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Citizenship education as placebo

‘standards’, institutional racism and education policy

Institute of Education, University of London

Citizenship education is now a required component of the national curriculum that must be taught by all state-funded schools in England. It is constantly highlighted by policy makers as a major innovation that promotes social cohesion in general, and race equality in particular. At the same time, however, the government has continued to pursue a so-called ‘standards’ agenda that emphasizes a hierarchy of schools based on their students’ performance in high stakes tests and promotes increased selection that is known to disadvantage Black students. Consequently, the principal education policy strategies are themselves revealed as potentially racist by the government's own definition. It is in this context that the promotion of citizenship education can be seen as a public policy placebo, that is a pretend treatment for institutional racism that gives the impression of action but is, in fact, without substance or effect.

Key Words: anti-racism • citizenship • placebo • policy • racism • Stephen Lawrence

Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, Vol. 1, No. 1, 83-104 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1746197906060715


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