A devastating report from the schools watchdog Ofsted has found that gaps in teachers’ subject knowledge and an insecure grasp of what the lessons were supposed to achieve, led to dull or irrelevant classes that were counter-productive.

The report called for more training of specialist teachers and gave warning that the subject citizenship often strayed into areas such as immigration or racial, religious and ethnic diversity, “where little knowledge can be a dangerous thing”.

In one of the worst classes observed by inspectors, a lesson on the principles of decision-making in society drifted into a discussion of the bodily needs of people stranded on a desert island.

A more common failing was for lessons on conflict resolution — which should include discussions of the role of Parliament, the UN, nongovernmental organisations, and pressure groups — to turn into discussions on friendships and relationships.

Inspectors were also appalled by the lack of written work, which they attributed not to any failing by the children but to the low expectations of their teachers. “Very good and lively discussion can be followed by dismal written activities,” the report said.

Citizenship education has been part of the national curriculum in secondary schools since 2002 and is compulsory for pupils aged 11 to 16, but there have long been concerns that teachers are ill-prepared to teach it. The report found that while a minority of schools teach it well, in most the teaching was found to be merely adequate. Provision in a quarter of schools was inadequate.

Although growing numbers of schools are entering pupils for a short GCSE course, the report concluded that too few schools taught citizenship as a subject in its own right, with many lumping it in with classes in other core subjects, such as history or geography.

Some schools merely assumed that the good ethos and behaviour of their pupils meant they were “doing it already”. Others were wary of engaging pupils in political discussions.

The findings raise important questions about the purpose of citizenship education, which was introduced amid concerns about political apathy among young people and fears that society faced a “moral crisis”.

These worries have since been overtaken by public and political concerns about immigration, diversity and multiculturalism, raising questions about what the focus of citizenship lessons should be.

Sir Bernard Crick, one of the architects of citizenship teaching in schools, said the subject should educate children in how to be politically literate, using real issues.

The Department for Education said that 1,200 new citizenship teachers were being trained over the next two years. “Citizenship has had a positive impact on the curriculum in the majority of schools and we are confident it will continue to improve as it becomes more embedded,” a spokesman said. ()

WHAT THEY SHOULD BE LEARNING

The citizenship curriculum says that pupils should be taught about:

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