learning citizenship_merrifield

This project began in informal discussions at the Institute of Development Studies
(IDS) among a small group of adult educators from India, the UK and southern Africa
about the need for new thinking in education for citizenship. We were aware of the
long history of adult education for citizenship and felt it was often sidelined in the
new focus on citizenship and human rights. We were also aware that there have
been considerable research advances in understanding how people learn, and that
these have not yet been systematically linked with the citizenship education
discussions. We planned this discussion paper as a means of generating discussion
about possible new approaches to learning citizenship that can be tested and
evaluated in practice. We wanted to bring together three main threads of research
and practice that are generally pursued separately: on citizenship and what active
citizenship entails and requires; on citizen education; and on learning.