The following assignment will revolve around my personal understanding of citizenship education and its significance on a global scale. The essay will address recent demographic changes on a social and European scale. Citizenship education is actually a lifelong process and continuous learning, involving the total development of the whole person. During this assignment I will discuss the different thematic areas which include democracy, rights and responsibilities. I will also discuss the correct skills and attitudes that a teacher needs to have to teach successfully in this area.• Section on recent social and demographic changes in Ireland and the European Union2002- 3,917,203 – 291,116 - 1.32006- 4,239,848 – 322,645 - 2.02011- 4,581,269 – 341,421 – 1.6The population according to the 2011 census shows an increase of 341,421 people since 2006 and an overall growth of 3.6% since 2002. Between the 2006-20111 censuses the estimated migratory balance is 118,650 units compared to the previous intercensus period ( 2002) -2006) which was 47,832. Immigration to Ireland has more than doubled since the 2002 census. As of April 2011 the figure for non-Irish citizens was 544,357. This was an increase of 124,624 from 2006 and 320,096 from 2002. 12% of Irish households had non-Irish residents in 2011 compared to 5% in 2002. The top five foreign nationalities in the Irish state include Polish, Latvian, Lithuanians, Nigerians and UK residents. The number of Poles in the country has increased by 120,461 since 2002, the highest number among any other nationality. (In modern society, due to the increasing number of different nationalities taking up residence in Irish homes, citizenship education is becoming...... middle of paper ...... With this news it is becoming increasingly important that our education system must put in place an adequate and stable curriculum regarding citizenship education. This will help our children understand how to become active citizens and will also allow our increasingly diverse society to fully understand their rights and how. can contribute positively to society.References• Pearce, N. and Hallgarten, J. (2000) 'introduction' in N. Pearce and J. Hallgarten (eds) Tomorrow's citizens' critical debates on citizenship and education , London: Institute for Public Policy Research.• Redmond, D . Butler, P, (2003), 'Civic, Social and Political Education Report on a Survey of Teachers and Principals', unpublished report submitted to the NCCA by Nexus.• http://www.cso.ie/en/. media/csoie/census/documents/census2011profile6/Profile,6,Migration,and,Diversity,entire,doc.pdf)