Above: Association for Citizenship Teaching logo

What does that question mean to you? Who are you, beyond your name? Is your profession important? Is your birth place important? What about your football team or your religion? Are you a parent? Or a driver? Is that part of who you are?

The who do we think we are project encourages students to investigate their own identities and those of others in their school, their community, the UK and beyond.  This is especially important in Citizenship education as our subject is all about learning to engage with your community and play an active and participative role in society. It is therefore a prerequisite to consider who you are; what your community is and how its members identify with it.

We can make a direct link between 'Who do we think we are?' and the duty on schools to promote community cohesion. Other links can be made to the primary and secondary curriculum around exploring how we’re connected to the world around us - the cross curricular and global dimensions of Citizenship. Currently, the primary curriculum asks us to enable “learners to look at complex global issues from a range of perspectives" and to "communicate with people from diverse countries and cultures” Following on from that the secondary curriculum requires pupils to appreciate “that identities are complex, can change over time and are informed by different understandings of what it means to be a citizen in the UK”. The secondary curriculum further asks pupils to "explore the diverse national, regional, ethnic and religious cultures, groups and communities in the UK and the connections between them”. This can be done effectively by considering group identities and also by connecting with other schools in other parts of the country, perhaps looking at an urban-rural twinning, northern-southern twinnig or a twinning between an ethnically heterogeneous and ethnically homogenous school.

The cross-curricular aspect of the project (History, Geography, R.E. and Citizenship) mean that it’s eminently suitable for the new cross-curricular themes in the secondary curriculum. Identity is for many people tied into the place (Geography) where they were born or where they live. For some, ancestry, or length of domicile (History) take precedence in concepts of “belonging”. Yet for others – or often for the same people – their belief is their most significant cultural identity, with place and lineage taking the backseat. Essentially these are all closely linked to aspects within the new Citizenship education concepts.

Citizenship education does not see a “right answer” to who we think we are. Our identities are multilayered, it’s fine to feel English because you were born here AND Ghanaian because that’s where your parents were born AND British because it says so on your passport AND Northern because that’s where you live AND “geeky” because of your hobbies, interests and specialist knowledge. 'Who do we think we are?' is a very useful tool for developing critical thinking, as described in the secondary curriculum, learning to “question and reflect on different ideas, opinions, assumptions, beliefs and values when exploring topical and controversial issues and problems”.

It’s great for primary pupils too to understand that people, even in the same class, can have very different life experiences already as children. You may like to introduce ideas about children in other countries, or other parts of Britain.

As a result of this developed sense of understanding of personal and group identity, pupils and communities can develop campaigns for improving their situation. Check out the case studies on this website and see how schools can use 'Who do we think we are?' to look at the past, present and future: how the community has developed (History); who the community is (Geography/Citizenship/R.E.); and how the pupils want to campaign in order for the community to develop (Citizenship). A campaign for deeper community cohesion, maybe on a specific community issue, would be a great way to embed 'Who do we think we are?' in and beyond the school, using “advocacy and representation” skills and “taking responsible action”, as described in the secondary curriculum. Check out the campaigning tools on this website for more information.

So who do you think you are now?

Written by Millicent Scott,
Association for Citizenship Teaching

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