Skills (PDS) VCE VM Personal Development Skills study focuses on helping students develop personal identity and individual pathways to optimal health and wellbeing. It begins with concepts of personal identity and the range of factors that contribute to an individual's perception of self. Students will investigate health in their community and play an active, participatory role in designing and implementing activities to improve community health and wellbeing.
Students will examine community participation and how people work together effectively to achieve shared goals. They will investigate different types of communities at a local, national, and global level. Students will look at active citizenship, and they will investigate the barriers and enablers to problem solving within the community. Students understand different perspectives on issues affecting their community. They will also plan, implement, and evaluate an active response to community needs.
The study examines interpersonal skills and social awareness in different settings and contexts. Students will examine leadership qualities and the characteristics of effective leaders and how these qualities can be applied to the achievement of goals within personal and community contexts. Students participate in an extended project relating to a community issue. Students will identify environmental, cultural, economic, and social issues affecting the community and select one for an extended community project. Students will reflect on how community awareness of their selected issue can be improved.
VCE Vocational Major Personal Development Skills (PDS) takes an active approach to personal development, self- realisation and citizenship by exploring interrelationships between individuals and communities. PDS focuses on health, wellbeing, community engagement and social sciences, and provides a framework through which students seek to understand and optimise their potential as individuals and as members of their community. Students explore concepts of effective leadership, self-management, project planning and teamwork to support them in engaging in their work, community, and personal environments. In PDS, students will engage in large community-based projects where they will demonstrate their teamwork, organisation and leadership skills.
Unit 1 PDS focuses on the development of personal identity and individual pathways to optimal health and wellbeing. It begins with concepts of personal identity and the range of factors that contribute to an individual’s perception of self and individual health and wellbeing. Students will use these findings to enhance an understanding of community cohesion, community engagement and how a sense of identity may affect outcomes in different contexts. Students will investigate the elements of emotional intelligence and begin to develop an awareness of interrelationships between communities and the health and wellbeing of individuals.
Unit 2 PDS focuses on the benefits of community participation and how people can work together effectively to achieve a shared goal. It begins with definitions of community and different types of communities at a local, national and global level. Students will look at the relationships between active citizenship, empathy and connection to culture, and individual health and wellbeing. They will investigate the barriers and enablers to problem solving within the community.
Unit 3 PDS considers the role of interpersonal skills and social awareness in different settings and contexts. Students will examine leadership qualities and the characteristics of effective leaders and how these qualities can be applied to the achievement of goals within personal and community contexts. They will explore key components of effective teamwork and reflect on how to lead and contribute within a team context through a collaborative problem-solving activity. Students will evaluate individual contribution as well as the overall effectiveness of the team.
Unit 4 PDS focuses on student participation in an extended project relating to a community issue. Students will identify environmental, cultural, economic, and social issues affecting the community and select one for an extended community project. They will look at past approaches to the selected issue in Australia and elsewhere, consider how they will research information, and formulate an objective to achieve. Students will reflect on how community awareness of a selected issue can be improved and will engage in a process of planning, implementing, and evaluating a response to a selected community issue. They will conduct research, analyse findings, and make decisions on how to present work. Students will consider the key elements (such as emotional intelligence and effective team practices) and considerations (such as safety and ethics) when implementing a community project. Students will present a project to an appropriate audience of peers or community members and evaluate the effectiveness of the chosen response to the issue.
