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Teaching Citizenship in Higher Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2026

Graham Smith,
Roger Ottewill,
Esther Jubb,
Elizabeth Sperling and
Matthew Wyman
Graham Smith*
Affiliation:
School of Social Sciences, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Roger Ottewill*
Affiliation:
Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
*
E-mail: gsmith@soton.ac.uk
E-mail: R.M.Ottewill@soton.ac.uk
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Abstract

Following the establishment of citizenship as a compulsory component of the National Curriculum for pre-16 year-olds in England in 2002, attention has turned to the role that universities can play in cultivating civic values. Against this background, the POLiS project has been developing, piloting and evaluating free-to-access, web-based learning activities that aim not only to teach students about current academic debates on citizenship, but also to challenge them to consider their own role as citizens. This article describes the ambitions and principles of the project and the educational context within which it has evolved before turning to an analysis of the lessons that can be learnt from our experience for those wishing to promote the teaching of citizenship in higher education.

Keywords

citizenship educationuniversityteaching and learninginternet

Information

Type
Symposium
Information
European Political Science , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , June 2008, pp. 135 - 143
Copyright
Copyright © 2008 European Consortium for Political Research

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