Citizenship

Introduction

The revised National Curriculum for 2000 now includes citizenship as a required subject.

Obviously, since up until that point there was no National Curriculum to guide us in this subject, we had to pioneer our own path! As home educators, we feel that citizenship is not something that can just be squeezed in but should be given due priority.

With my Christian background, and Messianic beliefs, I see being a "good citizen" as being just a small part of living according to my faith.

We hope to cover the meaning of citizenship and its rights & responsibilities, but to go further and look at what being a 'good' or 'bad' citizen might involve.

Themes for Citizenship

Rights
of citizens the UN Declaration of "Human Rights" and the "Rights of the Child"
Note: There is something of a conflict between the humanist viewpoint and that of the Bible, since fallen man has no "rights" as such, but God has extended His Grace (chesed - kindness, and chen - mercy) toward us, and we have a responsibility to be gracious (kind/ merciful) to others.

Responsibilities
of citizens (positive: what we should do, and negative: what we shouldn't do): to man/ to God/ to the environment * and of Governments *

Charity

Government
The role and limits of Government

Recommendations for Textbooks

Responsibilities of Citizenship

My understanding of citizenship starts with the Bible, and the best place to start is the Ten Commandments. There is some crossover with 'Character Development'.

Although we haven't specifically studied citizenship as such, we have tried to pass on an idea of morality based on the Judeo-Christian ethic, and we've used tools such as Doorposts resources 'For Instruction in Righteousness", and Keepers of the Faith club handbooks.

Looking at Goverment & Civics
(The way nations and Government works)

in Sweden, I was required to study what they called "Sociology" which in fact was more a study of Swedish Society, but the main textbook, "Samhällsboken" (The book of society) was such a good book! The best resource I've found for the UK is "Britain The Official Yearbook" / "Britain An Official Handbook" (though since 2005, this doesn't appear to be available, and is instead replaced by a similar book on Europe. I'll need to check it out before recommending it.

"That for which our Fathers Fought" including, amongst other things, an English translation of the Magna Carta of 1215, the Constitution of the USA and the Bill of Rights. $4 from Trivium Pursuit www.muscanet.com/~trivium

Internet Resources

The Convention on the Rights of the Child. I'm also looking for links to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.