‘National’ citizenship in the UK? Education and naturalization policies in the context of internal division

Abstract

Over the last 10 years in the UK, there have been various citizenship policy developments in the domains of education and naturalization. These developments can be contextualized in relation to the UK government’s concern with promoting the significance of ‘national’ (or state-level) citizenship, against a backdrop of perceived internal division — namely devolution and immigration — as well as policy attempts to promote community cohesion in the wake of security threats. Drawing on the UK context, I make two key arguments regarding the relation between education and naturalization. The first is that discourses of naturalization are framed in educative terms. Second, I examine naturalization and education policy in the UK’s multination context of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. I illustrate that policymakers’ conceptions of ‘successful’ citizenship integration are currently based on limited conceptions of both citizenship and learning. I propose that social constructivist conceptions of learning provide a more productive framework for understanding citizenship, learning for citizenship and integration.