Citizenship education: Anti-political culture and political education in Britain

The British Government white paper 'Excellence in Schools' and the subseque nt report of the Advisory Group on Citizenship Education for Citizenship re commend that schools educate pupils in citizenship and democracy. This reco mmendation is considered in the context of reasons why there has traditiona lly been no formal or well articulated political education in schools. Amon g these reasons a pervasive antipathy to politics and to government is iden tified as one of the most powerful. This antipathy is expressed from the le ft and the right wings of the political spectrum, and the 'critical' opposi tion to both, as well as from interests such as those defending professiona l and personal autonomy. These arguments imply that 'politics' is optional, not a set of practices and institutions with which individuals must he fam iliar. It is argued that this proposition cannot be valid.