Current Practice and Future Challenges in Teaching Civics and Citizenship

Abstract

This chapter examines the ‘practices of making citizens’ (Isin 2008: 17) through Civics and Citizenship teaching and learning in Australian schools. It contends that the revised and endorsed Australian F-10 Curriculum Humanities and Social Science 7–10, V8 Civics and Citizenship (ACARA: 2015) presents rich opportunities for teaching Civics and Citizenship Education in Australian Schools in ‘maximal’ (McLaughlin 1992) ways. The chapter argues that Civics and Citizenship Education (CCE) is critical to developing young people’s knowledge and understanding about the civil (rights and responsibilities), political (participation and representation) and social (social values, identity and community involvement) components of Australian society. Accordingly, the chapter discusses some exemplars of teaching and learning in selected primary and secondary schools to illustrate the rich, varied and innovative ways in which CCE can be implemented in schools. In doing so, it illustrates the critical role of schooling in nurturing and enabling young people’s learning of the knowledge, skills and dispositions required to exercise informed and active citizenship. In the final part of the chapter some future challenges for CCE in Australia are highlighted.