It was a close call. The launch of the plans to encourage “education for citizenship”, held at Alva Academy in Clackmannanshire (TESS last week), nearly succumbed to the truckers’ refinery blockades.
Such an outcome would undoubtedly have fuelled pupils’ learning. For the consultation paper on turning pupils into good citizes, launched on the day, noted that “participation in single-issue pressure groups has increased greatly in recent years”.
The paper’s main contention is that education has a key role in shaping a modern, democratic society “whose members ... feel empowered to participate effectively in their communities”. And how!
