Choice+in+Education+-+Lake+G+extended+case+study


 * Choices in Learning and Practical Options at Lake G. **

==== When we arrived at Lake G we were given a copy of the Curriculum Handbook. We noticed that there seems to be a really good variety of courses available to students – and a good balance of both practical and academic. ====

** Courses available at Lake G: ** Automotive Technology A/V Biology T Business Administration A/V Business Studies T/A/V Chemistry T Chinese T  Dance Studies T/A (Currently not available) Design and Graphics T/A Drama T/A Economics T English T/A ESL T/A Fashion Design and Textiles T/A Food and People A French T  Furniture Construction A/V General Mathematics A General Science T  Global Relations T  History T/A Hospitality A/V Human Movement T Information Technology T/A/V Italian T || Japanese T Legal Studies T/A Mathematical Applications T Mathematical Methods T  Mathematics for Living Media T/A Metal Engineering A/V Music Industry C Music T/A Outdoor Education T/A/V Photography T/A Physical Education A Physics T  Psychology T/A Science A Social and Community Work A/V Sociology T/A Spanish T Specialist Mathematics T  Sport and Recreation A/V Sport and Recreation A/V Sports Studies T Tourism A/V Visual Art T/A ||
 * Accounting T/A

** In order to understand the Lake G course system, you may wish to find out more about the different types of course available at the school, and how they contribute to the ACT Year 12 certificate. Click Here. **

**So what do the students think about the choices available to them?**

We spoke to students around the school in focus groups and interviews and gathered that the majority are very satisfied with their course options, and keen to tell us so.

// “There’s really something for anything you want to do.” //
As well as being pleased with the choice //of// courses, the students are felt there is a lot of choice available //within// courses – which is possible due to flexibility in the curriculum. We asked students to tell us a bit more about choice within their subjects:

// “Its really flexible. It depends on the teacher you get but most of them are really flexible.” //

// “Say in art, you get like 5 or 6 options of what type of art you do. Like visual art, drawing, painting” // // “If its not on the list – just go up and negotiate.” //

// “The teachers are really compliant.” //

// “I’d say like 80% of assignments either have a way you can talk to the teacher and discuss what you want to do that will // // work for them and you.” //

// “We can write pretty much whatever we want. It just has to be around a certain thing. Like what we write and how we // // write it is up to us.” //

We then asked them if they thought this choice was important. The answer was a resounding Yes: //“It’s wonderful.” “It keeps us interested” ”Its heaps less stressful.” “It means we are doing things we’re interested in.” “And capable of…”// Finally, we asked students what problems they found in having the amount of choice they have. One worry was that some students may choose courses which they think will be less work. And of course, so much choice can make it hard to choose!