Being Better Citizens - Michael Conway-Jones

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Fircroft features in a Ministry of Reconstruction report published in 1919. That says that the aim of the college was “to make better citizens”. So 100 years later we’ve been exploring how Fircroft makes better citizens now. We’ve done this under 4 headings which come from an article by James Banks.

Failed Citizenship. Some people feel they don’t have any stake in society. The college has a duty to Prevent them being drawn into terrorism, and to promote British Values

Recognised Citizenship. One reason to run lots of Maths, English and Digital courses is so that students have the skills they need to exercise their rights and responsibilities as citizens

Participatory Citizenship. 17% of students say they are more likely to vote as a result of coming to Fircroft. We run courses like mentoring and advocacy skills to support students who want to give something back. 28% of students go on to volunteer.

Transformative Citizenship. People say that Fircroft changes their lives. That’s because of debate inside the classroom and also spending time with different people outside the classroom. Both of these make us see the world differently.

The citizenship research was written up by Michael Conway-Jones (Vice Principal) who presented it at an international conference in Nottingham this week. You can read the whole paper here.

As a result of this research we’ve come up with a new Social Justice programme for September, which will include Political Engagement, Building Communities and Protest and Activism.

 

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