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If
we believe that to be a good citizen we simply have to know
and understand how our country is governed we are surely
missing the point. It is about much more than that.
Terry
Ashton, Advisor in Guidance and Careers in Aberdeen City
told delegates at a recent Ethos Network Roadshow in October
at St. Andrew's Academy, Saltcoats, North Ayrshire that
he believes that being a citizen means:
 |
Having
rights |
|
Exercising
responsibilities |
|
Defending
other people's rights |
|
Having
your own rights upheld and defended |
|
Belonging
to various communities |
|
Participating
in activities that affect the welfare of communities |
|
Having
opportunities to exercise personal choice |
|
Making
informed choices and decisions |
|
Taking
action based on these decisionsParticipating in politics |
To
do these things a citizen needs appropriate knowledge, skills,
 attitudes
and values. That, in a nutshell, is the aim of education
for citizenship and leads on to other questions about citizenship,
which include:
|
Should
a citizen always be actively involved? |
|
What
does actively mean anyway? |
|
How
old do you have to be, to be a citizen? |
|
What
has good citizenship got to do with politics? |
|
Does
the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child have anything
to do with citizenship? |
| . |
|
 Terry
has an excellent
website full of useful information on citizenship
and other guidance related topics: He can be contacted
by email. |
 Learning
and Teaching Scotland's paper on
Education for Citizenship can be downloaded
here. |
...........................................................................
 St.
Andrew's Academy in Saltcoats, North Ayrshire was the venue
for our recent Roadshow. Terry Ashton set the scene for
lively discussions about citizenship in practice in the
workshop sessions, which were led by teachers and pupils
from Winton Primary School, Glencairn Primary School, Notre
Dame High School and Ferguslie Primary School. A workshop
from St. Andrew's Academy itself was called 'African Friendship'
and reminded us that encouraging pupils to see themselves
as world citizens is an important part of developing a positive
school ethos and a tolerant multi-cultural society.
The
photograph to the right shows delegates exchanging ideas
with visiting Ghanian teacher, Kate Attipoe, during the
workshop on 'African Friendship' at the Saltcoats roadshow.
...........................................................................
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This
edition of the Network Newsletter reports on the recent Ethos Network
Roadshow in Saltcoats, which invited delegates to consider what
it means to be a good citizen. It also includes two international
reports, reflecting on inclusion and participation: one from the
Czech Republic and one from Canada. Another article describes the
aims of the new International Consortium on School Disaffection,
while a report from England looks at an innovative scheme, where
pupils are involved in staff interviews.