But citizenship education isn't just a matter for schools - support and example from the media, business, voluntary bodies and key figures in public life are equally important. The Institute established a research project this year to test various teaching approaches in schools. A Citizenship website will be launched in summer 2001. Film Education, a charity funded by the movie industry to promote the use of film in schools, will also create teaching resources for citizenship education in the next two years. Initial responses from teachers were promising.
Film is now an intricate resource in the education of our children, both in school, and informally.
It is used to teach many subjects in the curriculum, including music, maths, PHSE, geography, history and science. Students are taught to appraise film critically, and to be aware of its power to mislead, or enlighten. The obvious task of citizenship education, it was agreed, is to persuade young people to vote. It was observed immediately afterwards by a wry speaker that more people voted in the Big Brother final than in the last European elections. It can convey the dangers of losing these values.