Abstract
In spite of the challenges citizenship education presents in further and adult education, there is a pressing need for it to be adopted as an important part of the curriculum for both areas of education. Currently, vocational education in FE is largely delivered using an ‘instrumentalist’ curriculum where the focus is on achievement of assessment outcomes at the expense of allowing students to investigate their chosen craft or profession in a more holistic fashion. It is my belief that citizenship education embedded into vocational programmes offers an opportunity (by exploring the social, ethical and cultural aspects of crafts or professions) for tutors and students to see the wider perspectives in which their vocations operate.
Citizenship in adult education also suffers, in the present climate, from an over-emphasis on achievement of outcomes and qualifications. I will present a vision of citizenship in adult education that challenges this current mode, offering in its stead citizenship programmes where adult students have considerable degrees of ownership over the content and teaching methods on the course. Such courses, because they encourage and facilitate negotiation and participation involving all students, are utilising the rights and duties adult students encounter in their lives as citizens, as well as studying aspects of social power and change.
Citizenship education operates best in educational institutions that are themselves genuinely democratic, and the case will be made for further education colleges to adopt the tenets of deliberative democracy to ensure fair representation of important stakeholders within the institution as well as offering a forum for issues explored in individual classrooms or workshops to receive a wider hearing (and thus provide opportunities for cross-curricular projects and discussions).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
DfEE. (1999). The national curriculum for England: Citizenship, key stages 3–4. London: HMSO.
Fielding, M. (2007). On the necessity of radical state education: Democracy and the common school. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 41(4), 539–557.
Further Education Funding Council (FEFC). (2000). Citizenship for 16–19 year olds in education and training. Coventry: FEFC.
Green, A., & Lucas, N. (Eds.). (1999). FE and lifelong learning: Realigning the sector for the twenty-first century. London: Institute of Education.
MacIntyre, A. (1985 [1981]). After virtue. London: Duckworth.
Matravers, D., & Pike, J. (Eds.). (2003). Debates in contemporary political philosophy: An anthology. London: Routledge/Open University.
Mouffe, C. (2005 [1993]). The return of the political. London: Verso.
National Archive. (2012). Education act 1944. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/Geo6/7-8/31/part/II/chapter/Primary/and/Secondary/Education/crossheading/further-education. Accessed 29 March 2012.
National Institute of Adult and Continuing Education (NIACE). (1999). The kennedy report: Summary of main recommendations. archive.niace.org.uk/organisation/advocacy/ARCHIVE/KennedySumry.htm. Accessed 18 April 2012.
Papastephanou, M. (2005). Rawls’ theory of justice and citizenship education. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 39(3), 499–518.
Rawls, J. (1999 [1971). A theory of justice. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rawls, J. (2005 [1993]). Political liberalism (Expanded Edition). New York: Columbia University Press.
Sennett, R. (2009). The craftsman. London: Penguin.
Strike, K. A. (2000). Schools as communities: Four metaphors, three models, and a dilemma or two. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 34(4), 617–642.
Thompson, E. P. (1991 [1963]). The making of the english working class. London: Penguin.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hopkins, N. (2014). Introduction. In: Citizenship and Democracy in Further and Adult Education. Lifelong Learning Book Series, vol 18. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7229-8_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7229-8_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-7228-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-7229-8
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)