A ttention to educating for citizenship has intensified worldwide in recent years. Growing concerns about the general lack of civic literacy among youth, the civic well-being of contemporary societies, and forces of change have prompted a "renewed" interest in the role that public education might (and ought to) play in "readying" young people for the challenges of citizenship (Crick, 1998; Hahn & Torney-Purta 1999; Osborne, 2001). Numerous local, national, and international studies and initiatives have been undertaken as policymakers, educators, and researchers ascertain and assess its representation in school curricula and the complex processes by which young people learn about citizenship.

Three separate but interconnected themes are explored in this article. The first traces shifting characterizations of

   The idea if educating people

for their political as well as

social roles was embedded

in education in Canada even

before Confederation.

 citizenship education in schools in Canada; the second provides a brief sampling of recent studies and initiatives as they have unfolded in Canada and other parts of the world; and the third outlines some of the persisting issues. It should be stated that this exploration represents, at best, only a partial sketch of citizenship education in Canada

"The idea of educating people for their political as well as social roles was embedded in education in Canada even before Confederation" as a requisite to social and civil well-being (McLeod 1989).Not surprisingly, this idea has revealed itself in varying patterns and practices since that time. In the early decades of the 20th century, public education in Canada was increasingly viewed as a logical location to "initiate" young people for their citizenship role. Two central purposes dominated. One, to encourage the personal characteristics of a "good" citizen; and two, to nurture a sense of "being Canadian.""Being Canadian" was usually aligned with a sense of nationalism albeit with a "pro-British assimilationist bent" (Clark & Case, 1997). Osborne (1996) describes this period in the development and implementation of citizenship education in Canadian schools as the "Canadianization of children as a vehicle of assimilationist nation-building." Schools were expected to "pass on" understandings youth would need to be productive members of the newly emerging Canadian society.

School curriculum reflected this orientation in differing ways. Subject content, the observation of school holidays (e.g., Empire Day), and school wide initiatives continuously reminded students that they belonged to and should identify with their country. Canadian history, for example,

“. .. was seen largely as the building of the federation. .. History texts made it clear that nations were the work of exceptional individuals . .. Canadian students learned that Confederation was the work of a handful of1athers" . . . Women rarely appeared in the pages io these texts and when they did it was usually doing what was regarded as women's work, such as teaching or nursing. Working people were similarly ignored. Native people were equally invisible."

(Osborne, 1997)

A cursory reading of social studies curriculum texts in Ontario during this time reveals these emphases. According to the Ontario Teachers' Manual (1915), the Civics program in Ontario had three central aims:

“I. To instruct in the mechanism if government. (Descriptive)

 2. To instruct in the history if national institutions so as to show the line if development, and also to impress the fact that existing institutions are capable if development, are not fixed. (Historical)

 3. To show the cost of each institution in the efforts and sacrifices of past generations and to quicken and make permanent the children's interest in public life and their sense of responsibility to their fellow citizens (Patriotic and Ethical)."

Characterizations of citizenship education continued to evolve from the 1920s to the 1950s. The aftermath of the First World War, a sense of growing national autonomy and patriotism, difficult labour conditions, the Second World War, ideas of American progressive education (e.g., Dewey) and other factors led to an increased emphasis on personal responsibilities associated with democratic citizenship. Schools, to a certain extent, were touched by these shifts. One example was the introduction, albeit in a limited way, of student councils. Another was the expansion of Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and other "character building" organizations outside of formal schooling. This shift in emphasis, according to Osborne, served to depoliticise citizenship education by limiting attention to certain core concepts such as "conflict and power" and "political participation":

"One could serve through volunteer work, through charity, through church membership, and other forms of non-political activity. In this view, a good person, d{y, law-abiding, and so on, was by definition a good citizen, thus ignoring the long philosophical tradition that holds that good citizenship demands more than this."

(Osborne, 1996)

Educating for citizenship during the early decades of the 20th century was addressed largely through Social Studies curricula and received limited attention on provincial educational agendas. It should be noted, however, that not everyone accepted the citizenship message of schools during this time and various groups (e.g., Quebecers, trade unions, First Nations peoples) voiced their concerns.

Predictably, teaching practices focused on knowing about the mechanisms of government and one's responsibilities to others and to Canada. Teachers were expected to "transmit" certain content and students were expected to receive it. While there were examples of interesting and innovative teaching practices, "didactic thought, recitation, memorization, and largely passive learning remained the rule and by overwhelming agreement, the norm" (McCleod, 1989). There was little attention to classroom practices that encouraged critical thought, collaboration, discussion of controversial issues, or active participation.

Issues arising from the Quiet Revolution in Quebec, First Nations land claims, immigration patterns, increasing American dominance of the Canadian economy, Canada's growing involvement in peacekeeping initiatives worldwide, and the introduction of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms fostered interest in citizenship and citizenship education during the second half of the 20th century. One initiative, A.B awareness of the interconnectedness of our Hodgetts' publication What Culture? What everyday lives with others throughout the Heritage? A Study of Civic Education in Canada world has prompted discussion about the (1968), sparked considerable interest and debate "plural" character of citizenship and the in the area of citizenship education. It emphasized tensions and contradictions that accompany the increasing multidimensionality of Canadian diverse allegiances to one's community, citizenship, its diverse cultural and pluralistic culture, nation, and now, a global context. nature, its emerging global orientation, and its Attention to Canada's growing cultural diversiconflictual character, reflecting an important ty has prompted discussion about "inclusive" transition from earlier characterizations.

A new Canadian Studies curriculum was challenges of fostering a sense of citizenship developed during this period which laid the groundwork to explore Canada's culturally diverse nature, French/ English relations, Canadian/ American relations, and Canada's emerging role in the global community, providing a curriculum location for further consideration of these emerging dimensions of citizenship education. Demands for higher quality teaching, more effective schools, and more equitable educational opportunities led to increased attention to instructional practices (e. g., inquiry, critical thinking, cooperative learning) that focused on thinking about and an emerging "engaging in citizenship. There was a growing sense that the earlier teaching and learning approaches to educating for citizenship, that focused primarily on knowing about citizenship, were no longer sufficient.

Explicit attention to citizenship education in schools varied during the 1970s and 1980s. In some contexts, characterizations of citizenship education that emphasized its multidimensionality began to appear in a number of new and high quality curricula which, according to Osborne (1996), constituted "the beginning of a trend" and "certainly formed part of a new conception of citizenship education."Themes such as cultural diversity, human rights, global understanding, and active participation were explored in conjunction with participatory and experiential instructional practices. In most contexts, however, citizenship education remained largely ignored in schools, overshadowed by an increasing emphasis on "employability skills" and preparing students to be "productive workers" for an emerging global economy (Osborne, 2001).

A "renewed" interest in what it means to educate for citizenship in Canada and worldwide has intensified in recent years. A growing awareness of the interconnectedness of our everyday lives with others throughout the world has prompted discussion about the "plural" character of citizenship and the tensions and contradictions that accompany diverse allegiances to one's community, culture, nation, and now, a global context. Attention to Canada's growing cultural diversity has prompted discussion about "inclusive" and "exclusive" aspects of citizenship and the challenges of fostering a sense of citizenship that encourages social cohesion and is respectful of multiple identities and social difference (Kymlicka, 1995). Rapid shifts in information technology and "our immediate access to a wealth of on-line news sources, government documents, expressions of opinion, and other information sources from around the world" (Alexander & Pal, 1998) have prompted discussion about uneven access and implications for participation. The expansion and deepening of a global economy and the increasing power of transnational conglomerates have prompted concerns about an emerging "democratic deficit" and

  More effective implementation

strategies will be required for supporting changes that assist

teachers and school systems with these

types of sophisticated

curricula/instructional shifts.

the sustainability of democratic citizenship as we currently understand it. A proliferation of civil society organizations, distinct from the operation of formal governmental processes, has prompted discussion about new forms of civic engagement and activism (Van Rooy, 1999). Persisting global issues and international tragedies have prompted attention to understandings and practices of citizenship that will assist us to respond in informed, purposeful, and participatory ways. And growing concerns about the general lack of civic literacy, low rates of participation, and acts of discrimination and violence among youth have prompted further debate.

Exploring New Conceptions

Consequently, a number studies and initiatives have been undertaken this past decade to understand and assess the complex processes by which young people learn about democratic citizenship and its representation in school curricula. Much attention has been directed towards exploring the what of citizenship and citizenship education through the development of conceptual frameworks that infuse new and expanded understandings.

In Canada, for example, Alan Sears (1996) constructed a framework for analyzing citizenship and citizenship education based on a continuum from "elitist" to "activist." His "Conceptions of Citizenship" model compares themes of sovereignty, government, and citizen expectations from "elitist" and "activist" perspectives. His "Conceptions of Citizenship Education" model compares knowledge, values, and skills again from these two perspectives. Central to Sear's organizing framework is the notion that citizens are "expected, and enabled, to participate in the affairs of the state," and that the extent of this participation is guided by conceptions of citizenship that range from "elitist" to "active."

The "good citizen" in the "elitist" conception is one who is "knowledgeable about mainstream versions of national history as well as the technical details of how public institutions function. .. the highest duty of citizenship in this view is to become as informed as possible about public issues and, based on this information, to vote for appropriate representatives at election time." The "activist" conception assumes, significant participation by all citizens. The good citizen in this conception is one who participates “actively in community or national affairs. They have a deep commitment to democratic values including equal participation of all citizens in discourse where all voices be heard and power is relatively equally distributed."

Several other conceptual frameworks for analyzing citizenship and citizenship education have emerged both within and outside of Canada. In Canada, Osborne's (1999)"12 C"model and Strong-Boag's (1996) "pluralist" orientation provide helpful tools for analyzing conceptions of citizenship and citizenship education. Outside of Canada, Avery's (1997) "participatory" model, Heater's (1990) "citizenship cube," Ichilov's (1998) "multidimensional" model, and McLaughlin's (1992) "minimal/ maximal"model are instructive.

Exploring Instructional Approaches

Attention has also been directed towards how we educate for citizenship and educators are exploring instructional approaches that will effectively accommodate these broadened conceptions. Canadian teachers, wishing to explore and integrate new understandings of citizenship into classroom and school-wide practices, are finding a host of ideas to inform and guide their work (1998). Osborne's work, in particular, is helpful. He emphasizes the importance of creating an open, trusting and collaborative classroom climate and the value of a problems-based approach. He stresses that all students should have an opportunity, through their school curriculum, to develop a deepened understanding of Canada and the world. He goes on to add that building capacity for innovative learning-p-formulation, value-creation, anticipation, participation, focus on the future, autonomy, critical judgment, integration, and a global orientation-will help students become active citizens.

Recent reforms in curricula across Canada have sparked pedagogical work in this area. Classroom ideas and activities can be found in various web sites, texts, and resource materials (e.g., Historica'sYouthLinks, UNICEF Canada's Global Schoolhouse, Citizenship: Issues and Action (Evans, Evans, Slodivnik and Zoric 2000), Take Action:A Guide to Active Citizenship (Kielburger & Kielburger, 2002), and Classroom Connections: Cu/tivatins A Culture cfPeace in the 2 I st Century, 2002» provide an array of performance-based classroom ideas and activities. Case analysis, public issue research projects, model town councils, peace building programs, community participation activities, public information exhibits, online international linkages, and youth forums are types of classroom and schoolwide activities being introduced to assist young people learn about the principles and practices of citizenship. A cursory examination of these types of activities (and others) reveal shifts in instructional practice, shifts that attend to: deepening conceptual understanding; exploring substantive public issues (from the local to the global); developing critical inquiry and communication skills; building capacities for personal and interpersonal understanding; providing opportunities for community involvement and political participation; and using real life themes and contexts that address issues of instructional congruency (Evan & Hundey, 2000).

Current instructional initiatives like the Critical Challenges Across the Curriculum Series (Case & Daniels, 1998), the Canadian International Development Agency's (CIDA) Global Classroom Initiative (hup:/ /www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/gci), and the Library of Parliament's Teachers' Institute on Canadian Parliamentary Democracy (www.parl.gc.ca) are providing helpful ideas for effective instruction, with the underlying intent to encourage young Canadians to become informed and involved citizens. The Handbook on Teachins Social Issues (Evans & Saxe, 1996), Tribes: A New Way cf Learnins Tosether (Gibbs, 2001), and the instructional work of organizations like the Citizenship Foundation (UK) are a few of the many sources emerging in other parts of the world that are offer useful instructional guidance.

Policy and Research Initiatives.

All provinces and territories in Canada continue to have some form of citizenship education as part of the core curriculum for elementary and secondary students. A recent study of educational policy across Canada, Education for Peace, Human Ri8hts, Democracy, International Understandin8 and Tolerance (Council of Ministers of Education, 2001) suggests that traditional conceptions of citizenship education are shifting to conceptions that forefront its multidimensional and global character.

Recent curriculum reforms in Ontario address citizenship education largely through elementary Social Studies, History and Geography (introduced in 1998) and secondary History and World Studies (introduced in 1999 and 2000). The compulsory Grade 10 Civics course, outlined in this latter document, highlights three core strands: informed citizenship, purposeful citizenship; and active citizenship.

Attention to principles and practices of democratic decision-making, multiple perspectives, persisting public issues, political literacy, and purposeful participation and community involvement from the local to the global are apparent, and reflect an important shift in tone and emphasis from earlier policy emphases in Civics programs.

A variety of policy initiatives have emerged outside of Canada: UNESCO's Learnin8: The Treasure Within: Education for the Twenty-first Century (Delors, 1997), The Education Policy Study Project (Cogan & Kubow, 1997), and the inclusion of citizenship (1999) curriculum as a statutory part of the National Curriculum in the UK this past September (2002) are reflective of this trend.

In addition, research support initiatives like the Citizenship Education Research Network (CERN), created in the late 1990s under the leadership of Yvonne Hebert, have brought together researchers, policy makers, and educational practitioners interested in carrying out systematic long-term research in the area of citizenship education. Internationally, a similar pattern is evident. UNESCO's International Bureau of Education's study What Education For What Citizenship? (Albala-Bertrand, 1995) and The Civic Education Study coordinated by The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (Hahn & TorneyPurta 1999), provide much needed research leadership and support.

INFORMED CITIZENSHIP

An understanding of key civics questions, concepts, structures, and processes is fundamental to informed citizenship. In a diverse and rapidly changing society that invites political participation, the informed citizen should be able to demonstrate an understanding of the reasons for and dimensions of democracy...

PURPOSEFUL CITIZENSHIP

It is important that students understand the rote of the citizen, and the personal values and perspectives that guide citizen thinking and actions. Students need to reflect upon

. their personal sense of civic identity, moral purpose, and legal responsibility-and to compare their views with those of others ...

ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP

Students need to learn basic civic literacy skills and have opportunities to apply those skills meaningfully by participating actively in the civic affairs of their community. Civic literacy skills include inquiry strategies, critical and creative thinking, decision making, resolving conflicts, and collaborating ..,

********

PERSISTING ISSUES:

For the most part, however, "educating for citizenship" continues to play on the margins of educational agendas across Canada and there is often a considerable gap between what policy mandates and what actually happens in classrooms. While these assorted initiatives suggest shifting characterizations about what and how it means to educate for citizenship, they also alert us to the many issues to be addressed.

All things to all people?

Conceptions of citizenship will need to be further clarified in ways that respect its multidimensionality, that are sensitive tocitizenship's contested and evolving nature, and that are meaningful for schools. Dominant views of citizenship-the civic republican and the liberal -accentuate differing purposes of citizenship education while other perspectives (e.g., communitarian, social democratic, multiculturalist, global) further complicate the situation (Shafir, 1998). This level of ambiguity, according to some, restricts it from being effectively introduced in a meaningful way into the school curriculum. Some fear "minimalist" interpretations of citizenship being encouraged (Mclaughlin, 1992) while others worry about the potential of political indoctrination (Heater, 2000).

What message(s) does the instructional medium send?

Effective teaching and learning practices require, among other things, technical competence and theoretical sophistication appropriate to the purpose(s) (Ireson, Montimore & Hallam, 1999). Core learnings associated with citizenship education (e. g., informed decisionmaking, public issue analysis, ethical reasoning, political participation) require rather sophisticated levels of technical competence and theoretical understanding. Yet, substantive guidance about appropriate teaching and learning practices remains largely underdeveloped and fragmented. There is significant evidence to suggest that approaches to teaching and learning remain largely didactic, passive, and safe. Important stands of citizenship education (e.g., policy analysis, investigating controversial civic issues, involvement social action projects) are often neglected or avoided. Participatory and critical approaches to teaching and learning that are congruous with the intent of democratic citizenship education, and are also attuned with the developmental levels of the learners, will need to be further investigated and developed.

Will teachers be supported?

There is potential for additional setbacks when attention to teachers' needs are not adequately considered. Teachers already find themselves overloaded, without adequate support, and it is difficult to anticipate much serious engagement in curriculum and instructional reform of this type. More effective implementation strategies will be required for supporting changes that assist teachers and school systems with these types of sophisticated curricula/ instructional shifts. Currently, there tends to be "high pressure"but "low support" for teachers' professional learning in Ontario (leithwood, Fullan, & Watson, 2003). Professional learning opportunities that honour and balance teachers' and systems' needs will be critical. Professionallearning approaches 'showing promise are those that highlight enquiry and emphasize collaboration, action, professional choice and responsibility.(Evans & Myers, 2003).

Encouraging practices of democratic

citizenship will require careful thinking

about school governance, relevant school

based programs, and the extent to which

either support and / or limit learning.

Are schools willing partners?

Curriculum initiatives of this type face unavoidable setbacks when they are disconnected or incompatible with broader school directions and/ or contextual factors. Schools, organizationally, have tended to reinforce the norms of hierarchical control, and in doing so, have undermined the impact of certain types of curricular reform. Furthermore, workload issues, the rigid structure of the school day, and ongoing political turbulence often limit engagement in such initiatives. The "intended" curriculum is often subverted by the "hidden" or the "tested" curriculum. This can be particularly problematic for citizenship education programs which have learning intentions at odds with the operational nature of the school or system culture(s). Encouraging practices of democratic citizenship will require careful thinking about school governance, relevant school-based programs, and the extent to which either support and/ or limit learning.

Canada's "flirtation" with citizenship education has ebbed and flowed with different levels of intensity. It has taken on new meanings which reflect increasing complexity and differentiation both in terms of purposes and practices. While "educating for citizenship" continues to be a "recognized" goal of public education systems across Canada, it lingers on the margins of most educational agendas. Young persons grow up in complex times and varied contexts. They face a diversity of issues, from the local to the global. How we choose to assist them in developing their capacities for active engagement in civic life through our schooling processes remains a formidable educational challenge.

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MARK EVANS is Director of the Secondary Teacher Education Program and Sr. Lecturer in the Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning at the OISE/UT. Mark served as the principal author in the drafting of Ontario's new Grade 10 Civics course (1999) and co-authored Citizenship: Issues and Action (2000). He is currently engaged in cross national research in Canada and the UK in the area of citizenship education pedagogy.