Civic_Education_and_Citizenship_Education

Civic Education and Citizenship Education are concepts that may be understood or construed to mean exactly the same. However these terms have different meanings. Although these concepts have different meanings, they are contested concepts. This essay aims to discuss with clear examples why civic education and citizenship education are contested concepts. To discuss this topic, I will start by attempting to define key concepts in the question. After the definitions, I will then proceed to discuss the contests between civic education and citizenship education. Finally I will conclude my essay with focus on the issues raised in the discussion. Civic education is a multifaceted field and the concept of civic education can be defined in different ways by different scholars and individuals. Peterson ( ) explains that,’’ civic education refers to any formative attempt to teach the knowledge, skills or dispositions required for citizenship...” Citizenship education on the other hand, is all about creating an environment where people make own decisions and taking responsibility for their lives and the communities in which they live, (Huddlestone and Kerr 2006). According to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (2008), the word contested refers to competing for supremacy or to challenge a rival. In other words, contested refers to struggle for superiority or victory between rivals. A concept on the other hand is simply an abstract idea. Therefore, the term contested concept refers to an abstract idea, or abstract ideas that compete for supremacy or superiority between them or indeed ideas that challenge each other for victory as rivals. Against this background, I can now state categorically that the topic for discussion focuses on why civic education and citizenship education compete or challenge each other for supremacy, superiority or victory as rival abstract concepts. Both civic education and citizenship education place a special responsibility on schools and educators in striving to develop or inculcate their knowledge and skills in citizens, so that the citizens are provided with the necessary learning experiences to enable them to become informed and actively participating citizens. The contest here is that whereas civic education is widely believed to be broad and encompassing citizenship education, some schools of thought argue that civic education should be a concept in citizenship education. Huddlestone and Kerr (2006) explain that democratic nations and states require active well informed and responsible citizens who are ready and capable of taking responsibility for themselves and the communities in which they live and consequently contribute to the political process. However, Peterson (2011) argues that ‘’in a large number of recent civic education programs and initiatives in western democratic nations, there has been a clear and determined focus on citizenship as the founding and defining concept”. This notion supports the fact that citizenship education is but just one of the many areas of study in the civic education curricular. Citizenship education contests that democracies all over the world depend upon citizens who, among other things, are aware of their rights and responsibilities as citizens, informed about the social and political world, concerned about the welfare of others, articulate in their opinion an arguments, capable of having an influence on the world and active in their communities and responsible in how they act as citizen, (Huddlestone and Kerr 2006). These attributes contest with those for civic education which stress that democracies globally need citizens who are able to recognize the importance of taking individual responsibilities and actions to make the world a better place. For example citizens ought to pay taxes, respect the constitution and foster the idea of common good. Civic education also emphasizes that citizens need to participate in issues in society, at local, state and international levels. For example citizens need to participate in governance issues at community level by voting for councilors, participating in various community initiatives and at national level by actively participating in issues such as constitution making, voting in referendum and participating in debate on issues like the Public Order Act etc. Another cardinal point citizens ought to adhere to is respect for others .All these are issue that make the contest between civic education and citizenship education rage on. The contest between civic education and citizenship education continues when we look at the essential elements in the two concepts. For example, according to Huddlestone and Kerr (2006), the essential elements of citizenship education are:- (i) Knowledge and understanding; which deals with topics such as human rights, rule of law, democratic process etc. (ii) Skills and aptitudes; which deals with critical thinking, analysis e.g. ability to analyze current affairs issues such as opposition members of parliament crossing the floor to join the ruling party and in the process creating costly by elections, gender based violence etc (iii) Values and dispositions; to do with openness, tolerance, courage to defend a point, respect for justice etc Civic education on the other hand contests that these essential elements of citizenship education are actually components of civic education. Branson (1998) explains that the components of civic education are:- (i) Civic knowledge; which is concerned with the content or what the citizens ought to know, helping citizens make informed judgments about civic life, politics, government etc (ii) Civic skills; intellectual and participatory skills to deal with critical thinking, identifying and describing civic issues, explaining and analyzing civic issues e.g. voter apathy, tribalism, regionalism etc (iii) Civic disposition; to deal with moral responsibility, self discipline, and respect for human dignity. Clearly, the issues above show that really there is a contest between civic education and citizenship education. The contest between the two concepts also includes the rationale for civic education and that for citizenship education. Quigley and Bahmueller (1991) ,state that the rationale for civic education includes protecting individuals from unconstitutional abuses by those in government and from infringements on their civic rights from public or private. Citizenship education as Huddlestone and Kerr (2006) puts it, helps citizens to develop self confidence and deal effectively with significant challenges and changes in life such as abuses and discrimination both from public and private. The other contest between civic education and citizenship education is on how they take place. Branson(1998), explains that civic education takes in two ways; formal instructions where citizens learn civic life, politics, governance , constitution, rights and responsibilities, gender etc and informal curriculum where citizens learn governance of school community and relationship among those within it , as well as extra curricular activities that a school provides. Citizenship education however, also can take place formally and informally. UNESCO (1995) explains that skills such as investigating issues in the local school and wider community to recognizing social, economic, ecological and political dimensions of issues; ability to analyze issues and to participate in action aimed at achieving a sustainable future are the realms of citizenship education. Another reason for contest is the issue of principles. The principles of civic education and citizenship education are interrelated and this is a recipe for contest. For example, the principle of civic education hinge on common good i.e. good of the community, civic virtues such as trust, fairness, sharing etc and civic knowledge e.g. need to see how global economy can affect national economy. Citizenship education shares almost similar principles. The principles of citizenship education include civic obligations i.e. what a citizen is obliged to do e.g. paying taxes, voting, participating in national debates on civic issues etc. common good, i.e. to do things over and above private self-interests. Civic engagement i.e. openly debate social, economic, and political issues. Indeed these similarities in principles tend to open a Pandora box for contest. In conclusion, the importance of educating citizens into their role cannot be overemphasized. Educating citizens can be done through avenues such as civic education and citizenship education. The contest between civic education and citizenship education will continue to be a source of concern as long as there is and continues to be no clear cut distinction between the two concepts. Both concepts, for example incorporate an approach which includes civic obligation, common good, civic virtue and civic engagement. There is need therefore for scholars and other stakeholders to quickly resolve the impasse between the two concepts so that the education of citizens can be driven by one common goal as UNESCO(1995) puts it, “ it is necessary to introduce at all levels, true education for citizenship which includes an international dimension”. There is however hope that the contest can be resolved through harmonizing the concepts of civic education and citizenship education as the Ministers of Education resolved at a UNESCO Conference, “we ,the ministers of educations strive resolutely to pay special attention to improving curricular, the content of textbooks, and other educational, materials including new technology, with a view to educating , caring and nurturing responsible citizens committed to peace, human rights, democracy and sustainable development, open to other cultures, able to appreciate the values of freedom , respectful of human dignity and differences, and able to prevent conflicts or resolve them by non- violent means.” (UNESCO1995). REFERENCES Bahmuelle, C & Quigley, N (1991). CIVITAS; A Framework fro civic education. Calabasas, California Branson (1998). The role of civic education: A forth coming education policy task force position paper from the communitarian network. Concise Oxford English Dictionary. Eleventh edition; Revised. Edited by Soanes, C and Stevenson, Oxford University Press (2008) Huddlestone, T & Kerr, D (editors). Making sense of citizenship; Amazon Publishers (2006) Patrick, J. (1997). Global trends in civic education for democracies, ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearing house for social studies/social science education ED 410176 Peterson, A. (2011) Civic Republicanism and Civic education: The education of citizens. Macmillan. London: Palgrave