Will this be just? Will we survive? The SACE Research Project

A review of South Australia Senior Secondary Education entitled Success for All authorised development of the new South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) which proposed an Extended Learning Initiative (Research Project) in senior secondary curriculum. The Research Project allows students to conduct an in-depth investigation on a topic of their choice and to develop capabilities deemed essential for work and life. As such, the Research Project offers opportunity for the kind of pedagogical innovation where the life-world of the student becomes a key focus for connecting school based learning with students’ lives and communities. In focusing on how this might be realised in practice, this paper traces the inaugural process and experience of the Research Project for first time teachers in the northern suburbs of Adelaide. We pay particular attention to the pedagogical problem of adopting experiential and self-directed learning approaches alongside the challenge of capability development and completion of schooling.