Book Review: Teaching Citizenship Education: A Radical Approach

The purpose of Teaching Citizenship Education: a radical approach is to encourage fundamental change in the teaching and learning of citizenship education in the United Kingdom.The author cautions against the constraints being imposed by traditional educational methods, expectations and outcomes, which belie the transformative nature of the recommendations of the Crick Report (Advisory Group on Citizenship, 1998, p. 5).In 2002, citizenship education was introduced into the curriculum as the subject to bring about a change in the political culture of Britain.Within this context, the concept of radical citizenship was introduced.Radical citizenship's educational objective is to 'develop the desire to learn, to share, to understand, to acknowledge but not to fear difference, to understand and to enable change' (p.3).Thus, 10 years ago, through the lens of citizenship education, teachers and students alike were being urged to focus on developing critical dispositions in order to redefine schools and societies as crucial, democratic spheres.However, despite this initiative, critical and analytical approaches to the teaching and learning of citizenship education were not integrated and implemented into curricula.Instead, over the course of the years, the author claims that lacklustre teaching due to poorly trained generalist teachers has rendered citizenship education an obsolete and marginalised subject area.Through this text, the author's intent is to demonstrate how the teaching and learning of citizenship education can move to a position where action can occur, where teachers and students can engage in mutually cohesive and respectful dialogues in order to create a just, democratic society.Aimed at student teachers and practising teachers, the inviting and concise format is the greatest strength of this volume.Each chapter is introduced with a preamble, followed by a discussion, a case study and a summary.Furthermore, a comprehensive companion website provides valuable student and lecturer resources to a broader audience.[1]These resources are firmly rooted in a critically based framework, whereby discussion, negotiation, analysis and autonomy are encouraged.The case studies provide a forum where personal narratives, research studies and professional reports serve as foundational content for exploring radical citizenship education.The 10 chapters focus on interconnected dimensions relating to teaching, school ethos, identity, diversity, engagement, commitment, social activism and political literacy.Leighton encourages critical reflection of the self and society by providing a praxis-oriented model of radical citizenship education.In order to aid the international reader, a glossary clarifies the context-related acronyms.The introduction provides a solid overview of the historical context and purposes of this volume.Based on an interpretative phenomenological analysis, chapter one points to a fundamental issue in the delivery of citizenship education: the lack of qualified teachers.In order for teachers to adopt radical approaches, the case study in this chapter identifies 16 strategies based on radical teaching stemming from the work of Postman and Weingartner (1976) modified by Leighton (2006).These principles of subversive practice reflect the nationwide and, to a certain extent, global malaise with traditional, linear approaches to pedagogy.Chapters three and four discuss the dual concepts of identity and diversity, thematic areas in the study of citizenship.The United Kingdom, a country of multiple and fluid identities, is actively seeking ways in which to address the ethnocultural diversity of its citizens.Of particular interest is chapter seven, devoted to active citizenship.The author emphasises the importance of young people becoming active and

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