Education for Social Citizenship: Perceptions of Teachers in the USA, Australia, England, Russia and China

Citizenship education calls for the education of knowledge, skills and values that help the young to become informed and responsible citizens. Various cross-national studies have been carried out since the 1990s and most of these projects focus on the policy-making processes, students and the curriculum. There has been little coverage on teachers - obviously one of the key figures in citizenship education. This volume, emerging from a cross-national study of teachers’ perception of good citizenship, aims to fill this significant gap. The chapters here ask two fundamental questions: What do teachers see as important in citizenship education? How do these perceptions facilitate or hinder the preparation of good citizens? While providing rich and useful data on the latest developments of citizenship education in various contexts, this book also offers an all-round review of concepts and arguments on the subject, as well as insightful comparative analyses of the findings emerged from the case studies. One encouraging conclusion drawn from these studies is that teachers across nations share similar goals and objectives that seem to have transcended cultural and political boundaries. This book will appeal to all those who are interested in citizenship education, and will specifically be of interest to policymakers, curriculum developers, education scholars and researchers, social workers, and teachers.