Developing critical citizenship in an evolving Irish culture through interactive workshops

Abstract

This chapter explores the development and facilitation of a workshop exploring migration in Ireland. The workshop was piloted at the Social, Personal and Health Education (SPHE) Conference in 2016 and was facilitated on three further occasions with groups of teachers and student teachers. The workshop which was developed explores the life of a person currently living as an asylum seeker in Direct Provision15 in Ireland. In response to the many negative narratives we are presented with daily by the media, the workshop focuses on the issue of migration. Fear of migration was used as a motivator which led to two of the most significant acts of 2016, the election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States of America and the decision by the people of the United Kingdom to exit the European Union. Although people in Ireland are removed (to an extent) from these decisions we still feel their effects strongly in our relationship with both countries. In each case, national identity was presented as having precedence over other issues. In contrast to this, the following chapter is predicated on the values inherent in global citizenship. Oxfam outline a global citizen as someone who: respects and values diversity; has an understanding of how the world works; is outraged by social injustice; is willing to act to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place; takes responsibility for their actions (Oxfam 2006, p. 3). This chapter begins by outlining the cultural context of Ireland today and contrasting this to the cultural makeup of Irish society in 1916, the year of the Easter Rising which gave way to the creation of the Irish Republic we know today. This context provides a crucial backdrop for understanding the Irish education system which is then explored through the lens of the SPHE Curriculum (National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) 1999). Finally, the chapter will outline the rationale for the development of the workshop, will give an overview of the content and provide a reflection on the outcomes from the various iterations of the workshop.