EDUCATING FOR CITIZENSHIP: WHAT TEACHERS SAY AND WHAT TEACHERS DO

Oct 15, 2026

The study investigates how specialist secondary school teachers in Ontario and England characterize citizenship education pedagogy within formal curriculum courses. It examines teachers’ preferred learning goals, revealing liberal/civic republican orientations, and identifies a wide range of instructional and assessment practices alongside classroom-environment considerations. Findings describe eclectic and distinctive tendencies across transmission, transactional, and transformational curricular perspectives, highlighting ambiguity between teachers’ stated aims and enacted practices while assessing democratic-citizenship learning processes.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time1 h 6 min

AccessFree to download

The Study

Rationale

EDUCATING FOR CITIZENSHIP: WHAT TEACHERS SAY AND WHAT TEACHERS DO Mark Evans Teachersȇ characterizations of citizenship education pedagogy in Canada and England were explored in this study. Preferred learning goals reflected liberal/civic republican tendencies represented in contemporary conceptions of citizenship education. Preferred pedagogical practices exposed an array of teaching methods, assessment approaches, and classroom environment considerations. Eclectic and distinctive tendencies were noted in relation to the goals given priority and practices used to facilitate student learning. These tendencies cut across various curricular perspectives (e.g. transmission, transactional, and transformational), privileging (and neglecting) certain curricular learning goals and signaling a level of ambiguity between ‘what teachers say’ and ‘what teachers do.’ Key words: citizenship education, pedagogy, curriculum perspectives, instruction Cet article porte sur les définitions que donnent les enseignants de l’éducation à la citoyenneté au Canada et en Angleterre. Les objectifs d’apprentissage privilégiésreflètent les tendances libérales ou républicaines représentées dans les conceptions actuelles de l’éducation à la citoyenneté . Parmi les pratiques pédagogiques préférées figure tout un éventail de méthodes d’enseignement et d’évaluation ainsi que de considérations ayant trait à la classe. L’auteur fait état de tendances éclectiques et biendéfinies en lien avec les buts auxquels on donne priorité et les méthodes utilisées pour faciliter l’apprentissage. Ces tendances relèvent de diverses prémisses fondant les programmes (axées, par exemple, sur la transmission ou la transformation, ou encore de type transactionnel), qui négligent ou privilégient certains objectifsd’apprentissage et qui témoignent d’un haut niveau d’ambiguïté entre « ce que lesenseignants disent » et « ce que les enseignants font » . Mots clés : éducation à la citoyenneté, pédagogie, approches des programmes, enseignement. _________________ CANADIAN JOURNAL OF EDUCATION 29, 2 (2006): 410Ȭ435 Interest in citizenship education has escalated worldwide in the last decade. Some view this dimension of education as an opportunity to prepare young people to understand and become involved in the civic life of their community(ies), from the local to the global. Others view it asa way to respond to a range of existing social and civic concerns. Whatever the reason(s), there has been a proliferation of research studies, formal discussions, and curriculum initiatives throughout the world as teachers, policyȬmakers, and researchers attempt to understand and assess the complex processes by which young people learn about democratic citizenship. THE STUDY This study, begun in spring 2001, was completed in spring 2004. Broadly stated, the study illuminated how a sample of specialist secondary school teachers characterized citizenship education pedagogy in formal secondary school curriculum courses/programs in Ontario and England. The following question framed the study: In what ways do specialist secondary school teachers characterize educating for citizenship and why? Subsidiary questions included: What learning goals do specialist secondary school teachers prefer to nurture in formal secondary school curriculum courses/programs when educating for citizenship? What preferred pedagogical practices do these teachers communicate and/or exhibit in formal secondary school curriculum courses/programs to achieve these goals? And, why do these teachers advocate these goals and practices when educating for citizenship? RATIONALE The study was prompted by ongoing discussion about citizenship education’s location and representation in school curricula and concerns raised by researchers about a general lack of empirical research on citizenship education pedagogy (Davies, 2000; Edwards & Fogelman, 2000; Hébert & Sears, 2001; Kerr, 2003; Kerr, Cleaver, Ireland, & Blenkinso

FAQs

What is the main purpose of the study?

To examine how specialist secondary school teachers characterize citizenship education pedagogy and to understand why they do so in Ontario and England.

What learning goals and pedagogical elements are analyzed?

The study analyzes teachers’ preferred learning goals and the pedagogical practices they communicate and/or exhibit, including teaching methods, assessment approaches, and classroom-environment considerations.

Why does the study highlight ambiguity between teachers’ “say” and “do”?

Because the preferred goals and the practices used to facilitate student learning show eclectic and distinctive patterns across curricular perspectives, sometimes privileging or neglecting certain goals and indicating unclear alignment between stated aims and enacted classroom practice.

Oct 15, 2026

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