VCE VM Subjects

VCE VM - Literacy

VCE Vocational Major Literacy focuses on the development of the knowledge and skills required to be literate in Australia today. The key knowledge and key skills encompass a student’s ability to interpret and create texts that have purpose, and are accurate and effective, with confidence and fluency.

Texts should be drawn from a wide range of contexts and be focused on participating in the workplace and community. Further to this, texts should be drawn from a range of sources including media texts, multimodal texts, texts used in daily interactions, and workplace texts from increasingly complex and unfamiliar settings.

As students develop these skills, they engage with texts that encompass the everyday language of personal experience to the more abstract, specialised and technical language of different workplaces, including the language of further study.

The applied learning approach of this study is intended to meet the needs of students with a wide range of abilities and aspirations.

Unit 1

This area of study focuses on the structures and features of a range of texts – print, visual and film – and the personal reasons readers may have for engaging with these texts. Students will read or watch a variety of texts for a personal purpose, such as finding information. Texts should be chosen from a range of local and global perspectives, including First Nations peoples’ and multicultural perspectives, and should include film, TV, online videos, song, poetry, biographies and digital content, and other texts of interest to the cohort. Through discussions and class activities students will develop their understanding of the structures and features of these text types, and examine how they are influenced by purpose, context, audience and culture.

Unit 2

In this area of study, students will engage in issues that are characterised by disagreement or discussion, developing and expanding upon students’ learning from Unit 1. Students will consider the values and beliefs that underpin different perspectives and how these values create different biases and opinions, including thinking about how these issues might arise in particular vocational or workplace settings. Students will read, view and listen to a range of texts and content that demonstrate diverse opinions on a range of local and global issues, and which may impact on their community or be of particular concern to a vocational or workplace group. Students should consider the language and purpose of different text types and consider how this language is used to influence an audience.

Unit 3

In this area of study students will become familiar with and develop confidence in understanding and accessing texts of an informational, organisational or procedural nature. These texts should reflect real-life situations encountered by students and be representative of the sorts of texts students will encounter in a vocational setting or workplace, or for their health and participation in the community.

Unit 4

In this area of study students will investigate, analyse and create content for the advocacy of self, a product or a community group of the student’s choice, in a vocational or recreational setting. Students will research the differences between texts used for more formal or traditional types of advocacy, influence or promotion, as well as some of the forms that are increasingly being used in the digital domain for publicity and exposure.

VCE VM - Numeracy

VCE Vocational Major Numeracy focuses on enabling students to develop and enhance their numeracy skills to make sense of their personal, public and vocational lives. Students develop mathematical skills with consideration of their local, national and global environments and contexts, and an awareness and use of appropriate technologies.

This study allows students to explore the underpinning mathematical knowledge of number and quantity, measurement, shape, dimensions and directions, data and chance, the understanding and use of systems and processes, and mathematical relationships and thinking. This mathematical knowledge is then applied to tasks which are part of the students’ daily routines and practices, but also extends to applications outside the immediate personal environment, such as the workplace and community.

Numeracy Study Components

VCE Vocational Major Numeracy is designed around four complementary and essential components:

Eight areas of study (four in each unit) that name and describe a range of different mathematical knowledge and skills that are expected to be used and applied across the three outcomes.
Outcome 1 is framed around working mathematically across six different numeracy contexts:
1. Personal numeracy
2. Civic numeracy
3. Financial numeracy
4. Health numeracy
5. Vocational numeracy
6. Recreational numeracy.
Outcome 2 elaborates and describes a four-stage problem-solving cycle that underpins the capabilities required to solve a mathematical problem embedded in the real world.
Outcome 3 requires students to develop and use a technical mathematical toolkit as they undertake their numeracy activities and tasks. Students should be able to confidently use multiple mathematical tools, both analogue and digital/technological.

Unit 1

In Unit 1 students will develop their numeracy practices to make sense of their personal, public and vocational lives. They will develop mathematical skills with consideration of their local, community, national and global environments and contexts, and an awareness and use of appropriate technologies.

These units provide students with the fundamental mathematical knowledge, skills, understandings and dispositions to solve problems in real contexts for a range of workplace, personal, further learning and community settings relevant to contemporary society.

Unit 2

In Unit 2 students will develop and extend their numeracy practices to make sense of their personal, public and vocational lives. They will develop mathematical skills with consideration of their local, community, national and global environments and contexts, and identification and appropriate selection and use of relevant technologies.

Unit 3

In Unit 3 students further develop and enhance their numeracy practices to make sense of their personal, public and vocational lives. Students extend their mathematical skills with consideration of their local, community, national and global environments and contexts, and the use and evaluation of appropriate technologies.

These units provide students with a broad range of mathematical knowledge, skills and understanding to solve problems in real contexts for a range of workplace, personal, further learning and community settings relevant to contemporary society.

Unit 4

In Unit 4 students further develop, enhance and extend their numeracy practices to make sense of their personal, public and vocational lives. Students extend their mathematical skills with consideration of their local, community, national and global environments and contexts, and use of, evaluation and justification of appropriate technologies.

VCE VM – Personal Development Skills

VCE Vocational Major Personal Development Skills (PDS) takes an active approach to personal development, self-realisation and citizenship by exploring interrelationships between individuals and communities. PDS focuses on health, wellbeing, community engagement and social sciences, and provides a framework through which students seek to understand and optimise their potential as individuals and as members of their community.

This study provides opportunities for students to explore influences on identity, set and achieve personal goals, interact positively with diverse communities, and identify and respond to challenges. Students will develop skills in self-knowledge and care, accessing reliable information, teamwork, and identifying their goals and future pathways.

PDS explores concepts of effective leadership, self-management, project planning and teamwork to support students to engage in their work, community and personal environments.

Through self-reflection, independent research, critical and creative thinking and collaborative action, students will extend their capacity to understand and connect with the world they live in, and build their potential to be resilient, capable citizens.

Unit 1

This unit focuses on the development of personal identity and individual pathways to optimal health and wellbeing. It begins with concepts of personal identity and the range of factors that contribute to an individual’s perception of self and individual health and wellbeing. Students will use these findings to enhance an understanding of community cohesion, community engagement and how sense of identity may affect outcomes in different contexts. Students will investigate the elements of emotional intelligence and begin to develop an awareness of interrelationships between communities and the health and wellbeing of individuals.

Unit 2

This unit focuses on the benefits of community participation and how people can work together effectively to achieve a shared goal. It begins with definitions of community and different types of communities at a local, national and global level. Students will look at the relationships between active citizenship, empathy and connection to culture, and individual health and wellbeing. They will investigate the barriers and enablers to problem solving within the community.

Unit 3

This unit considers the role of interpersonal skills and social awareness in different settings and contexts. Students will examine leadership qualities and the characteristics of effective leaders and how these qualities can be applied to the achievement of goals within personal and community contexts. They will explore key components of effective teamwork and reflect on how to lead and contribute within a team context through a collaborative problem-solving activity. Students will evaluate individual contribution as well as the overall effectiveness of the team.

Unit 4

This unit focuses on student participation in an extended project relating to a community issue. Students will identify environmental, cultural, economic and social issues affecting the community and select one for an extended community project. They will look at past approaches to the selected issue in Australia and elsewhere, consider how they will research information, and formulate an objective to achieve. Students will reflect on how community awareness of a selected issue can be improved. Students will engage in a process of planning, implementing and evaluating a response to a selected community issue. They will conduct research, analyse findings and make decisions on how to present work. Students will consider the key elements (such as emotional intelligence and effective team practices) and considerations (such as safety and ethics) when implementing a community project. Students will present project to an appropriate audience of peers or community members and evaluate the effectiveness of chosen response to the issue.

VCE VM Work Related Skills

VCE Vocational Major Work Related Skills (WRS) examines a range of skills, knowledge and capabilities relevant to achieving individual career and educational goals. Students will develop a broad understanding of workplace environments and the future of work and education, in order to engage in theoretical and practical planning and decision-making for a successful transition to their desired pathway.

The study considers four key areas: the future of work; workplace skills and capabilities; industrial relations and the workplace environment and practice; and the development of a personal portfolio.

Students will have the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills gained from this study in the classroom environment and through Structured Workplace Learning (SWL).

Unit 1

This unit recognises the importance of sourcing reliable information relating to future education and employment prospects to engage in effective pathway planning and decision-making. Students will investigate information relating to future employment, including entry-level pathways, emerging industries, and growth industries and trends, and evaluate the impact of pursuing employment in different industries. Students will reflect on this research in the context of their individual skills, capabilities and education and/or employment goals. They will develop and apply strategies to communicate their findings.

Unit 2

As the nature of work changes over time, so do the skills and capabilities needed for success. Fundamental to achieving personal goals relating to future education and employment is the ability to recognise and develop individual skills and capabilities that are valued in a chosen pathway. In this unit, students will consider the distinction between essential employability skills, specialist and technical work skills and personal capabilities, and understand the importance of training and development to support the attainment and transferability of skills. Students will collect evidence and artefacts relating to their personal skills and capabilities and promote them through resumes, cover letters and interview preparation.

Unit 3

This unit focuses on the core elements of a healthy, collaborative, inclusive and harmonious workplace and is separated into three main areas:

wellbeing, culture and the employee-employer relationship
workplace relations, and
communication and collaboration.

Students will learn how to maintain positive working relationships with colleagues and employers, understanding the characteristics of a positive workplace culture and its relationship to business success. They will investigate key areas relating to workplace relations including methods for determining pay and conditions, workplace bullying, workplace discrimination, workplace harassment and dispute resolution. Students will discover how teamwork and communication skills contribute to healthy, collegiate and productive workplaces.

Unit 4

Portfolios are a practical and tangible way for a person to communicate relevant skills, experiences and capabilities to education providers and future employers. In this unit students will develop and apply their knowledge and skills relating to portfolios, including the features and characteristics of a high-quality physical and/or digital portfolio. The unit culminates in the formal presentation of a completed portfolio in a panel style interview and an evaluation of the end product.