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Award-winning program cultivates active citizens

14 October 2009

Dr David Zyngier

A curriculum program developed by Dr David Zyngier from the Faculty of Education at Peninsula campus has won a national award that honours excellence in collaborative teaching and learning.

Dr Zyngier developed the ruMAD (Are You Making a Difference?) program, which aims to help teachers inspire in students an awareness of themselves as active citizens and agents of change.

The program, which is supported by the Foundation for Young Australians (FYA), recently received the 2009 Garth Boomer Award, a national award sponsored by the Australian Curriculum Studies Association and the Curriculum Corporation.

"The program has been developed over two years and embodies a vision of what can be achieved when students give back to their communities and strive to make a difference to real-world problems," Dr Zyngier said.

"It focuses on student engagement, organisation and decision-making, and links particularly to middle years initiatives that emphasise active citizenship."

As well as promoting resilience, leadership skills, self esteem and literacy among students, the program is effective in fostering school-community partnerships and curriculum development.

"The ruMAD program is a dynamic mix of education, action, advocacy and events. It is like a toolkit that enables young people to lead social change and become active citizens. It is led by students but benefits the whole community," Dr Zyngier said.

The program runs throughout the academic year and participants can access information and resources through the dedicated ruMAD website. The FYA holds introductory workshops for teachers who are interested in using the program in their classrooms.

The program is already being used by more than 1500 schools around Australia, inspiring active citizenship in 10,000-plus students.