Citizenship
The study of Citizenship is to help pupils become thoughtful active citizens who can engage intelligently and enthusiastically with public life.
Intent Statement
A consideration of the issues surrounding the teaching of controversial issues serves only to underline the importance of good citizenship education from an early age.
If children become accustomed to discussing their differences in a rational way in the primary years, they are more likely to accept it as normal in their adolescence.
Citizenship education helps to equip young people to deal with situations of conflict and controversy knowledgeably and tolerantly. It helps to equip them to understand the consequences of their actions, and those of the adults around them.
Pupils learn how to recognize bias, evaluate arguments, weigh evidence, look for alternative interpretations, viewpoints and sources of evidence – to give good reasons for the things they say and do, and to expect good reasons to be given by others.
Through studying GCSE Citizenship Studies students will:
- gain the ability to form their own hypotheses, create sustained and reasoned arguments and reach substantiated conclusions about citizenship issues
- understand the range of methods and approaches that can be used by governments, organisations, groups and individuals to address citizenship issues in society, including practical citizenship actions
- formulate citizenship enquiries, identifying and sequencing research questions to analyse citizenship ideas, issues and debates
- select and organise their knowledge and understanding in responses and analysis, when creating and communicating their own arguments, explaining hypotheses, ideas and different viewpoints and perspectives, countering viewpoints they do not support, giving reasons and justifying conclusions drawn
- present their own and other viewpoints and represent the views of others, in relation to citizenship issues, causes, situations and concepts
- plan practical citizenship actions aimed at delivering a benefit or change for others in society
- critically evaluate the effectiveness of citizenship actions to assess progress towards the intended aims and impact for the individuals, groups and communities affected
- show knowledge and understanding of the relationships between the different citizenship aspects studied, using the concepts to make connections, identify and compare similarities and differences in a range of situations from local to global.
Curriculum:
KS4
- Politics and Participation
Pupils will look at the nature of political power in the UK and the core concepts relating to democracy and government.
They will learn about the role of political parties, the election system, how other countries govern themselves and how the citizen can bring about political change.
Pupils will see how government operates at its various levels within the UK, how decisions are made and how the UK parliament works and carries out its functions.
- Rights and Responsibilities
Pupils will look at the nature of laws and the principles upon which laws are based, how the citizen engages with legal processes, how the justice system operates in the UK, how laws have developed over time and how society deals with criminality.
They will consider also how rights are protected, the nature of universal human rights and how the UK participates in international treaties and agreements.
Pupils will see how the citizen can both play a part and bring about change within the legal system.
- Life in Modern Britain
Pupils will look at the values and dynamics of contemporary UK society. They will consider what it means to be British, how our identities are formed and how we have multiple identities.
They will also study the role and responsibilities of the traditional media and the impact of new media formats
Pupils will learn the role in international issues.
- Citizenship Action Project
Pupils will develop the citizenship skills, processes and methods needed to carry out their chosen action project.
Visits/Extra Curricular:
Students will visit the Houses of Parliament where they will have an opportunity to take part in exciting workshops, developing their political literacy.
Further Information:
http://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/citizenship/gcse/citizenship-studies-8100
