“In Their Shoes”: School-Based Citizenship Education, Technology Enhanced Learning and Equity

Civics education is central to many education systems. In Australia, it is one of the key goals of schooling and is recognised as being vital for the functioning of civil societies and a harmonious democracy. A commonly cited feature of civics education (Heggart, 2020; Tudball & Henderson, 2013) is the need for the learning to be experiential: rather than learning about active citizenship, students need to experience what it is to be an active citizen (Eyler, 2009). However, this poses difficulties for educators and students, especially those in regional settings, and those from low socio-economic backgrounds where issues of access are profound. This has resulted in an inequitable civics education experience in countries like Australia, where experiential education is limited to those who can afford it. However, virtual reality offers opportunities to transform inequitable education so that young people can experience and even enact active citizenship despite these challenges (Bailenson, 2018). Rather than going to a museum, the museum can come to students—and it can do so in novel ways that enhance the pedagogical possibilities (Southgate, 2020) far beyond the traditional travelling roadshow or webinar. This chapter describes how such an approach to virtual reality could improve access and equity for all learners, especially those from regional areas. Custom-built virtual environments that empower students as ‘change makers’ encourage active citizenship and also enhance equity. The key aspects of this model include an innovative co-design process where learning designers, subject matter experts and VR designers created a learning experience that leveraged the pedagogical affordances of virtual reality to encourage social and environmental activism.