The Extensive Program

Extensive Phase

Students design and operate their own functioning community within their school, developing their own government, holding jobs, and having a marketplace for goods and services. They can form and run student ventures in such professions as the performing arts, publishing, services, manufacturing, banking, public service, broadcasting and others.

Students experience further social development by being part of a workable society and develop personal attributes and skills necessary to understand quality of life.

Currency and banking

Students design and produce a school-based currency as part of a banking service, earn an income for working in their roles, spend, save and invest school currency in their ventures and even pay taxes to support their own government. Students experience further social development by being part of a workable society and develop personal attributes and skills necessary to understand quality of life.

Managing Resources

Economic understanding is developed through a market system which promotes exchange opportunities between students. It allows for the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services in the school society.

Social Justice, Governance and Ethics

In the previous strands, the need to safeguard against counterfeiting and pilfering has been mentioned. Other situations can arise whereby students are innocently or otherwise, cheating their school society and fellow students. Situations arise where some students want rules to be clarified or changed to meet new circumstances. Where there is opportunity for such situations to occur, the time is right to introduce mechanisms to deal with them. These will develop from class or year forums to elected representatives on a student council of some kind. Eventually there can evolve a parliament, with an elected government with paid positions such as Prime Minister, Treasurer and cabinet members.