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Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority

Intercultural Capability

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  1. F-2
  2. 3-4
  3. 5-6
  4. 7-8
  5. 9-10

Foundation to Level 2

Foundation to Level 2 Description

From Foundation to Level 2, the curriculum focus is on developing the knowledge, skills and understandings to enable students to learn about cultures in their immediate world. For students at Foundation to level 2, learning typically focuses on their immediate family, home, school and friends. This includes cultural practices relevant to their lived experiences such as choice of food, clothing or housing, cultural celebrations and language.

The curriculum provides the opportunity for students to begin to explore similarities and difference in cultural practices. They begin to understand the concept of cultural diversity.

Foundation to Level 2 Content Descriptions

Cultural Practices

  1. Identify what is familiar and what is different in the ways culturally diverse individuals and families live (VCICCB001)
    Elaborations
    1. noting information from stories that identify similarities and differences between families from a range of places including stories from students in the class and in stories about children in other places
    2. identifying how people express a familiar cultural practice, such as the food eaten at different celebrations, or the songs sung at a celebration
    3. sharing stories about familiar cultural practices from home and describing their importance to the family
    4. comparing the words students use for their grandparents, such as Nanna/Pop, Grandma/Grandpa; Nonna/Nonno (Italian); Yaya/Pappous (Greek)
  2. Describe their experiences of intercultural encounters in which they have been involved (VCICCB002)
    Elaborations
    1. exploring stories that describe experiences of intercultural encounters, for example, when students met someone who spoke a language different from their own
    2. brainstorming a range of activities, locations, events or technologies that may provide intercultural experiences, such as international travel, visiting their local library, attending Chinese New Year celebrations, or speaking to relatives overseas through video chat applications
    3. creating posters to identify how students celebrate or commemorate a range of cultural events
    4. using images of people in Australia and other countries to ask students a set of reflective questions about culture, such as whether they’re curious about their own culture or more curious about other cultures

Cultural Diversity

  1. Identify and discuss cultural diversity in the school and/or community (VCICCD003)
    Elaborations
    1. recognising that others have different cultures and beliefs whilst also reflecting on student’s own cultural background, for example, by plotting the location of each student’s background on a world map
    2. identifying and listing how many languages are spoken within the families of students within the classroom, and using the internet to learn some common terms, such as how to say ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’, ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ in each language identified
    3. exploring cultural diversity by identifying visible elements, such as food and behaviour, and invisible elements, such as how people live and what they value, for example, households with three generations living together
    4. using prompt questions to discuss cultural diversity within the classroom/school community, for example, were all students born in Australia? Were all Australians born here? If not, how did they become Australian?
    5. discussing events acknowledged, celebrated and/or observed in the school and community, by whom and for what reasons, for example, Eid and Ramadan, Harmony Day or Easter
  2. Imagine and explain what their responses might be if they were placed in a different cultural situation or setting (VCICCD004)
    Elaborations
    1. exploring student responses in a role play situation, for example, imagine what it is like to have to get help or seek assistance in a setting where they do not speak the language
    2. examining different meanings associated with gestures and body language in a range of cultural settings, exploring examples such as whether direct eye contact is seen as a sign of respect or why touching someone on the head is offensive in Thailand

Foundation to Level 2 Achievement Standard

By the end of Level 2, students begin to distinguish what is familiar and different in the ways culturally diverse individuals and families live. They describe their experiences of intercultural encounters, and identify cultural diversity in their school and/or community.

Students explain how they might respond in different cultural situations.

Levels 3 and 4

Levels 3 and 4 Description

In Levels 3 and 4, the curriculum focuses is on developing the knowledge, skills and understandings to enable students to learn about culture relevant to their social world of family, home, school, friends and neighbourhood. This includes cultural practices such as choice of food, clothing or housing, cultural celebrations and language.

The curriculum provides the opportunity for students to compare different cultures. They use their experiences of family, school and wider community to reflect on cultural diversity within Australia.

Levels 3 and 4 Content Descriptions

Cultural Practices

  1. Compare their own and others cultural practices, showing how these may influence the ways people relate to each other (VCICCB005)
    Elaborations
    1. comparing the expression of common concepts or human experiences in a range of cultural settings, for example, life milestones and celebrations, learning from older family/community members, demonstrating an emotion
    2. exploring rules or expectations within the school or classroom, for example, raising a hand before asking a question, using manners or wearing a uniform, and discussing how these may help foster a culture of respect for other students and teachers
    3. researching a cultural practice, for example Japanese origami, or a cultural artefact, for example a kilt, and asking students to explain the significance to other students
    4. discussing aspects of Australian culture that might seem ‘strange’ from another perspective, such as eating kangaroo or having an outlaw as a national hero, and contrast with other cultural practices that students may find ‘strange’, such as the Spanish practice of eating twelve grapes at New Years Eve
  2. Describe what they have learnt about themselves and others from intercultural experiences including a critical perspective on and respect for their own and others cultures (VCICCB006)
    Elaborations
    1. examining the similarities and differences between their cultural practices and those of young people in a place outside Australia and discussing what it would be like to live in these places
    2. asking students to describe an intercultural experience or event and prompting students to explore an intercultural experience or event from different perspectives
    3. questioning students about their experience in a role-play, modelled or real-life situation which included an intercultural experience: were they excited, challenged, comfortable, curious?
    4. exploring the different meanings of the national anthem, Waltzing Matilda and I am Australian or comparing the meanings associated with a range of national anthems from different countries
    5. comparing different cultural norms that demonstrate respect, such as when using public transport, at religious events or in relation to grandparents

Cultural Diversity

  1. Explain the role of cultural traditions in the development of personal, group and national identities (VCICCD007)
    Elaborations
    1. asking students to brainstorm what they know about their own cultural traditions and prompt them with questions, for example, Where do their traditions come from? How might their traditions have changed over time?
    2. exploring Australian symbols, such as wattle, the colours green and gold, or the different flora and fauna emblems, and identifying public events when these are used
    3. discussing the role of food traditions and cultural identity, for example, Anzac biscuits, hot cross buns, moon cakes, and ask students to identify traditions in relation to their own family, or those that are part of a national identity
    4. comparing how significant events are marked in different cultures, for example, starting or graduating school, marriage traditions or national holidays, and identify aspects of these events in relation to visible and invisible cultural elements
  2. Identify how understandings between culturally diverse groups can be encouraged and achieved (VCICCD008)
    Elaborations
    1. reflecting on the impact of own values and cultural practices on intercultural experiences, and understanding the importance of mutual and self-respect
    2. exploring common or stereotypical reactions in imagined intercultural scenarios, such as when offered the opportunity to eat insects, and encouraging exploration of the boundaries of students own cultural values
    3. explaining sister cities/sister schools or student exchange programs and exploring why these have been instigated
    4. exploring a range of strategies to support understanding differences, such as not jumping to conclusions, emphasising similarities rather than differences, or modelling ways that students can respectfully disagree
    5. demonstrating a willingness to understand different perspectives by asking honest, unbiased questions

Levels 3 and 4 Achievement Standard

By the end of Level 4, students are able to compare a range of cultural practices and explain their influence on people’s relationships. They explain what they have learnt about themselves and others from intercultural experiences.

Students explain the role of cultural traditions in the development of various identities. They develop critical perspective on and respect for their own and others cultures.

Levels 5 and 6

Levels 5 and 6 Description

In Levels 5 and 6, the curriculum focus is on developing the knowledge, skills and understandings to enable students to learn about diverse cultural practices and beliefs and how they compare with their own. This includes religious beliefs, traditional celebrations, family relationships, gender roles, daily routines, leisure activities and language.

The curriculum provides the opportunity for students to explore aspects of their life that are culturally determined. Students further develop their awareness of cultural diversity and reflect on intercultural experiences and how this influences their own personal attitudes and beliefs.

Levels 5 and 6 Content Descriptions

Cultural Practices

  1. Analyse how aspects of their own and others lifestyle, behaviour, attitudes and beliefs can be culturally influenced (VCICCB009)
    Elaborations
    1. comparing differences in a range of countries, such in legal driving or voting age, laws around alcohol consumption or school leaving age, and discussing these in relation to adolescent – adulthood rights of passages
    2. identifying cultural connections between Australia and countries in the Asia region and the activities that facilitate these connections, such as travel, student exchange, storytelling formats, music and dance
    3. exploring identity through economic, consumer and media practices and choices, and discussing these in relation to globalisation and/or American cultural influence, such a popular music, television or film
    4. prompting students to explore and evaluate the source of a range of popular and traditional cultural practices or artefacts, for example, surfing in Australia, the notion of the larrikin, or Hip Hop
  2. Explain how intercultural experiences can influence beliefs and behaviours, including developing a critical perspective on and respect for their own and others cultures (VCICCB010)
    Elaborations
    1. using a range of overseas and national travel brochures to discuss different ideas about travel, including the notion that travel broadens peoples horizons, and create a list of reasons how and why Australians travel
    2. creating a class list of what having an ‘open mind’ might look like and why it may be useful during intercultural experiences, such as in scenarios like student exchanges or overseas travel
    3. exploring the meaning of terms such as tolerance, respect and acceptance and discussing a range of ways to show respect for different cultural practices
    4. discussing how body language and gestures can influence communication and describing differences in meanings attached to body language and gestures in different cultures, such as giving a ‘thumbs up’, bowing or pointing

Cultural Diversity

  1. Identify barriers to and means of reaching understandings within and between culturally diverse groups (VCICCD011)
    Elaborations
    1. exploring language variation within Australia, such as the different terms for a swimming costume (togs, cozzies or swimmers), or the practice of using diminutives, such as Aussie (Australian), sanga (sandwich) and footy (football)
    2. exploring potential barriers to intercultural understanding, language for example, and discussing possible ways to address or reduce barriers, such as Government agencies using translation services including Auslan and closed captioning
    3. brainstorming a list of questions students might ask a student in another country, and then identifying whether any of the questions may be uncomfortable for the person asking or responding
    4. using a current global issue to investigate a range of positive and negative cultural stereotypes and generalisations and identifying how they can be challenged
    5. exploring the view of Australia as a successful multicultural country and discussing potential impacts of the strengthening or weakening of this view, for example, events that help to foster inclusiveness or that may trigger an increase in racial intolerance
  2. Examine and discuss the variety of ways in which people understand and appreciate differing cultural values and perspectives, and the things which promote or inhibit effective engagement with diverse cultural groups (VCICCD012)
    Elaborations
    1. examining laws that help to ensure that cultural difference is not a barrier to inclusion in society, for example, the Racial Discrimination Act 1975
    2. discussing ways in which the school incorporates multicultural, anti-racism, and human rights perspectives into school practices, for example through inclusive classroom practices
    3. exploring ways that people can gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of other cultural customs, for example, through historical sources, language learning, travelling abroad, art works or music
    4. using a peer-to-peer interview to explore student understandings about how cultural institutions, such as museums or galleries, present different cultural perspectives
    5. providing opportunities for students to explore and reflect on their learning about different cultural groups through journal prompts, such as ‘One interesting thing I now know is that…’ and ‘I am still curious about…’ and ‘One way I could satisfy my curiosity would be to…’

Levels 5 and 6 Achievement Standard

By the end of Level 6, students demonstrate an understanding of how beliefs and practices can be influenced by culture and explain how intercultural experiences can influence beliefs and behaviours.

Students identify the barriers to and means of reaching understandings within and between culturally diverse groups and the ways in which effective engagement with those groups is promoted or inhibited.

 

 

 

Levels 7 and 8

Levels 7 and 8 Description

In Levels 7 and 8, the curriculum focus is on developing the knowledge, skills and understandings to reflect on how cultural practices and beliefs contributes to individual, group and national identities. This includes religious beliefs, traditional celebrations and customs, social relationships, gender roles, daily routines, work and leisure activities and language.

The curriculum provides the opportunity for students to explore the dynamic nature of culture. They reflect on the importance of valuing and celebrating cultural diversity.

Levels 7 and 8 Content Descriptions

Cultural Practices

  1. Analyse the dynamic nature of own and others cultural practices in a range of contexts (VCICCB013)
    Elaborations
    1. examining how a similar cultural practice can be expressed differently in other contexts, for example, compare the celebration of Christmas in commercial, cultural and religious contexts
    2. analysing how a range of different cultural practices developed and how they may have changed, for example, comparing women’s roles over the past hundred years at home and at work, exploring changing influences of technology in popular music, discussing changes to religious observance, such as eating fish on Friday
    3. exploring why people want to preserve their cultural practices, including linguistic, artistic and culinary traditions and investigating an example of cultural preservation
    4. discussing possible consequences when cultural practices are not maintained, for example, changes to language practices in successive generations of migrant communities
    5. exploring cultural issues in historical contexts such as the impact of a dominant culture, language, belief or legal system, for example during the Columbian Exchange
  2. Examine how various cultural groups are represented, by whom they are represented, and comment on the purpose and effect of these representations (VCICCB014)
    Elaborations
    1. using journal entries to collate, identify and critically explore generalisations and stereotypes from media sources, including television, radio and social media
    2. examining the concepts of generalisations and stereotypes through a range of different representations of cultural groups, for example, positive and negative representations of Australians or by examining Australian tourism campaigns across different decades
    3. analysing media coverage of a current issue and exploring the way different groups are represented
    4. removing, rewriting, replacing or changing the racial identifiers in a short newspaper article, letter to the editor or political cartoon, and reflecting on ways that representations of stereotypes can be challenged

Cultural Diversity

  1. Identify the challenges and benefits of living and working in a culturally diverse society (VCICCD015)
    Elaborations
    1. asking students to imagine themselves in the future or in another country and provide a range of prompts for them to address, such as ‘What does society look like?’, ‘How important is it that society is inclusive?’ or ‘If you could live in another country, where would you go and why?’ and ‘What skills might you need?’
    2. identifying attributes that help people forge positive intercultural relationships, such as curiosity, sensitivity, empathy and kindness
    3. holding a student-led discussion or role-play about the social challenges that arise from cultural diversity, for example, how people from different backgrounds with different levels of attainment in English experience contemporary Australian society, such as at the local supermarket, when applying for a job, or watching the news
    4. creating a portfolio that identifies the characteristics of a ‘monocultural’ society and those of a ‘multicultural’ society , and using reflective prompts to challenge students assumptions, such as by identifying various sub-cultures within each type of society
    5. prompting students to identify the criteria they would use to help decide where to live if they were migrating to another country, and extend advanced students by introducing challenges into the scenario, such as linguistic or economic restrictions
  2. Evaluate the ways in which the community demonstrates the value it places on cultural diversity, and why this valuing of cultural diversity is important to the community (VCICCD016)
    Elaborations
    1. exploring how councils or Governments support community commemorations and celebrations, such as Chinese New Year
    2. identifying buildings or spaces that are used for cultural gatherings/meeting or religious purposes, such as libraries, theatres, community halls, prayer rooms, churches and mosques
    3. discussing the ways in which different community members participate in events held across the year, such as annual fairs and music events, or by looking into the services or programs offered at libraries, in your local paper or within the school
    4. using Australian Bureau of Statistics census data to create a presentation that tracks changes to the cultural composition in the local community over time and use an online service such as Trove (National Library of Australia) to uncover images or newspaper articles to include in the presentation
    5. asking students to imagine they are coordinating a local event and to outline the steps they would take to show the value placed on including culturally diverse community members

Levels 7 and 8 Achievement Standard

By the end of Level 8, students explain how cultural practices may change over time in a range of contexts. They understand how cultural groups can be represented, and comment on the effects of these representations.

Students understand the challenges and benefits of living and working in culturally diverse communities.

Levels 9 and 10

Levels 9 and 10 Description

In Levels 9 and 10, the curriculum focus is on developing the knowledge, skills and understandings to engage in complex discussions about interrelationships within and between cultures. This includes the less tangible aspects of culture such as values, attitudes, roles, religious beliefs and ways of thinking.

The curriculum provides the opportunity for students to understand the importance of cultural collaboration in an interconnected world and how respecting diversity is important for community cohesion.

Levels 9 and 10 Content Descriptions

Cultural Practices

  1. Analyse the complex and dynamic interrelationships between and within cultures in a range of contexts and the impact of these interrelationships on their own and others cultural practices (VCICCB017)
    Elaborations
    1. discussing how student’s own expression of cultural practices may be complicated, for example, individuals may share the same nationality but have parents with different cultural heritages and/or linguistic backgrounds
    2. analysing multifaceted and complex cultural practices, for example, how religion intersects with and diverges from culture or cultural practices
    3. analysing and describing how culture and language use are interrelated and reflect and shape relationships, practices and attitudes between and within cultural communities
    4. investigating the context and significant factors that contribute to a current global issue that includes an intercultural dimension, such as people movement, and prompt students to propose actions that may help improve or alleviate contributing factors
  2. Analyse the ways in which intercultural relationships and experiences have contributed to the development of attitudes, beliefs and behaviours, and how they are manifested in various contexts (VCICCB018)
    Elaborations
    1. using a range of scenarios to hold a student-led discussion about factors that may impact intercultural experiences, for example, welcoming visitors to your home, international adoption, or international aide relations between countries
    2. comparing the underpinning assumptions of different national migration policies, for example, by contrasting the White Australia Policy with multicultural policy settings
    3. exploring whether there are similarities in the experiences of successive waves of migrants to Australia
    4. unpacking the different perspectives cultural groups may hold, for example, the contested usage of ‘Australian/UnAustralian’
    5. using episodes of a television show to explore differences in attitudes, such as the SBS show ‘Go Back To Where You Came From’

Cultural Diversity

  1. Identify and analyse the challenges and benefits of living and working in an interconnected and culturally diverse world (VCICCD019)
    Elaborations
    1. creating a portfolio of job advertisements that seek to recruit candidates that can speak a second language or for overseas positions, for example, from the Australian Volunteers for International Development website, and prompt students to identify complementary intercultural skills necessary for these roles
    2. evaluating how cross-cultural or intercultural events may help to foster inclusiveness or contribute to division, for example, meetings of the United Nations, international sporting events or trade deals, and relationships between developed and developing nations
    3. holding a student-led discussion exploring a complex intercultural topic, such as food security or an international diplomatic issue, and identify the key issues or events and the people and perspectives involved
    4. comparing or tracking changing information on the Australian Government’s Smart Traveller website in response to a significant real-time event, such as the Zika virus outbreak or a volcanic eruption
    5. exploring the aims of UNESCO, and investigate and discuss the notion of World Heritage Sites, such as the criteria used to confer the status
  2. Analyse the components of a cohesive society, and the challenges, benefits and consequences of maintaining or failing to maintain that cohesion (VCICCD020)
    Elaborations
    1. investigating the role of institutions and organisations that aim to promote a cohesive society, for example, the Islamic Museum of Australia, the Chinese Museum, the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS), or the Victorian Multicultural Commission
    2. exploring examples of intolerance or prejudice presented in the media, and analysing its impacts
    3. undertaking a search to identify positive media coverage and exploring how positive representations can strengthen social cohesion, such as the #illridewithyou social media campaign
    4. researching the rationale for organisations that aims to recruit from diverse cultural groups, such as the police force and sporting groups
    5. following a social issue in the media with an intercultural element and compiling a journal of articles that show a range of different perspectives on the issue, and identifying both positive and negative components, and how these impact on people’s perceptions

Levels 9 and 10 Achievement Standard

By the end of Level 10, students critically analyse the complex and dynamic interrelationship between and within cultures and the challenges and benefits of living in an interconnected and culturally diverse world. They evaluate how intercultural relationships and experiences influence attitudes, beliefs and behaviours in different contexts.

Students analyse the components of a cohesive society, and the challenges, benefits and consequences of maintaining or failing to maintain that cohesion.

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