Introduction

Across the globe there has been, since the early 1990s, increased interest in the role of citizenship education in creating cohesive societies, by both national policy makers and international organisations. This chapter focuses on the role of education generally and citizenship education in particular within the United Kingdom (UK) government’s goal of fostering cohesion, examining both the policy framework for schooling in England and those policies that address the education of adult migrants. These policies are situated within a historical context, since much of what is advocated in schooling today appears to reflect a longstanding goal of promoting a hegemonic national identity or ‘national cohesion’, dating from the late 19th century.

The chapter examines the dynamic between citizenship and cohesion agendas, and reflects on tensions and contradictions between official policies, intended outcomes and differentials in student attainment. The aim is to make explicit some assumptions about learners that underpin policies, and to explore the meanings of terms such as ‘diversity’, ‘citizenship’ and ‘community cohesion’ within education policy. In considering ways of evaluating the effectiveness of education for social cohesion, a key assumption is that education policy and practice and the wider social policy agenda need to be underpinned by a commitment to universal human rights.

Civic values, education and cohesion: historical Context

Twenty-first-century advocates of citizenship education were not the first to see such learning as important in enabling societal stability, if not cohesion. As early as 1651, political theorist Thomas Hobbes's Leviathan was arguing for specific provision of a conservative form of (adult) civic instruction, with time set aside from labour, in which people be taught their duties and the rights of the sovereign, so as to avoid violence and civil unrest. On the curriculum were patriotism, resistance to demagogues, respect for government, responsible parenthood and law and order. Hobbes argued that alongside knowledge there should be a focus on attitudes (Heater, 1990).

From the introduction of mass schooling in the late 19th century, European governments saw education as a means to promote national identity and pride. In this sense, traditional civic education, taught in Britain largely through national history and celebrations such as Empire Day, might be said to have been about national cohesion.