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CHAPTER TWO REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE



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CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Introduction


This chapter focuses on the review of the related literature of the topic under consideration. The chapter highlights theories of citizenship, citizenship education and development, empirical issues, practice of citizenship education and conceptual framework.

Theories of citizenship


Different theories on citizenship education have been proposed that give different interpretations. Attempt is made to review the four theories identified by Van Gunsteren (1998) on citizenship which appear to diverge in terms of orientation and practice. These theories are liberal theory of citizenship, communitarian theory of citizenship, civic-republican theory of citizenship and neo-republican theory of citizenship.

The liberal theory of citizenship considers a citizen as a calculating holder of preferences and rights (Van Guusteren, 1998). In this theory, citizenship is conferred by a state or nation. There is a relationship between an individual and state which entail both rights and responsibilities. The rights include the right to be heard and participate in their governance, equal protection of the law, to the basic freedoms such as religion, speech and press in the case of democracy. The responsibilities of the citizen entails respect for the law and participation in activities of governance such as voting and joining interest and political parties (Engle & Ochoa, 1998). Liberal theory is perceived to be incompatible with the local realities of most people in the African countries (Nyamjo, 2004; Ake, 1998). In particular, liberal theory’s emphasis on individual autonomy is not in line with the African value for both individual and collective rights.

The second theory identified by Van Gunsteren (1998) is the communitarian theory of citizenship. This theory views citizenship as more than a matter of rights and stresses that being a citizen involves belonging to a historically developed community .The implication is that in citizenship the communitarian theory emphasises participation and identity (Preece & Mosweunyane 2004). In this theory, a citizen is accorded the needed citizenship if they stay within the limits what is acceptable within the community. The community symbolizes unity and the neglect of community implies confusion and disunity. The community is accorded with respect as it offers a cultural resource that unifies peoples’ relationship. This type of citizenship encourages voluntarism, self reliance and a commitment to each other (Preece & Mosweneunyane, 2004).

The third theory is civic-republican theory of citizenship. This theory according to Van Gunsteren (1998) considers a single community, which is the republic community at the hub of the political life. This theory lays emphasis on the civil society. Republican virtues of courage, devotion, military discipline and statesmanship are cherished in this theory. It has been contended that a vibrant civil society leads to a more dynamic state through the promotion of active social action which privileges the state by not challenging the status quo (Putman, 2000).

The fourth citizenship theory identified by Van Gunsteren (1998) is the neo-republican idea of citizenship which merges the theories of communitarian, republican and the liberal. This theory asserts that citizenship is created and recreated by citizens in action. The conception is that the duty of a citizen is to change a community of fate into a public that can be willed by all who are involved as citizens. Citizens according to Van Gunsteren (1998) have to possess competences, repertoire of skills, goodwill, consensus on norms and values, tolerance and respect and good judgment.

In assessing the theories of citizenship, it has become apparently clear that there are a lot of conceptions that will guide citizenship in schools and colleges. The researcher of this study accepts the theories being proposed in citizenship, but, he also agrees with the idea that people do not become democrats by default and as such must be taught to behave like democrats to believe in the virtues of, at least, localized democratic national and continental structures (Abdi, 2008). However, the neo-republican theory appears to be more suited to this study. This is because it attempts to combine all the other three theories on citizenship and as well placing emphasis on competence, skill development, goodwill, consensus on norms and values which need to be taught in the colleges of education.


Theories of citizenship education and development


It is a natural impetus for the state to work in order to perpetuate (sustain) itself. Developing the state as the representative of its people needs the fostering, particularly in the young, the attitudes and behaviours that support the state (Ryan, Salvaris & Weekley, 1996). A major aspect of this political socialization is citizenship education. The need to nurture citizenship education among the youth is based on psychological theories such as cognitive developmental theory and social learning theory.

The cognitive developmental theory was developed by Jean Piaget and further developed by such psychologists as Lawrence Kohlberg, William Damon, Ralph Mosher and William Perry. Piaget posits that the human learner is a stimulus-seeking entity, rather than a creature that learns entirely through conditioning. This structural developmental view suggests that human beings have certain innate capacities which (a) influence the kind of interactive experiences they have and which (b) determine the reciprocal effects of the experiences upon them and their future development. Each person is in effect, a self-organizing being, and “structures” its own development, while at the same time being shaped by previously acquired structures. By structural development, then, is meant an active interplay with the environment. (Ashby, O’Brien, 2005)

Piaget also made observations on intellectual development. He observed the existence of clearly discernible stages or structures of thought. Young people can be identified distinctly by different types of moral reasoning and these characterize different states of moral development. The general argument of the theory is that human beings’ moral development proceeds developmentally in a stepwise sequence through the various stages of moral reasoning. The capacity for higher reasoning resides in an individual in a potential form, and through the individual’s repeated encounters with his or her environment it is developed. Essential, therefore, to this view is an environment that is morally stimulating and challenging. Without the stimulation of an appropriate and challenging environment, the individual stays at his or her current stage and does not develop.

The second view of citizenship education development is derived from the empiricism of John Locke and the behaviourism of John Walson and B.F. Skinner (Pinet, 2006; Freire, 2001). The view tends to look at human nature as a relatively blank slate on which society writes the experience of the individual. Society here should be viewed as multidimensional, composed of the individual’s immediate family, his or her ethnic group and social class, the institutions that are part of his or her life and also the total culture into which he or she is born. These social forces contribute in varying degrees to the individual’s learning, learning about what a person is supposed to do as a member of state or otherwise, or what a person ought to do. The individual is taken through citizenship and other social learning by two methods. The first is direct teaching and the second method is learning through modeling or imitation. Thus, the child sees behaviour and imitates it. In the school environment, therefore, opportunity should be created to nurture the learners towards political literacy, critical thinking, development of certain attitudes and values and active participation.

The third theory that informs citizenship education is psychoanalytic approach. Its founder was Sigmund Freud, the Viennese medical doctor, who worked at charting the unconscious mind. The most prominent current spokesman for this position was Bruno Bettleheim (Boyte, 2004). The psychoanalytic view is based on a view of human nature as driven by irrational impulses which must be controlled. Society’s agents, typically parents must intervene early to introduce restraints and conforming behaviour for both the good at the individual and the society as a whole. As a theory of citizenship education, a great strength of the psychoanalytic view is that it is rooted in a total view of personality. The author relates this distinct culture, political and historical experiences among nations, as well as to differentiate execution of civic curriculum.

There are theories that influence teachers when introducing citizenship education and are largely based on their personal action (Evans, 2006). These theories may be based on their past and present experience. In handling the activities of the classroom, teachers are informed by theories that they have developed on the basis of their experiences as well as their reading and their training.

Of particular interest in the development of theories are the types of knowledge that teachers acquire and use in the classroom. The recognised types of knowledge include:

Common sense knowledge about practice; folk wisdom that is developed on the basis of experience; skill knowledge that is related to specific tasks; contextual knowledge about particular classes and subject fields; professional knowledge about teaching strategies and curriculum; ideas about educational theory; and finally; social and moral theories and philosophical outlooks (Carr & Kemmis, 1983: 44).

Each of these types of knowledge can influence individual teachers’ theories of action in relation to citizenship education.

In coming out with a theory of action based on citizenship education, the practitioner has the potential to reflect critically and reflexively. When operating reflexively, as researchers of their practices, teachers become aware of the effect of power centred forms of inquiry. In this direction, critical issues are highlighted through reflexivity.

The process of reflexivity is an attempt to identify, to do something about knowledge, the limitations of the research: its locations, its subjects, its process, its theoretical context, its data, its analysis and how accounts recognise that the construction takes place in the world and not apart from it (Shacklock & Smyth, 1998: 7).

In this research where it is essential to consider teachers’ perception on citizenship education, the issue of reflexivity is therefore critical. Generally put, it is critical for teachers in their attempt to handle citizenship education issues in the colleges of education in Ghana to integrate all the theories that underpin citizenship education as explained to shape students’ perception.

Places and developmental context in citizen education


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