What is the project

Following feedback received from schools and the community in the 2018 SACE Stage 2 Review [PDF 172KB] the SACE Board began to redesign Stage 2 Research Project (RP), to be replaced with Activating Identities and Futures (AIF).

We used the SACE Board’s promise to shape education so that students thrive to reconceptualise the subject, the pedagogy, the assessment, and quality assurance procedures.

AIF will meet the requirements for SACE completion currently satisfied by RP.

Activating Identities and Futures (AIF)

The intention behind AIF is for students to explore ideas related to an area of personal interest through a process of self-directed inquiry. They draw on relevant knowledge, skills and capabilities applying these in new contexts and selecting relevant strategies to progress the learning to a resolution. 

In AIF students take greater ownership and agency over their learning ‘learning how to learn’ as they select relevant strategies ‘knowing what to do when you don’t know what to do’ to explore, create and/or plan to progress an area of personal interest.

Pilot 1

The pilot tested the first version of the new AIF subject outline and the shift in teacher practice in a live environment with 27 participating government, independent and catholic schools across South Australia.

Some key learnings from the initial pilot include: 

• understanding what professional learning is needed to support co-agency, metacognition, natural evidence of learning and feedback 
• involving school teaching and learning leaders in the implementation of professional learning for their school’s teachers 
• ensuring teacher practices support success for all students, including students who experience disadvantage
• pedagogical change required to successfully deliver the new subjects across a diversity of teachers 
• role of school leadership in sponsoring and resourcing the new subjects.

Pilot 2

Sixty-three schools, educators, and students across South Australia and the Northern Territory, and across sectors are involved in the second pilot of AIF during semester 1 2023.

The purpose of pilot 2 is to continue to work closely with schools to design, adapt, and test new curriculum, assessment, and pedagogical approaches to improve the learning experience for students. The key focus is how student agency, natural evidence of learning, self-regulation (metacognition and self-efficacy) and feedback are supporting students to thrive.

Pilot 2 is focused on:

• Learning about the inclusivity of the subject for a range of students across a range of contexts
• Exploring the pedagogical approaches that underpin the new subjects, with a focus on:
  • Agency: teachers and students designing learning together, with students having ownership over the learning experience
  • Natural evidence of learning: students evidence their learning through authentic artefacts with an emphasis on the learning process rather than the final product.
• Providing opportunities for pilot teachers to come together as peers to discuss, review and provide each other with feedback.

What’s next?

Following pilot 2, learnings and insights will be shared with all schools and inform further development and next steps towards implementation.

The SACE Board will continue to work with current pilot schools with a focus on testing and learning proposed changes to quality assure students' results.

Pilot 2 schools can continue to teach AIF in 2024. 

Stage 2 Research Project will continue to be available in 2024.

Following our learnings about AIF in 2024, the SACE Board will commence support in term 2, 2024, in preparation for planned implementation of AIF in 2025.