News & comment

Citizenship education is too important to be left to chance

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

Citizens in a democratic society have a fundamental responsibility to engage in public life. Teachers and students have an obligation to promote equality, justice, respect for others and democratic participation. These ideals should be integral to cultures of educational institutions and embedded within and beyond the curriculum in schools. Education for democratic citizenship is a […]

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Respond to the National Curriculum Review with our easy to use form!

Thursday, March 24th, 2011

Democratic Life has created a form to make submitting your response to the National Curriculum Review’s Call for Evidence easier. We’ve included our key messages for the Department for Education on citizenship education in this template. If you agree with the statements, keep them in and add comments. If you do not agree with a […]

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Teachers: help shape our response to the National Curriculum review!

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

We want your views to inform our response to the National Curriculum review. By answering just 10 questions about citizenship education, you’ll help us better represent how teachers feel about citizenship education and how citizenship is being taught in schools. Respond to the questionnaire here. We need as many teachers to answer this as possible […]

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We need more citizenship education, not less

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

Two days ago Alastair Campbell wrote that we need more politics teaching in schools. Here he explains why he thinks citizenship education is worth fighting for. The hints that the Government is thinking about removing citizenship from the curriculum are becoming a little louder. It would be yet another mistake by Michael Gove, at a […]

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Democratic Life submission to the EBacc inquiry: summary

Monday, March 7th, 2011

We have submitted evidence to the Education Select Committee’s inquiry into the EBacc to argue that Citizenship Studies, with its requirement for active citizenship, should be an essential inclusion in any broad and balanced measure of student attainment. Our evidence: IB, Welsh Bacc and England’s standing in the ICCS A ‘Baccalaureate’ is respected for a […]

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Multicultural Britain

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

In this article written originally for Operation Black Vote, Conservative Councillor Imran Khan sets out his vision for multicultural Britain and argues the importance of citizenship education in shaping it. A great multicultural society should offer genuine democratic citizenship for all the communities residing in it, regardless of colour and religion. Democratic citizenship may be […]

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English Baccalaureate – what is it for? Democratic Life’s analysis

Wednesday, February 16th, 2011

Baccalaureate qualifications come in many forms. The International Baccalaureate (IB) combines academic subjects with creativity, action and service involving civic action/active citizenship, and a dissertation style essay. The European Baccalaureate, a different variation of the qualification, is used by European schools in England. Other versions are on offer through the awarding body AQA and the […]

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Select Committee announces short consultation on the English Baccalaureate

Friday, February 11th, 2011

On Wednesday the Commons Education Select Committee announced an inquiry into the English Baccalaureate and a call for evidence. It is very short, ending on 8 March. The Committee is inviting written evidence on: the purpose and benefits of the E-Bac and its value as a measure of pupil and school performance; the choice of […]

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Government risks breaking pledge to teach rules of war

Monday, February 7th, 2011

The UK government is considering dropping citizenship from the National Curriculum. If it does, it could be in danger of breaking an obligation to teach International Humanitarian Law. John Lloyd explains why. International Humanitarian Law (IHL) serves to protect those not taking part in fighting and to restrict the potential for war. It is set […]

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Young Human Rights Reporter Competition: Closing Date 14 Feb

Monday, February 7th, 2011

There’s only one week left to enter the Amnesty International, Guardian and SecEd competition to find this year’s Young Human Rights Reporters! Find out how to enter and get supporting materials for older and younger pupils on Amnesty International UK’s education pages.

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