Educational Frameworks and the VELS

Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (2008)

On 5 December 2008, State, Territory and Commonwealth Ministers of Education meeting as the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, released the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians which sets the direction for Australian schooling for the next 10 years.

The Goals were developed by Education Ministers in collaboration with the Catholic and independent school sectors, following public consultation on the draft declaration. The Melbourne Declaration supersedes the Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century (1999).

The Melbourne Declaration outlines eight Commitments to Action which includes promoting world-class curriculum and assessment. The features outlined under this Action reaffirm both the content and structure of the VELS:

• The focus on literacy and numeracy as the foundation on which they build knowledge is reflected in the focus on these areas in VELS Levels 1 and 2.
• The focus on students building social and emotional knowledge, nurturing student wellbeing, and understanding of Australian society, citizenship and values is reflected in the domains of the Physical, Personal and Social Learning strand.
• The foundation for further learning and generic skills that support learning in other learning areas is reflected in the inclusion of the domains of the Interdisciplinary Learning strand.
• The focus on deep knowledge and understanding through inter-disciplinary approaches is reflected in the triple-helix structure of the VELS where the knowledge and skills of each strand supports and enhances learning across learning areas.

National Statements of Learning (2006)

The Victorian Essential Learning Standards incorporate the opportunities to learn covered in the national Statements of Learning (www.mceetya.edu.au/mceetya/statements_of_learning,22835.html). The Statements of Learning describe essential skills, knowledge, understandings and capacities that all young Australians should have the opportunity to learn by the end of Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in English, Mathematics, Science, Civics and Citizenship and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT).

The Statements of Learning were developed as a means of achieving greater national consistency in curriculum outcomes across the eight Australian states and territories. It was proposed that they be used by state and territory departments or curriculum authorities (their primary audience) to guide the future development of relevant curriculum documents. They were agreed to by all states and territories in August 2006.

During 2007, the VCAA prepared a detailed map to show how the Statements of Learning are addressed and incorporated in the VELS. In the majority of cases, the VELS learning focus statements incorporate the Statements of Learning. Some Statements of Learning are covered in more than one domain. In some cases, VELS learning focus statements have been elaborated to address elements of the Statements of Learning not previously specified. These elaborations are noted at the end of each learning focus statement.

National Statement for Engaging Young Australians with Asia in Australian Schools (2006)

In 2006 all Australian states and territories approved The National Statement for Engaging Young Australians with Asia in Australian Schools through the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) (www.asiaeducation.edu.au/public_html/aef_statement.htm).

The statement identifies the broad knowledge, understandings, values and skills required to engage with Asia and the rationale for developing knowledge and understanding of Asia and Australia’s relationship with Asia. This includes contributing to:

• being good neighbours and responsible global citizens
• a harmonious Australia
• a creative Australia
• a prosperous Australia.

Underpinning these reasons is intercultural understanding and the values and dispositions required to support a harmonious multicultural society.

The VELS provides opportunities for a strong focus on Asia within the P-10 curriculum. For details please see Asia in the VELS within the Cross-curricular perspectives teacher resource.

National Consumer and Financial Literacy Framework (2005)

The National Consumer and Financial Literacy Framework was developed in 2005 for the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) to articulate further the learning needed to fulfil the National Goals of Schooling 1999.

The Framework focuses on learning in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 around understanding money, consumer education, personal finance and money management. As it was being developed at the same time as the VELS, many of the knowledge and understandings have been integrated into the VELS, primarily into The Humanities – Economics domain. The Framework is also supported in the following VELS domains: Civics and Citizenship, Design, Creativity and Technology, English, Information and Communications Technology, Mathematics, Personal Learning, Science and Thinking Processes.

The National Consumer and Financial Literacy Framework can be accessed on the Australian Government Understanding money pays off website. 

For details of connections to the VELS see Consumer and financial literacy in the Cross-curricular perspectives teaching resource.

Employability Skills Framework (2002)

In 2002, the Department of Education, Science and Training, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Business Council of Australia published an Employability Skills Framework in recognition of the changing nature of work and skills required by enterprises to ensure long term economic growth.

Employability skills are in effect, generic skills that have a broader application and are as important to effective participation in the community as they are to effective participation in paid employment.

These skills have been identified as:

• Communication
• Problem solving
• Team work
• Learning
• Self-management
• Planning and organising
• Technology
• Initiative and enterprise.

Particular facets of the employability skills are appropriate for students in a school context and there is a close relationship between these and the VELS at Level 6 in the Interdisciplinary and Physical, Personal and Social learning strands.

For details of connections to the VELS see Employability skills in the Cross-curricular perspectives teaching resource.