Today the Department for Education has published ‘The Importance of Teaching’, the schools white paper outlining the Government’s plans for reforming England’s school system.
White papers are issued by the government and lay out policy, or proposed action, on a topic of current concern, and can lead to public consultations or review processes.
The White Paper and citizenship education
For Democratic Life, the most important information coming out of the white paper is the Government’s approach to the review of the National Curriculum. According to the Department of Education’s business plan this is due to be launched in December
The white paper does not mention citizenship education specifically, nor does it give any detail of the process for reviewing the National Curriculum. However, Michael Gove’s introduction does say, ‘It is only through reforming education that we can allow every child the chance to take their full and equal share in citizenship’, which are sentiments that Democratic Life will certainly try to capitalise on.
The white paper does seems to allude to citizenship education by asserting that ‘there needs to be room in the life of the school for an exploration of wider social issues which contribute to the well-being and engagement of all students’. We feel this statement is positive and leaves room open for Democratic Life to champion citizenship education as an essential part of the National Curriculum in the review and consultation processes that will follow.
Curriculum Review
To summarise the curriculum section, the white paper calls for ‘a new approach to the National Curriculum, specifying a tighter, more rigorous, model of the knowledge which every child should expect to master in core subjects at every key stage.’
In order to achieve these aims, they intend to:
• Review the National Curriculum, to ‘reduce prescription and allow schools to decide how to teach, while refocusing on the core subject knowledge that every child needs’;
• Ensure that there is support available to every school for the teaching of phonics, language and spelling;
• Ensure that there is assessment of pupils: at age 6, 11 and 16;
• Introduce, and encourage schools to teach, the ‘English Baccalaureate’;
• Hold an independent review of key stage two testing;
• Give Ofqual (an education body who monitor our exams) the task of making sure that exam standards in this country match the highest standards overseas;
• Reform vocational education and overhaul vocational qualifications;
• Raise compulsory education or training to 17 by 2013 and then 18 by 2015.
They have also committed to improving teacher training, which again is something that chimes with Democratic Life, as we call for more support and training for citizenship teachers.
What can you do?
If, like Democratic Life, you would like to advocate the benefits of citizenship education, we would encourage you to write to your MP or to Michael Gove . Alternatively you can send your comments to the schoolswhitepaper.team@education.gsi.gov.uk by December 8th. The Department will publish a summary of your comments and their response to your feedback on the website.
To be kept up to date with the Department’s reviews and consultations, you can also join our supporters for regular updates.
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