Teaching about justice in citizenship education

1
We aim for no less than a change in the
political culture of this country, for people to
think of themselves as active citizens willing,
able and equipped to have an influence in public
life The Crick Report, 1998
2
Citizenship education is NOT...

• ?about making young people more courteous and
  respectful
• ?simply about raising money for charity
• ?about teaching young people about Britishness
  and how to get along
• ?just a classroom-based subject

3
Citizenship education IS ...

• about exploring a series of deep and meaningful
  concepts and processes around justice, democracy,
  rights and responsibilities
• a statutory subject, a different kind of subject
  and more than a subject
• about building young peoples knowledge, skills
  and conviction to have an effective role in
  public and political life
• about helping young people take action to change
  their communities for the better

4
Teaching about justice in citizenship education

• Intended outcomes
• To understand the importance of justice in the
  citizenship curriculum
• To clarify the meaning of the concept of justice
• To identify a range of contexts in which justice
  may be used in the teaching and learning of
  citizenship

5
In 1884, a small yacht sets sail from Southampton
to Sydney

• with four crew on board, but
• in the middle of the South Atlantic it is sunk by
  a huge wave, and
• the crew take to the lifeboat. They have time to
  grab only two tins of turnips

6
After three days

• the men catch a turtle
• but nine days later, this and all the turnips
  have gone
• they are more than 700 miles from land, without
  food or water.

7
The captain suggest that one of them may have to
die

• at first the crew reject this idea, but two
  days later, still without food and water, the
  idea is raised again
• the cabin boy is the obvious choice, he has no
  wife or family and is lying unconscious at the
  bottom of the boat, and
• after waiting a further day, the Captain and
  First Mate slit the young mans throat.

8
Four days later

• the three men are spotted and picked up by a
  passing vessel
• it takes six weeks to return to England, where
  the three men immediately give themselves up.
• The Captain and First Mate, who killed the cabin
  boy, are charged with murder. permanently

9
Murder may be defined in law as

• the deliberate and unlawful killing of a human
  being.
• The person responsible may be found not guilty
  if it can be shown that they acted in
  self-defence, were mentally unstable, r were
  forced to do the killing.
• Cannibalism is not against the law

10
Casey Martin

• has been playing golf since he was a child
• at school he became state champion,
• and turned professional after leaving university.
• In 2001 he entered the top 200 US rankings and
  became eligible to play on the PGA Tour.

11
However

• since birth, Casey Martin has suffered from a
  serious condition, which makes it painful and
  dangerous for him to walk.
• For many years he has been allowed to use a golf
  cart to move about the course,
• but the PGA Tour will not allow him to use a cart
  in top-level matches.

12
Under US discrimination law

• disabled people should be accommodated into a
  sport, unless this fundamentally changes the
  nature of the activity.
• The PGA Tour claims that
• riding, rather than walking, changes the nature
  of the game, and that
• by being allowed to ride, rather than walk will,
  over several rounds of golf, give Casey Martin a
  significant advantage over other competitors, and
  that
• all players should follow the same rules.

13
Justice means

• treating everyone in the same way
• making people pay for their crimes
• applying the rules
• not discriminating against people
• helping the poor or weak
• making the punishment fit the crime
• giving people what they deserve

14
Teaching about justice

• prompts reflection, analysis, and encourages
  students to justify and counter arguments
  thinking skills
• provides access to teaching about aspects of
  criminal and civil law
• is central to many big citizenship issues
  relating fairness in society, access to goods and
  benefits, the way in which decisions are made,
  and the nature of those decisions

15
Understanding Citizenship, Book 2, Hodder
Education
16
Understanding Citizenship, Book 1, Hodder
Education
17
OCR Citizenship Studies, Hodder Education
18
Understanding Citizenship, Book 3, Hodder
Education
19
Subject migration

• Topic asylum seekers
• Justice question what is a fair and just way
  for a state to treat asylum seekers?

20
Justices issues in

• Human rights
• Environment
• Education
• Voting and elections
• Parents rights and responsibilities
• Employment
• Consumer issues
• Poverty
• Parliament

• Climate change
• The media
• Migration
• Local government
• Social action or campaigning
• Devolution
• Identity
• The European Union
• Taxation

21
Teaching about justice - a summary of key
points

• Justice is a central part of citizenship
  education, underlying questions of what is fair
  and unfair.
• Justice is also a yardstick by which students
  assess the way in which a decision has been
  taken.
• Questions of justice are central to legal,
  political, social and economic debates and
  therefore central to helping students make sense
  of the society in which they live.
• Questions of justice (or perhaps a sense of
  injustice) are motivators for social action.
• Questions of justice offer considerable benefits
  to teaching and learning in citizenship
  education assisting with the development of
  questioning, argument, discussion, and other
  thinking skills.