VCE Vocational Major - Personal Development Skills

The introduction of the Vocational Major VCE pathway has opened up exciting opportunities for students to participate in Applied Learning experiences. AL is a teaching and learning approach which emphasises the relevance of what is being learnt to the 'real world'; the world outside the classroom.

Term 1 in the VCE-VM subject Personal Development Skills has required the students to reflect on their attributes and strengths, with a particular focus on building teamwork skills. The students applied their learnings and renewed understanding of the importance of emotional intelligence as participants in the Egg-Drop Challenge. Working in small groups, students were given a limited set of materials with which to construct a small contraption, with the goal of protecting its passenger - an egg - from the impact of a one-storey fall. The survival rate was impressive overall, with each group given time to rethink their design after a trial drop.

In PDS, we are currently learning about how communities foster their member’s health and wellbeing. The students have been lucky enough to participate in a session called Wheel Talk, delivered by Peter - a disability advocate and former paralympian - from Disability Sport & Recreation. After a thought-provoking and inspiring chat with Peter, the students played a hotly contested game of wheelchair basketball, encouraging them to appreciate the benefits of community sport whilst encountering some of the barriers that can have an impact on inclusion for some.

Most recently, we participated in a tailor-made tour of Carlton Baths, learning more about how different community organisations deliver a range of health and leisure services. Our tour of the impressive facilities ended with a 3-point basketball shooting competition on their indoor court, with Hung Truong taking home the chocolates: a highly coveted Maxibon. Extending the learning opportunities beyond the classroom has enabled our students to strengthen their connections to the wider community whilst building stronger relationships with one another. 

Trent Ogden - Personal Development Skills teacher