What is Citizenship? Religion, Governance and Education Liam Gearon Professor of Education Roehampton University London SW15 5PH [email protected]

What is Citizenship?Religion, Governance and Education

Liam Gearon Professor of Education

Roehampton University London SW15 [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

What is Citizenship?

• What is Citizenship? (I) Education

• What is Citizenship? (II) Politics and Pedagogy

• What is Citizenship? (III) Religion, Politics and Pedagogy

– Revisiting the Four Critical Contexts

What is Citizenship? (I) Education

• the rapid movement of people within and across national boundaries;

• a growing recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities;

• the collapse of existing political structures and the fledgling growth of new ones;

• the changing role and status of women in society;• the impact of the global economy and changing patterns of work

and trade on social, economic and political ties;• the effects of the revolution in information and communications

technologies;• an increasing global population and the consequences for the

environment;• the emergence of new forms of community and protest.

(Kerr, 2003)

What is Citizenship? (I)

Education • Social and moral responsibility

children learning from the beginning self-confidence and socially and morally responsible behaviour both in and beyond the classroom, both towards those in authority and towards each other;

• Community involvementpupils learning about and becoming helpfully involved in the life and concerns of their communities, including learning through community involvement and service to the community;

• Political Literacypupils learning about and how to make themselves effective in public life through knowledge, skills and values.(Crick 1998)

What is Citizenship? (I)

Education

• Knowledge and understanding about becoming informed citizens;

• Developing skills of enquiry and communication;• Developing skills of participation and responsible

action.

(DfEE 1999)


Reviews of Citizenship• EPPI (2004; 2005)• Gearon (2004)• UN (2005); UNESCO (2006)• Eurydice (2006)• Osler and Starkey (2006)• Ajebo (2007) • House of Commons Report (2007)• NFER (2006; 2007)


• Heater (1994 [2004]) – historical• Audigier (1997) – politically all inclusive • Isin and Wood (1999) – search for identity• Crick (2000) – political knowledge • Arnot and Dillabough (2002) – feminist

perspectives • Osler and Vincent (2002/4) – global citizenship • Osler and Starkey (2006) – cosmopolitan

citizenship• Davies (2007) – pedagogical pragmatism


• Rationality grounded in a critical appreciation of social and political realities

• Respect for diversity within the context of a pluralistic democracy

• Participation arising from an acceptance of one’s social and political responsibilities and appreciation of one’s own rights and entitlements (Davies 2007)

What is Citizenship? (II) Politics and Pedagogy

• Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind (sic), and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, whereas it is essential, if man (sic) is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law …


• Now, therefore the General Assembly proclaims this Universal Declaration of Human Rights as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance ... (UN, 1948: available www.un.org)

http://www.un.org/


• During the 1990s there has been a resurgence of interest in Civic and Citizenship Education. The number of formal democracies in the world has increased from 76 (46.1%) to 117 (61.3%). This has been described as the ‘third wave of democracy’ related to significant world events such as the ending of apartheid in South Africa, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the democratisation of former communist states in Eastern Europe and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Civic education programmes have become an increasingly important means for countries to educate citizens about their rights and responsibilities.

What is Citizenship? (II)

Politics and Pedagogy • Increasing pluralism within states has encouraged the

development of civic education programmes that go beyond simple ‘patriotic’ models of citizenship requiring uncritical loyalty to the nation state. By defining ‘citizenship’ in terms of human rights and civic responsibilities, civic education programmes attempt to avoid concepts of ‘citizenship’ that define nationality in terms of ethnic, religious or cultural identity. The aspiration is that concepts of citizenship based on human rights and responsibilities may make it more difficult to mobilise political conflict around identity issues (www.unesco.org; follow links to citizenship)

http://www.unesco.org/


Politics and Pedagogy • Firstly, it can refer simply to a subject’s rights and duties

to be recognised as a legally permanent inhabitant of a state – irrespective of the system of government of that state; but the principles behind such recognition can vary greatly, especially in relation to migrants.

• Secondly, it can refer to the more specific belief (often called ‘civic republicanism’ …) that countries that enjoy constitutional government, representative government or democracy depend upon a high degree of active participation by inhabitants who themselves as active citizens, not simply good subjects.


Politics and Pedagogy • Thirdly, it can refer to an ideal (once held by the

Stoics of antiquity, now often called ‘global citizenship’) that we should all act as citizens of one world: that for the sake of peace, justice and human rights there must be limitations of international law on the sovereignty and power of individual states’ powers.

• And fourthly, ‘citizenship’ can refer to an educational process; learning and teaching in schools and colleges show how to improve or achieve the aims inherent in the second and third meanings (Crick, 2004: 2)

What is Citizenship? (III) Religion, Politics and Pedagogy

– Revisiting the Four Critical ContextsCritical Context 1: Religion and Global GovernanceThe role of religion in public and political life has been historically underplayed since the European Enlightenment. There is now increasing evidence of the importance of religion in post-Cold War public and political life, often but not exclusively centring on issues of human rights, including freedom of religion or belief. This trend highlighted by a number of theorists of religion and education: Smart (1969; 1989); Casanova (1994); Haynes (1998); Bowker (2002); Woodhead (2002); Ward (2003); Runzo et al. (2004); Jackson (2003; 2004); Gearon (2002; 2005; 2006); Harpviken and Eggen Rioslien, 2005; Trigg, 2007)



Critical Context 2: Religion and the United Nations (UN)The UN system incorporated freedom of religion since the1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights but earlyUN history downplays religious and ideological diversity.After a long neglect (or low level treatment) of religionexplicitly, the UN Declaration on the Elimination of AllForms of Intolerance and Discrimination Based on Religionor Belief (1981) recognises international significance ofReligion for a stable world order (Ayton-Shenker, 1995;Lerner; 2000; Shattuck, 2003; Harpviken and EggenRioslien, 2005; UNESCO, 2006; Trigg, 2007)



Critical Context 3: Religion in Citizenship EducationThe role of religion in citizenship education has beenunderplayed. Reflecting broader global trends nowincreasing recognition of the importance of religion incitizenship education, although the recognition of theimportance of teaching about religion remains arguablyless strong in citizenship education than in religiouseducation (Heater, 2004; Lindholm et al., 2003; UN (2005);UNESCO, 2006, 2006a; Ajebo, 2007; NFER, 2007)



Critical Context 4: Citizenship in Religious Education The political has been underplayed in religious education,and contentious historical contexts sidestepped. The rise ofreligion in the public sphere and the exponential growthof citizenship education has forced religious education toconsider the political and historical (Lindholm, Durham andTahzib-Lies, 2003; Osmer, 2003; Larson and Gustavsson,2004; Ajebo, 2007; NFER, 2007; Ofsted, 2007)

What is Citizenship?Historical, Philosophical, Theological and Literary

• Render unto Caesar (Matthew 22: 15-21)

• The two trials of Jesus

• The Letter of James

• The First Letter of Peter

• The Book of Revelation


Classical• Plato Republic; Phaedo • Aristotle Nichomachean Ethics; Politics • Epicurus Principal Doctrines• Marcus Aurelius Meditations

Edward Gibbon The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

• Phaedo. I remember the strange feeling which came over me at being with him. For I could hardly believe that I was present at the death of a friend, and therefore I did not pity him, Echecrates; his mien and his language were so noble and fearless in the hour of death that to me he appeared blessed. I thought that in going to the other world he could not be without a divine call, and that he would be happy, if any man ever was, when he arrived there, and therefore I did not pity him as might seem natural at such a time. But neither could I feel the pleasure which I usually felt in philosophical discourse (for philosophy was the theme of which we spoke). I was pleased, and I was also pained, because I knew that he was soon to die, and this strange mixture of feeling was shared by us all; to Plato, Phaedo

• Then I must try to make a better impression upon you than I did when defending myself before the judges. For I am quite ready to acknowledge, Simmias and Cebes, that I ought to be grieved at death, if I were not persuaded that I am going to other gods who are wise and good (of this I am as certain as I can be of anything of the sort) and to men departed (though I am not so certain of this), who are better than those whom I leave behind; and therefore I do not grieve as I might have done, for I have good hope that there is yet something remaining for the dead, and, as has been said of old, some far better thing for the good than for the evil. Plato Phaedo


Classical and Medieval

• Augustine City of God; Confessions

• Aquinas On Kingship; Summa Theologica

• Machiavelli The Prince


Also seemingly non-political works

• Thomas a Kempis The Imitation of Christ

• Anonymous Cloud of Unknowing


Modern• Hobbes Leviathan • Locke Second Treatise of Government • Rousseau On the Social Contract• Mill On Liberty• Marx and Engels Communist ManifestoTheories of post-Cold War governance?Fukuyama The End of HistoryHuntington The Clash of CivilisationsUN Alliance of Civilizations


The voice from the telescreen was still pouring forth its tale of prisoners and booty and slaughter, but the shouting outside had died down a little. The waiters were turning back to their work. One of them approached with the gin bottle. Winston, sitting in a blissful dream, paid no attention as his glass was filled up. He was not running or cheering any longer. He was back in the Ministry of Love, with everything forgiven, implicating everybody. He was in the public dock, confessing everything, implicating everybody. He was walking down the white-tiled corridor, with the feeling of walking in sunlight, and an armed guard at his back. The long-hoped-for bullet was entering his brain.


He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken

him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the

dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O

stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-

scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it

was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was

finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big

Brother. (Orwell, [1949] 1983: 249)

George Orwell Nineteen Eighty-Four

Documents

What is Citizenship? Religion, Governance and Education Liam Gearon Professor of Education Roehampton University London SW15 5PH [email protected]