Citizenship and Social Exclusion in England and Turkey - Essay Example

CITIZENSHIP AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION IN ENGLAND AND TURKEY'S SCHOOLS It should be mentioned that it could be ascertained that the Crick Report on citizenship education which has been introduced in to English schools does fall short in its representing minorities and in its discussion of identity and diversity. It is agreeable with Starkey and Osler's criticisms of the Crick Report and it could also be ascertained that the Citizenship Education is a waste of time, because it does not represent a multicultural citizenship. As a result the focal point of the essay would compare Crick's recommendation and its influence on the English education system and compare it with the Turkish education system in Turkey which has been shaped and created by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who was The Founder of modern Turkey. The central thesis of the paper would claim that both Bernard Crick and Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's views are formed into one social structure and represents citizenship in education as a uniform standard which applies to all groups and people which live in their country. This is in a way comparison of welfare model to republic model of citizenship. To elaborate the entire subject matter it is important to understand the terminology of citizenship under the perspective of Osler and Starkey's point of view. Under the parameters of Osler and Starkey citizenship indicates several variables where one of the most important aspects is the determination trust and faith democracy rather than autocracy. The second most important aspect in accordance to Osler and Starkey is the determination of cooperation rather than the essence of conflict within the society. Thirdly it should be seen whether it is sustainable within the parameters of diversity and equality. The essence of citizenship also indicates that a good citizen must be bale to recognise the individual responsibilities and rights. The individual citizen must also recognise the precedence of authority and power. Furthermore the citizen must be able to understand and honour the aspects of order and freedom along with community preference and individual position in the society. Lastly, Osler and Starkey indicated that the indication of citizen that is the most important of all is the understanding, application and exercise of human rights, law, rules, justice and fairness. These are the basic parameters of a citizen from the point of view of Osler and Starkey. (Osler, 2000) It is important to define the concept of social exclusion in the context of England from the parameters of the citizenship principals. There are substantial differences among theorists of education regarding this issue along with the practitioners that whether the entire citizenship tool is applicable or not while engaging the ethnic minority segment of the society and combat racism. Osler and Starkey mention that this fundamental essence is instrumental in providing a good amount of opportunity that would be ultimately be a very important aspect of eradicating racial inequality in education. At the same note Osler and Starkey believes that Crick report has hardly any element that would be helpful for providing guidance to the teachers in spreading anti racism. Furthermore, Osler and Starkey also believe that the Crick report would not prove to be any help in the perspective of minority engagement in terms of students. In fact there is no mention of racism in the creak report. But the fact is that this is one element in the society that could be termed as one of the most detrimental aspects of the society and is in fact an evil curse on democracy. Osler and Starkey even mentions that the Crick report is basically a recommendation that contains a lot of colonial flavour. (Osler, 2000) In the present situation the government aiming to incorporate programs that socially include everyone devoid of colour, cast, race and creed. One of the most compelling developments of our age is the recognition of multicultural of multiracial society and how they translate to each and every individual. The challenge is not just in recognizing other races but more importantly the culture and heritage of people must also be recognized. Are people becoming aware and accepting of others Are people's view and minds growing broader Is intolerance being decreased Are we now on the path of building a society that does not just recognizes cultural and racial diversity but celebrates it As much as we would like to think that we are accomplishing this, current evidences show that there is still much to do. The emergence of African American Studies as an important field of study is a recognition of the struggle against racial discrimination and oppression. Today, there have been significant strides in institutionalizing the development of programs that are studying the best approaches and methods to bring the concerns of the Black students in society in the country's premiere Universities such as Temple and Harvard. Recent studies in the field indicate that though there are no more significant explicit social barriers to Black students, they are still challenged by historical marginalization and disenfranchisement. Thus, African American studies still serves as a platform for the valuation of those of African descent in the United States: exploring the social, economic, cultural and political history of America that includes Black students. (Stone, 1985) There is a realization that though society has changed its perspectives, it has yet to deal with the social operations and dynamics that dampen the development of the African American sectors in the society. In effect, by not being able to take the opportunities that are supposed to alleviate them they are being further stressed by the censure of failure and personal responsibility for their lives. Thus, for there to be a true multiracial and multicultural society, social barriers must not impede any individual at the same time, there should be enough channels for them in society to take responsibility for their lives without sacrificing their heritage or culture. When there is a loss of history and heritage, the tragedy is that people loss the opportunity to build a society that does not only recognize but also celebrates differences. (Giddings, 1984) Peoples' distrust or reservation of other races or cultures is to be expected: it is very natural to fear the unfamiliar. That is why there is a need for conscious and collective actions to change society. One of the most urgent concerns is the assurance of economic opportunities which should be considered an integral component of any social program to address the issue. The development of various alliance among groups within the community that have shown better success in eliciting response from the most distressed among Black students: the youth and women. These efforts have efforts have achieved success because they have taken into consideration similar trends among other social that suffer marginalization. For example, one of the major issues that have to deal with is the prevalence of crimes against and attributed to Black students. This state of affairs which has become a clich in effect is not only a civil problem but also has become detrimental to all Black students within and outside their communities. The consensus is that there very few opportunities left to offenders who fit the clich that it is easy to be caught in a downward spiral. Thus, programs dealing with offenders need the creation of support and prevention groups that consider the social context of Black students. (Giddings, 1984)Thus the entire community of poor students, gypsy travellers and obviously coloured students are excluded socially. In this context the Crick report is nothing but a detrimental effect on the government's approach. In the context of Turkey, this social exclusion is too naked and harsh. It has been found that Ataturk did cause a split in society by wiping out Arabic and banding head scarf. Even today no head scarves are allowed in schools. Kurdish students are also being discriminated against; they have to obey the Turkish rules. The same is true in the context of Turkish Armenians. It is true that Kamal Ataturk gave the new face of modern day Turkey but in ding so he ramified much of the human right statements that should be followed in each and every aspect of life. His method of segmentation in accordance to class and faith is surely opposing to the modern concept of human dignity. It is also true that his initiatives were the prime force to include European studies into the curriculum but his policy of social exclusion of many tries and sects like the Kurd and the Arabs and socially alienating religions like Jews and Christians and completely dissolving marginal languages like Armenian indicates that the revolution once started with the concept of modernization in the first place by Mustafa Kamal Ataturk ultimately resulted in failure as the social exclusions hardly supports any true essence of knowledge. (Mehmet, 2001) The principal aim of the citizenship education in England in accordance to the Cricks citizenship model is to build a generation of able citizens who would be ideal in context of human being and an individual. But the problem is that this intention is widely corrupted by the flaws of the model that specifies a rigid doctrine that is mostly unwelcome in the modern age of globalization. In this new world cultural diversification is the general norm and thus standardization of cultures would do no good to a nation as a whole. (King, 2001) Osler and Starkey's criticism of Cricks citizenship model is applicable world wide. In other words it could be stated that it is perfectly global or cosmopolitan in nature. This is because for a democratic society with its democratic form of government system it is but an obvious choice to opt for a society that is mostly color blind. The basis custom of a democratic society is to provide its mass with a structural form that offers equality in terms of justice and social characteristic. It is an unwanted fact but it is also extremely true at the same time that racism is a curse that exists among us whether we like it or not. The presence of racism is well documented in many societal domains including workplace, school, health care and housing. It is very peculiar to consider racism is an ideology where humans are separated into various groups in the belief that some people are superior because they belong to a particular ethnic or national group. It could be summarized that racism is the result of having negative judgments, beliefs, and feelings towards certain identifiable groups. In this context whenever Cricks citizenship model is used a nation would tend to be uncompromising with the minority groups as it is not possible for all group members to follow a single laid down rule applicable to all without implementing the commonsense variables that are specific to a specified class or faith of population. (Lamb, 2004) Starkey's and Osler's Critics apply to Turkey's model of citizenship in a very efficient manner. More like the approach of the Crick report Mustafa Kamal Ataturk's method also included the principals of citizenship and nationality. All these efforts were disintegrated as the evil of social exclusion wastes all the good works as the end product of this education system of Turkey, the students, was later proved to be extremely fundamentalist and jingoistic. This is not a perfect society at any extent and Turkey failed to be one with its principals of social exclusion. (Lamb, 2004) Surely, there are benefits of citizenship education but it has more ramifying effects on the human mind than good. Social exclusion and citizenship education, in a way, reminds us of the era of the Nazi rule where the aspect of better citizens were taken into consideration with a more detrimental view of social exclusion that ultimately lead to a holocaust claiming millions of lives. Thus citizenship education can be termed as a compete rubbish. In a way it could be suggested that the application of consumer citizenship would be more practical approach as it is situated in the midst of today's market economy induced world. References: Giddings, Paula. (1984) When and Where I Enter: The impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America. National Book Trust King, H (2001) Education Today HBT & Brooks Ltd. Lamb, Davis; (2004); Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata; National Book Trust. Mehmet Ali, A (2001) No Delight: Turkish Speaking Communities and Education. Fatal: London Osler A (Ed.) (2000) Citizenship and Democracy in Real Schools: Diversity, Identity, Equality Trentham Books: Stoke on Trent. Stone M (1985) The Education of the Black Child: The Myth of Multiracial Education Fontana: London. Read More