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Evidence indicates that Citizenship Education has been unevenly introduced in schools in England, leading to the suggestion that it is a placebo. This article argues that there is a danger it will be a nocebo, which the current state of Citizenship Education in England is in danger of having a negative effect rather than no significant effect at all. With particular reference to some critical educationists from the mid to late Twentieth Century, a radical approach to Citizenship Education is proposed which could prevent this phenomenon. To that end, attention is given to the urgent need for schools to engage with a range of identified aspects of Citizenship Education and one example of such a school is briefly discussed. It is concluded that notable examples of excellence in citizenship teaching should be the norm rather than the exception, without which development there is a danger that Citizenship Education in England will indeed prove to be a nocebo in rendering future discussion and planning for political and civic education beyond consideration.

Active citizenship, Ethos, Placebo/Nocebo, Questioning, Radical, Risk, Voice.

Leighton, R. (2013). Overcoming the Nocebo effect - A radical approach to citizenship education. International Journal of Education for Social Justice (RIEJS), 2(1), 15-33.