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Advice for teachers -
Visual Communication Design

Employability skills

Units 1 to 4 of the VCE Visual Communication Design study provide 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.

Each employability skill contains a number of facets that have a broad coverage of all employment contexts and are designed to describe all employees. The table below 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.

Teachers should note that while assessment tasks outlined in this study are of an individual nature, Collaboration and Teamwork are key employability skills. Collaboration and teamwork are significant factors in ‘design thinking’ strategies. Creative, critical and reflective thinking strategies all benefit from consultation and collaboration and require teamwork. It is imperative that students develop an understanding and appreciation of the value of teamwork and collaborative thinking as evident in many of the creative industries to which this study responds. Therefore, teachers should look for learning opportunities that allow for teamwork and collaboration.

Assessment task and employability skills
​Assessment taskEmployability skills selected facets
Annotated folio of research, ideas, concepts and final presentations in response to a brief Problem solving (developing creative solutions; developing practical solutions; applying a range of strategies to problem solving)
Learning (being open to new ideas and methods; managing own learning)
Initiative and enterprise (being creative; generating a range of options; initiating solutions)
Planning and organising (collecting, analysing and organising information; managing time and priorities; setting timelines)
Technology (having a range of IT skills; using IT to organise data; being willing to learn new IT skills)
Self-management (having knowledge and confidence in own ideas and concepts; evaluating and monitoring own performance; seeking feedback, taking responsibility; articulating own ideas and concepts)

Pitch (oral/written/visual) Communication Communication (sharing information; speaking clearly and directly; writing to the needs of the audience)
Planning and organising (collecting, analysing and organising information)
Self-management (evaluating and monitoring own performance)
Technology (having a range of basic IT skills; using IT to organise data; being willing to learn new IT skills)

Short and extended responses Self-management (having knowledge and confidence in own ideas and concepts; evaluating and monitoring own performance; seeking feedback; taking responsibility; articulating own ideas and concepts)

Structured questions Communication (writing to the needs of the audience; sharing information)
Learning (managing own learning)
Planning and organising (collecting, analysing and organising information)
Technology (using IT to organise data)

*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.