As a teacher with over 20 years experience teaching PDHPE and Community and Family Studies, I've learned so much about effective teaching practices. I wanted to share some of the key strategies and insights I've gained to help enhance how you teach Community & Family Studies. While Community & Family Studies covers a wide range of topics, focusing on a few core areas can really boost student learning and outcomes.

Connecting Content to Real Life  

One of the most impactful things you can do is to make the Community & Family Studies content come alive for students by connecting it to real life examples and scenarios. All too often, content is taught in isolation without showing students how it applies in the real world. I find the most engaging way to do this is by exposing students to current events and issues through media sources. 

Setting up a "media wall" in your classroom with recent newspaper or magazine articles related to Community & Family Studies topics brings the outside world into your lessons. You can also curate relevant online articles and videos to share with students. Be sure to choose examples from Australia that showcase real issues, rather than fictional stories. Spending time unpacking and discussing these examples helps students understand how abstract concepts play out in real families and communities.

Showing Connections Between Concepts  

Another strategy is to explicitly teach students the connections between different Community & Family Studies concepts. So often, content is presented as disconnected topics when in reality many concepts are interrelated. Take research methodology for example - reliability, validity, sampling and bias are closely linked but are often taught separately. 

Plan your lessons with the "big picture" in mind, looking for opportunities to draw connections between topics both within units and across the course. Model for students how sampling impacts reliability or the relationship between roles of parents and carers. Intentionally designing assessments around content connections further reinforces this learning. The ability to see interrelationships is crucial for student success, especially at the HSC level.

Building Positive Relationships

At the core of effective teaching is building positive relationships. Students need to feel valued, respected and supported to engage fully with their learning. While professionalism is important, don't be afraid to let your personality shine through. Connecting with students on a personal level through humour and self-disclosure (when appropriate) helps create a warm classroom environment.

Encourage collaboration among students as well. Frame yourself as the "coach" guiding a team toward success rather than competing individuals. Foster cooperation between students to problem solve and support each other's learning. Positive relationships with colleagues are also vital - work to connect with other Community & Family Studies teachers to avoid isolation and share resources. Students and teachers will both benefit from these social-emotional aspects of teaching.

Enhancing Assessments

Finally, intentionally structure your assessments to prepare students for success in the HSC exam and beyond. Begin with the end in mind - map out the knowledge, skills and content you want to assess across Year 11 and 12. Consider which topics lend themselves to deeper learning and focus assessments there rather than easier areas. 

Model key exam skills like analysing, evaluating and discussing from the start. Provide explicit feedback on skill development. Ensure assessments incorporate content connections and real world examples. Most importantly, make your expectations clear and provide ample practice opportunities to scaffold students along the way. With enhanced assessments, students will be well equipped for senior exams and further study.

By focusing on making content relevant through real examples, showing interrelationships between concepts, fostering positive relationships, and intentionally designing assessments, you can take your Community & Family Studies teaching to the next level.

These high impact strategies leverage over two decades of experience to boost student engagement and outcomes. I hope you find ways to incorporate and adapt them for your own teaching practice.