in various part of our world have resulted in inefficiency in service delivery and stagnated economic development. Conclusively, Callaghan speech addressed what British education system considers as consumer citizenship aspect. His speech on the need to raise education standards was embedded in the doctrine of efficiency and quality delivery of education services to the British society so as to reflect job market demands. The education white paper of 1997 was in no way proposing a social biased education policy. The paper made a number of misleading policies as far as social welfare of British minority groups are concerned. (Plewis and Goldstein, 1998) First it set unachievable targets in educational standard with unrealistic indicators. The paper didn't put into consideration the diversity in social, as well as cultural settings between various local students in British education system. With obsession to obtain standard the policy makers forgotten the vital truth that student attending different schools could not be evaluated over time using a standard test and the same test to be used as measuring yardstick of performance. Goldstein (1997) argued that the performance of students in different localities varies and Local Education Authorities should be let to set standard for their local students as they deem fit. This is in agreement with Osler and Starkey that the education system needs to be structured so as to capture the diverse cultural nature of British citizenship (Osler and Starkey, 2005) Secondly, the paper recommended the publication of league tables with emphasis on local comparison. The idea was for the parents to be using these league tables in choosing schools. These tables according to Goldstein provided misleading information about schools and student performance without considering the intake adjustment criteria used in different schools. He goes ahead to say that the tables misleads parents and British population about the true standard of schools. This is because different schools have different "intake adjustment" levels which go along with their performance. The league tables which uses raw data create a bad impression to the parents and public in general. Thus the white paper instead of promoting the social good of the students and parents, it created a market driven education system. Where performance stand above social consideration. This is another case of consumer citizenship manifestation in British education system. Conclusion From the above analysis of citizenships manifestation in British education system, it is clear that the social policy where education provision is based on the social needs of British citizens and their right to education is paramount. However, the current market and economical trends calls for more dynamic education policy where the education system is tailored so as to reflect the market demands. The skills offered in schools should be structured to be relevant in the job market. In a nutshell, Callaghan concerns underpin all other education policies as we embrace the reality of globalization and age of sophisticated technology. All efforts should be made to link the education provided in schools with what the job market demands. References Citizenship Foundation &DfES (2004), Making sense of citizenship, DfES Publication, London. Crick Report (1998) Education for citizenship and the teaching of democracy in schools, final report of the Advisory Group on Citizenship London,QCA Dunford, John, Paul Sharp, (1990), The Education System in England and Wales, London: Longman, 17-24 Education Reform Act 1988 (2006, November 09). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 14:44, November 17, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.phptitle=Plowden_Report&oldid=83253774 Goldstein H. (1997), The 1997 Education White Paper- A Critical Commentary, accessed on 20th November, 2006: Available at http://www.cmm.bristol.ac.uk/team/HG_Personal/edwp97.html. Jenkins, E, W, (2004) "From Option to Compulsion: School Science teaching, 1954-2004", School Science Review, 85(313). Osler, A. Starkey, H. (2005) Changing Citizenship, Democracy and Inclusion in Education, Buckingham: Open University Press Oster, A. (2000) Citizenship and Democracy in Schools: diversity, identity and equality, Stoke-on-Trent, UK Sterling, VA: Trentham Books Plewis, I and Goldstein, H, (1998) "Excellence in Schools: A failure of standards". British Journal of Curriculum and Assessment 8: 17-20. Plowden Report. (2006, October 23). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 13:00, November 25, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.phptitle=Plowden_Report&oldid=83253774 Policy Watch, (2006), "Callaghan Ruskin Speech", Strategic Development Division, 2006/87. Roche, M. (1996) Rethinking Citizenship: Welfare, Ideology and Change in Modern Society, Cambridge: Polity Press. Thatcher, M, (1970) "Written Statement on Meeting with NUT Delegation", Thatcher Archive: DES Press Release Tomlinson, S. (2005) Education in a post-welfare society Second Edition, Buckingham: Open University Press Twine, F, (1994) Citizenship and Social rights: The Interdependence of Self and Society. London: Sage Publications Inc. Wincott, D, (2006) "Social Policy and Social Citizenship: Britain's Welfare States". Journal of Federalism, 36(1), 169-188. Read More