Forging Citizenship Values for the Post-Industrial Era.

Overview & Synopsis

An assessment of current practices in citizenship education in Canada is followed by a proposal for decentralization of educational control and community involvement for students at all levels. In response to research which indicated that Canadian students were virtually ignorant of their government and its political issues and to the demand for teacher accountability, Canadian education is currently entering an era of intense centralization. The Ministery of Education in Ontario has mandated curriculum project management teams; regional curriculum councils; provincial review of staff evaluation, development, and assignment; and standardized testing of students. This centralizing and standardizing of education will most likely be counterproductive to citizenship education. Thus, those involved in education should work toward process and structural changes rather than curriculum change. For example, even during the early education years, the school could serve as an information and resource center, while the community would be a laboratory in which human and natural phenomena could be observed. Community involvement would decentralize the educational system and give teachers, students, and parents real power in educational policy, while engendering citizenship qualities. (KC)