CIVITAS
Encyclopedia
Civitas: The Institute for the Study of Civil Society was founded by David G. Green and Robert Whelan early in 2000 as an independent think tank
. It is a British registered charity (No. 1085494), financed by private donations. It receives no government funding and has no affiliations with any political party.
They state that what they do is:
" and "non-partisan". Its director David G. Green writes occasionally in The Daily Telegraph
and its deputy director Anastasia de Waal frequently contributes to the Guardian's Comment is Free. Its areas of policy interest include:
Ruth Lea
is part-time Director of the Manufacturing Renewal Project and Norman Dennis is part-time Director of Community Studies.
Crime
Education
Family
Health
Immigration
Manufacturing
.
Civitas’ EU Project aims to deepen public understanding of the European Union institutions that govern us and to promote political awareness and debate about the EU among students. The project publishes a series of balanced and comprehensive factsheets on the European Union tailored to A-level curricula, which includes supplementary worksheets and monthly updates of events from within the EU. Civitas also arranges high-profile speakers for talks and debates in schools on the subject of the European Union, and hosts an annual National EU conference in London.
The think tank was responsible for setting up the New Model School Company
, operating fee-paying primary schools intended to be more affordable than standard private schools. The company now has three schools, the basic premise of them being a "traditional, no frills education".
Civitas also runs Civitas Schools
, supplementary schools that run on Saturday mornings and after school hours. The schools teach English and maths to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, emphasising traditional approaches such as phonics
. Starting with Bengali
children in Bethnal Green
, there are now eighteen supplementary schools in King's Cross
, Hammersmith
, Camberwell
, Keighley
, Birmingham
, Great Yarmouth
and Bradford
providing classes for approximately 400 children per week.
In addition, Civitas is pioneering Core Knowledge UK. Gradually developed and refined by teachers and educational specialists, the Core Knowledge Sequence UK is a year-by-year outline of the specific and shared content and skills to be taught in Years 1 to 6. The Core Knowledge Sequence UK is the backbone of the Core Knowledge UK curriculum, a springboard for learning that provides the foundation for a sound, well-rounded education in the arts, humanities and sciences. The first Core Knowledge UK resource book is What Your Year 1 Child Needs to Know.
London Boxing Academy
Since 2006 Civitas has been a partner in the
London Boxing Academy Community Project which undertakes the education of students who have been excluded from their mainstream schools. The course combines academic work with sport, and aims to help students to achieve success in GCSEs.
Young Civitas for Medics
, a new society founded by medical students for medical students, has been launched with the help of the Civitas Health Unit. The society aims to plug a gap in the medical curriculum by providing an open and impartial arena for students to learn how the NHS works and debate the future of health policy
Think tank
A think tank is an organization that conducts research and engages in advocacy in areas such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, and technology issues. Most think tanks are non-profit organizations, which some countries such as the United States and Canada provide with tax...
. It is a British registered charity (No. 1085494), financed by private donations. It receives no government funding and has no affiliations with any political party.
Activities
The stated underlying purpose of Civitas is to deepen public understanding of the legal, institutional and moral framework that makes a free and democratic society possible.They state that what they do is:
- Support informed public debate and encourage consensus by:
- Providing accurate factual information on today's social issues.
- Publishing informed comment and analysis.
- Bringing together leading protagonists in open discussion.
- Work towards pragmatic solutions to current social problems.
- Implement pioneering projects to demonstrate what can be accomplished.
- Supply schools with teaching materials and guest speakers.
Policy Interests
The think tank describes itself as "classical liberalClassical liberalism
Classical liberalism is the philosophy committed to the ideal of limited government, constitutionalism, rule of law, due process, and liberty of individuals including freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and free markets....
" and "non-partisan". Its director David G. Green writes occasionally in The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
and its deputy director Anastasia de Waal frequently contributes to the Guardian's Comment is Free. Its areas of policy interest include:
- CrimeCrimeCrime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
Civitas authors have argued for more consistent crime policies that straddle the left-right divide, for earlier and pre-emptive interventions with prolific offenders and for crime statistics to be more digestibly and honestly presented. They have also advocated rehabilitating prisoners through drug programmes and vocational education.
- EducationEducationEducation in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
Civitas research seeks out an objective view of standards of education in Britain in order to offer an improved perspective on how best to deliver equitable and high standards of education for all. The particular aim is to generate evidence-based policy, with realisable strategies for implementation.
- FamilyFamilyIn human context, a family is a group of people affiliated by consanguinity, affinity, or co-residence. In most societies it is the principal institution for the socialization of children...
Its authors have examined the impact of social policy and changing social norms in families, looking in particular at family structure and the socioeconomic significance of marriage in the UK.
- HealthHealthHealth is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
Civitas authors have called for an end to the NHSNational Health ServiceThe National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
's monopoly on public healthcare and greater diversity in the system with the aim of creating a more equitable system for all.
- ImmigrationImmigrationImmigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
Its authors have sought to analyse the pros and cons of mass immigration, including the costs for the public sector and downward pressure on low-paid jobs.
- The Manufacturing Renewal project has been established under the leadership of Ruth LeaRuth LeaRuth Jane Lea is a British economist, who works in the financial sector and has also worked in the Civil Service, policy research bodies and the media....
to encourage a more balanced economy and especially to explore how best to stimulate manufacturing in order to foster a more resilient economy and to generate jobs across the ability range.
People
- Director: David G. Green
- Deputy Director (Research): Anastasia de Waal
- Director of Civitas Schools: Eleanor Rogerson
- Director of Civitas Health Unit: James Gubb
Ruth Lea
Ruth Lea
Ruth Jane Lea is a British economist, who works in the financial sector and has also worked in the Civil Service, policy research bodies and the media....
is part-time Director of the Manufacturing Renewal Project and Norman Dennis is part-time Director of Community Studies.
Publications
BooksCrime
- The Public and the Police (2008) Harriet Sergeant
- Crime and Civil Society: Can we become a more law-abiding people? (2005) Dr David G. Green, Emma Grove and Nadia A. Martin
- Crimes of the Community: Honour-based Violence in the UK (2007) James Brandon and Salam Hafez
Education
- What Your Year 1 Child Needs to Know (2011) E. D. Hirsch, Jr. (ed.)
- Liberal Education and the National Curriculum (2010) Prof. David Conway
- Inspecting the Inspectorate: Ofsted Under Scrutiny (2008) Anastasia de Waal
- Corruption of the Curriculum (2007) Robert Whelan
- The Butterfly Book: A Reading and Writing Course (2007) Irina Tyk
- The Butterfly Grammar: A Course for Better English (2008) Irina Tyk and Ed Dovey
Family
- Second Thoughts on the Family (2008) Anastasia de Waal
Health
- Putting Patients Last (2009) Peter Davies, James Gubb and Donald R. Keogh
- Quite Like Heaven? Options for the NHS in a Consumer Age (2007) Nick Seddon and Bernard Ribeiro
Immigration
- A Nation of Immigrants? A brief demographic history of Britain (2007) Prof. David Conway
- Disunited Kingdom (2009) Prof. David Conway
Manufacturing
- Nations Choose Prosperity: Why Britain needs an Industrial Policy (2009) Ruth Lea and David G. Green
Involvement in schools
Civitas provides teaching material and guest speakers for schools, in particular on family structure and on the EUEuropean Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
Civitas’ EU Project aims to deepen public understanding of the European Union institutions that govern us and to promote political awareness and debate about the EU among students. The project publishes a series of balanced and comprehensive factsheets on the European Union tailored to A-level curricula, which includes supplementary worksheets and monthly updates of events from within the EU. Civitas also arranges high-profile speakers for talks and debates in schools on the subject of the European Union, and hosts an annual National EU conference in London.
The think tank was responsible for setting up the New Model School Company
, operating fee-paying primary schools intended to be more affordable than standard private schools. The company now has three schools, the basic premise of them being a "traditional, no frills education".
Civitas also runs Civitas Schools
, supplementary schools that run on Saturday mornings and after school hours. The schools teach English and maths to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, emphasising traditional approaches such as phonics
Phonics
Phonics refers to a method for teaching speakers of English to read and write that language. Phonics involves teaching how to connect the sounds of spoken English with letters or groups of letters and teaching them to blend the sounds of letters together to produce approximate pronunciations...
. Starting with Bengali
Bengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
children in Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is a district of the East End of London, England and part of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, with the far northern parts falling within the London Borough of Hackney. Located northeast of Charing Cross, it was historically an agrarian hamlet in the ancient parish of Stepney,...
, there are now eighteen supplementary schools in King's Cross
Kings Cross, London
King's Cross is an area of London partly in the London Borough of Camden and partly in the London Borough of Islington. It is an inner-city district located 2.5 miles north of Charing Cross. The area formerly had a reputation for being a red light district and run-down. However, rapid regeneration...
, Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
, Camberwell
Camberwell
Camberwell is a district of south London, England, and forms part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is a built-up inner city district located southeast of Charing Cross. To the west it has a boundary with the London Borough of Lambeth.-Toponymy:...
, Keighley
Keighley
Keighley is a town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. It is situated northwest of Bradford and is at the confluence of the River Aire and the River Worth...
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth
Great Yarmouth, often known to locals as Yarmouth, is a coastal town in Norfolk, England. It is at the mouth of the River Yare, east of Norwich.It has been a seaside resort since 1760, and is the gateway from the Norfolk Broads to the sea...
and Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
providing classes for approximately 400 children per week.
In addition, Civitas is pioneering Core Knowledge UK. Gradually developed and refined by teachers and educational specialists, the Core Knowledge Sequence UK is a year-by-year outline of the specific and shared content and skills to be taught in Years 1 to 6. The Core Knowledge Sequence UK is the backbone of the Core Knowledge UK curriculum, a springboard for learning that provides the foundation for a sound, well-rounded education in the arts, humanities and sciences. The first Core Knowledge UK resource book is What Your Year 1 Child Needs to Know.
London Boxing Academy
Since 2006 Civitas has been a partner in the
London Boxing Academy Community Project which undertakes the education of students who have been excluded from their mainstream schools. The course combines academic work with sport, and aims to help students to achieve success in GCSEs.
Young Civitas for Medics
, a new society founded by medical students for medical students, has been launched with the help of the Civitas Health Unit. The society aims to plug a gap in the medical curriculum by providing an open and impartial arena for students to learn how the NHS works and debate the future of health policy