The eleventh of a series of articles looking at the work of Creative Partnerships outlines the citizenship agenda and considers how collaborations with creative practitioners are helping to deliver high-quality citizenship education in schools across the country. We also highlight Arts Council England?s newly launched young people?s Arts Awards, which will give thousands of young people the chance to enjoy the arts and build their citizenship skills.
Citizenship became a compulsory subject in secondary schools in September 2002 and is part of the curriculum in most primary schools. Education in citizenship aims to provide young people with the knowledge, understanding, skills, attitudes and values that will help them in three main areas. The first of these is political literacy ? where students are encouraged to play an effective and active role in society in relation to the local, national and international community. Social and moral responsibility is designed to help pupils to become informed citizens, aware of their rights, responsibilities and duties. Finally, there is community involvement, which aims to help students realise that they can have influence and make a difference in their communities.
Citizenship is not simply a new subject but a new type of subject. It requires schools to embrace new approaches to learning and focus on working in partnership with people such as politicians, activists, lawyers and creative practitioners. Forming creative partnerships is central to the delivery of effective citizenship education. There are also genuine overlaps between skills for citizenship and those creative behaviours which are key to developing young people?s creativity. Citizenship and creativity have the potential to sit together as connected and shared agendas.
Artist opportunities
Citizenship can be taken as a stand-alone subject but would lose its essence if it stopped at the timetable boundary and the ring of the school bell. It can progress through a mix of discrete lessons, cross-curricular delivery and out of hours learning. The best practice emerges in those ?citizenship-rich? schools where citizenship is both learned within a curriculum programme and lived within the broader values of the school. Students need the chance to ?do? citizenship and it is here that events and activities have a key role to play. This is where there are opportunities for artists and other practitioners and organisations to work in schools.
Many young people are distancing themselves from society. High-quality citizenship education can help combat this problem, giving learners the belief that their actions matter and they have the ability to change situations. Using a diverse range of external partners is a logical step towards ensuring every young person is engaged, informed and aware. Creative Partnerships programmes are playing a key role in making this happen.
Creative Partnerships has responded to the citizenship agenda in a range of creative ways. The case studies opposite illustrate just a few of the projects that have taken place and show how young people, teachers and creative practitioners can successfully approach citizenship education.
For detailed information about Creative Partnerships? work on citizenship, please visit http://www.creative-partnerships.com/resources/resourcefiles/52165