A critical reading of the Government's integration strategy.
Last week, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government released the Government’s Integrated Communities Strategy Green Paper. As a consultation about proposed new laws, this document is highly significant as an indication of the Government’s view on contemporary British society. The Green Paper includes, amongst other things, commitments to £50 million of spending in 2 years, plans to increase English language skills and opportunities for more women to enter work, and a more targeted promotion of British values through, in particular, education.
The Good and the Bad:
On one hand, the Green Paper is a welcome acknowledgement of Britain's proud record of multi-ethnic, multi-faith societies at a time when Brexit threatens to stretch our social fabric and recasts a spotlight on a range of socio-political challenges. These challenges - as testified by a rich academic literature and the Government's recent Race Disparity Audit - reduce to concerns about social fragmentation, rising levels of political disengagement, declining social mobility, damagingly wide levels of inequality, and uncertainties about the UK’s future in the international arena. This Green Paper could not, therefore, come at a timelier moment.
On the other hand, there are some worrying conclusions to draw from this document. At a broad level, there seems to be a number of implicit assumptions that, for example, integration strategies are only or particularly necessary for ethnic minority groups, that integrated communities are by nature non-extremist communities, and that the state should do less in terms of democratic engagement whilst citizens – with the ‘right values’ – should do more.
In particular, chapter 3 of the Green Paper - Education and Young People - proposes a number of inherently problematic strategies. The reinforced teaching of, for example, 'Fundamental British Values' (FBV) is an erroneous attempt to force a set vision of social integration. Policies such as FBV and the Prevent Programme, enforced by the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015, delineate a specific British identity that directly contradicts centuries of thought in which democracy, where it is meaningful, entails a constant churn of ideas about how society should be governed. Far from countering radicalisation, these policies leave those harbouring anger and injustice without a democratic space to question, debate and interrogate ideas about identity openly.
Similarly, the NCS – a flagship project at the heart of this Green Paper – is yet to fulfil its potential. This short-term voluntary programme for 15-17 year olds, which involves two residential experiences and a social action project, aims to ensure that ‘[p]articipants build skills for work and life’ (Green Paper, p.31). Characteristic of a neoliberal reform agenda in education since 2010, the NCS is imbued with a logic of market fundamentalism aimed at delivering a highly diligent, obedient and employable workforce. In doing so, it misses its radical potential to imbue young people with democratic competences of criticality, active participation and political literacy. The complete lack of reference to civic education in the Green Paper is, then, a damaging omission.
Citizenship Education as a Policy Alternative:
The focus of the Green Paper upon volunteering, social action and civic engagement is praiseworthy, but citizens also need to understand the connections between the issues they care about and local, regional and national government structures. Citizenship education in school settings - with appropriate opportunities for young people to engage with their local communities as part of that experience - is not only the most appropriate way to support active citizenship but also has the potential to underpin meaningful social integration.
The Citizenship Education Longitudinal Study (CELS), commissioned by the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), found that levels of exposure to citizenship education between 2001 and 2010 and across secondary school significantly predicted participants’ civic engagement in terms of efficacy, current and anticipated participation, and political knowledge. Where citizenship education had achieved its purpose, young people not only became helpfully involved in their local communities but also developed a greater appreciation for other citizens of different socio-economic and religious backgrounds.
Indeed, a recent survey by the Association for Citizenship Teaching found a powerful correlation between schools with a specialist Citizenship teacher and strongly embedded programmes of Citizenship education, and the active promotion of fundamental British values through (crucially) contested debate and mutual investigation. This research is echoed around the world. In its 2017 report on 24 other countries across the globe, the IEA International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) concluded that citizenship education 'should be considered as an essential means of helping young people become more conscious of their political roles and the importance of being participating citizens.'
5 Revisions for the Government Green Paper:
Citizenship education has the capacity to greatly enhance social integration in the UK by improving young people's social and political capital, countering extremism and radicalisation, and engaging young people in their democratic political system. To that end, the Political Literacy Oversight Group has written to the Departments of Education and Housing, Communities and Local Government, with five key recommendations:
Establish a 'curriculum guarantee for Citizenship' - …for every primary and secondary school.
Make Citizenship a priority subject for teacher training - In 2016 just 54 teachers trained in citizenship (compared with 243 in 2010).
Build the evidence base on the impact of effective Citizenship Education - The DFE should re-instate England as a participant in the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study. England was a leading participant until 2009.
Increase the capacity of teachers through Citizenship subject knowledge enhancement programmes - …which could build upon existing links between University Politics departments and schools.
Ensure NCS is seen as part of a wider landscape of citizenship and civic engagement opportunities for young people.
In an uncertain future we will need citizens to be willing and able to engage in democratic processes, not merely for personal benefit but more importantly to correct its malfunctions when things go wrong and to protect a fragile common good. If this Green Paper is serious about social integration, then future revisions must account for citizenship education.