English Learning Area Leader Update

Dear Families, Students and Community Members,

I hope as we near the end of Term 2 that you have had a productive and enjoyable term. 

In English, we have been busy rolling out the new Victorian Curriculum 2.0 and aligning this with existing VCE targets. Continuing from the introduction of the new study design for VCE English in 2024, we are working hard on developing students’ own writing voice through more creative texts where students have greater ownership over what they produce, and the message carried through these texts. This is, of course, alongside the more traditional analytical writing tasks that are familiar to students. 

As our access to a greater wealth of information, text types, and perspectives grows in the world, the skills fostered in English only become more indispensable. This semester, there has been a particular emphasis on critically engaging with the information we consume, developing students’ understanding that they are active participants in the communication process, and they can challenge and accept ideas accordingly. 

Rolling out Curriculum 2.0

As the landscape for literacy changes in Australian society, so too must the way we approach the teaching of English in schools. The Curriculum 2.0 for English is now out of the familiarisation stage and is being implemented across all classrooms at Mordialloc College. 

This has seen a number of changes in text selection in the school, with greater emphasis on digital literacy and multimodal texts. For example, our Year 8 students have recently finished a Text Response unit on the film Invictus, exploring how the audience’s response to the key themes of leadership, sacrifice and teamwork in apartheid South Africa are influenced through a ‘moving image’ text. 

In the lead-up to semester reports, it is important to reiterate that although the revised curriculum is organised by strands only (Language, Literature, and Literacy), the achievement standards remain organised by language modes (Reading & Viewing, Speaking & Listening, and Writing). Therefore, you will see no change from previous years in the way English is reported in the upcoming semester reports. 

The Benefits and Drawbacks of AI for Students

In 2025, it would be erroneous to assume that students won’t use artificial intelligence - it’s easy, largely enhances efficiency, and is becoming more integral to the functioning of contemporary society. Students ultimately see the growing dependence on technology and artificial intelligence in modern times and understandably lean into adopting these tools themselves when producing their own work. However, for school students, it is imperative that they understand the areas in which artificial intelligence can be of benefit, and the areas where it may actually prove disadvantageous. 

AI is a valuable research tool: it can provide instant summaries of texts or passages of information, helping students to draw key points from longer texts as well as creating links between complex ideas. It can help students to generate ideas about texts (such as the novels or poems studied in class), acting as a foundation from which students can build more sophisticated interpretations, and for the creation of their own texts, helping to provide that initial spark to prompt them on their own writing journey.

However, there are two main downsides to students using artificial intelligence at school. Firstly, the sources from which sites like ChatGPT draw information are not always reliable. For example, students who rely on AI to source quotations from texts will often find they are supporting their paragraphs with quotes that either don’t exist in the text or are significantly inaccurate. Secondly, the writing style produced by sites like ChatGPT is formulaic, repetitive and often overly simplistic. Aside from inhibiting the development of students’ own writing skills, it falsely builds an expectation that this is what good writing looks like at the highest level - when this is certainly not the case! In class, we have broken down paragraphs written by ChatGPT and highlighted many areas where they fall short. 

In short, artificial intelligence is a terrific tool for research and summary yet is still mostly inadequate in building the writing skills needed to communicate effectively. Given that being able to authenticate students’ work as their own is part of students receiving a Satisfactory for classwork from 7-10 and in VCE, I am hoping that having conversations with students both outside of the classroom as well as within it will reassure them that their best written work is always their own! 

Kate Mottershead

Learning Area Leader - English