Download an overview in PDF formatThe Connecting Lives and Learning (CLL) project is a response to an urgent need for curriculum and pedagogical innovation as an antidote to alienation in the middle years, when too many young people 'drop out', drift off, or are excluded from schooling (Smyth & Hattam, 2004). The project is driven by concerns for developing pedagogies for student engagement (Luke et al, 2003) through researching the theory and practice of 'connectedness' as a theme for both curriculum development and for pedagogy. What CLL has identified as the key challenge is finding ways to integrate lifeworld and subject discipline knowledges in ways that don't trivialise either. This means treating students and their lifeworld knowledges seriously in a curricular and pedagogical sense.

Download the CLL Brief in PDF formatHelping to build on the RPiN work, ANSN formed a new project partnership with the University to host a teacher-friendly website that offers: professional development approaches for middle schooling; teacher resources; and guidelines for conducting and doing research, incorporating the project's big ideas. The website will be of interest to education systems, schools and teachers nationally and will be up and running by the end of the year. The site is called Connecting Lives and Learning (CLL).

You can download a sample of the sorts of materials available on the CLL Website - Background information on one key idea in the research, a PD tool and one of the many project newsletters. An example of a teacher snapshot is available here.

Key Idea - The Virtual School Bag

Newsletter - The Pedagogical Challenge

PD Tool - Researching your school community