Employability skills
The VCE Foundation English study provides students with the opportunity to engage in a range of learning activities. In addition to demonstrating their understanding and mastery of the content and skills specific to the study, students may also develop employability skills through their learning activities.
The nationally agreed employability skills* are: Communication; Planning and organising; Teamwork; Problem solving; Self-management; Initiative and enterprise; Technology; and Learning.
The table links those facets that may be understood and applied in a school or non-employment related setting, to the types of assessment commonly undertaken within the VCE study.
| Assessment task | Employability skills selected facets |
|---|
Taking notes from aural texts
Delivering presentations and/or speeches
Reporting information and ideas verbally and in writing
Expressing a point of view to an audience
Reading and responding to a variety of text types
Research topics using resources and technologies |
Communication (listening and understanding; speaking clearly and directly; writing to the needs of the audience; reading independently; speaking and writing in languages other than English; persuading effectively; being assertive; sharing information)
Initiative and enterprise (being creative)
Planning and organising (managing time and priorities- setting time lines, co-ordinating tasks for self and with others; being resourceful; taking initiative and making decisions; collecting, analysing and organising information)
|
Devising and conducting interviews |
Communication (empathising; negotiating responsively; showing independence and initiative in identifying problems and solving them; managing time and priorities – setting time lines, co-ordinating tasks for self and with others; taking initiative and making decisions; planning the use of resources including time management; participates in continuous improvement and planning processes)
|
Working in discussion groups and debating
Performance of different roles and working in teams |
Team Work (working as an individual and as a member of a team; knowing how to define a role as part of the team; identifying the strengths of the team members; coaching and mentoring skills including giving feedback)
Problem solving (developing creative, innovative solutions; solving problems in teams; testing assumptions taking the context of data and circumstances into account
Initiative and enterprise (identifying opportunities not obvious to others; generating a range of options)
Planning and organising (allocating people and other resources to tasks; planning the use of resources including time management; participates in continuous improvement and planning processes)
Self-management (evaluating and monitoring own performance; having knowledge and confidence in own ideas and visions; articulating own ideas and visions; taking responsibility)
|
Completing tasks and self-assessment for performance and progress
Completing homework and other out-of-school tasks related to research |
Learning (managing own learning; using a range of mediums to learn – mentoring, peer support and networking, IT, courses; applying learning to 'technical' issues (e.g. learning about products) and 'people' issues (e.g. interpersonal and cultural aspects of work); having enthusiasm for ongoing learning; being willing to learn in any setting – on and off the job; being open to new ideas and techniques; being prepared to invest time and effort in learning new skills )
|
|
All assessment tasks |
Technology (having a range of ICT skills; using ICT to organise data; being willing to learn new ICT skills; having the physical capacity to apply technology e.g. manual dexterity)
|
*The employability skills are derived from the Employability Skills Framework (Employability Skills for the Future, 2002), developed by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Business Council of Australia, and published by the (former) Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training.