What examples of citizenship education do you remember from your K-12 schooling? What types of citizenship (e.g. which of the three types mentioned in the article) were the focus? Explore what this approach to the curriculum made (i'm)possible in regards to citizenship.
When I was in school, our school really focused on the Personally Responsible Citizen and The Participatory Citizens. The personal responsible citizens was very focused on having annual runs within our community like Terry Fox, Gerry's Norick, Rick Hansen. With these runs we would also raise money within our school and community. We also did many bottle drives and bake sales to create some money for our school's outside equipment, drama play outfits, team jersey's. Then on the other hand the participatory aspect in my school was things like playground leaders- who patrolled the playground to make conflicts didn't happen or leaded games for certain grades. From grade 7-12 we had a group called SLC - Student Leadership Council, this council put together events for high school students and even put on school wide activity days. Both of these approaches I found focused solely on the community and building up student's responsibility. Although it's builds up these aspects of being a good citizens and having responsibilities, it doesn't highlight the real aspects of citizenship like how picking up garbage would help the ecosystem. I just knew it as picking up garbage after others who were lazy. It also failed to teach me about the justice-orientated citizens, that being because i was never taught to advocate of these priorites and rhetoric and analysis thats calls explicit attention to matter of injustice and to the importance of pursuing social justice." (Westheimer & Kahne, 2004. When never being taught a true depth of a aspect it is hard to know the right thing to do. If I was taught about social justice and priorities, maybe it would have been easier for me as a student to follow through with things I believed in or wanted to support.
What does the approach we take to citizenship instruction in any given place tell us about that place? About what the curriculum makers value? About what kinds of citizens they want to produce?
In regards to the personally/ participatory responsible then yes keep teach students to volunteer within the community doing bottle drives, picking up garbage etc. Although if we want justice-orientated then many changes have to be made. I think we as pre-service teachers can help with that. We can offer new aspects of society that weren't thought of long ago when the curriculum was made like Treaty Education, equal rights, the movement being currently done in Canada and the true meanings behind them. I feel as if the curriculum id based upon personally responsible citizen's that being because you are required to know certain aspects within the curriculum when you are a student. Like doing your homework on time, being a " good student", they believed every student was to be taught the same and were to have acquired the same responsibilities .
Resource :
Westheimer, J. & Kahne, J. (2004). What Kind of Citizen? The Politics of Educating for Democracy. American Educational Research Journal, 41(2), 237-269. doi: 10.3102/00028312041002237