Inquiry 2018: The Challenge - my year 12 Boys

At the start of this year, 9 boys joined my level 2 Social Studies class, 8 of whom had not taken a Social Science subject in year 11.  When asked why they took my class, 2 replied because it was the only option in the line they liked, 3 said because they wanted to try it out, and rest weren't sure why they'd taken my subject.  Only 1 student had said it was part of his career pathway.

I am hoping to inquire into ways that will engage my students, especially the boys so they can discuss and critically think about the social issues we will be covering during the year.  Having limited knowledge about what social studies is all about, I am hoping that their interest will grow if I expose them to different learning environments.  I also want to use writing strategies to get them used to academic writing and improve their confidence in writing.

To measure this, I will look at:

• Credits gained in their assessments
• Credits gained at merit/excellence level
• Literacy credits gained at the of the year
• Student voice surveys

So far, I have met with each student in the class and created a tracking sheet to show where the kids were at and what their goals are.  I hope to see what their writing is like NOW, so I can compare what and how their writing improves over the year.  We will revisit each of these goals during the term and I will update their credits as we go on in the year.