Case Studies: Good Practice Schools

Values Education Good Practice Schools Project - Stages 1 and 2

School case studies

Stage 1 of the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project has now been completed. School clusters developed case studies of their work which informed the development of the final report, Implementing the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools: Report of the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project – Stage 1. Extracts from the report for each cluster are also available on the relevant cluster page.

Case Studies: Examples of Good Practice 2004 features case studies from six of the grant schools involved in the Values Education Study 2002–2003.

For further case studies visit the Values for Australian Schooling Newsletter on this website.

Work in progress

As the schools involved in the Values Education Good Practice School Projects have carried out their projects they have generated many useful ideas, tools and practices. See below for some examples.

Teacher Case Writing
Teacher case writing is a technique designed to enable teachers to describe their practice, discuss it with colleagues and collaboratively attempt to improve it. Such case writing ultimately provides accounts of good practice or things that need to be addressed on the way towards good practice. All schools in the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project – Stage 2 are expected to undertake at least four pieces of case writing as part of their involvement in the project.

'Let’s talk about things that matter' Year 5/6 teacher Margarita Fair has used the case writing methodology to write an inspiring account () of how classroom strategies to improve listening and speaking skills (aligned to the national values) provided unexpected rewards for both her and her class.
‘Finding your imagination’ is a sample of teacher case writing from Stage 2 of the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project.

Children and Place Mapping Group: Lance Holt School

Lance Holt School, Nyindamurra Family School, Kerry Street Community School, Moerlina Community School and Strelley Community School comprise the Children and Place Mapping Group in the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project.

All of these schools are in Western Australia and are separated by huge distances. Strelley Community School is the oldest continually operational independent Aboriginal Community School in Australia and is in the north-west Pilbara region, while thousands of kilometres away is Nyindamurra Family School in Margaret River in the south of the State.

The Children and Place Mapping Group seeks to build students' attachment to place and their ability to exercise ethical judgement and social responsibility about how their place is managed. Through connecting to place and becoming active citizens in the process, students can increase their resilience, self-esteem, optimism and commitment to personal fulfilment.

The Children and Place Mapping Group August 2005 newsletter details the amount of work schools, teachers, parents and students are doing individually and collectively to achieve their project aims. The newsletter is also an example of how the tyranny of distance can be overcome to achieve common aims and goals.

Merrylands/Guildford Cluster

Cluster Surveys - Stage 1At Merrylands High School Cluster in New South Wales, three surveys were conducted to obtain information about values in the school community: one for students; one for teachers; and one for parents.

Cluster Survey - Stage 2The Merrylands/Guildford cluster delivered a values survey to staff and students across all seven schools.

Merrylands big values professional learning day Merrylands values PL day

For the past six years, the Merrylands/Guildford learning community has held a combined professional learning program, including a Combined School Development Day (CSDD) in Term 3 of each school year. This year, the CSDD was dedicated to values education and the cluster’s participation in the Values Education Good Practice Schools Project – Stages 1 and 2 (VEGPSP).

Modbury School Preschool – Year 7

Engagement with values
Lina Scalfino, Principal of Modbury School Preschool – Year 7, has written a paper ‘Engagement with Values: A Lens for Whole School Change’, which was presented at the 10th Annual Values and Leadership Conference at Pennsylvania State University in October 2005. The paper is presented as a case study of the school’s ‘... learning journey using an integrated values approach to whole school change to transform the school’s culture within the context of major national initiatives and developments in values education’.

Penola Primary School Case Study

Penola Primary School in South Australia is part of the Modbury School R–7 cluster. Teachers at Penola are developing the key community values of trust and honesty in their students through leading by example. Students are given open access to most areas of the school and, as the principal of Penola has found: ‘By ‘giving’ children a level of trust which they can live up to, we are teaching the very essence of the values desired. Conversely, we cannot expect to teach the values of trust and honesty if we take away any opportunity that children have to learn and demonstrate these values.’

Penola has had a values education focus for a number of years, but in 2005 reviewed and aligned its values to the nine Values for Australian Schooling.

The Penola Primary School Case Study is a reflection by the Principal, Mr Dale Price, on the substantial achievements of Penola in values education. It also demonstrates case writing techniques. The case study outlines the processes the school has used to align its values with the nine values including, asking staff to reflect on their modelling of the values, student activities, and parent activities, such as a values forum. Outcomes demonstrate the positive benefits for the whole school community from the school’s values education program.

Townsville Central State School Cluster

Townsville Central State School Cluster, known as The Teacher’s and Educator’s Around Castle Hill (TEACH) cluster, worked with Dr Angela Hill, School of Education, James Cook University, to document, using Case Writing processes, how their Peer Support program is supporting and developing the principles and vision of the National Framework by building student resilience. The draft case study of one school in the TEACH Cluster is that of Townsville Central State School.