Citizenship Citizenship education has become a keystone of democratic governments such as those found in Australia, Canada, Great Britain, and the United States. Other forms of state government (autocracies, oligarchies, monarchies, theocracies, et al.) impose limitations on the rights of its citizens, so therefore the majority of their population will never need to learn what it takes to actually participate in government, and they just learn to follow the mandated laws or else face the consequences. The ability to actively function in a democratic society is not instinctual; it is in fact a learned skill. In her research, L. Alison Molina-Giron (2016) describes how the study of citizenship has become fundamental to democracies because “citizenship
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Many individuals will use the term patriotism when describing citizenship. It must be stipulated that citizenship and patriotism are not the same. The study of citizenship will prepare children so as to be able to be productive in a democratic society. Patriotism, on the other hand is an entirely separate entity. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, patriotism is the “love that people feel for their country” (n. d.). This does not mean that patriotism should not be taught, rather it has to be promoted as being just an aspect of citizenship education, but even still it must be handled carefully. Jenny Keating (2011) stated that too much emphasis placed on patriotism can easily lead to it becoming a radicalized and militaristic ideology similar to that practiced by Germany before and during the First World War (p. 763). This sentiment is also echoed Jeff Spinner-Halev (2005), when he said that upon careful examination, history has confirmed the fact that the over enthusiastic instruction of patriotism in the classroom is detrimental to the intellectual development of students. The reason for this is because children in such an environment will always be denied the opportunity to learn how to question governmental actions and dissent whenever the need is appropriate. Furthermore, proponents of unbridled patriotism have repeatedly shown themselves capable of falsifying history, in which case everyone …show more content…
Natural and political borders are easily crossed and as a result democracies are having an ever-increasing number of immigrants entering their countries from all corners of the world. Fortunately, citizenship education can not only accommodate the new students in teaching them about the importance participation in a democracy, but it can also embrace the diversity of the students. According to Molina-Giron (2016), multicultural citizenship education begins the base fundamentals of the democratic process (the role of the citizen, voting, political parties, et al.), is honest with the students that it is not perfect, acknowledges the fact that it is acceptable to be in disagreement with others, and admits that there have been times in history when minorities have experienced injustice (pp. 142-145). So therefore, once that has been established, the students would have learned that “democratic politics…involve conflict, disagreements…and a struggle to achieve a vision of the common good. A citizenship education that embraces democratic politics helps students grapple with the demands of socially and culturally diverse groups for a more inclusive political system” (Molina-Giron, 2016, p. 145). As a result, all of the students will realize that they too will have a future role to play in their democracy and this equally applies to those who traditionally felt marginalized by others within their
Many individuals will use the term patriotism when describing citizenship. It must be stipulated that citizenship and patriotism are not the same. The study of citizenship will prepare children so as to be able to be productive in a democratic society. Patriotism, on the other hand is an entirely separate entity. According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, patriotism is the “love that people feel for their country” (n. d.). This does not mean that patriotism should not be taught, rather it has to be promoted as being just an aspect of citizenship education, but even still it must be handled carefully. Jenny Keating (2011) stated that too much emphasis placed on patriotism can easily lead to it becoming a radicalized and militaristic ideology similar to that practiced by Germany before and during the First World War (p. 763). This sentiment is also echoed Jeff Spinner-Halev (2005), when he said that upon careful examination, history has confirmed the fact that the over enthusiastic instruction of patriotism in the classroom is detrimental to the intellectual development of students. The reason for this is because children in such an environment will always be denied the opportunity to learn how to question governmental actions and dissent whenever the need is appropriate. Furthermore, proponents of unbridled patriotism have repeatedly shown themselves capable of falsifying history, in which case everyone …show more content…
Natural and political borders are easily crossed and as a result democracies are having an ever-increasing number of immigrants entering their countries from all corners of the world. Fortunately, citizenship education can not only accommodate the new students in teaching them about the importance participation in a democracy, but it can also embrace the diversity of the students. According to Molina-Giron (2016), multicultural citizenship education begins the base fundamentals of the democratic process (the role of the citizen, voting, political parties, et al.), is honest with the students that it is not perfect, acknowledges the fact that it is acceptable to be in disagreement with others, and admits that there have been times in history when minorities have experienced injustice (pp. 142-145). So therefore, once that has been established, the students would have learned that “democratic politics…involve conflict, disagreements…and a struggle to achieve a vision of the common good. A citizenship education that embraces democratic politics helps students grapple with the demands of socially and culturally diverse groups for a more inclusive political system” (Molina-Giron, 2016, p. 145). As a result, all of the students will realize that they too will have a future role to play in their democracy and this equally applies to those who traditionally felt marginalized by others within their