Active citizenship
Learners can be helped to enjoy successful relationships within their families and friendship groups and can be encouraged to become active citizens in their communities both local and global. They should develop a practical understanding of their rights and of the links between political decisions and their own lives.
Successful relationships demand competent interpersonal skills, a willingness to value others and respect difference. Good relationships are the result of care and support, communication and the willingness to accept responsibility. Learners need to be able to make and maintain friendships, deal with conflict, challenge stereotyping and prejudice, and cope with peer and other influence. More generally, the world of work and employment will demand cooperation and team work.
Learners are members of communities, from local through national to global, and can be helped to play a meaningful and active part in them. Such active citizenship implies a number of considerations. There needs to be an understanding of the nature of communities in Wales and beyond and the roles, relationships, conflicts and inequalities that affect the quality of life. Learners should explore their rights as underpinned by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. They have a right to be involved in making decisions, and planning and reviewing any actions that might affect them. Learners should also consider their responsibilities as young citizens in a democratic society and be equipped to participate in community life through service and action which promotes the well-being of that community.
Finally, learners need to develop a ‘political literacy’ which enables them to make effective decisions and judgements in the world of political and legal systems.
The ten entitlements for young people identified in ‘Extending Entitlement’ (WAG 2002) will make important contributions to work on this theme.