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• VCCCTR084

  Explore reasons and conclusions through investigation

  Elaborations

  • recording their understanding through images and words
  • beginning to explain the reasons for their choice, conclusion or decision
  • exploring and investigating and establishing ideas and understandings during and at the conclusion of this process

  VCCCTR084 | Capabilities | Critical and Creative Thinking | Level D | Reasoning

• VCCCTR050

  Investigate use of additional or refined criteria when application of original criteria does not produce a clear conclusion

  Elaborations

  • discussing characteristics of criteria such as specific, measurable, agreed, time-bound and how refining original criteria based on these characteristics can make them more precise
  • using a range of examples to test the strength of given criteria, such as what counts as sustainable and justifying refinements or additions to criteria
  • evaluating the clarity of a proposed conclusion, discussing what role criteria played in reaching that clarity

  VCCCTR050 | Capabilities | Critical and Creative Thinking | Levels 9 and 10 | Reasoning

• VCCCTR048

  Investigate the nature and use of counter examples structured as arguments

  Elaborations

  • using a clearly absurd case to construct a counterexample that shows the faulty form of an argument, for example criticising an argument by showing that it is of a similar form to ‘if cats are amphibians, then cats are animals; cats are animals, therefore cats are amphibians.’
  • using ‘if…then’ reasoning to construct a counterexample, for example ‘But if this (other industry) tried this innovation strategy, it would be much more expensive and so not all industries could do it so easily’

  VCCCTR048 | Capabilities | Critical and Creative Thinking | Levels 9 and 10 | Reasoning

• VCCCTR067

  Experience information and ideas by participating in routine experiences

  Elaborations

  • exploring the world around them by attempting different courses of actions
  • experiencing step by step activities and experiencing teachers explaining course of action
  • evaluating procedures and outcomes by experiencing the effect of their actions throughout daily activities
  • sharing ideas about what keeps you safe during routine experiences

  VCCCTR067 | Capabilities | Critical and Creative Thinking | Level B | Reasoning

• VCCCTR005

  Compare and contrast information and ideas in own and others reasoning

  Elaborations

  • sharing points of view and discussing information and ideas used to help reach each point of view
  • talking about two arguments with similar conclusions and identifying the information or ideas used in each identifying similarities and differences

  VCCCTR005 | Capabilities | Critical and Creative Thinking | Foundation to Level 2 | Reasoning

• VCCCTR037

  Investigate when counter examples might be used in expressing a point of view

  Elaborations

  • discussing whether exceptions to a rule affect its strength, for example in testing technological solutions and considering the number of times the solution failed and how it failed
  • identifying reasons for seeking counter examples in evaluating arguments, for example to mitigate confirmation bias, or to identify the limits of a claim

  VCCCTR037 | Capabilities | Critical and Creative Thinking | Levels 7 and 8 | Reasoning

• VCCCTR049

  Consider ambiguity and equivocation and how they affect the strength of arguments

  Elaborations

  • identifying phrases or words in an argument that are misleading because they do not contain a single meaning and discussing which meaning serves the argument better
  • discussing why ambiguity and/or equivocation might be deliberately used in a point of view, for example to express humour
  • examining strategies to resolve ambiguities such as declaring a definition or making context clearer

  VCCCTR049 | Capabilities | Critical and Creative Thinking | Levels 9 and 10 | Reasoning

• VCECD003

  Explore the effects that personal feelings can have on how people behave in situations where ethical issues are involved

  Elaborations

  • comparing the deliberations and actions of people who share a problem but experience different feelings, and reflecting on the influence feelings have on the outcome, for example, conflict over the sharing of a reward for a group effort
  • examining a range of issues to determine if feelings are important in reaching the best decision and why, for example, reaching a decision on who to invite to a party, or what jail sentence a judge should hand down
  • discussing whether a machine or robot would be able to make the best decisions in particular situations without being able to feel

  VCECD003 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Foundation to Level 2 | Decision Making and Actions

• VCECD023

  Investigate how different factors involved in ethical decision-making can be managed by people and groups

  Elaborations

  • identifying an ethical problem and how a social and/or private institution negotiates different points of view, for example NGOs working in local communities, or government organisations such as local councils with a planning or development issue
  • analysing a range of fiction and non-fiction texts such as autobiographies to compare and reflect on how characters/people internally managed the interaction of factors such as feelings, reasoning, experience, dispositions and conscience

  VCECD023 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 9 and 10 | Decision Making and Actions

• VCECD018

  Discuss the role of context and experience in ethical decision-making and actions

  Elaborations

  • discussing the impact of experience on the decisions of a character in response to ethical problems over the course of a narrative, for example, Lockie Leonard
  • investigating why people may apply different reasoning in different circumstances , for example, in situations involving friends or strangers, work or leisure, or different places or cultures
  • using examples of acts to investigate whether there are exceptions to claims such as ‘failure is never good’, ‘fighting is always wrong’, ‘selfishness is never good’, ‘caring is always good’ and considering the importance of context and experience in justifications for exceptions, for example, failure of a physical challenge versus a medical operation, fighting a war versus fighting in a brawl, aiming to win a game versus maximising profit, and doing something for someone when they are injured versus not injured

  VCECD018 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 7 and 8 | Decision Making and Actions

• VCECD012

  Explore the significance of ‘means versus ends’ by considering two ways to act when presented with a problem: one that privileges means and one ends

  Elaborations

  • investigating a choice such as posting an image of a friend and justifying why someone should or should not post the image, in terms of means and ends
  • responding to a range of ethical dilemmas and comparing responses that focus on means (where the most important consideration is the action itself, such as being honest regardless of the consequences) and responses that focus on ends (where the most important consideration is the likely outcome, such as making someone happy even if it means lying to them)
  • analysing the position 'the end justifies the means' and the tension between means and ends in different contexts, for example, experimentation on people or other animals, the collection and use of data, making consumer decisions, selecting/training teams in sport or making civic decisions such as removing homeless people from areas during an event

  VCECD012 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 5 and 6 | Decision Making and Actions

• VCECD002

  Explore the type of acts often considered right and those often considered wrong and the reasons why they are considered so

  Elaborations

  • considering a range of actions and typical reasons people use to justify whether an act is right or wrong, for example, whether the action breaks rules or results in harm
  • exploring the reasons for a widely held remembrance or commemoration, for example, the meaning and significance of Australia Day as a public holiday
  • identifying acts many people associate with good and bad behaviours and discussing reasons for these, for example, behaviour in groups such as teams, audiences or social communities
  • classifying acts as right and/or wrong and discussing what is common and different in the reasons why, for example, sharing a small amount of water between many thirsty people, pushing someone out of the way and copying, appropriating or reworking someone’s ideas or solutions

  VCECD002 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Foundation to Level 2 | Decision Making and Actions

• VCECD022

  Discuss issues raised by thinking about consequences and duties, in approaches to decision-making and action, and arguments for and against these approaches

  Elaborations

  • defining and comparing ethical terms such as deontology and consequentialism, identifying the main contestabilities and applying findings to discuss the costs and benefits of a proposal such as diverting money from a planned pedestrian crossing to a hospital, or from the foreign aid budget to domestic farmers, or from programs that respond to health problems to those that claim to prevent health problems
  • using hypothetical ethical dilemmas to compare consequential and duty-based approaches to decision-making and their contestabilities, for example the trolley problem, where a switch can be flipped to divert a runaway carriage that would crash into five railway workers, but would instead kill one person standing on the other line (from Philippa Foot), or whether to stay and look after a family member or go and fight evil forces (from Sartre), or a politician lying in an attempt to protect citizens from harm (from Machiavelli - the problem of Dirty Hands)
  • examining issues in fiction that show problems with consequence and duties-based approaches to decision-making, such as conflicts between rights or duties or potentially causing the suffering of the few for the sake of the majority, for example, in “The Hunger Games” or “Les Miserables”, for example, when Jean Valjean faces the decision of whether to save the person mistakenly identified as him

  VCECD022 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 9 and 10 | Decision Making and Actions

• VCECD017

  Explore the extent of ethical obligation and the implications for thinking about consequences and duties in decision-making and action

  Elaborations

  • placing a range of acts on a continuum from strictly obligatory to ‘above and beyond the call of duty’, and comparing the reasons for and implications of the placements, for example, giving up a full-time job to help family/friends/strangers, obeying rules/the law, handing in small/large amounts of found money, fighting in a war to protect your own country/a neighbouring or far or poor country/a country that has helped you in the past, volunteering at school/in the community, giving first aid at an accident, rescuing people who have disobeyed safety signs
  • discussing the views of a range of major religious traditions and non-religious world views on ethical obligation, to inform a response to an ethical issue, for example responding to global people movements or armed conflict
  • discussing a philosophical view on ethical obligation, for example those of Peter Singer in relation to poverty, and the kind of community change that would occur if those views were followed

  VCECD017 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 7 and 8 | Decision Making and Actions

• VCECD013

  Discuss the role and significance of conscience and reasoning in ethical decision-making

  Elaborations

  • defining conscience and discussing examples where conscience could influence reasoning and decision-making, such as when faced with an opportunity to gain by doing the wrong thing, with little likelihood of getting caught, for example acknowledging the use of someone else’s ideas, tampering with evidence or data, or accessing internet content without paying

  VCECD013 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 5 and 6 | Decision Making and Actions

• VCECD007

  Explore how apparently wrong actions can sometimes lead to good outcomes and the reverse

  Elaborations

  • using examples to show how an act could lead to good or bad outcomes, or both, such as an act of generosity (for example sharing lunch, helping a friend with homework, providing welfare) or selfishness or greed; or an act of apparent duty (for example keeping a promise or being respectful, or honest)
  • evaluating the consequences of responses to problems and whether these were intended or foreseeable, for example, playing a prank on someone
  • researching changes of opinion before, during and after a development in the local community

  VCECD007 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 3 and 4 | Decision Making and Actions

• VCECD008

  Discuss the role of personal values and dispositions in ethical decision-making and actions

  Elaborations

  • exploring, as part of a character analysis in a narrative such as Harry Potter or Aesop’s fables, questions such as: What do characters say and do that might suggest their dispositions? To what extent are dispositions such as being honest, cautious, persistent, selfish, proud, or empathetic necessary for ethical decision-making? Can someone be honest and brave and yet make the wrong choice? Are there some dispositions that are more important than others?
  • undertaking research to identify dispositions and values commonly associated with significant community leaders, heroes, sport champions and celebrities and discussing what counts as a desirable disposition and reasons for disagreements
  • discussing the actions of a character over time, for example, the father or friends in the book/film 'How to Train Your Dragon', to determine the values implicit or explicit in decision-making and what may cause personal values to be questioned

  VCECD008 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 3 and 4 | Decision Making and Actions

• VCECU020

  Explore a range of ethical problems and examine the extent to which different positions are related to commonly held ethical concepts and principles, considering the influence of cultural norms, religion, world views and philosophical thought

  Elaborations

  • identifying and discriminating the ethical concepts and principles raised by people or groups in a globally significant debate such as responses to people movements, poverty or climate change
  • identifying and analysing why members of the same religious tradition may hold different views, for example, on capital punishment

  VCECU020 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 9 and 10 | Understanding Concepts

• VCECU016

  Investigate criteria for determining the relative importance of matters of ethical concern

  Elaborations

  • identifying the ethical issues involved in a land use proposal and investigating reasons people from different groups give for what they believe to be the most important ethical consideration
  • using if…then reasoning to consider and test proposed criteria for determining ethical significance, for example, ‘if this proposed criterion (such as financial cost, extent of harm /benefit to individuals/groups, dispositions/past actions of individuals or groups involved) were to be the most important, then the consequences would be…, and this matters /doesn’t matter because…’

  VCECU016 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 7 and 8 | Understanding Concepts

• VCECU015

  Investigate why ethical principles may differ between people and groups, considering the influence of cultural norms, religion, world views and philosophical thought

  Elaborations

  • researching contemporary or historically significant people across a range of cultures and identifying and comparing the principles evident in the decision-making and actions of, for example, William Barak, Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Aung San Suu Kyi
  • exploring a cultural norm concerning, for example, the importance of winning, maximizing profit or teamwork, and how this may influence a decision about where duties lie or what is the best outcome
  • investigating instances where individual action differed from the wider group, and the reasons for these differences, for example, in response to discrimination, corruption or bullying

  VCECU015 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 7 and 8 | Understanding Concepts