Civic Education and Citizenship Education

Civic Education and Citizenship Education are concepts that may be understood or construed to mean exactly the same. However these terms have different meanings. Although these concepts have different meanings, they are contested concepts.
This essay aims to discuss with clear examples why civic education and citizenship education are contested concepts. To discuss this topic, I will start by attempting to define key concepts in the question. After the definitions, I will then proceed to discuss the contests between civic education and citizenship education. Finally I will conclude my essay with focus on the issues raised in the discussion.
Civic education is a multifaceted field and the concept of civic education can be defined in different ways by different scholars and individuals. Peterson (   ) explains that,’’ civic education refers to any formative attempt to teach the knowledge, skills or dispositions required for citizenship...” Citizenship education on the other hand, is all about creating an environment where people make own decisions and taking responsibility for their lives and the communities in which they live, (Huddlestone and Kerr 2006).
According to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary (2008), the word contested refers to competing for supremacy or to challenge a rival. In other words, contested refers to struggle for superiority or victory between rivals. A concept on the other hand is simply an abstract idea. Therefore, the term contested concept refers to an abstract idea, or abstract ideas that compete for supremacy or superiority between them or indeed ideas that challenge each other for victory as rivals.
Against this background, I can now state categorically that the topic for discussion focuses on why civic education and citizenship education compete or challenge each other for supremacy, superiority or victory as rival abstract concepts.
Both civic education and citizenship education place a special responsibility on schools and...