Bethan Marshall: Did the pupils protest or were they bunking off?

I wonder whether the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, questioned the wisdom of introducing citizenship into the curriculum when he heard of the nationwide walk-out of pupils to demonstrate against the war in Iraq. Even if he didn't agree with their position, I wonder if he smiled in triumph about schoolchildren, a year into the citizenship programme, exercising their democratic right to protest? Or did he, as I suspect, support those schools who viewed this political awakening among the nation's youth, as bunking off, and demand that detentions be handed out all round?

Of course, the idea that a trip to Westminster on a lovely spring afternoon was not simply a good excuse for a day out, followed by an equally noble gesture a week or so later, cannot be ignored. On the day of the second protest in March, I had a meeting with a group of teachers. One teacher, whose school had taken a relatively benign line, had prised the confession from several would-be protesters that their enthusiasm for direct action would almost certainly have been dampened by a rainy day.

That is not to underestimate the genuine passion felt by many young people about the war. For once, social involvement seems to be extending beyond saving trees and cute furry animals to an anxiety about human life, far from where they live, and how to prevent injustice. I say far away from where they live, but of course, for many living in our large cities, the issues being fought over are much closer to home.

The great strength of an education system, if it is working, is when pupils from different backgrounds, and, increasingly, countries of origin, come together and learn about each other, not just in lessons and textbooks but in the playground and the canteen. It was this vision that was behind the comprehensive ideal, and, despite their "bog standard" bad press, it is what many comprehensives still achieve. In our large urban schools, there is an impressive diversity of class, ethnicity and religion that, with sensitive and constructive handling, should provide our children with the best lessons in citizenship that they can receive.

As part of my job I have been to a large number of London comprehensives in recent weeks, and have been interested to see how schools have handled the war in Iraq. Some have given guidelines about how pupils' questions might be answered; others allowed pupils to leave school to protest so long as they had parental permission. And some actively discouraged protest by treating it as truancy, suspecting, perhaps wisely, that many protesters would get no further than the local shops.

Yet all have, to a greater or lesser extent, gave opportunities to pupils to voice their ideas in an effort to work out what they think. I have observed lessons that looked at newspaper coverage of the war; I have witnessed a study of Julius Caesar brought bang up to date by looking at the nature of political power. I know of assemblies that have encouraged pupils to engage in the debate that now preoccupies so many adults.

That is what good education has always done. In fact, the idea that education can somehow be separated from the notion of citizenship is a curious one indeed. One of the great bibles of modern educational thinking, written almost a century ago, is John Dewey's Democracy and Education. For Dewey, education lay at the heart of the democratic process; democratic entitlement underpinned educational provision.

It is unclear whether these lofty ideals motivated Blunkett's desire for citizenship in the curriculum, or whether he simply wanted lessons in civics to get a few more voters out on polling day. But he did receive much disapprobation at the time from a right-wing press who saw it at best as woolly liberalism, and at worst loony-left indoctrination. Blunkett's own right-wing credentials have improved considerably since moving to the Home Office, but perhaps, despite himself, he has opened the Pandora's box of political activism within the nation's youth.

The writer is lecturer in education at King's College London

education@independent.co.uk