Citizenship education in Northern Ireland - preparing the teachers

This presentation focuses on student and beginning teachers' personal values and attitudes in relation to citizenship education. It references findings from two research projects, one which considered the implementation of the citizenship curriculum and the other which investigated the values dimension of teacher education. It explores their understandings of the concept of citizenship, examines the preparation they receive to teach citizenship and reports on their early experiences teaching citizenship. It concludes by highlighting factors which impact on the effectiveness of beginning teachers' engagement with citizenship, including their personal biographies, the nature of skills development and the influence of different educational contexts.