Values Education and the VELS
Introduction | Nine values for Australian Schooling | VELS links | Subject/curriculum area links | Resources | Show all
Introduction
The Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) are underpinned by a set of educational purposes and principles which are located within the broader community understanding of shared personal and social values. These include those found in the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, adopted by the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) in 2008 for all school sectors. They also include those in the National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools (2005) developed from the outcomes of the Values Education Study commissioned by the Australian Government.
Many schools include in their charters and statements of goals a commitment to the personal and social development of their students. The VELS relate to the range of philosophies, beliefs and traditions by providing a framework for the underlying knowledge, skills and behaviours associated with this development. It is not intended that values be the subject of specific, stand-alone teaching or the focus of assessment of individual students. They are a statement of community expectations within which schools develop their curricula.
Nine values for Australian schooling
The National Framework for Values Education recognises the values education policies and programs already in place in Victorian education authorities and schools. The nine values for Australian schooling are:
- Care and compassion
- Doing your best
- Fair go
- Freedom
- Honesty and trustworthiness
- Integrity
- Respect
- Responsibility
- Understanding, tolerance and inclusion.
These nine values in the National Framework are consistent with values embedded in the VELS and developed within domains across the three learning strands.
Links to the VELS
Students are provided with opportunities to develop their understanding of values within the context of everyday learning. The domains within the Discipline-based Learning strand will often provide the teaching and learning contexts for the development and discussion of values. Particular elements in domains from the Physical, Personal and Social Learning and Interdisciplinary Learning strands are provided below as examples of how values are embedded in the VELS.
Care and compassion
Students at Level 1 in Interpersonal Development identify the qualities of a friend and demonstrate care for other students.
Doing your best
At Level 6 in Interpersonal Development (Working in teams) they develop and implement strategies for improving their contributions to achieving the team goals and in Personal Learning (The individual learner) they demonstrate a positive and structured approach to learning, identifying and using effective strategies that assist with study, both at school and at home.
Fair go
At Level 2 in Personal Learning (The individual learner) they contribute to the development of protocols that create a positive learning environment in the classroom.
Freedom
At Level 4 in Civics and Citizenship (Civic knowledge and understanding) they explain the basic elements of Australia’s federal parliamentary system and key democratic principles and values such as freedom of speech and equality before the law.
Honesty and trustworthiness
At Level 4 in Thinking Processes (Reasoning, processing and inquiry) students distinguish between fact and opinion. At Level 6 in Civics and Citizenship (Civic knowledge and understanding), they contest, where appropriate, the opinions of others.
Integrity
At Level 3 in Interpersonal Development (Working in teams), students describe and evaluate their own contribution and the team’s progress towards the achievement of agreed goals. At Level 5 in Information and Communications Technology (ICT for creating), they apply criteria to evaluate the extent to which their information products meet user needs and comply with intellectual property laws. This also relates to Honesty and Trustworthiness.
Respect
At Level 4 in Interpersonal Development (Working in teams), students demonstrate, through their interactions in social situations, respect for a diverse range of people and groups. In Communication (Presenting) at Level 5, they provide and use constructive feedback and reflection to develop effective communication skills.
Responsibility
At Level 3 in Civics and Citizenship (Civic knowledge and understanding), students demonstrate understanding of the contribution from the many culturally diverse groups that make up the Australian community.
Understanding, tolerance and inclusion
At Level 4 in Civics and Citizenship (Community engagement) they demonstrate understanding that there are different viewpoints on an issue, and contribute to group and class decision making.
Links to subject/curriculum areas
These examples are not exhaustive but demonstrate how values are embedded in the standards within the domains. Specific subject/curriculum areas such as Health and Physical Education and Science also support the nine values of the National Framework. Examples of these include
Science
Students develop and apply Honesty and Trustworthiness through the application of fair testing and Responsibility through debating ethically-based science-related issues of broad community concern.
The Arts
Students develop and apply Integrity in their reflections on their explorations and opinions about their own and others’ use of the music elements.
Woodwork Technology
Students develop and apply Responsibility through assessing the outcomes of design and technology processes, and the resulting products and technical systems in relation to environmental, social and economic factors.
Health and Physical Education
Students develop and apply the idea of Fair Go through reflecting awareness that everyone has the right to participate in a healthy and active lifestyle and Care and Compassion through applying healthy living and safety procedures to self and others.
Economics
Students develop and apply Integrity and Responsibility through acting rationally and ethically when making economic and personal decisions.
History
Students apply Understanding, Tolerance and Inclusion through developing their sense of personal, cultural and national identity in a diverse multicultural nation and develop perspectives on our nation, our region and our world.
It can be seen through these examples that the VELS support values education across the curriculum and at each of the six levels through both suggested learning experiences and standards in the domains. Schools are best placed to ensure that, in the delivery of their programs, the broader aspirations of their community are appropriately expressed. The VELS provide the flexibility for schools to develop their own approach to values education using those defined in the National Framework and National Goals of Schooling and those identified through school-based policies and processes.
Resources
Values Education for Australian Schools
Information about the Australian Governments values education initiatives. The site includes resources to incorporate values education across the whole school, teaching resources, case studies, current articles and research and ideas for professional learning activities.
Values Education
Information from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development including information about upcoming events and activities related to values education.
