Background to the VELS – The Arts domain
Level 4
At Level 4, both the Arts VELS and the CSF II require students to apply a range of skills using their continuously expanding range of means within individual arts disciplines. Students also present, evaluate, identify, describe, compare and discuss, using appropriate arts language, the communication of ideas and influences in their own and others’ arts works. The standards continue an emphasis on the communication of ideas but at Level 4 in the CSF II, the word ‘communicate’ is not used in the outcomes and is not always used in the curriculum focus for each arts discipline. The VELS require students to use evaluation to refine and improve their arts communication where the CSF II does not consistently acknowledge the value of evaluation at this level. Both documents acknowledge the influence of cultural contexts on students’ arts works and emphasise responding, through discussion, to arts works from different historical and cultural contexts.
One difference of note is that the standard at Level 4 for Creating and making refers to arts principles (compositional/structural conventions or devices) where in the CSF II, Art is the only strand (discipline) that refers to arts principles in the outcome statements.
At Level 4 when using:
- Art to address the Arts standards, students experiment with and use a variety of sources for inspiration and ideas to plan, develop, refine and make two- and three-dimensional art works that apply specific skills using a variety of media and techniques in a broad range of art forms. They select, combine and manipulate art elements such as, line, shape, tone, space, texture, color and form to demonstrate understanding of art principles such as, pattern, contrast, repetition and symmetry and explore the possibilities of art concepts, such as movement, proportion and perspective, to express ideas and communicate in visual ways. They individually and collaboratively use a range of presentation skills to plan and display their art works for different audiences and particular purposes. Students use appropriate terminology to identify and describe the use of the art elements, principles and expressive qualities as well as other stylistic features of contemporary and traditional art works. They compare personal opinions as they discuss the ideas expressed in their own art works and compare and respond to the content and ideas in art works from different times, places or cultures. Students discuss the various purposes and role of art, considering history and tradition, as they compare art works from different cultures.
- Dance to address the Arts standards, students individually and in groups, improvise and compose dance sequences using ideas about past and future times, different environments and cultural contexts. They learn dances representative of different cultural groups. They experiment with and manipulate the dance elements of space, time and energy and begin to use symmetry/asymmetry and different spatial groupings to organise their movement and express their intentions. Students plan, rehearse and refine dances and develop production skills related to performance spaces, such as lighting, props, costumes, sound accompaniment and scenery, to enhance the presentation of dances for a variety of purposes and audiences. They identify cultural influences on their dance and evaluate the effectiveness of own dances, reworking dances to their satisfaction. Students use dance terminology to describe components of a dance and make comparisons of dance, referring to differences in the application of dance elements and gender differences in dance with respect to times, places or cultures. They identify the features and purpose of dances from specific times, places or cultures giving opinions on effective expression through movement.
- Drama to address the Arts standards, students experiment with and use dramatic elements such as movement, voice, language and gesture to portray characters and dramatic forms to convey meaning through their improvisations and other dramas. They refer to stimulus material, pre-texts and other peoples’ playscripts for ways of structuring their work, dividing their improvisations into scenes in order to give focus to particular moments in the dramatic action and use linking devices such as song or frozen images. They work individually and in groups to present their work, using different performance spaces to suit different purposes. Students experiment with ways in which stagecraft elements such as sound accompaniment and lighting can be manipulated to create different effects. Students experiment with ways of including dramatic forms used in the performances of other times and cultures in their own work. Students evaluate the effectiveness of their drama in conveying intended meaning and use feedback to refine their own work. Students use drama terminology to describe their own and others’ drama works and identify the use of dramatic elements in their drama. They identify features of drama from specific times, places or cultures and describe the purposes of drama and theatre in the present and the past.
- Media to address the Arts standards, students develop media productions individually and in groups. They experiment with, select and combine media elements and apply a range of media equipment to produce longer electronic sequences, more detailed layouts and more involved stories to express ideas and experiences in different media forms. Students develop skills in preparing for a media production and present media products to suit different audiences and purposes. They approach media production in a collaborative way at the different stages of pre-production, production, post-production and presentation. Students identify and describe different aspects of own and others’ media productions. They describe different types of media texts and how media elements can be used to achieve particular effects in specific media forms and identify features of these media texts that locate them in different times, places and cultures. Students describe media technologies and identify the influence of production conditions and technology on media texts.
- Music to address the Arts standards, students manipulate the expressive qualities of sound to explore ways of communicating ideas using a range of compositional processes and knowledge of music from different times and places. They experiment with, select, match and combine music elements to improvise and compose individual and group works incorporating influences from their own and other cultures, times and places. They interpret and use conventional and non-conventional notation representing sounds of different pitch, duration, metre and volume in their own compositions. Students present works individually and in groups to a variety of audiences and evaluate the effectiveness of own compositions and performances. Students use appropriate music terminology to describe music elements and to identify and discuss musical features of a range of works from a variety of styles, cultures and times, including those by contemporary composers. They compare the ways in which music is made for specific purposes in particular times, places or cultures and identify social and cultural influences on own works. Students participating in an instrumental or vocal program develop their technical and performance skills and use them in a range of contexts.
| Victorian Essential Learning Standards | CSF II learning outcomes |
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Creating and making
Exploring and responding
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At Level 4, there are five ‘strands’ each of which focuses on an arts discipline - Art, Dance, Drama, Media and Music with four Learning outcomes in each strand. The outcomes for each strand (arts discipline) follow a similar construct. In Arts practice – ideas, skills, techniques and processes students: 4.1 Demonstrate the ability to experiment with ideas in making and presenting art works /dances/drama/media productions/music. 4.2 Demonstrate skill in manipulating art elements and principles/dance elements/drama and stagecraft elements/media elements/music elements. In Responding to the arts – criticism, aesthetics and contexts students: 4.3 Describe personal observations about the content and structure of art works /dances /drama /media texts and productions /music works. 4.4 Distinguish features of art works / dances / drama / media texts and productions /music that locate/s it/them in a particular time, place or culture.
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