The Chinook School Division is giving students a greater say in how their education plays out.

At Monday's Chinook School Division board meeting, a 21st Century Student Engagement status report was given, and the division hopes to continue improving a collaborative culture in the classrooms, and bring in principles of student-centred learning next year.

Sharon Mayall, cirriculum coordinator for Chinook, said their graduation rates are already above the provincial goals, so they're looking at other areas they can improve in. This was the first year using three principles of building a more-collaborative culture - building authentic relationships between parents and students; using students as partners in education, instead of all the knowledge coming from the teachers; and creating a supportive environment.

Next year principles around student-centred learning are set to enter the fray - including responding to diverse learners, planning for deeper learning, and assessment for learning.

Mayall said it's gone well so far, and it's definitely a shift in the way education happens.

"'Students as partners' is a bit of a flip in our thinking, because at one time our teachers were the holders of all the knowledge. Students as partners tells us that we really want to involve our students more, and give them some voice and choice in our classrooms."

The division has surveyed studnets the last four years on how interested nad motivated they feel, and that number incrased by a few per cent to 43 in 2017 - the third-straight year of improvement.

"We do a yearly survey with our students, and we do measure interest and motivation, and yes it has increased over the last few years. Every year we see a little bit of a jump in that area, and we're really excited about those results but we really do want to move them further. We've got goals and we want to keep going and keep working to have our students be partners in our classrooms."