If you get a chance, go and take a look at the window display at the SFU bookstore downtown. It's an object lesson in how we value literacy skills but fear the subversive power of the literary imagination. But they are precious, and we must defend them. Educating for democratic citizenship means standing up for what you believe, time and again. Certainly the teachers of British Columbia have never backed away from a just cause simply because it might be unpopular or misunderstood.
Citizenship education is an activist education.
It embraces increased emphasis on voluntary community service, greater focus on issues of social justice, and a proactive approach to redressing poverty, violence, racism, sexism, and homphobia in schools and in society. This will not necessarily be a tidy or orderly process. Certainly many of the ideas presented in sessions throughout the day could be described as challenging.