Year 10 Humanities

In Year 10, students further develop their understanding of Australia’s democratic institutions and compare these with those of other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Students consider how human rights are protected in Australia and the importance of democracy and justice in Australian society. They examine the roles and responsibilities that governments, institutions and citizens have towards global issues and global citizenship.

Key questions provide a framework for developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills. The following key questions are examples only and may be used or adapted to suit local contexts:

• How does Australian democracy interact with the world?

• How might we ensure that Australia protects human rights through legal mechanisms?

• How do global actors interact with legal mechanisms around the world?

• Why is it important to be engaged and participate in Australian society?

Achievement Standard

By the end of Level 10, students evaluate the Australian government’s roles and responsibilities at a regional and a global level, including its international legal obligations. They analyse the Australian Constitution as the basis of the Australian system of government, the process for constitutional change and the role of parliaments and the High Court of Australia in protecting rights. Students compare this system of government with at least one other system in the Asia-Pacific region. They evaluate the roles of key democratic institutions in public discourse and ways of sustaining a resilient democracy. Students discuss individual and group participation in global issues and global citizenship.

Using a range of sources and perspectives, students develop and evaluate questions to best investigate contemporary political, legal and civic issues, including global issues. They evaluate political, legal and civic institutions nationally and internationally. They evaluate the effectiveness of democratic decision-making and methods of civic participation, including by participating in civic processes. Students evaluate civics and citizenship issues using evidence and diverse perspectives.

VCAA Civics and Citizenship

The focus of learning at Year 10 is the topics Government and the Economy, International Trade and Globalisation, Productivity, Business Competitiveness, Human Resource Management and Living Standards.

Students consider the need for economic intervention by government and the Reserve Bank of Australia through fiscal and monetary policy, the circular flow model and the economic indicators used to measure economic performance. They examine the interdependence of economic decision-

making between consumers, businesses and government. Students consider the implications of Australia’s participation in the global economy and changing patterns of international trade. They look at how businesses create and maintain competitive advantage and the importance of entrepreneurship, marketing and public relations strategies in these contexts. Students focus on consumer and financial risks and rewards. They look at factors influencing major consumer financial decisions, and the Australian system of superannuation and its importance to living standards.

Key questions provide a framework for developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills. The following are examples only and may be used or adapted to suit local contexts:

• What are the costs and benefits of international trade and globalisation and how have Australia’s patterns of international trade evolved over the past 150 years?

• What is the role of the financial sector in the Australian economy?

• How can a business create and maintain a competitive advantage?

• What processes can Australian consumers use to manage financial risks and rewards?

• How and why do the government and the Reserve Bank of Australia intervene in the Australian economy and what factors influence government economic decision-making?

• How can workforce efficiency and productivity be improved within a business and how can this contribute to business success?

• How does Australia’s superannuation system support living standards, economic wellbeing and the common good?

Achievement Standard

By the end of Level 10, students can analyse the circular flow model of the economy and assess the appropriateness of specific government and Reserve Bank of Australia economic interventions through fiscal and monetary policy. They explain the interdependence of the different sectors of the economy, identify and analyse the economic indicators used to measure economic performance, and assess the implications of Australia’s participation in the global economy via international trade.

They explain how and why businesses can seek to create and maintain a competitive advantage and the role of entrepreneurship, marketing and public relations strategies in doing this. Students explain human resource management strategies used by employers to improve business competitiveness and the role of trade unions and employer groups in the workplace. They analyse the management of consumer and financial risks and rewards and consider the consequences of these. Students explain the importance of superannuation to both individuals and the community, as well as factors that influence major consumer financial decisions.

Students develop and modify questions for application to contemporary economics and business, work or financial issues, and locate, select and organise relevant information and data from a range of sources. They then apply this to issues through recognition of trends and cause-and-effect relationships and make logical predictions from this. Students are able to develop and evaluate a response to an economics and business issue, using either cost-benefit analysis or criteria. They can effectively evaluate sources for authenticity and validity and explain and present arguments about economics and business concepts and issues using economics and business terminology and knowledge.

VCAA Economics and Business

In Year 10, students’ geographical knowledge and conceptual thinking are developed through 2 sub-strands:

 • Environmental Change and Management

 • Geographies of Human Wellbeing

Environmental change and management examines the functions of the environment that support people’s lives and wellbeing, as well as ways of assessing the sustainability of these functions. Students identify environmental changes that threaten sustainability and therefore need management. Students examine the impacts of people’s attitudes, values and ways of thinking on their views of environment management, first generally and then through the ways of thinking and practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Students have the opportunity to examine the causes and consequences of a change within the context of a specific environmental issue and the strategies to manage the change, including the application of geographical concepts and methods.

Geographies of human wellbeing focuses on the question of human wellbeing, how it may differ from the concept of development and how it can be measured and mapped. Students consider the global pattern of wellbeing and then examine the spatial distribution of wellbeing within a country at a regional scale, for example using India (a country of growing importance to Australia) as the case study. Students examine the spatial distribution of wellbeing among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. This is extended by a study of wellbeing in Australia at the scale of the students’ city or rural area. Finally, students investigate programs to raise human wellbeing in Australia and overseas, and the role of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Key questions provide a framework for developing students’ knowledge, understanding and skills. The following key questions are examples only and may be used as they are or adapted to suit local contexts:

• How can geographical thinking help in understanding and responding to an environmental issue?

 • How does changing the scale of an investigation change our understanding of the issue being studied?

Achievement Standard

By the end of Level 10, students explain how the interactions of people and environmental processes at different scales change the characteristics of places. Students explain the impacts of human activity on environments, and the effect of environments on human activity, over time. They evaluate the distribution of a geographical phenomenon and its implications. Students evaluate interconnections between people and places and environments. They analyse changes that result from these interconnections and their consequences. They analyse sustainability and how it can be considered to understand environmental issues. Students evaluate strategies to address a geographical phenomenon, issue or challenge using environmental, social and economic criteria.

Students develop a range of relevant questions about a geographical phenomenon, issue or challenge. They collect, process, compare and represent relevant and reliable geographical information and data using geospatial technologies. Students interpret and evaluate information and data to make generalisations and predictions, explain significant patterns and trends, and infer relationships. They consider ethical values and perspectives and justify responses to a phenomenon, issue or challenge. Students develop and evaluate strategies using criteria, recommend a strategy and explain the predicted impacts. They create explanations and actions, using geographical knowledge, methods and concepts, and they synthesise and reference findings from appropriate sources.

VCAA Geography

In Year 10, students study the history of the modern world.

During this period, a globalised world took shape, as societies connected through ideas, trade, migration, technological advancements, colonisation, war and peace to bring us to the present day. Students learn about World War II, the causes and connections, and the consequences that still influence society today, with a particular focus on Australia. They investigate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ movements that have promoted rights and freedoms in the modern era. Students can enhance these investigations by re-examining colonial Australia and/or by exploring how Australia has developed since World War II to become the country it is today. Students also learn about at least one Asian society from 1750 to the present, including its relationship with European powers, contributions in the world wars and movements of independence over the 20th century.

Achievement Standard

By the end of Level 10, students evaluate the significant events, developments and ideas that shaped the modern world, including histories of Australia, the world wars and the Holocaust, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ rights and freedoms over the period between 1750 and the early 21st century.

Students formulate and adapt historical questions to support the development of historical investigations and their use of historical sources and concepts to interpret the modern world. They organise historical narratives of events, ideas and developments in chronological order to explain varied patterns and forms of continuity and change and their causes and consequences. Students analyse the key features of primary and secondary sources, their content and context, and apply historical questions when drawing inferences from them. They evaluate historical sources by verifying and corroborating their accuracy and value as historical evidence. Students use historical sources to identify and analyse the perspectives of individuals and groups in the modern world and use these perspectives to understand the beliefs, values and attitudes of the individuals and societies studied. Students recognise the contested nature of history and apply this knowledge to identify and evaluate different historical interpretations and debates. Students analyse varied patterns and forms of continuity and change and analyse the significant events, individuals, ideas and development that contributed to and resulted from them. They analyse short- and long-term causes and intended and unintended consequences of significant events, individuals, ideas and developments and their relationships to continuity and change. They use criteria informed by historical questions to evaluate the historical significance events, ideas, individuals, groups, movements and developments of the modern world. When constructing sustained historical interpretations, students use historical concepts, terms, relevant knowledge, conventions and evaluated evidence from a range of historical sources.

VCAA History