About

The new national curriculum for England will include media and financial literacy, democratic education and a strengthened Citizenship subject, but is this enough to equip young people with the tools to navigate an increasingly complex society?

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About the Commission

The next generation faces unprecedented political, technological and social uncertainty. As young people navigate the implications of AI, widening inequality and votes for 16-year-olds - in an environment where nuanced debate is increasingly rare and public discourse is increasingly polarised - there has never been a more important time to focus on the development of critical thinking, curiosity and communication skills.

The Current Affairs Education Commission is launching a national project to understand how young people and teachers currently experience current affairs in the classroom, what value discussions about the news can have in developing critical thinking skills and what recommendations would drive greater outcomes.

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“Young people have far more access to information about what’s happening in the world than ever before, but it can be hard for them to make sense of it all, especially when so much of it is misleading or wrong. I’m always sceptical about asking schools to do more but it’s hard to see how we can deal with this challenge without using the education system to help give pupils a framework for understanding.”

Sam Freedman, Commission Chair

Aims

The Commission will:

  • Convene system leaders, researchers and industry experts to understand the current picture of current affairs education
  • Develop an academically informed measure of student and teacher confidence in teaching and learning about current affairs. We will identify enablers and barriers to student and teacher confidence and generate data-driven insights showing where these skills are thriving - and where targeted support is needed
  • Engage expert group of voices from across current affairs, politics, education, youth, teacher training and academia to oversee the research and shape the recommendations
  • Unlock policy recommendations and calls for action to the wider sector
  • Secure commitments to test and pilot approaches based on the recommendations

Timeline

  • June

    Launch Commission

  • June/July

    National research

  • July-October

    Expert advisory input series of sessions

  • November

    Youth panel & Commission Report published

  • November-December

    Report launch event