Homelessness, youth suicide, racism, bullying and sustainability are just some of the issues that young people across Australia addressed in last year’s Videos for Change challenge.
We know young people are passionate about the world around them. Videos for Change engages high school students to channel that passion into tangible social change. We challenge the students to create one-minute videos to raise awareness and inspire others in their community to take action on issues that they care about.
This is a student-led, project-based learning initiative. Throughout the process, students develop social advocacy skills and foster the critical global competencies needed to be active and engaged global citizens.
We’ve had incredibly inspiring feedback from the students that have participated with many of them sharing a significant personal growth and understanding that we can all play a role in creating the changes that we wish to see in the world. One of last year’s Videos for Change participants told us:
“We hope our video could possibly save someone’s life, or at least get the conversation going about cyberbullying, suicide and the massive aftermath that it can create. We really strongly believe that videos are a fantastic way to share a message and can have a significant impact on an audience.”
So, how does it work?
Videos for Change can be used as a project, assessment item or even an entire unit of work, as it aligns with multiple year levels in the Australian Curriculum.
By using the Videos for Change journey, a number of schools are also addressing social issues in their school community, such as bullying or racism, contributing to a whole of school cultural change.
2019 Videos for Change competition will be open 24 June-13 September
Students have the opportunity to create and be heard through the national competition. Finalist videos will be shared through our social media networks, and winners will be profiled on Network 10’s The Project.
In 2018, we had more than 600,000 people across 91 countries view the finalist videos and we expect that reach and impact to significantly grow this year.
Wondering where to start?
Teachers and school leaders can access a suite of free classroom resources including fully editable PowerPoints, how to videos, worksheets and information packs on a range of social issues at www.videosforchange.org
We are also delivering Teacher Professional Development sessions in Sydney (9 April) and Brisbane (18 March), to build the capacity of your teachers to successfully implement and deliver a student led, project-based learning experience. (https://highresolves.org/tpd-sessions/)
We’d love to help you implement Videos for Change in your school this year, so please reach out if you’d like to chat.
You can contact Marlina Moussa, NSW Program Director at High Resolves on her email at mm@highresolves.org or by calling 0438 952 209.
Videos for Change is created by High Resolves (www.highresolves.org), an award-winning leader in the design and delivery of learning experiences in citizenship for young people.