‘If you don’t feel respect then morally, it just takes a lot out of everything you’re doing”: learning in a pedagogical approach inspired by Reggio Emilia middle years school settings

Practice and pedagogy, influenced and informed by the approaches used in the preschool programs of Reggio Emilia is widespread across many early childhood settings in Australia, however, is less commonly used in Australian primary and secondary schools. Little research exists which focuses on the experiences of students in schools where this pedagogical approach is adopted. This paper draws from the findings of a 2019 study undertaken across three Australian schools implementing a pedagogical approach inspired by Reggio Emilia. The voices of students from one of these schools will be used to shed light on their perceived learner identity. The study found that the expressed learner identities were multifaceted. On one hand the students considered themselves to be informed, confident and passionate learners, shaping their world as democratic citizens. However, they also positioned themselves as citizens of the future, sharing perceptions regarding their capacity to compete as successful productive members of an economic society.


Introduction
"Improving educational outcomes for all young Australians is central to the nation's social and economic prosperity and will position young people to live fulfilling, productive and responsible lives" (Education Council, 2019, p. 5). The Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education has set the goal for all Australian children and young people to become "confident and creative individuals, successful lifelong learners, and 1 3 active and informed members of the community" (Education Council, 2019, p.5). The Declaration goes on to outline that these students will act with moral and ethical integrity and be committed to national values of "democracy, equity and justice" (Education Council, 2019, p.6). These goals shape the curriculum focus and guide the practice of teachers across Australia.
Viewing children and young people as productive citizens of the future positions them as a "unit of economic potential" (Moss, 2018, p. 12). Schooling becomes an investment for an economic future in which students become purposeful members of society, and where participating as a productive citizen is a measurement of educational success (Biesta, 2009). In this environment, the role of education as preparing citizens to live, and participate in, a world where freedom, tolerance, debate and social justice are valued has been re-purposed (Sims, 2017), to one which involves students achieving on the measures of success that 'count' (Keddie, 2016, p. 109). It is within this standpoint of investment for an economic future in which students become purposeful members of society, and are shaped to become productive citizens, that this paper is positioned. The paper focusses on one school approach to shift the paradigm from that of productive citizen to informed citizens; students who are capable of making decisions about their lives and their world and who have a voice in shaping their own learning. However, despite the aims and intentions of the school through the inclusion of pedagogical approaches aimed at supporting these outcomes, the students in this study found that the prevailing standpoint shaping students as future economic citizens led to a duality of identity in these students who continued to measure themselves against the achievements of their peers, and their future productive selves.
The philosophy and pedagogical beliefs surrounding the schools and infant-toddler programmes in the Italian town of Reggio Emilia embrace the concept of the child as a democratic citizen, who, from birth is strong, powerful, capable and resilient. Children are rich with wonder, curiosity and knowledge about their world and who they are in this world. The approaches found in the Reggio Emilia Education Project (REEP) have been adopted across many early childhood education and care programmes in Australia, however, are less common in Australian primary and secondary schools. This paper will report on a 2019 case study of 'Banksia School' (Pseudonym), which adopted the pedagogy and philosophical approaches inherent in the REEP. The study sought to investigate the extent to which the inclusion of this pedagogical approach shifted the discourse of learning from that of developing productive citizens of the future, to empowering students as democratic, agentic members of a global community. The study also investigated the extent to which this approach influenced how students formed an understanding of their learning and themselves as learners. The paper draws from the voices of seven upper primary level students from Banksia School, located in Melbourne, Australia. Rather than focussing on students in the context of their achievements against a set of benchmarks, the focus of the school was to create an environment in which students are viewed as informed citizens, capable of making decisions about their lives and their world, as well as having a voice in shaping their own learning. The study found that engaging in projects framed by their own interests, and exercising their democratic rights, both informed the students' sense of being, and challenged them to question 'If you don't feel respect then morally, it just takes a lot out… their understanding of their world. However, the study also showed that their learner identity continues to be informed by their own "sense of uncertainty, dissatisfaction and guilt about whether [they are] doing enough, doing the right thing, or doing as much or as well as others" (Keddie, 2016. P. 109). Bruner (1996, cited in Eaude, 2020 argues that the "single most universal thing about human experience is the phenomenon of 'self'", and Eaude goes on to suggest that identity is the phenomenon of 'self'; related to questions such as "who am I; where do I fit in; why am I here?" (2020, p, 18). Identity cannot be taught), but rather is shaped by the relationships and experiences of interacting with others and is in a continual state of evolution (Dunn, 1997). This understanding of identity also applies to how students see themselves as learners and construct an identity of their learner self. A learner identity encompasses the way an individual feels about, and chooses to describe themselves, as a learner (Lawson, 2014). It emerges and changes, as students are influenced by intrinsic and extrinsic forces that shape their sense of belonging over time, within varied social, cultural and relational contexts. For many learners living in a society in which the ideal learner is identified as one who develops the "skills they need to participate in the economy and in society" (Education Council, 2019, p.3), their identity is shaped by the extent to which they feel they reflect this ideal. Keddie (2016, p. 109) argues that students in today's classrooms are "children of the market, crafting their identities and making sense of their educational and employment experiences and choices within the context of neoliberal imperatives" For Keddie, these imperatives focus on their future capacity to contribute to society through the job market. She argues that in seeking to reflect the identity of a 'good' student, they may engage in extra tuition to enhance academic attainment to demonstrate they are "good at doing what examinations require; who applies him or herself to the necessary study to succeed; and who does in fact succeed" (Keddie, 2016, p. 115).

The Reggio Emilia approach
Banksia school has embedded the pedagogical and practice approaches found in the REEP in their teaching and pedagogical approaches. Founded in the northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia by Loris Malaguzzi, the REEP came about as a result of the families and the community, living in post-war Reggio Emilia, seeking to re-build schools where 'children were taken seriously and where even the youngest could acquire the skills and values of collaboration and critical thinking necessary [for] a free and democratic society' (New, 2007, p 6). There are a number of key underpinning and distinct characteristics inherent within the REEP which inform the pedagogical approaches, and which have been adopted in many early childhood education settings globally. Drawing from Dewey's ideals concerning democracy, the key concept guiding the REEP is that of the child as a democratic citizen, a 'child citizen', who from birth, is viewed as strong, powerful, and rich in potential and resources (Rinaldi, 2013, p.18). Malaguzzi's vision was to create a school 'that is a place of research, learning, revisiting, re-consideration, and reflection … [and which is] designed to bring together the three central protagonists-children, teachers, and parents to intensify the interrelationships among them' (Malaguzzi, 1993, p 9). This image of the child recognises that schooling is not about preparing children to be future citizens but that children are already citizens, who have agency over their lives, with the capacity to make decisions about things that affect them. As recognised and important members of society, they become clear-thinking and enlightened citizens who participate in decisions concerning the welfare of the society in which they live and have the potential to make a valuable contribution to their world (Delrio, 2012;Mayal, 2013;Turnšek, 2009). Dewey considered democracy to have a central role, practice and value in education (Moss, 2014), presenting 'a way of being, of thinking of oneself in relation to others and the world' (Rinaldi, 2013, cited in Moss, 2014. Traditional schooling and education have not always focussed on supporting children to be agents of their own learning (Greene & Nixon, 2020). When teachers recognise children as agentic learners, they create spaces and relationships which support children's self-expression, take their views into account, consult with and involve them in decision-making processes and where power and responsibility is shared (Farini, 2019;Ghirotto & Manzoni, 2013). The concept of children as rights holders in their learning recognises that they have an opinion, a voice and hold valuable knowledge which can generate thoughts about the issues which affect them (Harcourt & Haarglund, 2013), enabling them to take on the tasks of tackling these important issues (Farini, 2019).
Rather than children being positioned as units of economic potential (Moss, 2018, p 12), within the REEP, children are viewed as capable and competent coconstructors of knowledge (Lindsay, 2015;Rinaldi, 2013), where knowledge is seen as the construction of something new and is caught up in the activity and situations in which it is produced (Biesta & Osberg, 2007, p.16). Rather than being passive actors in their own learning, children are recognised as strong capable and competent co-constructors of knowledge (Lindsay, 2015). Dewey believed that for children to learn they need to actively participate in something that is real for them (Biesta & Osberg, 2007). In the REEP, the child is enabled as a protagonist, taking an active role in shaping their own identity (Edwards, 2012). They learn by constructing connections between ideas to make knowledge richer, deeper, broader and more reflective of the complexities of their constructed world. They use imagination, awe and wonder to see new possibilities and new realities. This allows for new worlds to emerge, where children can make choices, take a position and be heard (Biesta & Osberg, 2007). Teaching and learning in the REEP is influenced by a belief that there are multiple ways of seeing, and multiple ways of being. Children possess multiple ways of thinking, of expressing themselves, of understanding and encountering others. They create connections between the various dimensions of their experiences (Malaguzzi, 1993), whilst investigating, testing and contesting new understandings about the world around them (Harcourt, 2015).

3
'If you don't feel respect then morally, it just takes a lot out…

Inquiry learning-"problem-posing education"
Rather than being passive receivers of knowledge, in an REEP inspired pedagogy, children are recognised as having an innate desire to discover, learn and make sense of their world. Through engaging in inquiry, they are afforded the roles of provocateurs and protagonists, where they have permission to challenge their own ideas, and to explore the ideas of others (Hewitt, 2001) in order to make sense of their world and the world of others. Murdoch (2019) suggests that "when we seek to make sense of the world around us, we wonder, we plan, we analyse, we create, we reflect" (n.p). Children in the REEP use inquiry to engage in 'progettazione'-projects-that enable them to explore possibilities and make meaning of their world; where the teacher acts as listener, provocateur and negotiator of ideas, entering into an intellectual dialogue with children (Edwards, 2012).
Positioning children as inquiry learners is akin to Freire's notion of problemposing education. Problem-posing education enables students develop the power to critically reflect on the way they exist in the world, and to act as collaborators and co-investigators with their teachers (Freire, 2000). Freire argues that teachers need the authentication of the students' thinking as the 'teacher cannot think for her students, nor can she impose her thought on them." (2000, p. 77). He goes on to suggest that as students are increasingly posed with problems relating to themselves and their place in the world, they will feel increasingly challenged to question their understanding of reality and obliged to respond to that challenge. Problem-posing education is based on creativity, stimulating true reflection of, and action upon, perceived realities.
Freire believed that humans have the power to act upon and transform their world, and in so doing move "toward ever new possibilities of [a] fuller and richer life individually and collectively" (2000, p. 32). This presents a context for schooling in which students are challenged to question the way they exist in the world, and to reflect on reality through inquiry and creative thinking. This shifts the discourse from schools being places for developing learner capabilities that support students as productive citizens with measurable and assessable skills, to places with a moral and ethical focus, where students develop a responsibility and a moral human imperative for peaceful co-existence. In this discourse, students are supported to develop the characteristics that allow for new worlds to emerge in which freedom, tolerance, debate and social justice are valued.

The research context and process
The study adopted a qualitative methodology drawing on children's voice to explore the extent to which the pedagogical approaches adopted by the school influenced their learner identity. The school site which is the focus of this paper is a primary (elementary) school in Melbourne, Australia. Banksia School caters for children from Foundation through to Year 6 (5-12 years of age).
Seven year five and six students attending the school participated in the study. Six of the students had been at the school since their Foundation year, whilst one was relatively new to the school. The students were invited to participate in an interview conversation, where they were able to share their experiences and their reflections. Interview conversations provide participants with the experience of being listened to, as opposed to being interviewed, affording them the opportunity to be heard (Einarsdóttir, 2007). Children's voices should be treated as worthy of being heard (Böök & Mykkänen, 2014). In keeping with Article Twelve of the UN Convention on the Rights of the child (UNICEF, 1989), giving status to children's voices acknowledges their right to not only be listened to, but their views and experiences to be taken seriously. Listening deeply to children builds understanding of how children feel about themselves and their lives and can provide unexpected insights into their capabilities (Pascal & Bertram, 2009).
The interview conversations were unstructured and used open-ended questioning to allow the participants' personal perspectives to emerge. They lasted around 20 min, and with the consent of each child were audio recorded. They were later transcribed and then analysed to draw out the key themes. Prior to the interview conversation, students were asked if they would like to bring an artefact of work, which they felt represented them as learners to share and speak about with the researcher. The students each brought in their portfolio documenting a progettazione (project) they had worked on previously.

The inclusion of artefacts
The use of artefacts selected by children themselves provides another 'language' for children (Malaguzzi, 1993) to use their voice and share insights into their learning and learner identities for those seeking to understand children's worlds (Lomax, 2020). Participants have control over making decisions about what they want to share, and in the case of this study, what they wanted to reveal in the interview (Lomax, 2020). In presenting artefacts that they have personally chosen, the child is providing their own perspective and evidence of their learning, sharing insights into their learner identity, rather than drawing on perceptions provided by others. When these artefacts are discussed in interviews or dialogic conversations, the children are empowered as experts in understanding their own learning and who they are as a learner.

Ethical considerations
It was an important consideration in undertaking this study that consent was gained from each student to participate in the interview and the selection of the artefacts to share in the interview. Alongside seeking consent from the parents/guardians of the students, consent was also sought from the students themselves. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises children's right to participate in decisions affecting their lives and communicate their own views in accordance with their age and maturity (UNICEF, 1989). This is reflected in the Australian National Statement 'If you don't feel respect then morally, it just takes a lot out… on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2007 (updated 2018) which states that "consent to a child's or young person's participation in a research project should be obtained from the child or young person whenever he or she has the capacity to make this decision" (National Health and Medical Research Council [NHMRC], 2018, p 66). Ethical approval to conduct the study was granted by the University's Human Research Ethics Committee (approval number omitted for blind review). In reporting the voices of the students in this paper, pseudonyms, chosen by the author, have been used to respect their individual privacy.

The students' voices
By drawing on the voices of the students themselves, this study sought to investigate to what extent being engaged in schooling that draws from pedagogy and philosophical approaches of the REEP may inform students' learner identities. Braun and Clarke's deductive approach to data coding and analysis (2012) was used to draw out voices of identity present in the transcripts. In order to hear these voices, each transcript was read through a number of times and key words highlighted as they provided an insight into the way each student participant spoke about themselves as learners: their voice of identity. Through this process, words such as 'committed', 'successful', 'passionate', 'collaborative', 'responsive', 'deep thinker' emerged. The transcripts were then coded and then categorised as they connected to the key characteristics inherent in the REEP: enlightened citizens; children as rights holders-having a voice and being heard. Interestingly, during the coding process, the voice of the student who wants to be a productive citizen who meets expectations also emerged. These 'voices' will be explored below.

Sharing their learner identity
The way an individual will describe themselves as a learner reflects how they feel about themselves in the context of their learning. This identity is influenced by a person's sense of belonging, the support and encouragement they receive from others and their experiences of education (Lawson, 2014). The interview conversations enabled each student participant to voice their own learner identity and reflect on the how this had been shaped by their experiences in the classroom. Angus described himself as. a passionate learner. I want to get things done on time, and hand them in usually one or two days before (they are due).
The pedagogical approaches in which students engage in collaborative inquiry have led to Angus realising that there are multiple ways of seeing, and multiple ways of being, and he felt engaging with others has helped shape his understanding of his world. He spoke of being inspired by his peers.
when the inquiry came-I was shy. I wasn't used to working with people. And then this inquiry sort of changed that. Now, I love working with peo-ple. Different people inspire me, and they inspire what I'm going to do and how I'm going to work it out, because they share their ideas on what our world would be.
Cleo also believed that the approach taken by the school supported her to develop and work on aspects of her world that she had a passion for. Working in groups supported her to develop a deeper understanding of others, and accept that they too had rights to have a voice in the decision making. She has been challenged to take on other people's ideas and she is conscious that she needs to continue to work on this.
I really was kind of felt passionate about it … and I wanted it to be kind of perfect, but then I wanted [student peer] to have input into it … I like to have my ideas. I don't like to have to change it because of someone else's ideas, and obviously that's something I've tried to learn Whilst Sam did not use the term 'successful', he shared his self-view as a successful learner by stating: I am at year eight in math. I'm doing reasonably well in writing. All my other grades are above the average. He also described himself as a thinker and a problem solver, reflecting that: If you can't problem solve it's going to waste you a lot of time later on in life. And deep thinking is just helpful in general with most things. Sam shared his belief about the importance of being a deep critical thinker: Most of the most famous people I've heard of have been philosophers, deep thinkers. It's what they're famous for. Being able to think deeply is, it just helps you answer a lot of big questions in life and I suppose that's just about it, I guess.
During her interview conversation, rather than sharing her identity as a learner, Anthea presented her identity as being that of an author. She shared examples of her writing and her story ideas, providing a sophisticated analysis of how she develops her stories and how they evolved across several iterations. For her, it was the provocations that were posed at the start of the progettazione that enabled her to draw on these ideas in the writing of a story.
The provocation was to imagine if a character found an object that made something amazing happen, and I had actually already come up with a bit of a story in my mind and this helped me start it.
Interestingly, she had not always been a passionate writer. It was the opportunities and encouragement provided by the school in support of her passion which led her to follow this path: I actually used to not like to write but now that I've come up with good ideas for the stories, I want to write them down … My story was actually supposed to be just a one workshop thing, but the teachers let me continue it because I was really liking it.
'If you don't feel respect then morally, it just takes a lot out…

Enlightened citizens
The students were supported in their citizenship through the development of a deep understanding and connection to others. This enabled them to develop a sense of being, which evolved through their project work. The progettaziones created opportunities for them to demonstrate value and respect for others who may be different or have different experiences to themselves. Through engaging in progettaziones that were inspired by their understanding of the world, and issues in the world that they strongly connected with, they demonstrated what it means to be an enlightened citizen; one who is enabled to participate in decisions concerning the welfare of the society. For. Cleo often undertook projects aimed at building a more just society. One of her progettaziones was aimed at supporting the work of 'Polished Man', a campaign focussed on raising awareness about children experiencing violence.

I thought that's something in the community I felt like I wanted to raise awareness about. … what I proposed to do is to run [an] event in October.
Previously, she has been involved in other progettaziones that focussed on fundraising campaigns: . I collected five cents for '5 CENT Campaign', and I did a stall to raise money for it.
Likewise, Evangeline enacted her role as an active and informed citizen by undertaking a project in which she and her group set about making care packages for the homeless living in her community. However, rather than just making decisions regarding what they felt they wanted to include in these care packages, she interviewed homeless people living nearby to ask what they wanted and needed: We wanted to make homeless packages for the homeless and we actually did that … We raised money, we got donations from our family and our friends, and we used some of our own pocket money as well. We went out and we made 10 homeless packages for the homeless … there are some homeless people down at the [community park], we've seen them our entire life … but when we did make the packages something interesting happened when we gave out the first few. We changed them slightly when we gave out the rest, because we realized there were some things that they don't actually need … some people were quite friendly and the ones that we did talk to were very appreciative and they were kind of like not many people do this.
For Sam, his commitment to the environment and climate change was able to be actioned through the choice of progettazione he was able to develop.
We decided to do climate change cause it's a big issue and really needs to be solved.

Having a voice and being heard
What was important to the students in this study was the sense and belief that they had a voice at this school, and that this voice was being heard. The student participants felt that they were being listened to and valued by the teachers as rights holders in decisions about their learning. They also felt recognised and enabled to enact their rights as democratic citizens, of both the school as well as in the greater society. This is evident when Darcy suggested that This school has a lot of student voice … students have a right to stick up for what they want to learn, and Evangeline who commented that we can also tell the teachers as a group that we like this, but we don't like this. Similarly, Riley reflected that there's more voice, and you get to put in more ideas.
For Evangeline, it was the commitment to enacting change that allowed her to feel she was respected in her views and ideas. Given her passion for making a difference in the lives of others in her community, this was particularly important for her.
The thing that was different for us was we actually followed through, and we actually did it in real life instead of wishing this could happen.
In a similar vein, Darcy had wanted to argue for change in the way specialist subjects (e.g. LOTE; Creative Arts; Sport) were offered and timetabled across the school. He reflected that even though he was not able to make a change to the staffing and the timetabling, he still felt heard and that his opinion was valued as the principal met with him and explained organisational processes in a way that supported Darcy to feel respected and that his concerns were valued: So, we actually ran these through [Principal] to see if it could actually happen … we had to research why art, sport and Italian help you and we found out that Italian is actually connected to a lot more languages. So, if you learn Italian, you can learn a lot more languages easier. Sport helps with your brain and learning. With art, you can express yourself through…other ways.
However, through meeting with the principal, he realised the wider organisational context of leading a school.
I don't think it's going to happen. Because you'd have to hire a few more teachers and that'll cost money.
Sam, however, was the one who really felt he was being listened to and supported to enact his democratic rights. When asked if he felt respected and treated as 1 3 'If you don't feel respect then morally, it just takes a lot out… someone who has an opinion and a voice worth listening to, he responded with "yes, very much", and when further asked why this was important to him, he replied.
If you don't feel respect then morally, it just takes a lot out of everything you're doing. If they don't respect me, why should I write this essay? Why should I paint this artwork you know?
The most validating example of feeling respected and that he had a voice in decisions affecting his life was Sam's recollection of feeling supported in his commitment to environmental change, and that his passion was shared by his teachers.
One other thing I like is how ecofriendly the teachers are. Like I was secretly supported by the vice principle to bunk off school and go to the rally.

Productive citizen-meeting expectations
Even though these students were able to voice a learner identity which is agentic and valued, and that they feel recognised as a democratic citizen, the voiced identity of these students is also that of a learner measures success and accomplishment in terms of academic attainment and future opportunities. The voiced identity of these students was also focussed on meeting expectations for future economic and productive lives (Keddie, 2016). Six of the student participants were moving into secondary school the following year. A strong theme that emerged from these participants' voices was the desire and concern to meet the academic expectations of the new school. They shared common concerns about being behind their peers due to a perception that inquiry may detract from more academic learning. Evangeline voiced her concern by suggesting that: Sometimes I do think that because they [the students coming from other schools] are sat down on desks and they have sheets to complete like 'do this, do this' in some ways they might know more than me. I know they might know more maths and more English and more spelling. I think that I am a bit worried that I might need a bit of extra help on some things … I think because high school its very structured and you're getting ready for uni [versity] and to graduate from all of school and you have all these big tests … Sitting down in year 12 learning about how to not hurt someone else's feelings is not going to help you at all". Her level of concern has led her to undertake self-initiated work at home after school: This year I've been doing maths at home because our school doesn't have homework, but at home my mum has been giving me a lot of homework and we've been practicing that kind of stuff.
Sam who voiced being well above the expected benchmarks in Maths and English for his year level also shared concerns about meeting the academic expectations of secondary school. He had spent time attending school in England during a family trip a few years prior. For him, this experience led to this reflection. I thought I was doing perfectly well and like I've kept my grades well above average in most things … but then I went to England and there was an incredibly conventional school. If you didn't finish the work you were allocated to do, you'd have to stay in at lunch time and do it. I just realized how much more I was doing.
It is interesting to note that in the National Testing Programme (NAPLAN), eighty-one percent of students in the year six cohort at this school had achieved at least two or more bands above the National benchmark for numeracy, 74% for reading, and 81% above the expected level for writing (Myschool, n.d).
Darcy also reflected on his learning as influencing his future productive self. He viewed the collaborative inquiry approach as important for his future employment: In my longer life when I'm looking for job applications, because I've been through this situation before … It's a good…working with other people, it's a good thing to have people skills and stuff.
Like Darcy, Evangeline too saw the pedagogical approaches at the school as setting her up for a successful future: when you go off to university or after high school, when you're at work, you know you've learned from primary school, you know how to manage your time and get everything done that you need to get done

Discussion
This paper sought to investigate the extent to which engaging in learning and pedagogical approaches inspired by the REEP has shaped the way students felt recognised as citizens who have a voice in decisions concerning their lives. It also sought to examine the extent to which a recognition of this right has influenced how they form an understanding of their learning and themselves as learners. In listening to the voices of the student participants, it is apparent that the experience has had a twofold influence on their sense of who they are as learners. On the one hand, the students in this study voiced an identity that reflected the intent of the REEP as democratic citizens who are curious and engaged with their world and their place within it. They were able to articulate their place in their world and demonstrate a value for freedom, tolerance, debate and social justice (Sims, 2017). These young people had an opinion, a voice and held valuable knowledge which enabled them to share their thoughts about the issues which affected them (Harcourt & Haarglund, 2013).
However, the all-pervading perception the need to meet the perceived expectations for being a productive member of society was also present in the way these students shared their learner identity.
The implementation of the REEP has led to learners who view themselves as democratic citizens, who are strong, powerful, capable, resilient and rich with wonder, curiosity and knowledge about their world and their place in this world. They are active and reflexive agents in the building and shaping of the world in which 'If you don't feel respect then morally, it just takes a lot out… they live. The problem-posing, inquiry approach of the REEP has led to a classroom pedagogy which fosters an image of the child as creative and self-actualising, who has the freedom to independently negotiate their learning. This has informed these students' learning about themselves, their world, and built an understanding of their responsibilities in shaping a sustainable world. The approach undertaken by the school has provided the students with power to critically reflect on the way they exist in the world, creating what Freire argues is a learning environment in which students are increasingly challenged to question their understanding of reality and obliged to respond to that challenge (Freire, 2000). Hempel-Jorgensen (2009) suggests that it is the pedagogy in the classroom which shapes the learner identity, and it is apparent that the pedagogical approach implemented in this school has contributed to the identity and sense of self voiced by these young learners. Through sharing their voices, the students expressed a sense of being validated and enabled with the power to act upon and transform their world, and in so doing move "toward ever new possibilities of fuller and richer life individually and collectively" (Freire, 2000, p. 32). Their learner identities presented as passionate, committed, confident and valued democratic citizens who have strong moral and ethical values regarding their world, and the world they want to be part of. They felt enabled to make choices, take a position and be heard (Biesta & Osberg, 2007).
However, on the other hand, the students also presented levels of ontological insecurity (Keddie, 2016, p.109) sharing uncertainty about whether they were doing enough, or as well as others to meet the long-term expectation of being a successful and productive member of society. For the students in this study, their sense of who they are as a learner was also shaped by the reality that they are living in a society in which the ideal learner is identified as one who develops the "skills they need to participate in the economy and in society and contributing to every aspect of their wellbeing" (Education Council, 2019, p.3). For these students, their measure of being a successful learner is not how they are perceived by others, but by the concern that they will not meet the self-expectation of achieving at a high academic standard. This measure of success was not the intent of the school which through the adoption of the REEP was aiming to build children as citizens of the world who understood their rights to have opinions, a voice and share thoughts about the issues which affect them (Harcourt & Haarglund, 2013). By implementing the REEP approach, it could be argued that this school was seeking to re-instate the role of education as preparing citizens to live, and participate in, a world where freedom, tolerance, debate and social justice are valued (Sims, 2017), rather than a place which positioned the students as units of economic potential (Moss, 2018). Disappointingly the students in this study continually voiced their own concerns that they would be able to achieve future academic success, crafting their identities and making sense of their educational experiences and choices within the context of imperatives which focus on their future capacity to contribute to society through successful employment (Keddie, 2016). The desire to reflect the expectations of a 'good' student as one who is performing well in examinations and applies themselves to the necessary study to succeed was present in their expression of 'self' (Eaude, 2020). Despite being above the national benchmarks for literacy and numeracy, the expectation they are placing on themselves to continue to maintain this standard as they move forward in their academic journey is informed by them seeing themselves as future citizens, productively contributing to the economic prosperity by being successfully employed.

Conclusion
In keeping with the intent of the REEP, the educational goals and focus of Banksia School have been to foster children as agents of their own learning, who are clearthinking, enlightened citizens who participate in decisions concerning the welfare of the society in which they live, with the potential to make a valuable contribution to this society (Delrio, 2012;Mayall, 2013;Turnšek, 2009). The dialogic nature of the interview conversations enabled the voices of the students to emerge, and their sense of their learner selves to be shared. In hearing the voices of the students, it is clear that their learner identity reflects these goals. These students were able to describe themselves as 'passionate', 'committed', 'deep thinkers' who were socially just and had a moral and ethical view of their responsibilities towards their world, and in shaping the world of the future.
However, whilst the implementation of the REEP has shaped the identity of these students as democratic and enlightened citizens, the student voices also expressed a duality in their learner identity, where they were also measuring themselves as being able to be successful economic and productive citizens in later life. The students presented a level of uncertainty about their learner identity when measured against what they believed was an ideal student. They shared concerns about whether they were doing enough, or as well as others to meet the long-term expectation of being a successful and productive member of society, and that a greater testing regime, and more focussed academic learning might better support their future selves. Whilst the students demonstrated the measures of success inherent in the REEP, these were not as highly rated by them in terms of their own measures of future success. They presented themselves as being on a journey where they need to come out as successfully employed to meet the future competitive demands of a market economy, suggesting a belief that the role of school is to support them to achieve this success.
The findings from this study highlight the multifaceted perspectives of what it means to be a successful learner prevalent in schools and contemporary education discourse. How one identifies as a successful learner is in a continual state of evolution (Dunn, 1997) shaped by the relationships and experiences of interacting with others. The Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration presents a goal that focusses on children and young people being active and informed citizens who act with moral and ethical integrity (Education Council, 2019). However, when success is also measured through a human capital standpoint of contributing to a productive society, tensions can arise for students in developing a sense of their learner self where their image of the ideal learner is informed by a complex intersection of competing ideals.
'If you don't feel respect then morally, it just takes a lot out… Funding Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions.
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http:// creat iveco mmons. org/ licen ses/ by/4. 0/.