1. Citizenship Leadership
This presentation will help leaders of Citizenship, aspiring Citizenship leaders and those seeking to understand how Citizenship can be transformative in schools share their ambitions with others in school. Some teachers may adapt it to be used with school governors or parents and community groups as these often have a less than clear understanding of Citizenship as a subject and more. Some teachers may use this as a training tool with fellow Citizenship leaders at a TeachMeet or other CPD gathering. For some Citizenship leaders, this presentation can act as an aide memoire regarding the subject. The presentation may also be useful for newly trained or in post Citizenship teachers-to help them develop their leadership potential.
The key tenet of the presentation asks how Citizenship and the Citizenship leader can be transformative in school or college. They may be no simple answer but the presentation promotes discussion about this and flies a flag for Citizenship as an transformative agent in schools, colleges and communities. It is very much within the gift of the Citizenship leader to realise the potential and the subject as transformative and sell this to benefit of the subject, learners and the community the school is set within.
How can Citizenship be transformative for learning and schools?
Presentation originally developed by Zoe Baker, Towers School, Ashford, Kent.

2. What is our situation?
Consider and reflect on the following questions:
What provision is there for Citizenship at school-in the curriculum, the culture of the school and in links with the community or elsewhere?
Is Citizenship is linked to PSHE and if so how and why?
How many trained specialists are there delivering the subject?
Does the SLT understand the difference between PSHE and Citizenship?
These questions are good starting points-but they are not the only key questions. You may think of others. They are not about the challenges the subject faces, more reflection on the state of play at school.
Two useful resources for handing out to delegates or studying whilst considering the issues are the pdf’s What is Citizenship and Citizenship’s Role in School, both also available on the ACT website.

3. What seem to be the biggest challenges Citizenship faces at school?
Time in the curriculum for high quality teaching and learning?
Opportunity for assessment, recording and reporting to parents and pupils?
Understanding of what we do?
Valuing what Citizenship adds to the school, the learner and the community?
How the subject specialists and leaders transform Citizenship to be meaningful for schools and pupils?
Enabling understanding of the life skill nature of the subject and its processes?
These are by no means the only challenges but they are common across all phases and types of schools and colleges. If this presentation is being used as CPD then the leader can ask delegates for their own challenges. An activity to support this would be to ask the other delegates for solutions from their own experience. However, its always important for delegates to contextualise their challenges and solutions.

4. What do we mean by Citizenship being transformative in schools and colleges?
a. It is about the students real life experiences; it brings the tensions from the community to the classroom so that students have the opportunity to wrestle with authentic problems.
b. Teachers should promote critical analysis of oneself and others, and help pupils to think critically beyond the personal and inter-personal and to engage with the reality of power structures that facilitate and constrain our lives.
c. Through approaches like critical thinking and enquiry, pupils will connect individual experiences and concerns to broader social justice principles. This will form the basis of a broader empathy and facilitate broader alliance building.
d. Education should also seek individual empowerment and build pupil’s political understanding so they can develop strategic actions-a core ambition of Citizenship education. Pupils will seek to pursue change actions.
Source:
Lee Jerome, Associate Professor of Education, Middlesex University and joint England Country Lead, Five Nations Network wrote a paper laying down key areas in which Citizenship could be transformative-see attached paper that should be circulated to any delegates beforehand as reading if this presentation is used as CPD
a. We need to bring in tensions from the community to the classroom so that students have the opportunity to wrestle with real problems.
b. Teachers should promote critical analysis of oneself and others, and help students to think critically beyond the personal and inter-personal and to engage with the reality of power structures that facilitate and constrain our lives.
c. Consciousness raising should involve transforming personal perspectives and seek to connect individual experiences and concerns to broader social justice principles. This will form the basis of a broader empathy and facilitate broader alliance building.
d. Education should also seek individual empowerment and build students’ political understanding so they can develop strategic actions.

5. 1. Knowledge as transformative
Choosing three aspects of transformative Citizenship that relate to leadership
1. Knowledge as transformative
2. Episodes of learning as transformative of one’s world view
3. Transforming classrooms and schools
In this workshop, there is a focus on three of the aspects of transformation. Each will now be reviewed through a Citizenship lens so. that powerful arguments for strengthening Citizenship in schools and colleges can be developed. The following slides also help to clarify the role of Citizenship in transformative education.

6. 1. Knowledge as transformative
“Because education should be about broadening minds, enriching communities and advancing civilisation. Ultimately, it is about leaving the world a better place than we found it”.
Amand Spielman, Chief HMI, Ofsted June 2017
“Schools enable young people to acquire the knowledge that, for most of them, cannot be acquired at home or in the community.”
Professor Michael Young in ‘What are Schools for?
“Most schools don’t think about curriculum enough, and when think they do, they actually mean qualifications or the timetable”.
Stuart Lock, Secondary head teacher, June 2017, as quoted by Spielman above
These quotations indicated the importance of a broad and balanced curriculum. The following slides asks HOW Citizenship can contribute to this.

7. So what knowledge is unique to Citizenship?
What makes Citizenship a unique body of knowledge to learn?
What in the National Curriculum or GCSE courses provides young people with knowledge that can be transformative?
How can we change understanding of curriculum to move beyond qualifications and timetabling?
What can lead us into meetings with line managers and SLT to defend our place on the timetable by justifying our curriculum?
Use these for discussion or focussing thinking to develop reasone argument in support of Citizenship.d

8. 2. Episodes of learning as transformative of one’s world view-through FBV
If we take the Prevent Strategy and treat this as an opportunity to teach students resilience and a new body of knowledge then Citizenship becomes transformative of one’s world view.
‘the active promotion of British values’ means giving young people a real civic education’ Spielman-as above
The moral development of pupils, the cultural development of pupils and promoting the political and communitarian development of pupils.
The second aspect of transformation can specifically reference the fundamental British Values and SMSC aspects of school standard and inspection. Reference should be made to the following resources
The briefing sheet for slide 8
The SMSC briefing form ACT
The ACT guidance Prevent and Controversial Issues

9. So, in respect of Citizenship, how can it transform learning related to FBV?
How well does the school prepare pupils positively for life in modern Britain and promotes the Fundamental British Values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect for and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs and for those without faith?
How will you articulate this and evidence it in Citizenship?
The key leadership issue relates to Ofsted School Inspection and School Standards-preparing young people for life in modern Britain-and the arguments Citizenship leaders can make and the evidence they have to illustrate the core contribution the subject makes to this vital inspection requirement.

10. 3. Transforming classrooms and schools
How can your effective leadership and management of Citizenship transform classrooms, the school and its community?
How can you use your influence to define and then make a difference to the school ethos?
How can you raise the profile of your subject across the school, with parents and the community?
These are BIG PICTURE questions. They relate to the whole aim and purpose of the subject. You can refer to the diagram What is Citizenship? again and also look at the ACT Big Picture for Citizenship published in 2014 before tackling these questions.

11. Is the key to being transformative being subversive?
Key challenge for SLT
They are under pressure in many ways
Schools need to jump through so many hoops
Citizenship to the rescue?
How can we as Citizenship support them while protecting it space and place?
Key documents to be familiar with in addition to those in these materials include:
1. The Prevent Strategy
2. Guidance on Fundamental British Values
3. Ofsted Handbook on judging SMSC
4. Amanda Spielman, Chief HMI, Ofsted, speech of 23rd June 2017

12. An Aide Memoire for Citizenship leadership
Look for EVERY opportunity you can use to promote your subject content in terms of knowledge and breath of the curriculum
Use policies and strategies schools have to follow to justify your position on the curriculum
Understand the requirements and demands of the revised Ofsted inspection framework with regard to Citizenship
Make clear the role of the National Curriculum for Citizenship in teaching fundamental values, understanding of democracy, knowledge of parliament and the legal system and respect for diversity in Britain today
Build practical strategies to teaching topical, controversial and sensitive issues
Raise your profile with national events and active citizenship to show the impact the subject has on students

13. Reading list/resources from ACT website
explain-all-about-citizenship
What is Citizenship?
Citizenship’s role in school
The Prevent Duty and Controversial Issues: creating a curriculum response through Citizenship controversial-issues-creating-curriculum-response-through- citizenship
Summary and full guidance for Teachers
Summary guidance for Heads, Senior Leaders and Governors
Curriculum briefing on Citizenship and SMSC briefing-citizenship-and-smsc