Abstract:
There is a growing body of research which explores ‘middle years’ schooling and identifies the importance of specialised initial teacher education as well as pedagogical approaches which meet the developmental needs of middle years’ students (Dowden, 2012; Main & Bryer, 2005; Pendergast, Keogh, Garrick, & Reynolds, 2009). Shanks and Dowden (2015) advocate that education in the middle years should ‘instill in young people the love of learning and the desire to take personal control of their education and, in so doing, equip them for fulfilling and productive careers’ (p. 69). This project fostered motivation and engagement in middle years students by tailoring approaches to teaching using learning activities and learning environments that specifically considered the needs of middle years students (MCEETYA, 2008). This project immersed students in exploring ‘People, Practices and Places’ as outlined in the Middle Years of Schooling Association's (2008) position paper. Middle years students undertook interactive workshops at a university campus, which offered them unique learning experiences beyond the classroom and included ‘parental and community involvement in student learning’ (MYSA 2008, p. 1). Qualitative data was collected from middle years students before and after the project intervention. Thematic and content analyses were applied to the data collected over a two-year period. The findings revealed that students were highly engaged by this unique pedagogical approach to learning and afforded them opportunities to explore possible and probable future aspirations. Furthermore, the study concluded that the ‘dreams and aspirations’ otherwise identified as ‘imagined futures’ (Sellar & Gale, 2011) of middle years students are at different developmental stages and shaped and influenced by a range of factors.