AFSSSE

PREAMBLE

The current project extends the work completed by previous AFSSSE projects, as part of the National Activities element of Discovering Democracy. In this project AFSSSE raised awareness of the Discovering Democracy materials by organising online discussions, and by continuing to promote discussion through the AFSSSE network.

Current project

AFSSSE will produce thirty case studies on using Discovering Democracy materials in a variety of contexts to recognize and promote quality teaching of civics and citizenship education by professional associations.

EDUCATION REPORT

Elements of the Project and Role of the Contractor

CONFIRMATION OF ELEMENTS OF THE PROJECT AND ROLE OF THE CONTRACTOR

1. The contractor will use established criteria to select six state and territory Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) professional associations to develop a number of case studies demonstrating how the Discovering Democracy materials might be used by specified groups of teachers and/or students.

In working towards the element, the AFSSSE Board has

• Discussed the intent of the project and worked with the Project Officer to determine criteria for selecting applicants. Appendix 1 – extract from AFSSSE Board meeting.

• Invited SOSE associations in each state and territory to submit an application. Appendix 2

2. Steps include

• Providing opportunity for all state/territory associations to be involved in this project. All states and territory SOSE Associations were invited to submit applications. Applications were received from all states and territories except for New South Wales and the Northern Territory. The managers of the successful ACT submission will consider incorporating elements from NSW papers at the SOSE Conference in January 2002. The managers of the AFSSSE/SEAA submission will investigate incorporating case study material from a number of states and territories into their submission.

• Using the specified criteria to select six state/territory groups to manage the production of case studies. The following SOSE groups provided submissions and all met the criteria: Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia, AFSSSE/SEAA (South Australia), ACT. These groups were notified of being successful and were provided with a Guidelines document. Appendix 3 – Application Form. Appendix 4 – Guidelines.

• Providing clear guidelines to the six successful state and territory SOSE groups. See Appendix 4. SOSE Associations have been notified of timelines, copyright requirements, electronic format. They have also been encouraged to work with representatives from the AFSSSE peak associations.

• Managing the production of at least 30 case studies to meet the needs of teachers or learners in specific contexts. Case studies will include primary and secondary examples and assessment strategies. Appendix 5 provides an overview of the case studies. Primary and secondary examples are included, and the requirement of providing assessment examples has been included in the guidelines information.

• Monitor six state/territory SOSE associations as the case studies are developed. The AFSSSE Board, the Project Officer and the website manager have agreed to complete this task. Timelines to evaluate draft material have been established.

• Advise the SOSE Associations to liaise with the state/territory professional development committees for Discovering Democracy. Note Appendix 8 – reports received to date from SOSE Associations.

• Provide feedback to the SOSE associations and the Department as the draft material is prepared. Timelines have been established. Note Appendix 4. Draft case studies received to date are in Appendix 10.

• Regularly place information on the project on the website, and advertise the website during the performance of the Services. nal case studies are available, AFSSSE will contact the affiliate members to ask for advertisements to be placed in journals and magazines. The AFSSSE Project Officer has collected information from these groups to plan for such advertising. See Appendix 7.

• Liaise with and report regularly to the Department. The Project Officer regularly reports to the AFSSSE Board, the website Manager and the officers at DETYA.

Outcomes

• The production of at least thirty case studies on using the Discovering Democracy materials in specific contexts, for primary and secondary teachers, and including assessment examples.

See Appendix 10 for draft case studies.

• The promotion of the Discovering Democracy materials to members of the SOSE professional associations;

The SOSE Associations have been instrumental in the production of the case studies. An overview of the associations to be contacted to advertise the case studies appears in Appendix 7.

• Shared classroom examples of using the Discovering Democracy materials in the wider teacher-professional network.

The groups responsible for the production of the case studies have involved teachers and professional associations. The case studies include classroom strategies in a range of contexts. The materials will be available on the AFSSSE website and advertised in journals and magazines described in Appendix 7.

Funding

AFSSSE has had to use existing funds to meet contract obligations. The payment from DETYA has been slow, although this was partly due to clarification of goods and services tax detail. The project is operating within budget. AFSSSE is keen to be funded in the next financial year to ensure these case studies are well used. There is some concern that the size of some case studies will be a problem when accessing electronically. Ideally these materials should also be used by the AFSSSE affiliates in professional development workshops. The funding in this financial year is insufficient to cover this additional component, so was not included in this contract.

Timelines

The Project Officer for AFSSSE has experienced some difficulty in gaining the draft case studies from teachers given the late ratification of the project details from DETYA, and teachers leaving schools for holidays. It is expected timelines as per contract will be met.

Further action and evaluation

A concerted effort will be made to see drafts of the materials so that the AFSSSE Board may evaluate progress and provide feedback. A teleconference / email discussion of the AFSSSE Board members, will occur in February to evaluate the drafts of the case studies. Appendix 10 contains the case studies to date for DETYA to provide feedback if necessary.