1. Learning area overview
This presentation supports understanding of the Australian Curriculum: Work Studies for Years 9–10. It gives an insight into the position of Work Studies within the Australian Curriculum and the structure of this learning area.
This presentation can be used in your organisation as the basis for professional learning about the Work Studies curriculum. It includes information about the key aspects of the curriculum as well as possible activities that can be used to build familiarity with the curriculum. Opportunities for activities are identified through the use of the icon in the top right corner of the slide. Presenters are encouraged to tailor this present to suit the needs of their audience.
The Australian Curriculum content referred to in this presentation is available from:
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) 2017, Australian Curriculum Version 8 Foundation to Year 10,
Note: Prep (P) in Queensland is the Foundation Year (F) of the Australian Curriculum and refers to the year before Year 1. Children beginning Prep in January are required to be five years of age by 30 June.
Years 9–10 Australian Curriculum: Work Studies

2. Learning goals This presentation aims to:
build understanding of the Australian Curriculum: Work Studies
provide an overview of the structure of the Work Studies learning area.
This presentation aims to:
build understanding of the Australian Curriculum, with particular reference to the Work Studies curriculum
provide an overview of the structure of the Work Studies learning area, including the curriculum content and achievement standards.

3. Three-dimensional curriculum
The Australian Curriculum is a three-dimensional curriculum made up of:
learning areas
general capabilities
cross-curriculum priorities.
The Australian Curriculum sets the expectations for what all Australian students should be taught and have opportunity to learn as they progress through their school life. In Prep–Year 10, the Australian Curriculum provides teachers, students, and parents with access to the same content, and consistent national standards for determining the progress of student learning.
All Australian students across all education settings and contexts can be supported in their diverse learning needs through the three dimensions of the Australian Curriculum: the learning area content, the general capabilities and the cross-curriculum priorities.
This diagram shows the relationship between these dimensions of the Australian Curriculum. Teachers emphasise one or more dimensions to develop learning programs suited to the strengths, interests and diverse needs of all students.
This presentation provides a brief overview of the general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities, however the focus will be on the Work Studies learning area.

4. Structure of the Work Studies learning area
Rationale
Aims
Nature of Work Studies
Year level descriptions
Curriculum content
Strands and sub-strands
Content descriptions: core and options
Content elaborations
Achievement standards
The Australian Curriculum sets out what all young people should be taught by specifying the curriculum content, and identifies the learning expected at points in their schooling by specifying the achievement standards. The content and achievement standards are supported by additional resources which describe the curriculum intent (rationale), aims of learning (aims), and focus for the learning at specific year levels (year level descriptions).
The following sections of the presentation will provide an overview of each of these key aspects of the curriculum.

5. Rationale
Summary
In Work Studies, students learn how to prepare for changing nature of work, employer expectations, contributing to the wider community, transitions in work and life and entrepreneurial behaviours.
The rationale defines the learning area while also positioning the importance of the learning area within the curriculum:
Why is it important?
How is it shaped in the curriculum?
The Work Studies rationale promotes preparing students for:
the emerging challenges and opportunities arising from the changing nature of work
the world of work by developing their understanding of themselves in relation to work and the expectations of employers.
The rationale is available from:
Suggested activity:
Read the learning area rationale. Partner with a colleague to discuss:
What were the key aspects of the rationale?
Why is the learning area important? What important contribution does the learning make to a student’s education?
Which aspects of this rationale matched your current understanding of the learning area? Which aspects were new understandings?
What were the guiding principles that informed the development of the Work Studies curriculum?
Are there any messages that you will need to be mindful of when planning your teaching, learning and assessment programs?

6. Aims
Summary
Learning through Work Studies will also develop students’ knowledge, understanding and skills for:
lifelong learning
career management
communicating successfully
resilience across a range of changing work-related contexts.
The aims flow logically from the rationale and define the big picture objectives for the learning area.
The Work Studies learning area aims to ensure students develop:
knowledge of work and the importance of lifelong learning
capacities to manage careers
literacy, numeracy, ICT and interpersonal skills to support communication
skills and resilience to support them in the workplace.
The aims are available from:
Suggested activities:
Prepare a brief statement/overview that would help you describe the aims of the learning area to a parent group.
Identify two or three big ideas in the aims. How do they inform:
your understanding of the learning area?
what is valued in the Australian Curriculum for the learning area?
your teaching and learning approaches?

7. Nature of Work Studies
Applied learning Applied learning is centred around students’ practical application of their own planned and guided learning in realistic contexts.
Work exposure Work exposure relates to how students can be exposed to varied work environments in and out of the classroom to create opportunities for applied learning.
The nature of Work Studies represents key aspects of the learning area content and frames the development of knowledge and skills in the learning area. In Work Studies, there are two aspects:
applied learning
work exposure.
Applied learning: is centred around students’ practical application of their own planned and guided learning in realistic contexts. Teacher guidance facilitates student development of critical skills and characteristics that are important for work and daily life in the 21st century. Students respond to feedback and reflect on their work-related applied learning to build their success within the world of work.
Work exposure: relates to how students can be exposed to varied work environments in and out of the classroom to create opportunities for applied learning. Work exposure opportunities are not intended to be restricted to the traditional practice of blocks of work experience, although work experience may take up part of work exposure.
The nature of Work Studies is available from:
Suggested activities:
What is the nature of Work Studies about and how does this impact on your reading of the content?
How could the nature of Work Studies be reflected in your Work Studies program?

8. Year-by-year curriculum
Each year includes the following structural components:
year level description
curriculum content
achievement standards.
The curriculum is developmentally sequenced across the year levels.
The Work Studies curriculum is structured into year levels. This year-by-year curriculum provides flexibility for the delivery of Work Studies across Years 9–10.
Suggested activity:
What are the implications of the year-by-year curriculum for the planning of your teaching, learning and assessment program?

9. Year level description
Each Work Studies year level description identifies the:
focus of knowledge, understanding and skills for student learning in that year
interrelatedness of the two strands.

10. Curriculum content Content description Content elaborations
The curriculum content is presented as content descriptions which specify the knowledge, understanding and skills that young people are expected to learn and that teachers are expected to teach across the years of schooling.
The content descriptions are accompanied by content elaborations. Content elaborations provide illustrations and/or examples that teachers may choose to use in the classroom or as inspiration for their own activities. The content elaborations are not a mandatory aspect of the curriculum and as such are not required to be taught.
Suggested activity:
Use the Work Studies: Sequence of content to build an understanding of the sequence of content of the curriculum across year levels:
Consider the content descriptions across Years 9–10.
In a small group, discuss how the curriculum develops in increasing complexity of cognition and skills across the two year levels.

11. Content descriptions
In Work Studies, a flexible framework is provided for students to study with two sets of content descriptions:
core
options.
The core content descriptions are organised through strands and sub-strands, which students are required to study. However, options content descriptions provide students, teachers and schools with flexibility. Options provide opportunities for teachers and students to customise the curriculum based on students’ aspirations, interests and local circumstances.
The order and detail in which the strands, sub-strands and options are taught are programming decisions and can be studied in any order or pattern. Core content can be integrated within an option.
Students need to study at least one of the six sets of options content descriptions in a course. The selected options may be taught in either year level.
Students may study a course for one year in Year 9 or Year 10, for two years across Years 9–10, or on a semester basis.

12. Strands and sub-strands
Skills for learning and work
Career and life design
Sub-strands
Learning to learn
Career development and management
Work skills
The nature of work
Entrepreneurial behaviours
Gaining and keeping work
In Work Studies, the curriculum content is organised according to strands and sub-strands. The two strands are (included in the slide in bold):
skills for learning and work
career and life design.
These strands are interrelated and inform and support each other. Strands are the organising structure of content in the learning area. Each strand is organised into three sub-strands (included in the slide in italics).
Skills for learning and work: focuses on the development of a student’s understanding of self and a realistic appreciation of their individual interests, values, preferences and strengths. Across three sub-strands, the strand encompasses understanding of and managing self, the importance of communication in a range of contexts, working with others, planning and implementing tasks or projects, clarifying problems and proposing solutions and making decisions. It provides for investigation of work skills and entrepreneurial behaviours and their use in learning and work contexts. The three sub-strands are:
learning to learn
work skills
entrepreneurial behaviours.
Career and life design: embraces the reality that the world of work is changing and that there is no certainty regarding work and career paths. Throughout their lives, students need to be flexible and responsive to changing work and life circumstances. They develop skills that enable them to create career scenarios and prepare for career transitions. The three sub-strands are:
career development and management
the nature of work
gaining and keeping work.
Suggested activity:
What is the relationship between the strands of Work Studies?

13. Achievement standards
Understanding
Skills
The achievement standard is a statement of what students should know and be able to do at the end of the band.
In Work Studies, the first paragraph of the achievement standard relates to understanding and the second paragraph relates to skills.
The Australian Curriculum provides work sample portfolios as examples of student work reflective of achievement levels at, above, and below the achievement standard.
Suggested activities:
Using the Work Studies: Sequence of achievement discuss how the evidence that students need to provide of what they know and can do, increases in complexity across the bands:
For Years 9–10, map the achievement standard to the content descriptions.

14. Three-dimensional curriculum: general capabilities
Support students to be successful learners
Literacy
Numeracy
Information and communication technology (ICT) capability
Critical and creative thinking
Develop ways of being, behaving and learning to live with others
Personal and social capability
Ethical understanding
Intercultural understanding
The seven capabilities are divided into two groups:
capabilities that support students to be successful learners ― literacy, numeracy, information and communication technology (ICT) capability, and critical and creative thinking
capabilities that develop ways of being, behaving and learning to live with others ― personal and social capability, ethical behaviour and intercultural understanding.
Continua of learning have been developed for each capability to describe the relevant knowledge, understanding and skills at particular points of schooling.
The content outlined in the general capabilities continua is embedded in the content descriptions for each learning area, where appropriate. The icons shown on this slide are used to identify where the general capabilities are embedded in content descriptions.
A summary of the focus of each of the general capabilities in the Work Studies learning area is available from:

15. Three-dimensional curriculum: cross-curriculum priorities
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and culture Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia Sustainability
The Australian Curriculum promotes three cross-curriculum priorities about which young Australians should learn about. Each of the priorities is represented in learning areas in ways appropriate to that area.
The three priorities are:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures — to ensure that all young Australians will be given the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, their significance for Australia and the impact that these have had, and continue to have, on our world
Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia — to reflect the importance of knowing about Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia and through a better understanding of the countries and cultures of the Asia region, young people will come to appreciate the economic, political and cultural interconnections that Australia has with the region
Sustainability — to allow young people to develop an appreciation of the need for more sustainable patterns of living, and to build capacities for thinking, valuing and acting that are necessary to create a more sustainable future.
Each of the cross-curriculum priorities contains a set of organising ideas. These are consistent across the curriculum and are reinforced in learning areas. Each of the cross-curriculum priorities can be relevant to teaching and learning in Work Studies and explicit teaching of the priorities should be incorporated in teaching and learning activities where appropriate.

16. Find out more
Find out more on the QCAA Australian Curriculum webpage at
More information about the implementation of Australian Curriculum in Queensland is available on the QCAA website. In the Australian Curriculum section of the QCAA website, you will find the Learning area overview: Prep‒Year 10 Australian Curriculum — Work Studies:
Send any further questions to:
Information about requests for further professional learning is available from:
Suggested activity:
What did I learn?
What was confirmed?
What was new?
What challenged my thinking?
What else do I need to do?
What is our plan as a teaching team?