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• VCECU019

  Investigate the connections and distinctions between and the relative value of concepts including fairness and equality, and respect and tolerance

  Elaborations

  • discussing whether fairness and equality are the same thing, and if not, which is more important, using examples such as affirmative action, concessions for those with special needs, or differences in tax rates
  • discussing whether there are distinctions in attitudes of respect and tolerance, in relation to, for example, different views on child vaccination
  • discussing why punishments may be unequal and whether this is fair, for example, if applied to the same case in court or in a sporting tribunal

  VCECU019 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 9 and 10 | Understanding Concepts

• Capabilities | Ethical Capability: Learning in Ethical Capability

  The Ethical capability curriculum focuses on the conceptual and analytical skills necessary for informed deliberation on ethical issues. This curriculum enables students to identify the assumptions and implications of different ethical positions, recognising the areas of contestability within...

  Overview material | Ethical Capability

• Capabilities | Ethical Capability: Rationale and Aims

  The VCAA has published the Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0. To view the curriculum, familiarisation resources and support material, go to the Victorian Curriculum F–10 Version 2.0 website.
  
  Go to the VCAA website to explore the timeline for familiarisation and implementation of...

  Overview material | Ethical Capability

• 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

• VCECU010

  Discuss how ethical principles can be used as the basis for action, considering the influence of cultural norms, religion, world views and philosophical thought on these principles

  Elaborations

  • investigating some common ethical principles, for example, ‘always treat people as ends not means’ (philosopher Immanuel Kant), and ‘actions are right in proportion to whether they promote happiness’ (philosopher John Stuart Mill), and comparing how they might be applied to a particular situation, for example, whether to participate in a fund raising event.
  • examining basic tenets of major world religions and non-religious worldviews and how they form the basis of a particular principle/s, such as ‘treat others as you would want to be treated’ (the Golden Rule)
  • investigating differing cultural norms concerning the importance of the individual relative to the family or wider community and how this may influence views on loyalty, obligation and responsibility and in turn views on guiding ethical principles

  VCECU010 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 5 and 6 | Understanding Concepts

• 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

• VCECU009

  Examine the contested meaning of concepts including truth and happiness and the extent to which these concepts are and should be valued

  Elaborations

  • using ethical dilemmas, as a prompt for exploring whether it is ever desirable to lie, for example, lying to protect a friend from getting into trouble, to stop someone’s feelings being hurt, or about an injury in order to get picked for a team
  • asking a range of people what their views on happiness are, how important it is and what is necessary for happiness
  • investigating whether everyone should have the right to be happy and if so, whether this is possible, using as stimulus issues of treatment of prisoners or bullies, or how much the wealthy should help the poor or the strong the weak

  VCECU009 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 5 and 6 | Understanding Concepts

• VCECU004

  Explore the contested meaning of concepts including fairness and harm and how they can seem to differ in different situations

  Elaborations

  • testing a proposed definition of fairness as equal treatment by considering whether an older sibling should do more at home or whether there should be special parking places
  • testing a proposed definition of harm as involving a deliberate intention that caused mental or physical suffering, by considering whether an accidental injury to someone on the playground is harmful or whether taking offence to teasing or a joke is a choice
  • exploring the concept of fairness by setting a task where resources are distributed unevenly and reflecting on the desirability of the outcomes

  VCECU004 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 3 and 4 | Understanding Concepts

• VCECU014

  Explore the contested meaning of concepts including freedom, justice, and rights and responsibilities, and the extent they are and should be valued by different individuals and groups

  Elaborations

  • exploring the meaning of justice by proposing and evaluating criteria that might be used for justice, such as what is deserved, adherence to laws or maximising the common good
  • comparing and evaluating two conceptions of freedom: the absence of anything that prevents you achieving what you want, and the ability to control your own interests (self- determination); and whether the harm principle should be used to limit freedom, as part of a study of an issue concerning freedom of speech, or freedom of action (such as restrictions to gambling or alcohol consumption)
  • using a range of examples, such as drink driving, to examine whether there are more important rights and responsibilities than others, whether rights are means or ends and the extent to which reasons involving rights do and should outweigh other reasons for actions

  VCECU014 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 7 and 8 | Understanding Concepts

• VCECU021

  Distinguish between the ethical and non-ethical dimensions of complex issues, including the distinction between ethical and legal issues

  Elaborations

  • assessing a complex ethical issue that is, one, such as euthanasia, that involves more than one question and area of contestability, a range of diverse people, and/or is part of a wider problem or historical context, to discriminate and explain those features that are of ethical significance, using these questions: who is involved, what are their intentions and what gave rise to the intention (including relevant dispositions)?, Is there something inherently right or wrong in the act itself or interpretation of the issue?, Is there a duty at stake (for example arising out of a perceived right or a particular relationship such as friend to friend, parent to child or doctor to patient)?, What are the possible consequences?, Who is likely to be affected?
  • examining and comparing the ethical significance of codes of conduct, protocols, and legal responsibilities as preparation for undertaking research or working collaboratively
  • exploring a response to an issue such as the use of someone else’s ideas, conditions of factory workers overseas, or the rescuing of adventurers, to identify if there is no legal, but arguably an ethical, obligation

  VCECU021 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 9 and 10 | Understanding Concepts

• 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

• Capabilities | Ethical Capability: Structure

  The curriculum consists of two strands: Understanding Concepts and Decision Making and Actions.

  Strands	Understanding Concepts	Decision Making and Actions
  	Students explore: key concepts and ideas important to identifying ethical problems and their relative importance concepts concerned with ethical...

  Overview material | Ethical Capability

• Ethical Capability: Levels 7 and 8 description

  In Levels 7 and 8, the curriculum focuses on developing the knowledge, skills and understandings to explore the tensions related to ethical concepts and decision making. Students extend their exploration of the two major ways to approach ethical deliberation – thinking about consequences...

  Level description | Capabilities | Ethical Capability

• VCECU011

  Examine how problems may contain more than one ethical issue

  Elaborations

  • exploring the nature of an ethical dilemma in which there is a choice to be made between at least two options, none of which gives an ethically acceptable result, for example, choosing who to put in a lifeboat when there are limited places, or whether someone should tell the shop owner that they their friend is shop-stealing expensive medicine for their poverty stricken mother, or, whether to stop and help someone and miss an entrance exam, or whether to quit a sport team in a small town knowing that then there will not be enough players and the team will fold
  • investigating a problem such as responding to a natural disaster and identifying the ethical issues involved immediately and into the future
  • researching an historical example such as Batman’s 'treaty' and its validity, identifying the different ethical issues involved and from whose point of view

  VCECU011 | Capabilities | Ethical Capability | Levels 5 and 6 | Understanding Concepts

• Capabilities | Ethical Capability: Scope and Sequence

  The curriculum sets out what students are expected to learn and is designed as a continuum of learning. The curriculum is being presented in a scope and sequence chart to support teachers to easily see the progression and assist in planning teaching and learning programs to meet the diverse needs...

  Overview material | Ethical Capability

• Capabilities | Ethical Capability: Resources

  A range of resources to assist with implementing the Victorian Curriculum F – 10 are available. Please visit the following websites to access these resources (links open in a new window):

  • Victorian Curriculum F – 10 Resources and Support (VCAA)

  Includes general advice and information...

  Overview material | Ethical Capability

• 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