European Identity - Individual, Group and Society - HumanitarianNet

166 EUROPEAN IDENTITY. INDIVIDUAL, GROUP AND SOCIETYthere is very little in their experience of schooling to help them makesuch discrimination.So in “citizenship education” we have a problem, if schools are todevelop lively and enquiring minds, that look to and respect otherpeople’s opinions and views. Schools are not where pupils expect toanswer questions and put forward their own ideas. They are not placeswhere teachers’ do not know the answers. They are not places whereother pupils’ information or views matter, because other pupils are bydefinition as ignorant or irrelevant as they are.What should be taught? What do teacher-educators think “citizenship”actually is? CiCe members were asked to put a series of sixpossible aspects of citizenship teaching into order of importance (Ross,2001b).Views of what constitutes “citizenship”ElementScoreIsles South EastScandinaviaCoreAllRights before duties 59 59 83 106 71 75Duties before rights 90 71 79 79 39 71Participation in democracy 98 134 75 106 197 118Awareness of issues/events 51 67 71 51 31 59Actively helping others 51 55 51 35 47 47Supporting law and order 43 12 35 16 8 24Of significance here is the great stress made by members from thecore European states on participation in democratic institutions,particularly when compared to the responses from the accession statesin eastern Europe. The Isles (UK and Ireland) (see Davies, 1999), and toa lesser extent eastern Europe, stressed the duties of citizenship (ratherthan the rights afforded), and that citizenship should be supportive oflaw and order. The Scandinavians were particular emphatic thatcitizenship concerned rights.What should it consist of? How should it be given? These are moredifficult questions. The example of questioning in classrooms showsthat the “how” question demands rather more subtle approaches thatsome traditional pedagogies. We are concerned with teaching in areasthat are themselves controversial, matters of discussion, argument anddispute; and with ensuring that our pupils are confident and able to