The Contestation of Citizenship Education at Three Stages of the LINC 4 & 5 Curriculum Guidelines: Production, Reception, and Implementation

Abstract

This article highlights how citizenship and citizenship education are sites of contestation. I have analyzed the process of curriculum making of the LINC 4 & 5 Curriculum Guidelines (TCDSB, 1999) through three stages: from production, through reception, to implementation. The production stage is investigated by contrasting commentaries from two members of the Advisory or Specialist Committees who helped to prepare the document. The reception stage featured a thematic analysis of the Guidelines. The implementation stage is investigated through interviews with five present or former LINC teachers, who discuss how they used or are using the Guidelines as part of their curriculum-in-use. Although this LINC document can be characterized as representing a "Liberal democratic" approach to citizenship and a transactional approach to citizenship education in a multicultural framework, a minority position supporting a more critical and transformational approach to citizenship education is also evident.