Developing a program

Teachers should use the VCE Classical Studies Study Design, this advice and the VCAA Classical Works Lists published annually on the VCAA Classical Studies webpage to develop a teaching and learning program that includes appropriate and engaging learning activities to enable students to develop understanding of the key knowledge and key skills required to demonstrate satisfactory achievement in the outcomes in each unit.

The selection of classical works is an important first step in developing a course. The Units 3 and 4 VCE Classical Works List is reviewed annually, with approximately 25 per cent of the works being changed. No work will appear for more than four consecutive years or fewer than two years. The selection of classical works must be considered carefully and take into consideration the needs and abilities of the students and the expertise of the teacher. It is advisable to select works for Units 3 and 4 prior to selecting works for Unit 1 and/or 2. It is a school-based decision as to which classical works are chosen for Units 1 and 2. When developing a program it is important to choose works for Units 1 and 2 that provide a foundation, knowledge and appreciation for the works that are selected for study in Units 3 and 4 from the VCE Classical Works List. Some initial research into the current works is useful to narrow down the choice, provide scope and variety and also to determine if/what teaching resources are readily available.

In each area of study, overarching introductory questions have been designed to provide clarity and focus for the learning program. Teachers may use these questions as a starting point to design their course because these questions cover the key knowledge and key skills required. These questions could also be used as the learning intention for each classical work explored.

The key skills are organised in a continuum across Units 1 to 4; therefore, it is important to develop a program that explicitly teaches these skills, and provides opportunities for students to practise and deploy them with other classical works. For example, the idea of the heroic code or heroic ideal is integral to many works but manifests differently depending on the form and sociohistorical context. Introducing this idea and building on students' understanding of it over several works throughout
Unit 1 and/or 2 and Units 3 and 4 will establish understanding and application of the concept. The key skill 'construct an argument using evidence' has been introduced to ensure students substantiate their analysis by drawing together the key knowledge and key skills to construct an argument about ideas, techniques or relationships to the sociohistorical context by using evidence from the works. Construction of an argument requires students' analytical and evaluative thinking. Students should be encouraged, and provided the opportunity, to develop an interpretation of the works studied by annotating works, and using these annotations to complete an analysis of the works. Other examples could involve students using evidence to justify their argument in a research task or essay. Explicit teaching of the skill of incorporating evidence needs to be modelled to students in all areas of the learning program.

The teaching and learning program should explicitly teach all key terms, concepts and skills and provide opportunities for students to apply them to new classical works and their sociohistorical contexts. Explicit teaching of the two key terms 'classical' and 'sociohistorical context' as defined in the study design is important because these definitions provide a framework for analysing each classical work. In particular, using the definition of 'sociohistorical context' and unpacking it in relation to each work studied, is one way to incorporate this into the teaching and learning program. When exploring the sociohistorical context, begin by reading the introductory notes that accompany the written classical works or relevant notes on the artistic periods accompanying the images of material culture. These accompanying notes provide an initial overview of key information, such as the ideas and techniques relevant to the form of the work. Some ideas and techniques are universal to most works, such as the involvement of the gods or the heroic ideal, the use of tone, similes or metaphors. However, others are unique to that work, form or author/artist. Early in the study of the work, establish and define the key ideas and techniques and locate specific examples to discuss and analyse. Providing or creating a list with students is a useful resource for them when moving on to studying the work in detail. This list can be built on after further investigation from a range of other written and electronic sources. It is recommended that teachers build a range of resources examining these contexts and covering the works of the main authors or artists because these materials can be adapted and applied to other classical works from similar sociohistorical contexts.

Where possible the works may be read aloud in class with students participating. When studying a text, devote part of the class time to reading and annotating a section of the prescribed text, then spend the rest of the class time completing activities, such as class discussion, questions or passage analysis tasks to consolidate student learning.

Integral to the study of the works is textual and art analysis through annotation. Students are introduced to annotating works in Unit 1 and/or 2 and it should be revised in Units 3 and 4. This will support students' analysis and evaluation of classical works as well as their construction of an argument using evidence. There are many ways to annotate a work in order to effectively extract the required information. Teachers may prefer to read or study the work with students first before completing a detailed analysis. Alternatively, teachers may complete a detailed study as a work is read or an artwork is observed. In developing a program, it is important that students are explicitly taught how to annotate and analyse classical works, followed by opportunities to practise these skills. Examples of annotating models include colour coding information; for example, highlighting or underlining key characters in blue, ideas in red, techniques in pink and sociohistorical context references in green. Another way is to note the key ideas of a passage on one side of the page and the techniques on the other side. Close analysis through detailed annotations is best completed on a 'clean' copy of the section. Regular modelling of how to annotate classical works, with clear explanations and expectations and why it is done, is an important part of the teaching and learning program in Units 1 to 4. Annotation tasks could take 10 to 20 minutes of a lesson, with students practising the development of this skill, followed by applying this to answer a passage analysis question addressing a technique or idea. This can be completed once a week or every few lessons.

Unit 1 and 2

Teachers should develop a teaching and learning program that engages students in the study of ideas and works to ensure a progression of learning. The program should explore a variety of forms and works and provide students with a range of material culture and texts. The teacher chooses the works that explore the myths of ancient Greece and/or Rome. The program can begin with sections of significant works (such as those by Homer, Hesiod, Ovid or Virgil) that have formed the basis of our understanding of ancient myths. It is important to incorporate and examine other forms of classical works throughout the rest of the course. Opportunity for incorporating analysis of works, research and essay writing, group work and individual tasks needs to be considered when creating the teaching and learning program.

Unit 3 and 4: Classical works

In relation to Units 3 and 4, teachers are reminded that there are two separate areas of study: individual study and comparative study. It is important to plan the learning program to ensure that both of these meet the requirements of the study. For Units 3 and 4, the individual and comparative works are prescribed and published annually on the VCAA Classical Studies study webpage, and these works form the basis of the course.

Teachers must select:

• in Unit 3, one classical work for Area of Study 1, and one pair of classical works for comparison in Area of Study 2
• in Unit 4, one classical work for Area of Study 1 (that is a different work from that selected for
  Unit 3), and one pair of classical works for comparison in Area of Study 2 (that is a different pair
  of works from that selected for Unit 3).

Across Units 3 and 4, students are required to study six classical works.

Careful consideration needs to be given to the selection of these works to ensure a logical development and progression of the course. For example, beginning with the work of Homer or Virgil provides a firm foundation to the introduction of key ideas, techniques and sociohistorical context, from which the rest of the course can be built. Teachers should begin the study with a short introductory history to establish the sociohistorical context for Unit 3 and Unit 4. When this introduction incorporates specific teaching of the key terms including 'classical' and the 'sociohistorical context', students will develop a clearer understanding of these important concepts, and a basis from which to consider the influence on the author or artist of the world in which the work was produced.

Each unit involves at least 50 hours of scheduled classroom instruction over the duration of a semester. Consistent with this, time allocations are suggested as a guide for teachers of Units 3 and 4.

Unit 1: Mythical worlds

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Unit 2: Classical worlds

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Unit 3: Classical works

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Unit 4: Classical works

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