ABSTRACT
The central ideas and practices of citizenship are controversial and contested so it comes as no surprise that citizenship education is the subject of fierce debate. When you teach citizenship education you will, of course, need to be alert to many complex ideas and issues from several academic disciplines and policy contexts and lived experience. But you will not be treading on unfamiliar territory. Although, to state the obvious, citizenship education in its current form is new, teaching and learning about contemporary society to develop understanding, encourage action and reflection on action and to explore and promote democratic dispositions has a very long and respectable history. It is also something that in one way is very easy to define. I agree with the authors of the 2008 National Curriculum for citizenship in England: ‘Education for citizenship equips young people with the knowledge, skills and understanding to play an effective role in public life’. There is nothing that I would wish to see as complicated or controversial about that.
