A. What is citizenship education?

Citizenship education (immigrants) - education intended to prepare noncitizens to become legally and socially
accepted as citizens.

Citizenship education (subject) - a subject that is taught in schools, as an academic subject similar to politics or
sociology.1

Citizenship education can be defined as educating children, from early childhood, to become clear-thinking and
enlightened citizens who participate in decisions concerning society. Society is here understood in the special sense of a
nation with a circumscribed territory which is recognized as a state.
Knowledge of the nations institutions, and also an awareness that the rule of law applies to social and human
relationships, obviously form part of any citizenship education course.
All human beings are both individuals and citizens of the society to which they belong. Therefore, human rights and
citizen rights are interdependent.2
Citizenship education is about enabling people to make their own decisions and to take responsibility for their own
lives and their communities.3
A typical citizenship curriculum in Asia-Pacific societies is concerned with how one relates to self,
[to Creator], others (such as family and friends), the state and Nature. One often finds significant
emphasis on self-cultivation as well as harmonious relationships between the self and the others.
In this view one has to be a good person in order to be a good citizen. 4
B. What are the goals and objectives of citizenship education?
Citizenship education has, therefore, three main objectives:

educating people in citizenship and human rights through an understanding of the principles and institutions
[which govern a state or nation];
learning to exercise ones judgment and critical faculty; and
acquiring a sense of individual and community responsibilities.

These three objectives correspond both to educating the individual as a subject of ethics and law, and to educating
citizens. These objectives suggest four major themes for citizenship education:

The relations between individuals and society: individual and collective freedoms, and rejection of any kind of
discrimination.
The relations between citizens and the government: what is involved in democracy and the organization of the
state.
The relations between the citizen and democratic life.

The responsibility of the individual and the citizen in the international community. 5

Goals of Education Citizenship

balancing regional and cultural diversity with national unity

protecting Philippine identity and sovereignty

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenship_education
http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_b/interact/mod07task03/appendix.htm
3
http://www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk/main/page.php?286
4
Conceptualising Citizenship and Citizenship Education: A Trajectory of Exploring Asian Perspectives
Lee Wing On The Hong Kong Institute of Education
5
http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_b/interact/mod07task03/appendix.htm
2

assuring access to social services and quality of life for all

eliminating inequalities related to race, gender, age, class, and ethnicity
protecting the environment
ensuring the successful functioning of the economy 6

Democracies depend upon citizens who, among other things, are:

aware of their rights and responsibilities as citizens;

informed about the social and political world;
concerned about the welfare of others;
articulate in their opinions and arguments;
capable of having an influence on the world;
active in their communities;

responsible in how they act as citizens.7

C. Describe the state of implementation of citizenship education in the Philippine Curriculum. 8

http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/cur/socstud/foundation_gr9/blms/9-4-2c.pdf
http://www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk/main/page.php?286
8
CMO No 26 - 2005
7

D. Recommendation for more effective implementation of citizenship education.

In a democracy, citizenship education seeks to educate citizens who will be free to make their own judgments and hold
their own convictions. Compliance with existing laws should not prevent citizens from seeking and planning better and
ever more just laws. Respect for law, which is one of the objectives of civics education, calls not for blind submission to
rules and laws already passed but the ability to participate in drawing them up.
One of the practical tasks of citizenship education is therefore to look at the rules governing a school, improve them and
reformulate them.9
A post-Yolanda citizenship education by Patrick Alcantara
A month after Yolanda slammed the Visayas, stories of death and devastation have slowly given way to narratives of hope
and heroism. Nonetheless, we are also saddled with politicking and a lack of general preparedness.
I strongly argue that we strengthen citizenship education for participating in our local communities in terms of disaster
adaptation. In making this argument, I identify 3 areas where citizenship education and disaster adaptation can come
together in order to create general, lifelong preparedness: K-12 education, higher education and vocational training.
K-12 education, led by the Department of Education (DepEd), can begin citizenship education and disaster adaptation
among the young. Subjects at the elementary level should be conceptualized in order to provide disaster adaptation skills.
For example, while Science lessons can focus on dispelling misconceptions about natural disasters, English/Filipino
lessons can provide pupils with skills to understand disaster-related instructions.
Citizenship Advancement Training (CAT) in high school should teach adolescents to become first responders in their
families through inculcating skills such as basic first aid. Japan has led the way in preparing citizens for natural calamities
through age-appropriate educational content. Average citizens even children rarely panic during emergencies. This is a
realistic goal we can work for as a nation.
Higher education and disaster resiliency
Higher education can follow up on skills taught in K-12. For one, the National Service Training Program (NSTP) must be
remodeled in order for college students to become community responders. Content such as advanced first aid, search and
rescue, as well as survivor debriefing can be introduced in universities.
Students can also get involved in monitoring local geo-hazards, strengthening natural defenses such as mangrove forests,
and engaging in relief/rehabilitation operations. These must be fully integrated with local government units and existing
volunteer organizations.
Through the realignment of course content and building closer relationships among disaster management stakeholders,
this is a feasible and low-cost option for the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and university administrators. A
number of Latin American universities have remodeled their courses in response to calamities, and we can do the same
here.
Locally, the Psychology department in the University of the Philippines Diliman has ready expertise in debriefing
survivors, and we can use this in designing relevant courses for our students nationwide.
Vocational training can provide practical skills that aid employment and collective adaptation. The Department of Labor
and Employment (DOLE) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) can zero in on
existing occupational health and safety measures, and include disaster response in workplaces as common content for all
vocational modules. Supervisor training can also include crisis management skills.

http://www.unesco.org/education/tlsf/mods/theme_b/interact/mod07task03/appendix.htm

The government can also create a market for disaster response professionals by formalizing qualifications, and ensure
employment at the local and national levels. In Australia, the Queensland tourism industry has been in close contact with
local authorities who prioritize disaster preparedness as an essential component of workplace safety. This can be
replicated in the local tourism industry, considering its important place in our economic strategy. 10

10

http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/ispeak/45961-yolanda-citizenship-education