Citizenship education (subject)

Citizenship education is taught in schools, as an academic subject similar to politics or sociology. It is known by different names in different countries – for example, 'citizenship education' (or just 'citizenship' for short) in the UK, ‘civics’ in the US, and 'education for democratic citizenship' in parts of Europe.  The different names for the subject is mirrored in the different approaches towards citizenship education adopted in different countries.  These are often a consequence of the unique historical and political developments within different countries.

In many countries, the focus of the teaching is on active citizenship. The purpose of "active citizenship" is to teach students to work together and take practical action, using their citizenship knowledge and understanding to contribute to a better society. For example, after learning about human rights, diversity and inequality, students might decide to set up a project to address racism in their school or local community. Other examples of active citizenship projects include starting recycling programmes, setting up student action groups to address bullying or promote fair trade or campaigning to lower the voting age to 16.