Carey Baptist Grammar School

Carey Baptist Grammar School

Carey Baptist Grammar School’s Changemakers subject was designed to give students the opportunity to develop in all nine of the Carey Positive Learner Attributes (PLA). This design thinking subject helps students develop and test products that address important problems in society. This does not involve formal subject content, but rather opportunities to inquire into real world problems and to solve these using the design thinking process. Students develop an understanding of social issues by participating in a series of empathy tasks and excursions, hearing from visiting experts and completing research tasks. Changemakers offers students choice in how they approach their learning, how they work as a team and offers them the chance to show their learning in new and exciting ways. No marks or grades are awarded as the focus is on the growth of the attributes in the students, who are self and peer assessed, combined with teacher input. There is also the frequent use of creative and critical thinking skills to design physical products which address an important problem in our society. Once finished, students present and showcase their groups’ solutions with the potential to make a positive change in the world.