Educating for Public Good: How Children Learn to Give in English Primary School’s

• In Event: How Individuals Learn to Engage

Abstract

In this paper we report on findings from a UKRI funded project in England, exploring active citizenship education in primary schools. This research offers the first, nationwide, multi-disciplinary, critical analysis of how civic learning and philanthropic behaviours and attitudes are encouraged in primary schools in England. It seeks to understand, how do children (4-11 years) learn to be active, civically engaged, philanthropic citizens? What opportunities are they afforded to develop their civic and philanthropic learning, how are these ideas framed (and indeed by whom) and is there equity in access to active civic and philanthropic learning opportunities?
We report on survey data from over 2000 primary schools and semi-structured interviews with over 100 primary school teachers, to critically explore how schools and teachers position, prioritise and perceive how children are taught to be ‘good’ citizens, how issues of social good and justice are discussed in the classroom and how children are actively enabled as ‘citizens of now’.
Through the findings we map active civic learning opportunities, such as charitable giving, fundraising, social action, volunteering, advocacy and activism, in primary schools against variables such as deprivation, school type, values and religiosity, and consider how these factors shape the pedagogical approaches adopted in schools to facilitate children’s civic learning, alongside the significance of teachers own characteristics (such as age, years teaching, gender, etc) and teachers own levels of civic engagement (which we find to be a strong contributory factor).
Research tells us that increased pro-active civic engagement at a young age leads to propensity to engage in pro-civic behaviours when older (Taylor-Collins et al., 2019), however our data suggests, that unlike adolescents who have wider-scale programmes, opportunities for children’s engagement in active civic and philanthropic learning are uncoordinated, unequal, and commonly not rooted in evidence-based practice, with children from lower socio-economic areas experiencing far fewer opportunities to practice their philanthropic civic-ness.
Furthermore, our interview data reveals that whilst we find teachers keen to engage children as active citizens, various factors can either hinder or facilitate this endeavour. These factors operate at different levels, including individual teacher characteristics (such as age, experience, political orientation, and engagement), pedagogical beliefs, and personal levels of civic engagement. They also extend to the school level, encompassing values, socio-demographics, curriculum pedagogy, governance structure, size, and leadership. Additionally, broader socio-political factors, such as curriculum requirements, OFSTED assessments, and media discourses, play a significant role. Notably, the interplay between the individual teacher, the school, and wider socio-political elements prove crucial. In conceptualizing this interplay, we underscore the role of education in democracy, emphasizing the pivotal role of the civic teacher and the civic school in fostering collective solidarity within schools. This empowers children and young individuals to become active agents of change, championing social justice within democratic societies.
We suggest this has significant implications for children as philanthropic citizens of now and in the future. We conclude with considering implications for theory and practice in socialisation of children as philanthropic citizens both in England and further afield.

References

Taylor-Collins, E., Harrison, T., Thoma, S.J. and Moller, F., 2019. A habit of social action: Understanding the factors associated with adolescents who have made a habit of helping others. VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 30, pp.98-114.

Authors

• Alison Body, University of Kent

• Emily Lau, University of Kent