Ep25: Keith Heggart, Civics & Citizenship Educator & Researcher

Today my guest is Keith Heggart, a Civics & Citizenship Educator & Researcher. In our conversation, we explore civics and citizenship education in schools, that is, the way that students learn to take part in society. Keith offers insights into a range of teaching and learning approaches including the design of an interdisciplinary and integrated curriculum. Keith outlines how students that grow their own agency might become more active and informed members of their community and take action on things they see as important. We explore a range of issues and potential challenges in this territory: teachers’ lack of knowledge and comfort with civics and citizenship curricula, through to students’ disassociation, lack of connection points and inability to link their learning back to their everyday lives. We find out more about a range of citizens: the personally-responsible citizen, the participatory citizen, and the justice-oriented citizen, that is someone, such as a young person, who is capable of recognising the causes of inequality and injustices in the world, and then takes action against those root causes. With students often being equal partners in their learning, Keith offers insights into popular curriculum themes and approaches including experiential and student-led learning, action-oriented learning with impact on the wider community, development of critical literacy and student advocacy for making the world a better place. Links: https://twitter.com/keithheggart https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789813346932 https://profiles.uts.edu.au/Keith.Heggart/publications https://www.acara.edu.au/reporting/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia/national-report-on-schooling-in-australia-2013/national-policy-context/educational-goals