1. Introducing the capabilities
Sharon Foster
Manager, Victorian Curriculum F-10

2. Agenda
Understanding the structure and intent of the capabilities in the Victorian Curriculum F-10
How to plan using the curriculum
FAQs

3. Victorian Curriculum – Design and Structure
Design and structure reaffirms:
the importance of discipline-based learning approach, where the disciplines are regarded as both enduring and dynamic
capabilities are a set of discrete knowledge and skills, not a statement of pedagogies and students benefit from explicit instruction
that knowledge and skills are transferrable across the curriculum and therefore are not duplicated.

4. Victorian Curriculum F–10 by 2017
Learning Areas
Capabilities
The Arts
Dance
Drama
Media Arts
Music
Visual Communication Design (7-10)
Visual Arts
English
Humanities
Civics and Citizenship
Economics and Business
Geography
History
Languages
Health and Physical Education
Mathematics
Science
Technologies
Design and Technologies
Digital Technologies *
Critical and creative thinking
Intercultural*
Ethical*
Personal and social
Used to answer the quiz questions
Q 1, 2, 3, 8 (marked with *)

5. Achievement Standards
Content descriptions
Achievement Standards
Mandated curriculum

6. Progression of learning

7. Poll 1

8. Critical and Creative Thinking - Aims
Critical and creative thinking capability aims to ensure that students develop:
understanding of thinking processes and an ability to manage and apply these intentionally
skills and learning dispositions that support logical, strategic, flexible and adventurous thinking
confidence in evaluating thinking and thinking processes across a range of familiar and unfamiliar contexts.

9. Critical and Creative Thinking
Strands
Questions and Possibilities
Reasoning
Meta-Cognition
the nature of questioning and a range of processes and techniques to develop ideas
how to compose, analyse and evaluate arguments and reasoning
the use of strategies to understand, manage and reflect on thinking and learning processes

10. Key messages
Critical and creative thinking processes are fundamental to effective learning across the curriculum.
This Victorian Curriculum F-10 design assumes that knowledge and skills are transferrable across the curriculum and therefore are not duplicated. For example, where skills and knowledge such as asking questions, evaluating evidence and drawing conclusions are defined in Critical and Creative Thinking, these are not duplicated in other learning areas such as History or Health and Physical Education. 

11. Most effective strategies
Months' impact is estimated in terms of the additional months' progress you can expect students to make as a result of an approach being used in school, taking average student progress over a year as a benchmark.
For example, the ‘feedback’ strand in the Toolkit shows that improving the quality of feedback provided to students has an average impact of eight months. This means that students in a class where high quality feedback is provided can be expected to make, on average, eight months more progress over the course of a year compared to another class of students who are performing at the same level at the start of the year.

12. Key messages
Explicit teaching of and the application of thinking skills enables students to develop an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the processes they can employ whenever they encounter both the familiar and unfamiliar, to break ineffective habits and build on successful ones, building a capacity to manage their thinking.
Thinking that is productive, purposeful and intentional is at the centre of effective learning and the creation of new knowledge, with the progressive development of knowledge about thinking and the practice of using thinking strategies fostering students’ motivation for, and management of, their own learning.

13. Ethical Capability - Aims
The Ethical Capability curriculum aims to develop knowledge, understandings and skills to enable students to:
Analyse and evaluate ethical issues, recognising areas of contestability
Identify the bases of ethical principles and ethical reasoning
Engage with the challenges of managing ethical decision making and action for individuals and groups
Cultivate open-mindedness and reasonableness

14. Ethical capability Strands Understanding Concepts
Decision Making and Actions
key concepts and ideas important to identifying ethical problems and their relative importance
concepts concerned with ethical outcomes, such as good, bad, right, wrong, just and unjust
concepts that have ethical significance such as tolerance, greed, freedom and courage
the nature and justifications of ethical principles
ways to respond to ethical problems
factors that influence ethical decision making and action
challenges in managing ethical decision making and action

15. Personal and social capability Aims
The Personal and Social Capability curriculum aims to develop knowledge, understandings and skills to enable students to:
recognise, understand and evaluate the expression of emotions
demonstrate an awareness of their personal qualities and the factors that contribute to resilience
develop empathy for and understanding of others and recognise the importance of supporting diversity for a cohesive community
understand how relationships are developed and use interpersonal skills to establish and maintain respectful relationships
work effectively in teams and develop strategies to manage challenging situations constructively.

16. Self-Awareness and Management Social Awareness and Management
Strands
Self-Awareness and Management
Social Awareness and Management
the factors that influence their emotional responses. Students develop the knowledge and skills to regulate, manage and monitor their emotions
a realistic sense of their personal strengths and have a realistic assessment of their own achievements and a sense of self-knowledge and self-confidence.
personal characteristics and interpret their own emotional states, needs and perspectives.
skills to work independently and to show initiative, learning to be conscientious, delaying gratification and persevering in the face of setbacks and frustrations
recognising others’ feelings and knowing how and when to assist others
respect for and understand others’ perspectives, emotional states and needs
positive, safe and respectful relationships, defining and accepting individual and group roles and responsibilities
the role of advocacy in contemporary society and build their capacity to critique societal constructs and forms of discrimination
interacting effectively and respectfully with a range of adults and peers
negotiation, work in teams, positively contribute to groups and collaboratively make decisions; develop leadership skills, resolve conflict and reach positive outcomes
initiate and manage successful personal relationships
Sub-strands
Recognition and expression of emotions
Development of resilience
Appreciation of diversity and understanding of relationships
Collaboration

17. Curriculum connections
Learning in Personal and Social capability is strongly connected to many other areas of the curriculum, especially those that explore human relationships.
Health and Physical Education, in particular, enables students to develop knowledge of recognition of personal qualities, awareness of identity and establishment and maintenance of respectful relationships
Respectful relationships
A teaching and learning program for respectful relationships may include:
the importance of a range of social relationships, including within families, peer groups and the community
identifying and managing emotional responses in a range of contexts
developing knowledge and skills to promote safe and respectful relationships.

18. Intercultural capability - Aims
Intercultural capability aims to develop knowledge, understandings and skills to enable students to:
demonstrate an awareness of and respect for cultural diversity within the community
reflect on how intercultural experiences influence attitudes, values and beliefs
recognise the importance of acceptance and appreciation of cultural diversity for a cohesive community.

19. Intercultural capability
Strands
Cultural Practices
Cultural Diversity
describing, observing and analysing characteristics of their own cultural identities and those of others
compare own knowledge and experiences with those of others
recognise commonalities, acknowledging differences between their lives and seek to understand and engage in critical reflection about such differences
reflect on the meaning of intercultural experiences is an essential element in intercultural learning
critical reflection to better understand the perspectives and actions of individuals and groups in specific situations and how these can be shaped by culture
the nature of cultural diversity
concept of respect, challenges and opportunities created by cultural diversity and the way in which cultural diversity shapes and contributes to social cohesion

20. Key messages
Intercultural capability fosters skills that assist students to negotiate across barriers that may arise from differences. Students will examine, reflect on and challenge assumptions, stereotypes and prejudices and explore how intercultural experiences can influence and change attitudes and beliefs.
Intercultural capability is strongly connected to those areas of learning concerned with people and their societies, relationships and interactions.
Intercultural capability should be read together with the Personal and Social capability knowledge and skills related to empathy, openness, respect and conflict resolution.

21. Placement of standards
Used to answer the quiz question
Q 4, 7

22. Dealing with a new curriculum
Intercultural capability is a new curriculum
Teachers and students need to learn the terminology in the curriculum. It provides students with the vocabulary to describe their learning
As this is a new curriculum, older students may need to begin their learning at lower levels. This will provide the necessary scaffolding and ultimately support progression of learning

23. The importance of the glossary

24. How to implement the capabilities
The Victorian Curriculum F–10 includes capabilities, which are a set of discrete knowledge and skills that can and should be taught explicitly.
It is expected that the skills and knowledge defined in the capabilities will be developed, practised, deployed and demonstrated by students in and through their learning across the curriculum.

25. How and where to teach this?
Level 5-6
Content description
Explain how intercultural experiences can influence beliefs and behaviours, including developing a critical perspective on and respect for their own and others cultures
Achievement standard (part of):
... students demonstrate an understanding how beliefs and practices can be influenced by culture and explain how intercultural experiences can influence beliefs and behaviours.
Possibilities –
Where will it be:
introduced/developed
practised
deployed
demonstrated

26. How and where to teach this?
Introduced/
developed
Practised
Deployed
Demonstrated
English
Maths
The Arts
History
Geography
Civics and Citizenship
Economics and Business
Languages
Health and Physical Education
Science
Digital Technologies
Design and Technologies

27. Poll Level 5-6 Content description
Explain how intercultural experiences can influence beliefs and behaviours, including developing a critical perspective on and respect for their own and others cultures
Achievement standard (part of):
... students demonstrate an understanding how beliefs and practices can be influenced by culture and explain how intercultural experiences can influence beliefs and behaviours.
Poll

28. Deep familiarity to support curriculum planning
How deeply familiar are teachers with the terrain through which learners are progressing (the curriculum continuum)?
How are teaching and learning activities sequenced?
Is it explicit what is being looked for and valued as evidence of successful learning?
What feedback will be provided to students and parents in forms that make clear progress along the continuum?

29. Planning for progression in learning
Content description
Explain how intercultural experiences can influence beliefs and behaviours, including developing a critical perspective on and respect for their own and others cultures
What will you teach to progress the student’s learning?
Examine how various cultural groups are represented, by whom they are represented, and comment on the purpose and effect of these representations
Achievement standard
By the end of Level 6, students demonstrate an understanding how beliefs and practices can be influenced by culture and explain how intercultural experiences can influence beliefs and behaviours.
What will the students be able to demonstrate as they are progressing towards the standards?
By the end of Level 8, students explain how cultural practices may change over time in a range of contexts. They understand how cultural groups can be represented, and comment on the effects of these representations.

30. Curriculum mapping Why?
Mapping identifies the extent of curriculum coverage in units of work and clearly links teaching, learning and assessment while working with the curriculum continuum.
How?
Mapping templates support teachers to identify where content descriptions and achievement standards are being explicitly addressed within the school’s teaching and learning program.

32. Step 2 – Analysing the findings
Prompts for the analysis process:
Are all content descriptions equal? Do you think they all take the same amount of time to teach?
Is anything being over taught?
Is anything being missed completely or given insufficient attention?
Is there sufficient “time on task”? Are you allowing enough time to develop knowledge ,understanding and skills that are included in the curriculum and thus enable students to progress along the continuum?
Does the unit/sequence of lessons cater for a range of students abilities? Does the unit/sequence of lessons provide access and challenge for all students in the cohort?
Is it easier to teach in depth or more broadly?
Is there a logical sequence?

33. Whole-school curriculum planning
Is not the responsibility of the individual teacher – it is a team effort
Recognises that we are educating the whole child across many years of schooling - curriculum is designed as a continuum of learning
Without the “what” students should learn, pedagogy is a process without purpose
Deep familiarity with the curriculum is essential

34. Four interrelated layers
By School – a high-level summary of the coverage of all the curriculum areas, reflecting the school’s goals, vision and any particular areas of specialisation or innovation
By Curriculum Area – the sequencing of key knowledge and skills across the years of schooling to support a progression of learning
By Year Level – a coherent program from a student perspective that enables effective connections across curriculum areas
By Unit / Lessons – specifying Victorian Curriculum F–10 content descriptions and achievement standards, activities and resources to ensure students of all achievement levels are able to progress
Summarise the four interrelated layers of curriculum planning – why all are important but give a different perspective

35. Importance of curriculum planning

36. Curriculum planning considerations
Curriculum planning can be based on two-year cycles rather than a yearly cycle. What are the implications for your school?
Do you have an agreed approach to documentation?
What would be a realistic timeframe to prepare and review the relevant documentation?

37. Sample templates

38. FAQ
What is the relationship between the Personal and Social capability and the Intercultural capability?
What is the relationship between the Languages curriculum and the Intercultural capability?
Is the school environment important for effective learning in personal and social capability and intercultural capability?
Are there recommendations about the “best” learning areas to use with particular capabilities?
How much time is needed to cover the capabilities?

39. Next steps

40. Location / Contact details
VCAA websites
Victorian Curriculum F-10
Victorian Curriculum F-10 Resources and Support
Curriculum Planning Resources:
Queries
Sharon Foster – –