Encouraging co-design in civics education

Developed by the Parliament of Victoria and Swinburne University, the workshop explored how co-design can help to enliven the teaching of civics and citizenship in the classroom.  

Director of the Swinburne Living Lab Professor Sonja Pedell said co-design gave students a voice.

'It is about moving away from some of the traditional teaching practices and physical classroom settings where the teacher is in the front and the students are sitting at the desks and listening,' she said.

'Co-design is about teachers having the tools and techniques to give students the opportunities to have a say in how things are taught and how they spend their time at school.'

The concept is designed to be an interactive and collaborative way for educators, students and experts to explore ideas together.

Professor Pedell said the foundational values of co-design were very similar to the democratic process itself.

'There are the same principles and rules in co-design that should be in a democracy,' she said.

'In both co-design and a democracy, people should be treated equally and should have an opportunity to equally contribute and be integrated.'

Throughout the day, teachers engaged in activities based on parliamentary processes and co-design strategies that can be used to engage their students.

Swinburne University facilitator Gareth Priday said that teacher feedback on the activities gathered from the workshop would be used to create a new toolkit.

'It is their voices and their needs that we are taking back to start developing the toolkit,' he said.

At the workshop, ideas and materials were also shared with teachers that they could use immediately in their classrooms.

St Bernard’s College teacher Gareth Sutton said the workshop gave him strategies to generate curiosity and engagement amongst his students. 

'Co-design gives students, teachers and stakeholders the opportunity to connect,' he said.

'It is about getting students to engage with things, so they are being active participants rather than just consuming things without thought.'

The co-design toolkit will be made available on the Teach and Learn webpage, where further professional development opportunities can be found.