Abstract
Citizenship
implies
association
and
involvement
in
a
community.
Even
though
the
conditions
of
involvement
can
be
specified
by
government
laws,
citizenship
is
in
fact
not
only
a
matter
of
politics,
but
actually
an
issue
of
culture
and
experience.
It
can
therefore
be
described
as
a
status
and
as
a
set
of
attitudes,
associations
and
expectations
that
go
beyond
territorial
boundaries.
Active
citizenship
is
the
viewpoint
that
citizens
should
work
for
the
improvement
of
their
community.
The
notion
requires
active
participation
through
economic
contribution
and
volunteer
work
to
improve
life
for
all
citizens.
In
2011,
the
University
of
Johannesburg
introduced
a
program
in
Active,
Critical
Citizenship.
The
purpose
of
the
program
was
to
develop,
through
active
engagement
with
issues,
the
basic
understanding
of
every
South
African’s
rights
and
responsibility
of
citizenship
The
program
in
Active
Citizenship
was
to
enable
students
to
understand
their
status
of
citizenship
and
to
encourage
them
to
exercise
the
rights
and
responsibilities
which
are
associated
with
their
citizenship.
In
addition,
it
also
had
to
encourage
students
to
work
towards
the
improvement
of
their
community
through
economic
participation
and
service
to
others.
The
Department
of
Interior
Design
chose
to
integrate
the
Active
Citizenship
program
into
the
curriculum
as
developmental
outcomes.
This
option
was
chosen
for
two
reasons.
Firstly,
the
Interior
Design
curriculum
is
tightly
structured
and
presented
little
flexibility
to
include
additional
modules.
Secondly,
the
majority
of
the
topics
in
the
Active
Citizenship
program
were
already
integrated
in
the
curriculum
that
was
offered
to
students
at
that
time.
Aspects
such
as
critical
thinking,
social
accountability
and
environmental
responsibility
were
already
embedded
in
the
majority
of
the
modules
presented
in
the
Interior
Design
program.
In
order
to
address
the
needs
of
the
Active
Citizenship
Program
of
the
University,
the
content
of
the
topics
that
had
to
be
included
in
the
curriculum
were
categorised
as
the
political
exercise
of
citizenship,
the
rights
and
responsibilities
of
citizens,
personal
and
professional
citizenship,
the
social
exercise
of
citizenship
by
way
of
understanding
social
divisions,
and
critical
knowledge
citizenship.
This
paper
will
reflect
on
the
manner
in
which
the
Interior
Design
Department
implemented
the
developmental
outcomes
to
address
the
Active
Citizenship
program
needs.
This
paper
will
describe
how
the
content
was
addressed
in
the
curriculum
of
the
Interior
Design
Department
of
the
University
of
Johannesburg
and
show
how
this
approach
assisted
in
creating
a
culture
of
Active
Citizenship
in
Interior
Design
education.