Henry Maitles

'We don't learn democracy, we live it!': consulting the pupil voice in Scottish schools

As the education for citizenship agenda continues to impact on schools, there is a need to begin the discussion to examine the kind of initiatives that can push it forward. In Scotland the proposals should, it is argued, permeate the curriculum throughout the school. Yet there is the fear that the responsibility of all can become the responsibility of none. This article examines, through three case studies carried out by the authors, initiatives in schools designed to take forward the citizenship agenda in the light of children’s rights. The first two relate to the impact of pupil councils in primary schools and as well as the impact of discussing controversial issues in the primary classroom. The third outlines the impact on values and dispositions of developing more participatory, democratic practice in the classroom. The article concludes by calling for more initiatives of this type and further evaluation of their worth.

Teaching the Holocaust in Primary Schools in Scotland: Modes, methodology and content

Most consideration of teaching the Holocaust in Britain is based on teaching pupils aged 12-15 in England (Supple, 1993; Short, 1995; Carrington & Short, 1997; Brown & Davies, 1998). This paper directs attention to some experiences of teaching the Holocaust to pupils of primary stages 5-7 in Scotland (i.e. those aged between 9 and 11) and considers the significance of teaching Holocaust history in the primary context. The rationale for teaching this area is examined both in terms of the topicality, the universality of its lessons and the suggestions in various documentation about developing positive values in pupils. Eight primary teachers, five of whom regularly teach aspects of the Holocaust to this age group in Scottish schools when allocated the upper primary stages, were interviewed at length to ascertain the nature of the integration of the Holocaust into the Scottish 5-14 curriculum, the methodologies applied and the content of their studies. These findings are analysed and their implications discu...

Never too young to learn democracy!: a case study of a democratic approach to learning in a Religious and Moral Education (RME) secondary class in the West of Scotland

Whilst it is acknowledged that there is a case for giving pupils a say in what affects them most—the content and methodology of what and how they learn, such practice is not widespread. This paper discusses the rationale behind giving pupils a genuine say in determining their methods of learning and suggests how this approach is entirely within the spirit of policy on education for citizenship. It describes the attempt to do so in a Religious and Moral Education class in a West of Scotland comprehensive. It reports on how the class organized itself and the decisions the pupils took and evaluates the effectiveness, in terms of promoting positive attitudes, of this method of determining learning. The methodology involves comparing between pupils at the same stage studying in this way and those not. Finally, the paper examines pupil evaluations and reflection on this method of involving pupils.

Developing Positive Values: A case study of Holocaust Memorial Day in the primary schools of one local authority in Scotland

Many schools and local authorities saw the initial Holocaust Memorial Day as an important stimulus to develop lessons and events in Holocaust history amongst young people of vital importance for today. The focus of this paper is to examine the potential for Holocaust education in the primary curriculum in Scotland and whether the instance of Holocaust Memorial Day and the undertaking of a serious commitment to it by a local authority had an impact on the teaching and raising of Holocaust issues in the primary schools in that area. The authors previously argued (Maitles & Cowan, 1999) that there needed to be a major commitment from the Scottish Executive and/or local councils to encourage teachers and schools to coordinate or introduce Holocaust education in the schools. To test this, the field research for this survey was conducted by means of a questionnaire to every primary school in the local authority and achieved a 91% response rate. Strong national commitment to Holocaust educational activities, backed up by commitment from the local authority in terms of staff development and teaching materials, ensured a quality of experience as well as the quantity. Linked to this was an effective structure in the schools, with a designated Holocaust education coordinator and the involvement of the wider community. This led teachers in schools to imaginatively develop pupil skills, knowledge and understanding and informed attitudes in Holocaust history which potentially has a resonance in the wider citizenship area.

‘We saw inhumanity close up’. What is gained by school students from Scotland visiting Auschwitz?

As the education for citizenship agenda continues to impact on schools in the UK and with the Holocaust Educational Trust (HET) in conjunction with the Scottish Government introducing its Lessons From Auschwitz (LFA) project for students and teachers in Scotland, this article focuses on the Scottish context and investigates the school processes by which students are chosen to participate in the LFA project, the impact the LFA project has on student personal growth, and the range of follow‐up activities in their schools and communities. The methodology employed online questionnaires and face‐to‐face interviews which were designed to ascertain student perceptions of the LFA project and the impact that this project had on student participants, their schools, and their communities. Findings demonstrate that the student cohort were highly academic students who took their responsibilities on return to their schools very seriously and organized a wide range of events, both in their schools and in their communities. There was clear evidence that the LFA project had led to extra teaching and awareness of the Holocaust, racism, and human rights; and that students’ citizenship values had been enhanced.

It Reminded Me of What Really Matters: Teacher Responses to the Lessons from Auschwitz Project.

Since 2007, the Lessons from Auschwitz Project organised by the Holocaust Education Trust, has taken groups of Scottish senior school students (between 16 and 18 years) and where possible an accompanying teacher from their school, to Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum as part of a process of increasing young people’s knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust and racism. The Project comprises four components: an orientation session, the visit to the Museum, a follow-up session and a Next Steps initiative. The final component involves students designing and implementing projects in their school and community aimed at disseminating what they have learned. Previous published research has focused on the impact of the Lessons from Auschwitz Project on student participants. This research (funded by the Pears Foundation and the Holocaust Education Trust) investigates the impact the Lessons from Auschwitz Project has on teacher participants. The methodology was an online questionnaire, which was completed by 42 Scottish teachers who participated in the Lessons from Auschwitz Project in 2007. Findings indicate that the Lessons from Auschwitz Project influenced teachers at a personal and professional level and that this applied to teachers who considered their knowledge of the Holocaust and genocides to be substantial. In addition, teachers considered that the Project impacted their schools in a range of ways.

‘Why Are They Bombing Innocent Iraqis?’: Political Literacy among Primary Pupils

Introduction: education for citizenship While some governments are worried by the desire of young people to participate in the decision-making process, there is a near moral panic in Britain that the young are apathetic, alienated and uninterested in politics. The 1999 EU election, the 2001 General Election and the 2003 Scottish Parliament election showed consistently low turnouts, especially among 18–24-year-olds.

Citizenship initiatives and pupil values: a case study of one Scottish school's experience

As the education for citizenship agenda continues to impact on schools, there is a need to discuss and examine the kind of initiatives that can push it forward. In Scotland the proposals should, it is argued, permeate the curriculum throughout the school. Yet there is the fear that the responsibility of all can become the responsibility of none. This research is designed to examine the impact on the young people involved on a dedicated and intense citizenship programme in one large secondary (high) school in Scotland. The results suggest that there was a marked change in the general values of the young people involved. Further, that there are some stark gender differences in the findings.

‘I've adopted a tiger’: enhancing teaching and learning with infants through an active and integrated approach

In Scotland, A Curriculum for Excellence [Curriculum Review Group. 2004. A curriculum for excellence. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2004/11/20178/45862 (accessed January 6, 2010).] is being implemented in every school from August 2010. This gives teachers greater responsibility, flexibility and professional autonomy when planning and delivering the curriculum. A Curriculum for Excellence is the major priority in every school’s Improvement Plan, and schools should be adopting teaching, learning and assessment strategies that support the four capacities of A Curriculum for Excellence (successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens, effective communicators). The Curriculum for Excellence describes experiences and outcomes for childrens learning in ways that will support a more active and integrated approach to teaching and learning within the curriculum. This article reports on one infant teacher’s attempt to plan and implement a programme of study for the social studies topic ‘The Zoo’, adopting an active and integrated approach to teaching and learning for her Primary 2 class (children aged 5–6 years). Dealing with children of 5–6 years requires a varied methodological approach. The approaches involved questionnaires to parents, observations of pupil involvement in lessons and focus group interviews with pupils. There was a strict ethical approach taken, which involved both parental and pupil consent as well as allowing pupils to opt out at any time.

What type of Citizenship Education? What type of citizen?:

I was fortunate enough to attend a conference on culture and democracy in China recently. It struck me, as I was preparing my paper on the effectiveness of political education in schools, that there had been in Beijing a key event in terms of the type of citizenship education that we might want to try to develop in our schools. The movement for democracy in China and the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square