YOUTH participation involves a power shift schools may not be ready for, delegates from all over the UK were told at a conference on education for citizenship in Renfrew last weekend.
Derek Goldman, Stirling’s team manager of children’s services, said:
“School managers and teachers like to think they have the power cards in their hand. Youth participation takes them well out of their comfort zone.”
Mr Goldman, formerly on the staff of Bellshill Academy, helped pioneer a programme for the school’s sixth year in which pupils chose to run their own fashion show, work with primary pupils and help introduce older people to the Internet.
Youth participation is a key component in the citizenship education proposals from Learning and Teaching Scotland. Christine Twine, LTS development officer, said: “Youth participation is much more than just setting up pupil councils - if these just involve a small number of pupils who don’t represent or consult with other pupils. It has got to involve a genuine participation in decision-making procedures which cuts across a range of activities in schools and in the community.”
Citizenship education will be a compulsory element of the national curriculum in England from next September, but the Scottish approach will be delivered through subjects such as modern studies and personal and social education as well as English and RE. Don Rowe, director of curriculum resources at the Citizenship Foundation, said: “Empathy and a sense of feelings for others must be developed.”
