Note- As I am
still unsure whether I am teaching in Victoria or the ACT I have used both
curriculum documents in different chapters to reflect in this module, mostly
using the Victorian documents as I am less familiar with those.
Chapter 1 Introduction and Overview
No
reflections.
Chapter 2 Australian Curriculum
No
reflections.
Chapter 3 Cross-Curriculum Priorities
and General Capabilities
The
Australian Cross-Curriculum Priorities are: Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia and
Sustainability (ACARA, 2016).
The seven Australian
General Capabilities are: literacy, numeracy, information and communication
technology (ICT) capability, critical and creative thinking, personal and
social capability, ethical understanding and intercultural understanding
(ACARA, 2016).
In the ACT, years 11 and 12 use a curriculum that can be
attained on the BSSS (2016) website. They must currently be going through a
transition stage for the F-10 curriculum, and many of the links don’t lead
anywhere. I believe that the ACT uses the ACARA (2016) curriculum. The
cross-curriculum priorities and general capabilities are integrated into this curriculum
documentation using small symbols for each, and displaying the relevant ones
under each content description of the learning area.
And in the event that I do a placement in Victoria, the VCAA
(2016) website seems more difficult to navigate to easily match the
capabilities and priorities with the particular subjects. The Curriculum Design
(VCAA, 2016) page allows you to choose options including: Learning areas and
Capabilities, and Cross-curriculum Priorities. The former shows a table
depicting that Critical and Creative Thinking, Ethical, Intercultural, and
Personal and Social capabilities are incorporated into each learning area (this
is not as articulated as the Australian Curriculum design). Literacy, Numeracy,
and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are described below the
table including the affirmation that they should also be embedded into the
curriculum.
The Cross-curriculum Priorities option mentions all three
priorities, though it only describes learning about Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander histories and cultures in detail, and is not shown in relation
to any of the learning areas.
It seems that the Victorian Curriculum leaves the intricacies
of teaching this up to the teachers. The VCAA website seems less user friendly
altogether that the Australian Curriculum site.
Chapter 4 Curriculum
for Years 7 – 10
Summary of the information that I found in the curriculum
materials and the F - 10 resources which have a range of support materials in the
Victorian Curriculum documents:
F - 10 website (VCAA, 2016)
- Home
- Description of that the Victorian Curriculum is and does
- Details of changes made to the Victorian Curriculum F–10 link
- Curriculum Planning Resource link - Overview
-What the Victorian Curriculum F–10 is about
- Links for: Curriculum Design; Learning areas and Capabilities; Standards and levels; Cross-curriculum Priorities; Diversity of Learners; Navigation and Terminology - Curriculum
- Has options to see a description of each of the different learning areas - Levels
- Has options to view the detailed curriculum for each of the Levels (Levels A-D, and Foundation-10A).
F-10
Resources (VCAA, 2016)
- Home
- A link to a visual guide designed to help locate key information and resource related to the Victorian Curriculum F–10
- Under ‘General advice’ there are links to: Curriculum planning; assessment and reporting; Navigating the Victorian Curriculum F–10 videos; Victorian Curriculum Update subscription service; Professional learning opportunities; Frequently Asked Questions; and Bushfire Education
- Under Curriculum-specific advice there are links to: The Arts; Dance; Drama; Media Arts; Music; Visual Arts; Visual Communication Design; Critical and Creative Thinking; English; Ethical Capability; Health and Physical Education; The Humanities; Civics and Citizenship; Economics and Business; Geography; History; Intercultural Capability; Languages; Mathematics; Personal and Social Capability; Science; Technologies; Design and Technologies; and Digital Technologies - Educators
- Has links to: Early Years; Foundation to 10; Senior Secondary (Years 11-12); Administration; Career Opportunities; and Resources. Each have more informing links attached. - Parents
- Has links to: Primary and Secondary Schooling; and Senior Secondary (Years 11-12). Both with more informing links attached. - Students
- Has links to: Senior Secondary (Years 11-12); Past Students; and Years 9 and 10. Each have more informing links attached. - Notices
and Bulletins
- Has links to; Notices to Schools; and VCAA Bulletin. Each have more informing links attached. - Excellence
and Awards
-Has more informing links attached. - Early
Years, Foundation to 10, and Senior Secondary links
- informing links attached to each.
Chapter 5 Humanities
The 5 most important things I have learned about the
Humanities curriculum from the Victorian Curriculum (2016):
- This is something that I had to ask my sister who is a Primary School teacher in Victoria, because it doesn’t seem to state how Humanities is presented anywhere. I had a hunch that in the primary years the subjects are taught as a whole (Humanities), and lessons don’t distinguish between the 4 areas. My sister told me that different schools do it differently, though the only time she has seen them taught separately is when it is a specialist subject in the event of a homeroom teachers release time.
- Civics and Citizenship is introduced into the Humanities curriculum in Grade 3, Economics and Business in Grade 5. Geography and History are taught from Foundation (Grade Prep). The following points are about Humanities subjects from between Grade 3-6.
- Civics and Citizenship is broken up into three learning areas: Government and Democracy; Laws and Citizens; and Citizenship, Diversity and Identity. It teaches students about our laws, Government, democracy and about the different cultural, religious and/or social groups who make up a part of citizenship. (The content description for Grade 5 and 6 is exactly the same.)
- Economics and Business teaching content includes: Resource Allocation and Making Choices; Consumer and Financial Literacy; The Business Environment; Work and Work Futures; Enterprising Behaviours and Capabilities; Economic and Business Reasoning and Interpretation. (I don’t remember any of this from Primary school, I wonder if I was taught the same stuff.)
- History content shows that students will be taught historical concepts, skills and knowledge. Grade 3 details an Australian Colonial and Indigenous history. Grade 4 includes European exploration, though it is in relation to Australian settlement so probably is a continuation of white Australian history. Grade 5 includes why people migrated to Australia from Europe and Asia. The Grade 6 content description is identical to the grade 5 content description.
Chapter 6 The Arts
The 5 most important things I have learned about the Arts
curriculum from the Victorian Curriculum (2016), and the ACARA (2016):
- There are 5 areas of the Arts, and in order to teach the content completely I would need to use both the Victorian Curriculum and the Australian Curriculum documents together… blah. This goes for the other subjects as well.
- The Key Ideas table (VCAA, 2016) is helpful for developing those essential questions that the students need to be able to answer and the teachers need to use to develop their units and lessons.
- All 5 subjects are studied from Foundation to Grade 6- which is different from the Humanities subjects where 2 of them are introduced in the later years of Primary school.
- The Australian Curriculum for each arts subject includes: a rationale and aims; the structure for learning; band descriptions; content descriptions; content elaborations; links to statements about student diversity, general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities; sequence of achievement; and glossary, which will be very helpful if I end up teaching in a Primary school for my middle years placement, and for my early years placement.
- It worries me that I will need to teach Arts subjects in at least one of my placements, however exploring traditional and contemporary arts practices from different cultures, including works from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures as suitable to community and cultural protocols sounds very fun.
Chapter 7 Health and
Physical Education
The 5 most important things I have learned about the Health
and Physical Education curriculum:
*Note- I will be listing important things I learn from both the
ACARA (2016) site, and the VCAA (2016) site. There will be more that 5 things,
though I will try to keep the list short.
- The Australian Curriculum refers to Outdoor Recreation in the Health and Physical Education Rationale. This maybe a way of bunching Outdoor Education into the curriculum as there is no curriculum description for Outdoor Education itself in the main places where curriculum documents are available for the Victorian and the Australian curriculum sites. However, if I Google ‘Victorian Curriculum Outdoor Education’ it does take me to the relevant document, I’m just unsure what the path to it is within the site.
- The Australian Curriculum site makes no mention of any kind of sexual education within the Health aspect of the area. It does state things that could be interpreted as this such as “students develop the skills, knowledge, and understanding to strengthen their sense of self, and build and manage satisfying, respectful relationships” (ACARA, 2016), though there is nothing explicit.*Update- this is addressed in the ‘Structure’ link in the Health and Physical Education ACARA site, under ‘Focus areas’.
- ACARA, 2016 makes statements such as having a “focus on supporting students to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills they require to make healthy, safe and active choices that will enhance their own and others’ health and wellbeing”, though it doesn’t explicitly mention that there will be any focus on educating students about individuals and groups that don’t fall into sociocultural or gender norms, to teach for understanding and inclusivity. Update- this is addressed in the ‘Structure’ link in the Health and Physical Education ACARA site, in a paragraph titled: Same-sex attracted and gender-diverse students, as well as under ‘Focus areas’.
- Table 2 in ‘Structure’ (ACARA, 2016), shows appropriate timing to teach the focus areas which is helpful.
- In the ACARA (2016) Health and Physical Education: Curriculum page, there are work sample portfolios, which are helpful in demonstrating the work teachers need to set for students, and what the standard of success is, but re we expected to create these for all/some/any students??
- I like the part of the VCAA (2016) Health and Physical Education Level Description that states “the content explores knowledge, understanding and skills that supports students to interpret health messages from different sources to take action to enhance their own health and wellbeing” as I have some views on this subject.
- It’s good how the focus areas in Level 3-4 “include, but are not limited to”, however there are so many focus areas that I’m unsure as yet how to add to these. I suppose as you teach a lesson you are addressing many of the areas.
- The Health and Physical Education Content Descriptions are under 2 main headings: Personal, Social and Community Health; and, Movement and Physical Activity.
References
ACARA. (2016). Australian curriculum. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/
ACARA. (2016). Cross-curriculum priorities. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/crosscurriculumpriorities/overview/introduction
ACARA. (2016). Health and Physical Education: Aims. Retrieved
from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/aims
ACARA. (2016). Health and Physical Education: Key Learning
Areas. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/key-ideas
ACARA. (2016). Health and Physical Education: Structure. Retrieved
from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/health-and-physical-education/structure
ACARA. (2016). General capabilities. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/generalcapabilities/overview/introduction
ACARA. (2016). The Arts. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/the-arts/curriculum/f-10?layout=1
BSSS. (2016). ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies.
Retrieved from http://www.bsss.act.edu.au/
VCAA. (2016). Cross-curriculum Priorities. Retrieved from http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/overview/cross-curriculum-priorities
VCAA. (2016). Key Ideas. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/the-arts/key-ideas
VCAA. (2016). Learning areas and Capabilities. Retrieved from
http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/overview/curriculum-design/learning-areas-and-capabilities
VCAA. (2016). The Arts. Retrieved from http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/the-arts/introduction/about-the-arts
VCAA. (2016). The Humanities. Retrieved from http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/the-humanities/introduction/about-the-humanities
VCAA. (2016). The Victorian Curriculum Foundation–10.
Retrieved from http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/
VCAA. (2016). Level 3. Retrieved from http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/level3
VCAA. (2016). Victorian Curriculum Resources and Support.
Retrieved from http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/foundation10/viccurriculum/viccurr-resources.aspx
