Advice for teachers - Agricultural and Horticultural Studies

Employability skills

The VCE Agricultural and Horticultural Studies study provides students with the opportunity to engage in a range of learning activities. In addition to demonstrating their understanding and mastery of the content and skills specific to the study, students may also develop employability skills through their learning activities.

The nationally agreed employability skills* are: Communication; Planning and organising; Teamwork; Problem solving; Self-management; Initiative and enterprise; Technology; and Learning.

The table links those facets that may be understood and applied in a school or non-employment related setting, to the types of assessment commonly undertaken within the VCE study.

Assessment task

Employability skills selected facets

Practical task

Planning and organising (managing time and priorities – setting timelines, co-ordinating tasks for self and with others; collecting, analysing and organising information)
Self-management (articulating own ideas and visions; taking responsibility)
Problem solving (developing creative, innovative solutions; developing practical solutions; applying a range of strategies to problem solving; showing independence and initiative in identifying problems and solving them; testing assumptions taking the context of data and circumstances into account)
Initiative and enterprise (adapting to new situations; being creative; translating ideas into action; initiating innovative solutions)
Communication (listening and understanding; sharing information; understanding the needs of internal and external customers)
Learning (being open to new ideas and techniques; managing own learning; acknowledging the need to learn in order to accommodate change)
Technology (applying IT as a management tool; using IT to organise data; being willing to learn new IT skills; having the OHS knowledge to apply technology)
Teamwork (working as an individual and as a member of a team; knowing how to define a role as part of the team)

Short written report

Communication (listening and understanding; sharing information; writing to the needs of the audience; reading independently; persuading effectively)
Planning and organising (planning the use of resources including time management; establishing clear project goals and deliverables; collecting, analysing and organising information)
Problem solving (developing creative, innovative solutions; testing assumptions taking the context of data and circumstances into account)
Teamwork (working as an individual and as a member of a team)

Oral presentation or practical demonstration

Communication (speaking clearly and directly; persuading effectively; writing to the needs of the audience; reading independently; sharing information; listening and understanding)
Initiative and enterprise (initiating innovative solutions; being creative)
Planning and organising ( planning the use of resources including time management; establishing clear project goals and deliverables; collecting, analysing and organising information)
Teamwork (working as an individual and as a member of a team; knowing how to define a role as part of the team)

Case study analysis

Communication (writing to the needs of the audience; reading independently; sharing information; persuading effectively)
Learning (managing own learning; being open to new ideas and techniques; acknowledging the need to learn in order to accommodate change)
Problem solving (testing assumptions taking the context of data and circumstances into account)           

Video or podcast

Communication (speaking clearly and directly; persuading effectively; writing to the needs of the audience; sharing information)
Initiative and enterprise (being creative; initiating innovative solutions)
Self-management (having knowledge and confidence in own ideas and visions; taking responsibility)
Technology (using IT to organise data; being willing to learn new IT skills)
Teamwork (working as an individual and as a member of a team)         

Annotated visual report

Communication (writing to the needs of the audience; sharing information; persuading effectively)
Initiative and enterprise (being creative; initiating innovative solutions)
Learning (being open to new ideas and techniques)
Technology (using IT to organise data; being willing to learn new IT skills)
Teamwork (working as an individual and as a member of a team)           

*The employability skills are derived from the Employability Skills Framework (Employability Skills for the Future, 2002), developed by the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Business Council of Australia, and published by the (former) Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training.