Opening new pathways

The challenge

At Caroline Chisholm College, Economics has traditionally been a road less travelled. While many students study Business Studies, Adam MacNamara says only one or two students at most typically choose Economics in Years 11 and 12. Those who do often study it remotely, supported by a school-based mentor. For Adam, that created a bigger question: how do you give students the chance to discover economics if they would not ordinarily choose the subject? The issue was not simply subject enrolment. Economic understanding matters regardless of whether a student ever studies Economics formally. As Adam explained,

“students need to understand the economy in which they live and work and will be employed in.”

He saw a clear opportunity to expose students to those ideas in a way that felt less theoretical, more practical - and very different from the usual classroom experience. 

What we did

Through STEP UP: Playconomics, students in Years 10-12 were given the opportunity to step into an economy rather than simply read about one. They had to make decisions, respond to changing circumstances, solve problems and navigate consequences as they played. For Adam, that real-world character was critical:

“you have to make decisions on the run and respond to stimulus and other things. So it's real world in that respect.”

It also gave students a different way of encountering a subject they might never previously have considered. Adam described Playconomics as a “great middle ground” - a way to introduce important economic principles to students in a school where Economics itself has traditionally had limited uptake.

Rather than telling students where their interests should lie, the school gave them the opportunity to find out for themselves. As Adam says, “give your students a chance to have a go at it.” 

That sense of agency mattered. Students could experiment with something challenging and unfamiliar, without first having to commit to studying the subject. And the opportunity reached beyond the obvious candidates. After a STEP UP school visit introduced the game to around 60–70 students, students started to sign up - including some who did not study Commerce or Business Studies at all.

The result

What students took from the experience went well beyond the game. When Adam later spoke with participating students, they described how Playconomics helped them see the connection between individual decisions and the wider economy - what they called the “little parts of society” coming together as a whole. Without prompting, they identified concepts they were learning through play: profit and profit-making, competition, and the influence of pricing on decision-making. Just as importantly, they told Adam that the experience felt more connected to the outside world than traditional school learning. As Adam explained,

“they liked that it connected better to the world than they felt like at school.”

 For one student, that connection went a few steps further. She began linking what she was learning through the game to “potentially a career in business.” That is precisely the possibility Adam had hoped Playconomics might create: exposure first, pathways second. Students do not always know they are interested in economics until they have an opportunity to experience what economic thinking actually involves. As Adam put it, some “may not have ever thought of economics or business as a pathway.” Playconomics also connects that experience to university. Adam described the relationship with UNSW as “really powerful”, giving the program additional credibility while allowing students to engage with a world beyond school. For Caroline Chisholm College, the value is therefore bigger than learning a set of economic concepts. It is about giving young people the chance to discover an interest they may not have known they had - and helping them see where that interest could lead. As Adam said,

“it's a really unique way of learning about economic principles and financial literacy.”