Published works

The aim of school-based Disaster Resilience Education (DRE) is to build students’ understanding of the causes, nature and effects of hazards, while also fostering a range of competencies and skills that will enable them to contribute proactively to disaster prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. The development and delivery of school-based DRE has been identified as a key priority for action in disaster resilience policy frameworks and strategies from the international to the local level. To support the delivery of the quality DRE in Victorian secondary schools, the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and the Victorian State Emergency Service (VicSES) in collaboration with secondary school teachers and students, have developed the Disaster Resilience Project (DRP) - a multi-hazard, teacher-delivered, web-based DRE program for students in Years 7 to 9. The program aims to increase students’ knowledge and awareness of local disaster risks and build their capacity for initiating and participating in practical action for disaster risk reduction and resilience.
The pilot version of the Disaster Resilience Project (DRP) was informed by extensive consultations with Victorian secondary school teachers, policy frameworks for disaster risk reduction (DRR) and resilience, and the academic literature. It was comprised of a structured set of five lessons designed to guide students through an exploration of key concepts in DRR and resilience, support them to apply those concepts to their own local context, and encourage them to plan and implement a DRR or resilience building activity at home, school or in the wider community. To support the teacher-delivered model of implementation, the pilot version also included a 45-60 minute face-to-face professional development session in which CFA project staff guided teachers through the learning intentions and the teaching and learning activities for each lesson.