Theoretical Approaches to Citizenship in Relation to the Education System in the UK

Citizenship, Community and Welfare 1 Introduction The education system in the UK is mandatory till the age of 18. School education is mandatory for all children between the ages group 5 and 16 (Düvell 2016 ). After that, the students can gather vocational, academic or earning level qualifications based on their area of interest. Across the UK, there are mainly five stages of education, which can be identified as early years, primary, secondary, Further Education (FE) and Higher Education (HE). The UK is known for providing high-quality education to students, and hence, the UK is one of the favourite destinations for international students. The UK has both government and private educational institutions. The government institutions offer free education while private schools charge fees from the student. All the citizens are provided equal rights to apply for government schooling for their children (ANDREADAKIS and MAASSEN 2019 ). However, the schools and universities in the UK have significantly changed over the years, with the adoption of technology to support modern education processes. Background: Education can be described as the procedure of enabling learning or attainment of knowledge, skills, ideals, morals and beliefs, which helps in personal development. The education system has widely evolved over the years. Education had originated as the spreading of cultural heritage from one generation to another. It was critically linked to religious institutions in England until the 19 th century. However, the 19 th-century reforms extended education reforms and introduced prevalent state-funded schools. Now the UK offer education through astate-funded and private institution (Troschitz 2017 ). With the emergence of online classes, blended learning, and experimental learning, there has been a dramatic shift in the overall education ecosystem. Even 20 years ago, education was mainly based on books and lectures. At the same time, now it involves online classes, accessing books through online 2 libraries and using other digital means for attending classes and learning. In the past, one of the critical challenges related to the education system was its accessibility, which is not present now. In the past, the students used to face difficulties in terms of getting equal opportunities for their studies. However, this issue was present long back, and now this particular issue has been addressed (Smith and Titmuss 2021 ). In the UK, the education system has severely evolved for good in the last few decades. Now, the UK's education system is known for its quality and excellence. Now the UK offers compulsory and free primary education, which supports the children's growth of intelligence and knowledge. Mission Statement: The aim of this essay is to present adiscussion on the theoretical approaches to citizenship in relation to the education system in the UK. The essay focuses on addressing the different aspects of citizenship in the UK through the use of different theories and models. In the following section of the essay, a discussion on the different theories such as modernity, late modernity and their impact on welfare provision of the citizen of the UK will be presented. Through the findings of the essay, the author aims to demonstrate a critical understanding of the various disciplinary functions of the welfare state as an mediator of social surveillance. Discussion on Education Across the UK, there are five stages of education starting from early years, primary, secondary and further education and higher education. In this section of the report, the education system in the UK is analysed on the basis of the theories, such as modernity, late modernity and their impact on welfare provision. 3 Modernity Theory: The education system in the UK can be analysed through the theory of modernity or modernisation. This theory indicates that traditional societies will grow as they adopt more modern practices (Roman 2019 ). This theory can be linked with the UK's education system as the education system has significantly improved with the adoption of modern technology. The theory of modernisation indicates that as the societies industrialise or further grow, the influence of social background and other credited characteristics on educational and other socioeconomic aspects declines as well. With this, the achievements in relation to the educational systems become more important. Modernisation in the UK has apositive link with the education system as modernisation helps people to see and dream for abetter lifestyle, and the dream of abetter lifestyle is directly linked with the advancements made to the education process. Since modernisation is aprocess of socio-cultural transformation, it can be linked with the education process (Deeming 2019 ). The primary characteristic of the modernisation theory is that it encompasses many different disciplines on how society progresses. The foundation of modernisation theory goes back to the Age of Enlightenment when the philosophers began to look at how society has transformed and progressed. In the modern age, the theory of modernisation is associated with analysing how the new technologies and systems are resulting in amore homogenised world. The education system of the UK has modernised as well, to a large extent, with the involvement and adoption of technology to increase the efficiency of the education delivery process. The students of the UK are now accustomed to online education, online mode of education delivery and online examination. Late Modernity: Late modernity is characterised by ahighly developed global society. The late modernity period follows the early modern period and, similar to the modernity theory, deals with the modernisation of the different aspects of society (Fan and Liang 2020 ). The late 4 modernity principles reflect the images of social changes in the direction of basic improvement over the past. Impact of Modernity and Late Modernity on Education: - Education plays an imperative role in society, as itis essential for knowledge creation, transferring knowledge to the students and fostering innovation (Torrance 2020 ). Without knowledge and innovation, it is not possible for a society to grow or add value to its citizens and community. The impact of modernisation has mostly been positive for the community, and the same is reflected in the education system of the UK. The education system has seen tremendous growth in terms of norms, institutions and structures. According to the sociological perspective, education does not arise in association to any individual's need but to the need of society. In astatic society, the primary function of the education system is to communicate only the cultural heritage to the new generation. In the past, the education system of the UK was largely associated with transmitting the cultural heritage to the newer generations (Hansen and Vignoles 2018 ). However, a progressive change is constant, and with every change, new knowledge is created that is necessary to be transferred to the next generation to ensure the development of abetter society. Therefore, the education system in the progressive society must not only share the cultural heritage; if that is the case, it would be difficult for the students to adapt to the changing environment and the society. The modernisation theory and the process have enabled the UK to develop its education system in such away that it not only transmits the cultural heritage to the newer generation but also makes them capable of adjusting to the changes that they might face in future. The education sector of the UK has understood the importance of developing modem educational institutions for the diffusion of scientific and technical knowledge (Friedman 2018 ). The UK has seen that transformation from sharing cultural heritage 5 to making the newer generation capable of gathering technical skills and knowledge. Transfer of technical knowledge and skills is necessary to ensure that the students, if needed, can contribute to playing occupational roles as demanded by the industrial economy (Peters et al. 2018 ). In the UK, other values, namely, individualism and the concept of universalistic ethics, are further inculcated through the education process. Therefore, it can be said that in the UK, education formed the basis of modernisation. The importance of education in asociety, community or development of acountry can be well understood from the fact that all the modernising societies in different parts of the globe mostly tend to emphasise the universalisation of education, while the modernised societies have already attained the same. The impact of modernisation can be seen in the schools of the UK as well. The modern schools in the UK are fully prepared with technically sound devices and the latest technology tools, which enables the children to develop expertise in a more efficient manner (Brabazon, 2016 ). The UK government aims to provide adequate facilities for the students and teachers that enable them to work together in an efficient manner. Impact on Welfare Provision: The modernity and late modernity primarily returned a positive impact on welfare provision. The education system in the UK is apart of the welfare provisions of the country, as the citizens of the UK are entitled to receive free primary education. The welfare benefits in the UK can be broadly classified into five separate groups, which include the cash benefits, the healthcare and education benefits, the housing and the personal social service benefits (Avery 2016 ). As apart of late modernity, the Education Bill was introduced into the House of Commons in the year 2011, and it received royal assent in the same year. In accordance with the Education Bill, every child in the UK deserves agood education. 6 Furthermore, the Education Welfare Act 2000 makes it necessary for all the children between ages 6and 16 to attend aschool or receive an education. The welfare provisions of the UK reflect the theory of modernisation as the welfare state of the UK began to evolve in the 1900s and early 1910s (Amsler and Facer 2017 ). The expenditure of the UK government is made towards the improvement of the health, education, employment and social security. This is the reason why the British welfare system has been classified as aliberal welfare state system. Citizenship in contemporary Britain: Citizenship, in simple terms, can be described as the social status that confers membership in apolitical community. Citizenship provides people with apublic identity, thus providing the individual with access to social security (Stonebridge 2018 ). The modernity in and late modernity has significantly changed the overall citizenship structure of Great Britain (Chevalier 2016 ). With the gradual development of the advanced societies, the citizens are given appropriate rights in terms of asocial welfare system that allows them easier access to education, healthcare and social security (Gilbert 2016 ). Therefore, it can be concluded that all the citizens of Great Britain fall under the welfare provisions that are dictated by the state, and education is one of them. Risk, Vulnerability and Resilience: On the basis of the findings and discussions from the previous section, it can be indicated that the citizens of Great Britain are privileged to get free primary education, and the education system of Britain has seen a tremendous improvement within the last few decades (Schmidt 2017 ).However, the entire welfare system of the UK is still vulnerable. Vulnerability can be best defined as the lack of key sets of assets, which exposes individuals, communities and citizens to an increase in the risk of impoverishment; hence, vulnerability linked with the education system of the UK is necessary to be addressed. In addressing and analysing the risks and vulnerabilities, the concept of resilience comes into play. 7 The ability to address the risks and vulnerability is determined by the key assets available to the individual. It is primarily necessary to analyse whether citizens of Great Britain have the necessary resources to withstand the harm or the issues presented by the education system of Great Britain. The risks in the education system of the UK are mainly associated with providing equal opportunities to students coming from different countries and cultural backgrounds to pursue higher education (Koh 2017 ). It is primarily necessary for the government to address the issues faced by international students, especially those who come from an economically backward country. However, the citizens of the UK, as apart of the welfare activities, get an equal opportunity towards free primary education, which largely enables them taddress this type of vulnerability in an effective manner (Menendez Alvarez Hevia and Sant 2018 ). In future, further changes in the education system of the UK are expected that will improve the social state of the citizens, giving them an opportunity to be apart of the world class education system. The only change that is needed in the education system of the UK is to provide similar opportunities to the international students as well, if possible. Conclusion The essay presents acritical discussion and analysis of citizenship in the UK, focusing on the aspect of education. The education system followed in the UK is quite advanced, which provides the students with an opportunity and access to free primary education. Education in the UK is compulsory, and the government schools provide access to free education to all citizens. The essay presents adetailed analysis of how the education system has gradually changed for good. Primarily, education in the UK was associated with the shift or transfer of cultural heritage. However, with modernisation, it was understood the children are required to have an idea of several other aspects as well, apart from the knowledge of cultural heritage. With that realisation, 8 the government started to provide more focus on redesigning the education system to address the associated risks and vulnerabilities. Providing free education is apart of community welfare practice that is followed in the UK. Apart from that, providing equal access to free education is apart of the Education Act and the Education Bill that is followed in the UK. The essay presents an analysis of how the education system has gradually evolved with the help and incorporation of technology in the process. The incorporation of technology contributed to the enhancement of the quality and the process of education and education delivery. The theories of modernisation and late modernisation are discussed in the essay to provide abetter understanding of how technology has evolved for good. The citizen of the UK are provided with the right to education, and accordingly, all the citizens are provided with equal access to education. The findings indicate that it is mandatory for all children to attend school till the age of 16. The decision of higher education can, however, be taken by the individuals. The UK is known for providing the best educational opportunities to students across the globe, yet there are certain risks and issues that foreign students mainly face in terms of getting an equal opportunity compared to the citizens. The essay presents the need to address this particular issue. Based on the discussion and findings of the essay, the following recommendations can be made- - The UK is known for providing the best quality education to the student, and hence, it is recommended for the UK to invest in technology to keep up with the quality and flexibility of education access. 9 - It is recommended to the citizens of the UK to take the full opportunity of the free education system and provide the children with adequate access to high quality higher education services. - It is recommended that the Universities provide similar opportunities to international students. The findings from the essay indicate that the education system in the UK is quite good, and hence no major improvements are suggested at this point. However, itis primarily necessary to consider maintaining the quality of education so that the UK endures to be the best in terms of education and high-quality learning. 10 References Amsler, S., and Facer, K. (2017). 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