Learning AND Identity: The intersection of micro and macro processes in identity formation for students and the community in a small rural town: The Wesley experience

This paper is a report on the contribution from Wesley College to learning in Clunes, and the contribution from Clunes to learning in Wesley College. Year nine students from Wesley spend eight weeks in a residential learning village situated in the small rural town of Clunes, where they participate in a curriculum structured around learning in the community, aimed at expanding their knowledge of self and community. The research looks at the intersection of micro and macro processes in identity formation for students, teachers and the community. This paper explores the interactions between these groups, revealing the way in which each learns and the associated outcomes.

The research results demonstrate that this school-community partnership has had a positive impact on both the identity of the Wesley students and Clunes as a town. These findings may have important implications for other schools and rural communities facing educational change, building social capital and focusing on relationships between individual students and other community members.