ABSTRACT
Thirdly, as a cross-curricular theme, citizenship education failed to enjoy serious support from beyond the tiny circle of those who championed it. It certainly was deprived of political endorsement. No one spoke up for it, although a significant number of individual teachers in particular schools and local authorities pioneered some excellent and groundbreaking practice. But from the Cabinet and the Department of Education and Science there was a palpable silence. Meanwhile in the staffrooms and classrooms around the country most teachers felt so overloaded by the new priority demands of the national curriculum and the local management of schools (LMS) that they had little time and energy to pursue cross-curricular themes even where they wanted to. In this context it is no surprise that citizenship e ducation failed for the most part to excite the interest and support of young people.
