Rethinking Citizenship Education A curriculum for participatory democracy

Rethinking Citizenship Education presents a fundamental reassessment of the field. Drawing on empirical research, McCowan argues that attempting to transmit preconceived notions of citizenship through schools is both unviable and undesirable. The notion of 'curricular transposition' is introduced, a framework for understanding the changes undergone in the passage between the ideals of citizenship, the curricular programmes designed to achieve them, their implementation in practice and the effects on students. The 'leaps' between these different stages make the project of forming students in a mould of predefined citizenship highly problematic.

Dr Tristan McCowan is Lecturer in Education and International Development at the Institute of Education, University of London. He has written widely on citizenship education, curriculum theory and comparative education.