History: Unit 1 & 2 Modern
Learning Area Leader: Ms Ryan
The study of VCE History assists students to understand themselves, others and their world, and broadens their perspective by examining people, groups, events, ideas and movements. Through studying VCE History, students develop social, political, economic and cultural understanding. They also explore continuity and change: the world is not as it has always been, and it will be subject to change in the future. In this sense, history is relevant to contemporary issues. It fosters an understanding of human agency and informs decision making in the present.
Students study Modern History in Units 1 and 2. At the Unit 3 and 4 level, students may choose to study either Australian History and/or Revolutions. In special circumstances, high achieving students may be permitted to study Units 3 and 4 Australian History in Year 11.
Modern History examines the aftermath of the Great War as well as the causes and consequences of World War II. Australian History investigates national history from colonial times to the end of the twentieth century and includes the histories of Indigenous Peoples. Revolutions explore the causes and consequences of revolution in France and Russia.
Career Paths / Future Directions
Communications, Education, Historian, Journalism, Law, Marketing, Multimedia, Public policy, Publishing, Research
Unit 1 - Modern History: Change and Conflict (Code: HIST11)
Description
In this unit students investigate the nature of social, political, economic and cultural change in the later part of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. Modern History provides students with an opportunity to explore the significant events, ideas, individuals and movements that shaped the social, political, economic and technological conditions and developments that have defined the modern world.
Students will analyse the outcomes of World War I and the conditions of the interwar period in terms of political, economic, social and cultural change.
Outcomes
· Ideology and Conflict
· Social and Cultural change
Assessment
· Source Analysis
· Extended Responses
· Research Essay
Unit 2 – Modern History: The Changing World Order (1945-1989) (Code: HIST22)
Description
In this unit students investigate the nature and impact of the Cold War and challenges and changes to social, political and economic structures and systems of power in the second half of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first century. Students will study the rise of social movements that challenged existing values and traditions, such as the civil rights movement, feminism and environmental movements, as well as new political partnerships, such as the UN, European Union, APEC, OPEC, ASEAN and the British Commonwealth of Nations.
Areas of Study
· Causes, course and consequences of the Cold War
· Challenge and change
Assessment
· Source Analysis
· Extended Responses
· Research Essay
· Examination
Learning Area Leader: Ms Ryan
Career Paths / Future Directions
Communications, Education, Historian, Journalism, Law, Marketing, Multimedia, Public policy, Publishing, Research, Tourism, Foreign Affairs
Description
In Units 3 and 4 Australian History, students develop their understanding of the foundational and transformative ideas, perspectives and events in
Australia’s history and the complexity of continuity and change in the nation’s story.
The study of Australian history is considered both within a national and a global context, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and culture, a colonial settler society within the British Empire and as part of the Asia-Pacific region. Students come to understand that the history of Australia is contested and that the past continues to contribute to ongoing interpretations, debates and tensions in Australian society.
In Units 3 and 4, students construct arguments about the past using historical sources (primary sources and historical interpretations) as evidence to analyse the continuities and changes and evaluate the extent to which change occurred in the lives of Australians. Students investigate the significant turning points and trends in Australia’s past to identify the causes, patterns, direction, pace, depth and impact of continuity and change in society. They consider the extent to which events, ideas, individuals, groups and movements contributed to, influenced and/or resisted change. They consider competing historical interpretations, debates and the diverse perspectives of people at the time and how they may have changed while others may have remained the same.
Australian History Units 3 (Code: HISA44)
In this area of study students focus on the foundations of continuity and change in Australian history. They consider how ideas, perspectives, events and the differing social, political and economic experiences may have triggered changes and the extent of continuity and change in Australia and among Australians. The revolutionary nature of the Australian experience is explored, including how the continent’s distinct environment and landscape has shaped and been shaped by human processes and actions, and the embrace of democratic experiments that placed Australia in the vanguard of individual and political rights and freedoms in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Outcomes
The key knowledge for this area of study in Units 3 and 4 comes from the following timeframes:
· From custodianship to the Anthropocene (60,000 BCE–1901)
· Creating a nation (1834–1913)
· Power and resistance (1788–1913)
· War and upheaval (1909–1950)
Australian History Units 4 (Code: HISA33)
In this area of study students focus on the extent to which Australia was transformed and changed by social, political and economic events, ideas, experiences and movements that took place after World War Two. Students consider how long-term trends in Australian history continue to resonate and be contested in contemporary Australian society. They explore how perspectives towards the environment, debates about race, immigration, citizenship, civil rights and land rights, and questions about Australia’s participation in war and conflict, have changed or remained the same. Students evaluate the contested debates and historical interpretations about the extent of continuity and change, and the impact and depth of change, in Australian society in the 20th and early 21st centuries. The key knowledge for this area of study in Units 3 and 4 comes from the following timeframes:
· From custodianship to the Anthropocene (1950–2010)
· Creating a nation (1945–2008)
· Power and resistance (1957–1998)
· War and upheaval (1950–1992).
Assessment
· A historical inquiry (research task)
· Evaluation of historical sources
· Extended responses
· An essay
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment
Unit 3 Coursework = 25%
Unit 4 Coursework = 25%
Written Examination = 50%
Learning Area Leader: Ms Ryan
Career Paths / Future Directions
Communications, Education, Historian, Journalism, Law, Marketing, Multimedia, Public policy, Publishing, Research, Tourism, Foreign Affairs
Description
In Units 3 and 4 Revolutions students investigate the significant historical causes and consequences of political revolution. Revolutions represent great ruptures in time and are a major turning point in the collapse and destruction of an existing political order which results in extensive change to society. Revolutions are caused by the interplay of events, ideas, individuals and popular movements, and the interplay between the political, social, cultural, economic and environmental conditions. Their consequences have a profound effect on the political and social structures of the post-revolutionary society. Revolution is a dramatically accelerated process whereby the new regime attempts to create political, social, cultural and economic change and transformation based on the regime’s ideology.
Change in a post-revolutionary society is not guaranteed or inevitable and continuities can remain from the pre-revolutionary society. The implementation of revolutionary ideology was often challenged internally by civil war and externally by foreign threats. These challenges can result in a compromise of revolutionary ideals and extreme measures of violence, oppression and terror
Revolutions Unit 3 – The French Revolution (Code: HISR33)
Description
In Unit 3 students study the French Revolution. Revolutions share the common aim of breaking with the past by destroying governments and societies and embarking on a program of profound political and social change. The unit examines the cause of the French Revolution, the role of leaders, ideas and movements in bringing about this change and the extent to which the ideas were achieved.
Outcomes
· Analyse the causes of revolution, and evaluate the contribution of significant events, ideas, individuals and popular movements.
· Analyse the consequences of revolution and evaluate the extent of continuity and change in the post-revolutionary society.
Revolutions Unit 4 – The Russian Revolution (Code: HISR44)
In Unit 4 students study the Russian Revolution. Revolutions represent great ruptures in time and are a major turning point in the collapse and destruction of an existing political order which results in extensive change to society.
This unit examines the causes of the Russian Revolution, the role of leaders, ideas and movements in bringing about this change and the extent to which the ideals were achieved.
Outcomes
· Analyse the causes of revolution, and evaluate the contribution of significant events, ideas, individuals and popular movements.
· Analyse the consequences of revolution and evaluate the extent of continuity and change in the post-revolutionary society.
Assessment
· A historical inquiry (research task)
· Evaluation of historical sources
· Extended responses
· Essay
Unit 3 & 4 Assessment
Unit 3 Coursework = 25%
Unit 4 Coursework = 25%
Written Examination = 50%