The VCE Classical Studies Study Design outlines the nature and sequence of learning and teaching necessary for students to demonstrate achievement of the outcomes for a unit. The areas of study describe the specific knowledge and skills required to demonstrate a specific outcome. Teachers are required to develop a program for their students that meets the requirements of the VCE Classical Studies Study Design including areas of study, outcome statements, key knowledge and key skills.
Teachers should consider developing a weekly program outline for each unit. When planning the program, teachers should divide and allocate available time so that there is appropriate coverage of all required key knowledge and opportunities to develop key skills for each outcome in each unit; plan a scope and sequence of learning activities for each outcome; and create an appropriate assessment task for each outcome, using the task types specified in the VCE Classical Studies Study Design.
Teachers should use the Support materials published on the VCAA Classical Studies webpage and the VCAA Classical Works List, which is published annually on the VCAA Classical Studies webpage.
Units 3 and 4 may be undertaken without the prior study of Units 1 and 2, but units and areas of study should be undertaken in the order indicated by the VCE Classical Studies Study Design for the sequential development of knowledge and skills.
The primary focus in Classical Studies is the classical works themselves, and the interpretation of each work is informed by a student’s knowledge of the socio-historical context. The teaching and learning program should assist students in understanding the works within their socio-historical contexts, in developing their understanding of the ideas in classical works and of the techniques used to present those ideas. As VCE Classical Studies is a study of the classical world, students should engage primarily with classical ideas. These are ideas that reflect the intention of the original classical author and the world in which the work was created, rather than ideas that are based on interpretations from a modern or personal perspective. Techniques studied should include genre and stylistic features, and should be techniques that reflect the likely intention of the classical author rather than an analysis of the language or features of the translation.
The teaching and learning program should explicitly teach all key terms, concepts and skills and provide opportunities for students to apply them to classical works. Explicit teaching of the Characteristics of the study and the terms 'ideas', ‘techniques’ and 'socio-historical context', as defined on pp14-16 of the VCE Classical Studies Study Design, is important because these definitions provide a framework for analysing each classical work. In particular, using the definition of 'socio-historical context' (p14) and unpacking it in relation to each work studied, is one way of incorporating awareness of socio-historical context into the teaching and learning program. When exploring the socio-historical context, begin by providing an initial overview of key information, such as the time in which the work was created, as well as the ideas and techniques relevant to the form of the work.
Some ideas and techniques appear in many 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, students should 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 upon during close analysis of the work and through further investigation of a range of other written and electronic sources.
While secondary resources are useful for the implementation of a program, there is no expectation that students be able to cite critics or historians, and their main source of evidence should be from the work itself.
Where possible the written works may be read aloud, or material works viewed together in class with students participating. Significant class time should be devoted to reading and annotating a section of a written work or developing notes on an image. Additional class time can be spent on completing activities, such as class discussion, questions or analysis tasks to consolidate student learning.
Each of the key skills for the areas of study reflect one of the Characteristics of the study. The key skills are organised in a continuum across Units 1 to 4. For example, the Characteristic of the study ‘Interpreting classical works using evidence’ appears as a key skill for Unit 1, Area of Study 1 as explaining the function and forms of myths using evidence from the works students have studied. By the time students reach Unit 4, Area of Study 2, the key skill has developed in complexity to constructing a comparative argument in response to a topic, comparing and evaluating the key ideas and the techniques in two classical works, using relevant evidence from the prescribed works.
Here, a greater degree of analytical and evaluative thinking is required, along with the judicious selection of evidence to support an argument. Students develop the skill of substantiating their analysis by drawing together the key knowledge and key skills to construct an argument about ideas, techniques and relationships to the socio-historical context by using evidence from the works.
It is important to develop a program that explicitly teaches the key skills, and provides opportunities for students to practise and deploy them in the study of various classical works.
The introductory description at the start of each area of study outlines the context for the key knowledge and key skills. 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 relate to the key knowledge and key skills required. These questions could also be used as the basis of the learning intention for each classical work explored.
Teachers should develop a teaching and learning program that engages students in the study of ideas in classical works and representations of classical culture in those works. The program should ensure progression of learning. Opportunities for incorporating analysis of works and writing about works need to be considered when creating the teaching and learning program. A range of written and material works should be studied.
Students may find useful a brief timeline of the periods in which the works they studied were set and created. This might be a starting point of the study in Unit 1 and/or Unit 2.
This unit, Mythical worlds, introduces students to the classical world through the study of myth. Students also begin to develop an understanding of classical society through the understandings represented in myth. In the second area of study students examine archaeological evidence that is connected to myth and consider whether there is a historical basis to myths they have studied. Students make connections to the modern world through examination of the reception of myth in later culture and through study of contemporary issues in archaeology.
Unit 1 Area of Study 1: Gods, heroes and the legacy of myth
This area of study introduces the students to classical myth through study of the characteristics and function of myth in the classical world. The teacher chooses works that explore the myths of ancient Greece and/or Rome. The program can begin with sections of significant works (such as those of Homer, Hesiod, Ovid or Virgil) that have formed the basis of our understanding of classical myths. In this area of study students begin their consideration of socio-historical context by considering the characteristics of classical societies that are revealed in myth, such as their ideas and beliefs. They also consider how myths were communicated in the ancient world.
Having established characteristics, functions and meaning of myths in the ancient world, students examine a work, or works, of a later period that was influenced by or uses classical myth. For example, this might be an artwork, novel, poem, film or video game. The division of time between classical and later works is a school-based decision. Teachers who are particularly interested in classical reception might devote a significant amount of time, whereas some teachers might use a short work, such as an artwork or poem as a briefer extension task for their study of classical mythology.
Unit 1 Area of Study 2: Myths and archaeological practice
This area of study involves the examination of archaeological evidence that is connected to myth and the consideration of the historical truth of myth. Students might examine myths that they studied in Area of Study 1, and/or new myths can be introduced here. Students study the archaeological evidence from a site or sites connected to myth, assess what the sites reveal about the society of the time, and consider how examples of archaeological evidence prove or disprove a myth. Students who studied Homer might examine the history of archaeological exploration of sites connected to Troy, examining archaeological evidence from those sites and exploring what the evidence reveals about Bronze Age society. They also consider the historical basis for the myth.
Similar to Area of Study 1, this area of study engages with the modern world but this time through the examination of contemporary issues and debates in archaeology, such as repatriation of artefacts and the impact of tourism. The VCE Classical Studies Study Design and the Support materials on the VCAA Classical Studies webpage include example areas of focus for this component of this area of study.
In Unit 2, Area of Study 1, students continue to study works representing myth, but the focus moves from the mythical to the actual: exploring how myth represents the real lived experience of people in ancient Greece and/or ancient Rome. In Area of Study 2 students analyse and explain how classical works are an expression of classical ideas and culture. They also examine the influence of classical works and ideas on modern culture.
Unit 2 Area of Study 1: Myths, ideas and beliefs in classical culture
This area of study considers the place of myth in daily life and belief in ancient Greece and/or Rome. Here myth is not only something that is fictional or invented, but it forms the basis for the beliefs of the people of ancient Greece and/or Rome. Students study written and material works that represent myth and express mythic beliefs.
This area of study examines the physical and cultural context in which myths were expressed to classical audiences, such as at sites associated with religious practices, at religious festivals, in public spaces and in written and material works. For example, students might examine a religious festival and sanctuary site followed by the study of a written work with a mythic connection to the site.
Unit 2 also introduces a more formal and explicit engagement with study of the socio-historical context. In Unit 1, the study of socio-historical context is mainly focused on what can be gleaned from the works themselves. For Unit 2, teachers should give students an overview of, or have students investigate, key features of the socio-historical context of the works studied. Knowledge of a work’s context is applied to the interpretation of the work.
This area of study involves analysis of the ideas represented by myth and through the practice of mythic ritual, such as beliefs, values and attitudes. Students are encouraged to engage with a range of forms of works and examine the techniques used in those forms to express ideas.
The VCE Classical Studies Study Design and the Support materials on the VCAA Classical Studies webpage include example works for this area of study.
Unit 2 Area of Study 2: Expressing classical cultures
This area of study involves the close examination of classical works, applying fundamental skills such as analysing key features of the artistic or literary form, and analysing the ideas in the works and the techniques used to present those ideas. The socio-historical context of the work(s) under study should be examined and students should be encouraged to interpret and explain how the socio-historical context is reflected in classical works.
The study includes consideration of classical influences on works of a later period. This can be the use of classical subject matter, ideas and/or techniques in modern works. Whereas the classical reception component of Unit 1, Area of Study 1 was tied to the representation of classical myth, the possibilities for teachers here are more wide reaching. The modern work(s) chosen should show the influence of a classical work or classical ideas encountered in Unit 2.
The VCE Classical Studies Study Design and the Support materials on the VCAA Classical Studies webpage include example works for this area of study.
The introductory description at the start of each area of study outlines the context for the key knowledge and key skills. 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 relate to the key knowledge and key skills required to be taught. These questions could also be used as the basis of the learning intention for each classical work explored.
In Units 3 and 4 the focus of study is works prescribed in the VCE Classical Works list.
It is advisable to give students a timeline and general overview of the time period to be studied and an understanding of how the works fit into that time period. Points to clarify might include:
- understanding BCE/CE
- knowing what/where 'the classical world' encompasses
- dates and overview of Mycenaean, Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic periods for Greece and republic, civil wars, empire for Rome.
In Unit 3, students study two distinct forms of expression in classical works: epic poetry and material culture. In both cases they analyse features of the works, the ideas expressed in the works, the techniques used to express those ideas and the relationship between the works and their socio-historical contexts.
Unit 3 Area of Study 1: The epic tradition
This area of study involves the close analysis of a work of epic poetry and teachers must focus on either a prescribed section of Homer’s
Iliad
or Virgil’s
Aeneid. Each of the characteristics of the study is applied in the key skills of this area of study, which involves the analysis of features of epic poetry; explanation of the relationship between the work of epic poetry and its socio-historical context; analysis of ideas in the prescribed work of epic poetry; and the techniques used to express those ideas. Close analysis of all parts of the prescribed work also involves noting similarities and differences between extracts, leading to the evaluation of the significance of extracts to the prescribed work as a whole, such as how an extract contributes to the overall representation of plot, character and ideas. Students are given opportunities to closely analyse and annotate the prescribed work and to construct arguments about it.
Unit 3 Area of Study 2: Material culture
While Unit 3 Area of Study 1 involves the close analysis of work that now appears in written form, in this area of study students closely analyse examples of the material culture of the ancient world. Teachers choose either a Greek
or Roman option from the VCE Classical Works list. The options could include a single larger work, such as a building, or a selection of works of the same form, such as a number of sculptures or mosaics.
As with Area of Study 1, each of the Characteristics of the study is applied in the key skills of this area of study, but here the skills are specifically applied to the study of material culture. The key skills include the analysis of features of material culture works, explanation of the relationship between a material work and its socio-historical context, analysis of ideas presented in a material work and the techniques used to express those ideas. As well as the artistic techniques employed in a work, the study of material culture includes the methods of its construction. Students need to be aware of the context in which the work was constructed. Where a single work is prescribed, study will include the evaluation of parts of the work and their relationship to the work as a whole. Where several works are prescribed for study, students will examine various depictions in different works of the same form. Students are given opportunities to closely analyse the work(s) and construct arguments about the prescribed material culture.
In Unit 4 students begin by engaging in a thematic study of a concern of the classical world, using a variety of short written works and material works. This deepens their understanding of the broader cultural context of the works they study and develops the skills required for the comparative analysis in Area of Study 2. In Area of Study 2 they examine and compare two written works, considering the works’ relationship to their socio-historical contexts, the key ideas and the techniques used to present those ideas.
Unit 4 Area of Study 1: Classical concerns
This area of study is a thematic study of a significant concern of the classical world. It involves the analysis of a range of prescribed material works and short written works that reflect the specified classical concern. The prescribed concerns are:
Classical identities
Depending on the works prescribed, this could include masculine and feminine identities; Greek, Roman or ‘barbarian’ identities; the use of the past to form identity; the identity of Athens or Rome at a particular point in time or the virtues to which ancient Romans aspired.
Power and authority
Depending on the works prescribed, this might include the authority of religion and the power of the gods and fate; relations between groups within society; ideas of good government or bad government; representations of how power and authority are wielded and systems of power.
War and warfare
Depending on the works prescribed, this might include depictions of wars and battles; representations of how war was waged and expressions of different attitudes to and perspectives on war and warfare; factual and mythical representations of warriors and of conduct in war.
Teachers choose
one concern for Area of Study 1 from the VCE Classical Works list. Among the prescribed works for the classical concern is one of the works that will be studied in Area of Study 2. This provides students with an initial point of engagement with the cultural context of that work. The study of a classical concern should also be used to reinforce the idea that classical works are reflections of the time in which they were created and that the primary focus of study is on classical ideas.
Study involves the analysis of features of the works, such as authorship, subject matter or narrative, and the form or genre. Students investigate the socio-historical context of the works related to a classical concern and evaluate how works reflect their context. They evaluate representations of the classical concern and establish its significance in classical culture.
Unit 4 Area of Study 2: Classical comparisons
This area of study involves the close analysis of two written works. Teachers select
one pair of works from the VCE Classical Works list. This pair must include one of the works studied as part of Area of Study 1, so it is advisable to consider the pair that is to be studied when choosing the classical concern for Area of Study 1. This area of study engages more deeply with the work studied in Area of Study 1, as students are expected to analyse the expression of a range of key ideas, moving beyond the concern that was studied in Area of Study 1.
This area of study involves close analysis of two works that are compared. Study involves analysis and comparison of features of the works, their connections to their socio-historical contexts, the key ideas in the works and the techniques used to present those ideas. This culminates in the construction of comparative arguments about the works, using relevant evidence and demonstrating the key knowledge and skills. Students should be encouraged to consider reasons for the similarities and differences between the works.
School assessed coursework (SACs)
In Units 3 and 4, SAC tasks are selected from a prescribed list as set out in the VCE Classical Studies Study Design. The weighting of each outcome in relation to the total score for school-assessed coursework is stipulated in the VCE Classical Studies Study Design. Performance descriptors are provided on the VCE Classical Studies webpage to assist teachers in their assessment of SACs.
When designing an assessment plan, teachers should consider the assessment task and the possible combination of assessment task types for assessing an outcome. For example, an outcome could be assessed using short answer questions and an extended response or a research report and an oral presentation.
Assessment must be a part of the regular teaching and learning program and should be completed mainly in class and within a limited timeframe.
Teachers should consider developing a weekly program outline for each unit. When planning the program, teachers should divide and allocate available time so that there is appropriate coverage of all required key knowledge and key skills for each outcome in each unit; document the assessment tasks for each outcome; and plan a scope and sequence of learning activities for each outcome.
The timing of teaching and learning of the VCE Classical Studies Study Design is a matter for schools and teachers. It is important, however, to note that each unit involves at least 50 hours of scheduled classroom instruction.
Each unit has two areas of study, but each of these may not require an equal allocation of time.
Teachers may want to allocate time at the start of Units 1, 2 or 3 (depending on works chosen and current understandings of students) to give an overview of the classical world and main periods from which works will be studied. It is advisable to allow time for revision at the end of Unit 4 and also at the ends of Units 1 and 2 where students are required by their school to sit internal examinations.
School-assessed Coursework (SACs) should be completed in line with the completion of the area of study and it is strongly advised that each unit and area of study is completed in the sequence specified in the VCE Classical Studies Study Design.
The VCE Classical Studies study provides students with the opportunity to engage in a range of learning activities and therefore develop employability skills. 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.
*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.
| Assessment task | Employability skills selected facets |
|---|
Short answer and/or structured questions
| Communication (writing to the needs of the audience; sharing information) Problem solving (developing creative and innovative solutions; developing practical solutions; applying a range of strategies to problem solving) Planning and organising (collecting, analysing and organising information; planning the use of resources including time management) Learning (being open to new ideas and techniques)
|
An essay or extended response | Communication (writing to the needs of the audience; sharing information) Problem solving (developing creative and innovative solutions; developing practical solutions; applying a range of strategies to problem solving) Initiative and enterprise (initiating innovative solutions; being creative) Planning and organising (collecting, analysing and organising information; planning the use of resources including time management) Self management (evaluating and monitoring own performance) Learning (being open to new ideas and techniques) |
Debate | Team work (learning and implementing strategies for working productively with others; negotiating and developing ways of collaborating effectively; working in groups with diverse socio-economic, cultural, gender, religious and language backgrounds; allocating resources and tasks) Problem solving (identifying problems to be solved and prepared and improvising solutions as appropriate) Communication (identification and application of strategies used to communicate in a range of contexts)
|
Multimedia presentations | Communication (identification and application of strategies used to communicate in a range of contexts) Self-management (preparing, rehearsing and presenting to a group including managing time and resources appropriately) Technology (using technology to communicate for the needs of an audience)
|
A written analysis | Communication (writing to the needs of the audience; sharing information) Problem solving (developing creative and innovative solutions; developing practical solutions; applying a range of strategies to problem solving) Initiative and enterprise (initiating innovative solutions; being creative) Planning and organising (collecting, analysing and organising information; planning the use of resources including time management) Learning (being open to new ideas and techniques) |
|
A research report | Communication (writing to the needs of the audience; sharing information) Problem solving (developing creative and innovative solutions; developing practical solutions; applying a range of strategies to problem solving) Initiative and enterprise (initiating innovative solutions; being creative) Planning and organising (collecting, analysing and organising information; planning the use of resources including time management) Self management (evaluating and monitoring own performance) Learning (being open to new ideas and techniques)
|