Make Space for Citizenship - a discussion focussed on the DfE Curriculum and Assessment Review

Marcus is Head of School of Education, Midwifery and Social Work at Kingston University London and a member of the University’s Senior Leadership Group. He has strategic responsibility for all areas of the School’s work, including its course portfolio, research and its partnerships with schools, government and industry. He is a former London secondary school teacher of history, politics and citizenship and led one of the first discrete citizenship departments in England. He has been a member of two subject expert panels for national curriculum citizenship and led a three year exemplification of standards in citizenship project for QCDA. From 2007-2013, he led a Citizenship PGCE at London Metropolitan University. Marcus continues to write and research in the subject area. Marcus joined the ACT Board of Trustees in 2019.

Helen is the Bohunt Trust Subject Director of Personal Development Curriculum Leader PSCHE. In addition she has responsibility for Pupil Voice and Pupil Leadership. Helen initially trained as a secondary teacher in Business Education but has been involved in Citizenship education for over 20 years. She has been a committed member of ACT Council since 2012 and has helped to plan the ACT national conference, written articles for the journal and worked on curriculum briefings to support teachers and Citizenship professionals with the new National Curriculum. Helen is also a member of the Expert Subject Group for Citizenship and has contributed to the Five Nations Network as a country expert for England. Helen became Chair of ACT Council in 2015.

Michelle Codrington-Rogers is a teacher of Citizenship and PSHE at a large secondary school in Oxford. Her family originate from St Vincent and the Grenadines and have firm roots in Oxford. Michelle is a proud trade unionist and represents teachers for NASUWT-The teachers union, the only UK-wide union exclusively for teachers. It is for this union that Michelle was elected to be National President for 2020-21, making her the first Black President in the union’s 101 year history.

A future voter, Year 9 student Ja’Mari recently added his voice to the debate about votes for 16 and 17 year olds in his upcoming Teaching Citizenship journal article, Why Citizenship education matters: equipping us to tackle today’s challenges and shape tomorrow’s world (issue 60, Autumn 2024).
As Labour has committed to lowering the voting age, Ja’Mari’s article takes on an even greater significance. If this policy is enacted, millions of secondary school students will have the chance to vote in the 2029 General Election.

James joined Kingston University as Associate Professor and Professional Lead for Secondary Teacher Education in September 2023. As an experienced teacher-trainer and mentor, he has worked across a wide variety of roles related to Citizenship education, including as a PGCE Citizenship lead, a local authority advisor, and Head of Department. James holds a Master’s degree in Psychosocial Studies and Education with a particular focus on Initial Teacher Education.

James has previously worked as a consultant for ACT and sat as a member of the Expert Subject Advisory Group for Citizenship. While at the Hackney Learning Trust, James worked with The English and Media Centre to co-produce a popular anthology of short stories and novel extracts entitled, Diverse Shorts: Literature to Promote Critical Thinking, specifically designed to promote critical literacy through engagement with citizenship concepts.