By Lillian Leptos
The VCE Vocational Major gives students greater choice and flexibility to pursue their strengths and interests and develop the skills and capabilities needed to succeed in further education, work and life.
2023 is the first year of this course and our Year 11 students are the first to work through the two year program of study. There are four subjects in the new course: Personal Development, Work related Skills, Literacy and Numeracy. To graduate with a Senior VCE VM certificate, students must complete the full sequence of units, 1 to 4 and meet the required standard.
At WRSC, the teachers have been working since last year to read and interpret the courses into a wide range of engaging learning activities.
In VM Personal Development, the focus is on students better understanding themselves, their character strengths, their personal qualities, and their capacity to effectively work within a team. As we strive to make these classes as hands-on as possible, the class has been given a range of practical team based challenges to complete. This has included creating a safety harness and parachute for an egg and creating a windmill that could be used to generate electricity in case of a power failure.
The class is supplied with a range of materials and tools, but the teams are not given any further guidance. Teams must cooperate in the design, building and testing process, before finally reflecting on how they operated within the work team and perhaps on areas where they might need to focus further development.
Many thanks to our new maintenance man Paul, who took time out from his very busy day to help with crash testing the parachutes.
Finally, students reflect on to the extent they were able to show skills in these roles:
The shaper: This person drives the team forward. They are action-oriented, motivating themselves and others despite any issues that arise. When a crisis occurs, these individuals are quick to find a solution.
The implementer: This is the practical person who thrives at bringing ideas to a conclusion. These individuals confidently support other team members.
The finisher: These are individuals who notice fine details and strive for perfection. They push team members to produce high-quality work.
The innovative and creative thinker: This is the person who can come up with unusual ideas.
The monitor evaluator: This is the person who prefers rational thinking rather than emotional responses when it comes to problem solving. They assess ideas to work out if they will actually work before discussing them with the team.
The coordinator: This is the sort of person that brings the team together, coordinating the work of others and helping to motivate the team to accomplish their goals
The team worker: This person works well with others and listens to teammates. If conflict arises they understand how to settle people down. They are the first to step in and offer support.
Not only does this VM PDS course develop our students as better and more successful workers but it also encourages our students to become better human beings.