Personal Responsibility: The creation, implementation and evaluation

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to create, implement and evaluate a Personal Responsibility education program for high-school students. Using a constructivist framework, a five-lesson program was developed around key themes identified by adolescents in focus groups. This program was implemented in one term at a public high school in urban Queensland, with students examining and discussing notions of choices, consequences, emotional awareness, personal responsibilities and social responsibilities. Feedback from students and teachers showed the program to be interesting, relevant and informative for students, and to have strengthened relationships between students within a class and between students and teachers. As such, the program offers high schools the opportunity to enhance adolescents’ personal, emotional and social development.