Abstract:
Education is variously promoted and practised as
a vehicle for helping the individual and society to
conform, or to reform. Debate has existed for centuries
as to whether education should be a force for
change or for maintenance of the status quo. This
dilemma comes into particularly sharp focus in regard
to civics education and its aims. This paper will examine
some current trends in civics education, and some of the
author's own approaches in the light of these. It sets out
a model for possible planning and evaluation of civics
teaching/learning experiences, and explores some possible
uses and limitations of this model. The paper
also has an element of self-study to it. During the writing
of this paper, the author's assumptions of civics, as opposed
to citizenship education, came under interrogation,
including the perhaps arbitrary delineation between
civics and citizenship education. It is hoped that the
paper will provoke discussion, and raise as many
questions as it answers.
