Introductory Session:
What is Civic Education?
Handout
Scenarios
Two cartoons by Gado published in the Daily Nation some weeks before the November 2005 Referendum on the Constitution:
Some Questions
- Is this an accurate reflection on how civic education was conducted in the build-up to the Referendum?
- What role was played by actors other than the government or the political parties?
- What role can/should civil society play in civic education?
- What is implied about ‘proper’ or ‘quality’ civic education?
- How significant is it that Gado chooses Wanjiku, a woman, to comment so shrewdly?
Quotation
‘Real civic education does not try to indoctrinate people but to train theme to develop their own points of view and opinions. Good civic education will develop a lively discussion among participants and will not have one or more orators telling people what they want the participants to think or learn. Responsible civic education will treat the participants as independent beings who cannot be guided as a flock of sheep. Correct civic education will try to develop mature citizens who will look at the political development of their country in a critical way and with true patriotism.’
Extract from Kivuthia Kibwana, ‘Learning Together To Build One Nation’, 1997 (Available from the Centre for Law and Research International – CLARION)
The Uraia Curriculum
Module One: Kenya and Its Citizens
- What is Kenya?
- Who is a Kenyan?
- How does Kenya relate to the rest of the world?
Module Two: Kenya and ‘The Will of the People’
- What is democracy?
- How does democracy work in Africa?
- How does democracy work in Kenya?
- How does democracy work at the local level?
Module Three: Governing for Development
- What is good governance?
- How are public resources managed?
- Entrenching good governance
Module Four: The Constitution, Constitutionalism and the Rule of Law
- Why do we have a Constitution?
- How does the judicial process work in Kenya?
- What is the role of the police?
Module Five: Human Rights
- Universal principles and international treaties
- Human rights in Kenya
- Human rights institutions
Background Information
Objectives of Civic Education
‘Real civic education does not try to indoctrinate people but to train them to develop their own points of view and opinions,’ says Kivutha Kibwana, in his book ‘Learning Together to Build One Nation’ – a quotation that we have already highlighted as a preamble to this manual. Rather than being based on a set content or being delivered through lectures, civic education should promote a lively discussion among its participants. It should be open to diverse views and encourage critical analysis and debate.
Civic education can, of course, be part of a school curriculum. But the National Civic Education Programme (NCEP) is intended for adults. It does not lead to an exam – but it should deal with issues of concern to the ordinary people of Kenya, based on their circumstances and related to their concerns. The result should be that people are better informed and better equipped to take part in ‘civic life’.
We have adopted the name ‘Uraia’ for the second phase of NCEP – a name that, we hope, captures the overriding theme of citizenship. The Uraia programme is about the rights and responsibilities of citizens; it is about the roles and responsibilities of government institutions – at both national and local levels.
The programme should have a number of positive impacts:
- When we have a better understanding of what is going on in the world – the smaller world of our own communities, the larger world of our own country and the even larger world of international relations – then we will be able to play a more interested and productive part in discussions and in activities with fellow citizens;
- We will be better able to understand the views of other people and to have a greater chance of reaching agreements with them;
- We will be living among people who are more tolerant of each other and in a society that has a more mature political culture.
So a civic education can be an important ‘nutrient’ for ensuring that democracy takes root in community affairs and in the national institutions of government.
In Kenya, the interest in civic education has grown hand in hand with the gradual increase in freedom of expression over the last two decades. Civil society groups and the churches campaigned for the kind of democracy stimulated by ‘multi-partyism’. And Kenyans turned out in majority numbers in the elections of 1992, 1997 and 2002 – in the last of these, voting out of office KANU that had been in power for the 35 years since Independence.
Kenyans have shown a democratic spirit by participating in protests to demand better working conditions, greater respect for human rights, and more efficient management of the country’s resources. Kenyans, it seems, not only want to know how democracy works but they also want to participate in making the country a freer and fairer place in which to live.
But civic education also has an important part to play in the development of our own communities and in the development of the nation. Because effective development depends on citizens having a better understanding of their economic conditions – and on their determination to improve them. One of the main objectives of civic education is that people will be better informed and also better able to participate in social and economic development programmes.
So the Uraia curriculum focuses not only on social and political rights but also on economic and governance issues.
The curriculum has already been summarised in the Introduction – in relation to its five broad themes of nation-building, democracy, governance, constitutionalism and human rights. These themes are structured in five modules with their related units or ‘sub-themes’.
You will see that most of the unit headings are in the form of a question. This is significant, because the aim is not so much to transmit information as to explore issues. So the curriculum can be made relevant for every sector of Kenyan society – ordinary men and women, old and young, minority groups and people living with disabilities.
The Role of the Facilitator
As a real facilitator of learning, your role is not to ‘teach’ a particular body of knowledge or to persuade people to a particular point of view. Your part in working through the Uraia curriculum is to guide discussions in which there is a genuine and open sharing of knowledge among the participants – about issues that are of immediate concern to them.
Such issues will emerge in all five of the modules:
- To what extent can Kenyans say that they belong to a nation in which they share the same background and the same main concerns?
- To what extent is Kenya a democracy in which all citizens can participate in decision making at both national and local levels?
- How honest, open and efficient are those institutions that have been established for managing Kenya’s political and economic affairs?
- Is the Constitution an effective and accepted set of rules for managing the government and for guiding the actions of Kenya’s citizens?
- How fully does Kenya adhere to universally accepted principles of human rights?
In answering such questions, in guiding the debate, your role is not to take sides, but to act as a resource person, referee and guide – providing factual information where needed, ensuring that all participants have a chance to air their views, and summarising the conclusions that they have reached.
Further Reading
Kivutha Kibwana’s ‘Learning Together To Build One Nation’ is, as it claims, a practical guide on how to facilitate civic education. Written in 1997, it includes chapters on ‘The Role of Civic Education in Society’, ‘The State of Civic Education in Kenya’ and it reviews participatory methods of conducting civic education.
Notes for Facilitators
Objectives
- To explore the expectations of your participants;
- To explain your own objectives;
- To reach an understanding about the approach and the content of the Uraia programme.
Sequence
1. Introductions: When the formalities of welcoming are over, it is usual to begin with a round of introductions – and, if the number of participants is small enough, you might like to try one of the introductory exercises from the Toolkit.
2. Expectations: Even if you think you know why your participants have decided to come along to your session, you might be surprised if you actually ask them. Also, asking them does provide a first opportunity for them to participate in the session. And it allows you to compare what they say with you own objectives for the programme.
3. Cards Exercise: Again, if the group is not too large (not more than 30 participants) you can ask the participants to write their views on cards. This makes sure that everyone can have his or her say. And it gives you a better chance, when the cards are pasted or pinned up, to review them, cluster them, and comment on them.
4. Gado’s Cartoons: Here you can use the first of the ‘scenarios’ for raising a discussion on the nature of civic education. As you will know, these were cartoons that appeared in the press just a few weeks before the Referendum on the Constitution. In the first, the LDP man is saying ‘Vote NO for the new constitution’. The NAK man is saying Vote YES for the new constitution… And Wanjiku is commenting ‘And they call this civic education!’
In the second cartoon, a guy is pasting posters on a wall – the same poster repeated. It reads; ‘Referendum Vote YES or no for the new constitution’.
A number of interesting questions can be asked of these:
- Is this an accurate reflection on how civic education was conducted in the build-up to the Referendum?
- What role was played by actors other than the government or the political parties?
- What role can/should civil society play in civic education?
- What is implied about ‘proper’ or ‘quality’ civic education?
- How significant is it that Gado chooses Wanjiku, a woman, to comment so shrewdly?
5. Talking Pictures: Another way to encourage an expression of views is through the ‘Talking Pictures’ exercise that you will find in the Toolkit. Here, you can use the exercise by asking individuals or small groups (depending on the number of participants) to focus on the meaning of civic education. Remember the key rule of this exercise: when making the picture, words are banned!
6. Quotation from Kivutha Kibwana’s Book: When you have heard the range of views sparked by the cartoons and expressed through the ‘Talking Pictures’ exercise, you can match what the participants are saying to the Kibwana quotation presented as a kind of preamble to this manual.
Taking off from this quotation:
- What is the difference between education and indoctrination?
- In what ways can civic education be truly participatory?
- Are criticism and patriotism compatible?
7. The Uraia Programme: In the last part of the session, you can introduce the NCEP-II programme, as described in this manual’s Introduction – and draw on the commentary on civic education given as the first of the background materials.
Issues:
- How appropriate is the name ‘Uraia’?
- Are any important topics missing in the outline of the Uraia curriculum?
- How can we make the Uraia programme as locally relevant as possible?
- Who needs civic education?