Ethnicity, gender, social class and citizenship: comparative views from England and Sweden

Please note.
What follows is a summary of the second stage of ongoing research comparing the experiences of students and teachers of Citizenship Education in Sweden and England. A more complete and detailed version is expected to appear in a leading refereed journal later in the year, and a book proposal relating to all stages of the research is currently under consideration. While we await confirmation of the submitted proposals we cannot identify the journal or the prospective book publisher, but it is in those sources that more detailed and nuanced analysis and explanation will be located.

Introduction
The National Curriculum provision for Citizenship Education in England clearly requires that the subject must be taught throughout KS 3 and KS 4, with content indicated and a public examination available at KS4; until recently, there was also an A level. In Sweden - where Citizenship Education is not a separate subject - the content is vague and teachers’ interpretations of the assignment differ distinctively between the different schools and programmes. This contrasting provision between two countries which have both prided themselves on their welfare provision and policies of inclusive citizenship was considered ideal to examine the extent to which different approaches produce more or less aware, articulate and active citizens.