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Intercultural Capability

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  1. 7-8
  2. 9-10

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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