A unique opportunity to study some of the influences on the development ofthe first new national curriculum subject for a decade was offered when citizenship was identified as a statutory subject in secondary schools in the National Curriculum (DfEE: 1999). The central concern ofthis thesis is subject development and curriculum change with reference to the observed differential development of citizenship in secondary schools in England noted by Ofsted (2006: 1) 'there is not yet a strong consensus about the aims ofcitizenship education or about how to incorporate'it into the curriculum'. The thesis seeks to exPlore the influence ofthe values and beliefs of citizenship co-ordinators on this differential development in particular the selection of subject structure and subject knowledge. Goodson's (1987) work on subject status and Bernstein's (1975) taxonomy of subject classification and framing are discussed with reference to citizenship education. Goodson's (1994) view that subjects evolve academically is explored and official documentation relating to the citizenship discourse is investigated. The thesis discusses policy development through the three contexts suggested by Bowe and Ball with Gold (1992). ,' The context of influence explores the development of social educational policy. Central government's rationale for the inclusion of citizenship in a national curriculum is explored through discussion ofthe Crick Report (QCA: 1998). It states that official citizenship documentation was deliberately made 'light touch' to avoid limiting its possibilities. This offered opportunities for differential development that were extended by the lack of Ofsted inspections of citizenship from 2000-2002, and then their limited focus for a further two years. The context of text production explores the influence ofofficial documentation on policy development. The language of citizenship documentation is explored using Barthes (1966) taxonomy of 'readerly' and 'writerly' texts, and the role of commercial publishers in strengthening the aims of central policy is considered. The role of agencies such as the Schools Curriculum and Assessment Authority (SCAA), the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA) and Subject Associations are discussed with reference to their influence on subject development. The context of practice explores competing interests and constraints on citizenship policy development within a school. Documentary evidence is combined with evidence ofpractice gained through interviewing six secondary citizenship co-ordinators to link the macro and micro spheres ofpolicy making. The knowledge bases ofTurner-Bisset (2001) are used to analyse the data obtained through these two interviews, extending the influence of the bases beyond teacqer expertise to the behaviours . of co-ordinators. The participants were all working in a unitary Local Authority (LA) in the South West ofEngland. To protect their anonymity they chose a pseudonym for themselves and their school. This introduction to the participants was gained prior to the research. Grace worked in a community school co-ordinating citizenship throughout the school through a tutor based programme offering one session per week to all students. Rosie had the responsibility for citizenship but co-ordination ofthe tutors' work was through the Year Heads, and she did not teach the subject. Laura worked in a school located in an area of social deprivation and was the subject leader for German, and co-ordinated one citizenship day offtimetable for students in years 8, 9, 10 and 11. She co-ordinated the year 7 students' one session per week. Harriet was the Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) for citizenship for the LA and led a small team of citizenship specialists offering modules on citizenship to all students. Harry was the deputy head at a school serving a more rural population and took responsibility for co-ordinating the citizenship offered to years 8, 10 and 11. Years 7 and 9 had no allocated curriculum time for citizenship. Hannah was the youngest co-ordinator of citizenship in a school located in an area of social deprivation. She led a small team of citizenship specialists offering one citizenship session per week to all students. Four out ofthe six participants had introduced citizenship to their schools as they had been at the school for longer than 6 years (citizenship was first introduced in 2000). These four co-ordinators had the role of citizenship added to their existing roles so it had taken several years to become a focus for their work, this varied between participants. The other two co-ordinators took over an existing structure. Hann~ took over an existing tutor delivered subject,tructure and changed it significantly. Harry reduced the time allocation for citizen;hip significantly. I set up the Secondary Citizenship Co-ordinators' Support Group (SCITCOS) in 2001 as a response to requests from co-ordinators for support, as they claimed they did not have the knowledge to develop a robust structure for citizenship. Through attendance at SCITCOS training events the participants developed sufficient knowledge about citizenship subject structure and subject knowledge to discuss their vision of citizenship education with their head teacher and SLT. The co-ordinators received the same SCITCOS training, resources and information but citizenship had developed differently in each oftheir schools. Since September 2006 Harriet had also offered training through her AST role but the influence ofher role was not included in this thesis as the research was conducted prior to this date. The thesis provides a fresh perspective to subject development and contributes to the body of knowledge on curriculum change. It offers insights to those who offer training to co-ordinators and will positively influence the development of citizenship in secondary schools.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:486365 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Carpenter, Katrina |
| Publisher | University of the West of England, Bristol |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
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