MaveriX brings motocross to the classroom: ‘They are connecting so deeply’

This article was first published in Practical Literacy: The Early and Primary Years (PLEPY), Volume 28(2), pp. 24-26. It has been republished with permission from the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association.

Introduction

As educators, we understand that engagement, participation and achievement can all lift when students’ experiences and interests are reflected in their learning materials. However, finding age-appropriate classroom texts which incorporate children’s diverse lives while also addressing curriculum content can be challenging for even the most experienced teachers. Australian children’s television programs can be an accessible and valuable resource in bridging this gap for literacy learning.

The Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) is a non-profit media organisation which supports and advocates for the production of quality screen content made especially for the child audience. The programs reflect our shared cultures and values, and the contemporary experiences, interests and challenges of young people in Australia. The ACTF Learning team develops free resources and events to accompany these productions, championing the use Australian stories in the classroom.

This case study documents a learning sequence undertaken at Woodroffe Primary School – in Palmerston, Northern Territory – in response to the children’s drama series MaveriX.

About MaveriX

MaveriX follows six elite young motocross riders who come together to form a team, seeking to make the national titles – or crash out trying. Through ups and downs throughout the season, they learn that the biggest win of all might be the friends they make for life. Episodes were rated G and PG by Australian broadcaster, the ABC. With production taking place in Alice Springs and Adelaide, the series was filmed on the lands of the Arrernte and Kaurna Peoples.

MaveriX is an original idea by Rachel Clements of Brindle Films, largely inspired by her son Digby. Digby was the under-10 central Australian BMX champion but, like many Alice Springs kids, he decided he wanted to change to dirt bikes and moved on to racing in the junior club championships. Rachel’s co-creators on this project were television writer Sam Miekle and emerging filmmaker Isaac Elliott. Isaac was formerly a nationally ranked motocross rider and nationally accredited coach, lending additional authenticity to the series.

Motocross requires young riders to learn about safety and risk; respect for coaches, teammates and their own bodies; teamwork and leadership; maintenance and care of equipment; fair play and sportsmanship; being humble when others are crashing around you; and always keeping an eye out for others to make sure that everyone else is ok. MaveriX characters grapple with these lessons both on and off the track, resulting in a complex screen text that is perfect for use in upper primary classrooms – especially with young motocross fans.

Reflecting on MaveriX ahead of its 2022 premiere, Rachel Clements said: “It is a series that showcases family, community, diversity, and acceptance, in a world of action that we haven’t seen before on our screens, and in the central desert of Australia. There’s nowhere else like it in the world – an environment that’s enticing and dangerous in equal measure. One that’s intrinsically dramatic and demanding of the characters."

MaveriX in the classroom

In Term 1 2023, Northern Territory educator Kate McMaster incorporated MaveriX episodes into Woodroffe Primary School’s social and emotional learning program. She generously shared work samples and feedback from two lessons for this case study. Working with the Year 5 and 6 cohort, Kate used MaveriX episodes as a provocation in one-hour lessons on teamwork. She developed tasks which catered for the literacy levels of her students while also developing their social and emotional knowledge and skills.

In Lesson 1, students viewed and responded to the first episode of the series. This episode sees rising motocross start Scott Griffin and his dad, former champion ‘Griffo’, recruit riders for a new team set on winning the national junior title. When they arrive at the MaveriX academy two weeks later, the rough and ready facilities and numerous alpha personalities leave these riders all questioning their decision.

Throughout this introductory episode, students took notes on the teamwork displayed by characters bound for MaveriX academy. Students shared their prior knowledge, observations and connections after writing. Notes including ‘cheer on teammates’, ‘never give up’ and ‘walk away’ reveal student knowledge of comradery, perseverance and conflict resolution strategies.   

Building on this work, Lesson 2 focussed on understanding the perspectives of others. Students viewed the second MaveriX episode, which sees the reluctant arrival of social media star Bear Wallis and the theft of tools by local outsider Angelique Summers. While viewing, students observed each character’s traits and actions. They then jointly constructed a summary of each character’s perspective of the theft by collaboratively documenting their observations and interpretations. Kate shared that students were again ‘engaged and writing, thanks to the stimulus’.

Outcomes

At the ACTF, we believe that Australian stories have educational, social and cultural value for children. The feedback shared from Woodroffe Primary School certainly supports this notion. Reflecting on the above two lessons, Kate spoke of high student engagement and increased participation.

‘I have had not one behaviour issue for either lesson. Students are engaged, writing and excited. I stipulated that I wanted their ideas, and I didn’t mind about spelling; they were writing madly’, she commented.

Kate shared that the familiar and relatable settings and events in MaveriX contributed to this engagement.

‘Even here in the Top End, they are connecting so deeply with the Alice Springs setting. They love the action of the bikes. Such a good series for Northern Territory kids.’

Seeing aspects of their own lives reflected in this way enabled students to make powerful connections to the text. Kate shared that spiritual references in the series prompted First Nations, Indonesian and Filipino students to share details of their own spiritual beliefs. Kate also shared that the series encouraged her students to challenge the media stereotypes they can be exposed to.

Conclusion

This case study from Woodroffe Primary School in Palmerston illustrates how locally produced screen stories which genuinely reflect children’s experiences of the world can lift student engagement, participation and achievement. In addition to educational outcomes, these Australian stories also have social and cultural value.

Addressing these broad outcomes, Kate says, ‘The fact that every Year 5/6 student (in four classes) has written, spoken and engaged in two full lessons so far is a credit to the series. It is the buzz talk of the playground - they can’t wait for the next episode. Such a great way to target literacy within a SEL context: the students already see themselves as writers and are willing to record their thoughts and discuss with peers and mentors.’

Recognising the value in high quality screen content produced specifically for child audiences, the Northern Territory Department of Education has licensed a suite of ACTF series and films – including MaveriX. This content is freely available to Northern Territory government teachers through the department’s eLearn portal. Speaking to the value of contemporary resources like MaveriX, Acting Assistant Director of School Improvement and Leadership Jasmine Shannon said:

‘Screen texts that are windows provide students opportunities to witness and understand people, lives, and cultures unlike their own; screen texts that are mirrors reflect people, lives and culture similar to their own.

The Northern Territory Department of Education is committed to screen texts for urban and remote schools where texts are examined as windows and mirrors. Children should be able to see themselves in age-appropriate content and understand that, in addition to screen texts being stories to be enjoyed, they are powerful tools of social discourse and justice. 

All Northern Territory teachers have access to the catalogue of resources from ACTF in eLearn and are encouraged to use and enjoy the screen texts with their students as part of their subject English and integrated work.’ 

The complete MaveriX series is also available to stream via ABC iview, or to purchase as a digital download through the ACTF Shop. ACTF Learning has also developed a free learning resource for the series, building on the effective (and ineffective) teamwork and leadership displayed by the team as the basis for a 10-lesson learning sequence.

References

Original publication: Kelly, J. (2023). MaveriX brings Motocross to the classroom: They are connecting so deeply. Practical Literacy: the Early & Primary Years (PLEPY), 28(2), 24-26. 

MaveriX series: https://actf.com.au/shows/id/254/

MaveriX learning resource: https://actf.com.au/education/resources/id/10490/