Expanding Young People’s Horizons as Leaders of Change in their Community: How Could Critical Pedagogy Improve Australasian Transport Safety Education?

Transport safety education programs in Australasia continue to default to traditional pedagogical methods despite the lack of evidence of their effectiveness in improving safety learning outcomes. Top down approaches promoting a singular view of ‘proper’ attitudes and behaviours are didactic and position young people as needing to be controlled (Kincheloe, 2004). Embedding critical pedagogical approaches such as Knowledge Producing Schools (KPS) (Rowan & Bigum, 2010), systems and critical thinking within transport safety education programs could reposition young people to drive change in their own communities and make real-world contributions to improving safety on our roads, around trains, and near tracks.