Preliminary Humanities Stage 4

This course has been accredited under Section 55ZI of the Office of Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification Act 2003 - Other education. ‘Other education’ is defined by the Act as including ‘education specifically designed for a person with a disability’.

Section 55ZM of the Act requires that providers of this course issue qualifications to learners who achieve a Preliminary Achievement (PA) award or higher at any stage or size value. For further information and examples, see the Supporting Documents section of this course.

In addition to provider-issued qualifications, course providers may report learner results to the Office of TASC in late November each year using prescribed methods. Reported results will be used by TASC for inclusion on students’ Qualification Certificates (QCs) and may form part of the evidence base for a Tasmanian Certificate of Educational Achievement (TCEA) for eligible learners.

Achievement in courses Preliminary to Level 1 does not contribute to the Tasmanian Certificate of Education (TCE). This allows for greater flexibility in regard to learner movement between stages and their learning time (reflected in variable size values for this course) than are available in Level 1 and higher senior secondary courses.

The Preliminary to Level 1 suite of courses is designed for learners whose circumstances significantly impact their learning – in an ongoing manner or for extended periods of time.

These learners include:

• learners with disability as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1992, whose disability requires educational adjustments to support access and participation in learning 
• learners whose circumstances have significantly impacted their ability to attend school for extended periods of time or engage in courses with higher levels of complexity
• learners who require significant support for learning English as an additional language or dialect.

In a world that is increasingly culturally diverse and dynamically interconnected, it is important that learners come to understand their world, past and present, and develop a capacity to respond to challenges, now and in the future, in innovative, informed, personal and collective ways.

The study of Humanities plays an important role in harnessing learners’ curiosity and imagination about the world they live in and empowers them to actively shape their lives; make reflective, informed decisions; value their belonging in a diverse and dynamic society; and positively contribute locally, nationally, regionally and globally.

In Preliminary Humanities, learners will develop their understanding of the community in which they live, the organisations and services that may meet their needs, and how to access a range of services.

This course is specifically designed for learners who require flexible and individualised programs. The skills, knowledge and understandings offered in this course will enable learners to move towards greater independence. Learners will experience a range of learning activities in a familiar context that will assist them to attend to and explore the world around them with as much independence as possible. Learning experiences in this course are designed to move learners from an emergent level of responding to a level where the response indicates intention.

With coactive support, Preliminary Humanities aims to develop learners' abilities to:

• form a sense of identity through the study of their personal and community histories
• make sense of the world around them and their place within the local environment and community
• identify, locate and interact with key people, places, organisations and agencies in communities familiar to them
• select and use appropriate services to meet their needs
• to solve problems, make decisions and propose actions in relation to real-world events and issues
• engage and participate in community activities and events.

On successful completion of this course, learners will be able to:

1. identify the objects, people, places and events that form their personal and community histories, and the ways in which these are commemorated
2. use historical skills to gather information and construct a narrative about the past
3. identify the location, features and purpose of personally significant places and activities
4. use geographical skills to locate, access and use places and services in their local community
5. attend to and implement some basic social rules.

This course focuses on progressing learners from a pre-intentional to intentional state. It encourages learners to develop their independence as they explore, participate and engage in the world around them. Expectations for learner achievement are set at four stages which are not associated with any set age or year level that links chronological age to cognitive progress. As learners progress through these stages the level of coactive support required decreases as they proceed towards becoming independent learners.

This document is Stage 4 in four Stages of the course Preliminary Humanities.

Stage 1
At this stage learners experience a range of activities that will assist them to attend to and explore the world around them with as much independence as possible. Experiences are designed to move learners from a pre-intentional level of responding to a level where the response indicates beginning intention. Learners will need high levels of coactive support and focused attention from the provider to help them initiate and refine their responses. Learners demonstrate some awareness and recognition of familiar people and routine activities.

Stage 2
Learners at this level become less reliant on high levels of coactive support and become more reliant on verbal prompts and gestures to facilitate their learning. They begin to explore their world independently and engage in simple cause-and-effect play activities. Learners are able to focus on structured learning activities for short periods of time. They respond to familiar people and events and begin to use ‘yes/no’ responses.

Stage 3
Learners at this level are less dependent on coactive support and respond more consistently to prompts and simple clear directions from the provider to support them in their learning. They are displaying the first signs of independence and becoming more peer focused. Learners participate in structured learning activities with others and they begin to use pictures, photos and objects to communicate personal interests and experiences. They start to use and link some familiar words and images to form a meaningful communication.

Stage 4
With provider support and curriculum scaffolding, learners at this level participate cooperatively in group learning activities. They express their feelings, needs and choices in increasingly appropriate ways, and combine and sequence key words and images to communicate personal interests and to recount significant experiences. They indicate beginning understanding of social rules and expectations and are beginning to reflect on their own behaviour.

Learners can enter the course at any of the four stages depending upon their level of readiness or ability. Providers will determine the entry point for learners based on each learner’s level of readiness.

All learners have a right to an education that meets their needs through full participation and engagement with learning. Providers enhance the quality of all students’ learning through responsive and planned learning programs that optimise achievement using inclusive practices.

Learners will have access to appropriate resources such as professional support staff; (or adult assistance), and equipment such as assistive technology or modified facilities, as required. The Disability Standards for Education, 2005 outline the obligations that educational providers must meet in supporting the needs of learners with disability through reasonable adjustments.

Adjustments include a range of supports and accommodations including but not limited to:

• supportive learning environments
• tailored delivery models
• visual and organisational supports
• multimodal learning and assessment opportunities
• varying levels of prompting and adult assistance.

‘Adjustment’ does not mean the lowering or removal of standards but rather it means allowing learners appropriate means to demonstrate their learning and achievement against standards.

In the instance of online, distance or flexible delivery, adjustments may be made in the delivery of the courses by providers to suit the individual student’s learning environment. This may involve differentiation to reflect the resources readily available to the learner within their home or community.

 

This course is preparatory to Personal Care Level 1, Community Access Level 1 and You, Your Family and the Community Level 1.

This course has a complexity Preliminary to Level 1.

Each stage of the course has a size value of 5 or 10 or 15 depending upon learners’ needs. A learner will undertake a minimum of 50 hours study in this course, through to a maximum of 150 hours dependent on learner needs.

There are many possible ways of combining the Stages of learning and the size value of 5 or 10 or 15 depending upon learners needs.

For example:

• A learner might study Preliminary to Level 1, Stage 3 of the course and complete it in 50 hours. This learner might then study Preliminary to Level 1, Stage 4 of the course and require 100 hours to achieve this. After successful completion, this learner might then undertake You, Your Family and the Community Level 1 in the following year.
• In one year a learner might study Preliminary to Level 1, Stage 2 of the course and complete it in 50 hours. This learner might then also study Preliminary to Level 1, Stage 3 of the course and require 100 hours to achieve this.
• A learner may study Preliminary to Level 1 Stage 1 in 150 hours.

This course is organised into four sequential stages. Each stage includes a learning focus statement, key guiding questions and examples of student learning. Each stage is designed to accommodate a learner's level of readiness and reflects their stage of development. It may be likely that a learner may engage in only one stage of learning in their study of this course.

Using a practical skills-based approach, the learning program focuses on the learner’s personal history, community organisations and local environment. Learning will take place in a limited range of highly familiar contexts, using concrete and immediate examples.

This course is organised into four sequential stages. Learners can enter the course at any of the four stages depending upon their level of readiness or ability. Providers will determine the entry point for learners.

The sequence of delivery of the Stages is at the discretion of the provider. A personalised learning program will be developed for each learner, dependent on their needs. Not all learners will achieve all stages of the course content.

All content in each Stage is compulsory and must be completed.

The knowledge and understanding strand provides the content focus through which particular skills are to be developed. The Personal and Social Capability provides opportunities for learners to interact with others and to develop their interpersonal skills. It is expected that the three strands will be delivered in an integrated manner.

STAGE 4: (50, 100 AND 150 HOURS)

This stage has a size value of 5, 10 or 15.

In Stage 4, the focus is on present and past history. Learners learn about their own history and that of their family and local community; this may include stories from different cultures and other parts of the world. As participants in their own history, learners build on their knowledge and understanding of how the past is different from the present. They begin to make comparisons between the present and the past.

Learners use their own experiences to develop their knowledge and understanding of personally significant places. They assist in collecting information about places such as the spaces, features and environmental and human characteristics. They explore different ways to communicate their ideas about different places through the use of multimodal texts, images, maps, photos and models. Places will include a range of familiar and less familiar buildings and outdoor spaces in the local area.

Learning about places and building a connection with them, contributes to the learner’s sense of identity and awareness. The emphasis in Stage 4 is on the significant places learners regularly visit, their major characteristics, purpose and how learners connect with each place. They may also explore how a place is affected by natural factors, and the environmental issues associated with the place.

In Stage 4, students learn to be socially perceptive and to guide their behaviour across a range of familiar situations. They learn to adhere to class practice, offer assistance, share, initiate activities and regulate emotional expression. They are learning to name emotional responses and are becoming aware of how their reactions impact on others. On a personal level they are learning about their characteristics, strengths and preferences. The curriculum provides opportunities for learners to build their independence to establish and maintain friendships and skills required to work in a small group.

Key questions:

• ‘What is my history and what objects relate to this?’
• ‘What stories do other people tell about my past?’
• ‘How can stories of my past be told and shared?’
• ‘What places do I regularly visit?’
• ‘What are the major features of each place?’
• ‘What does the place look like?’
• ‘What is my special space in this place?’

STRAND 1 – KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

History

• ‘who are the people in my family are and how they are related to me?’
• how they, their family and their community celebrate past events that are important to them
• how the stories of their past can be communicated, for example through photographs, artefacts, oral histories and digital media.

Geography

• locating familiar places and labelling place and purpose
• the major features of a place and their location
• what people do in specific spaces
• ways weather and seasons are described
• places used regularly in the community, their location, activities undertaken here and frequency of visits
• the Countries/Places that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people belong to in the local area.

STRAND 2 – HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES SKILLS

History

• sequence significant family milestones
• explore a range of sources that describe families in the past
• identify and compare features of objects used by the family from the past and present
• develop a narrative about a significant family member and/or place.

Geography

• identify familiar places and their features, using photos and location vocabulary
• describe the location of a familiar place and the related activities
• identify personally significant places and their connection and importance
• reconstruct geographical data and information
• model or draw key features of a familiar place
• answer yes/no questions about a place based on geographical observations and information.

STRAND 3 – PERSONAL AND SOCIAL CAPABILITY

• name a range of emotions and describe how these are expressed or shown
• identify characteristics of self and share their likes and dislikes
• categorise familiar people and members of their family and class
• work with various peers, including participating in an activity not of their choosing
• respond to others in group situations, playing or working in a small group cooperatively
• demonstrate some understanding that negative words and actions are hurtful and that their behaviour can impact on others
• identify situations that could be a problem or challenge, and discuss relevant self-help skills.

Criterion-based assessment is a form of outcomes assessment that identifies the extent of learner achievement at an appropriate end-point of study. Although assessment – as part of the learning program – is continuous, much of it is formative, and is done to help learners identify what they need to do to attain the maximum benefit from their study of the course.

The standard of achievement each learner attains on each criterion is recorded as a rating of ‘C’ (satisfactory standard) according to the outcomes specified in the standards section of the course document.

A ‘t’ notation must be used where a learner demonstrates any achievement against a criterion less than the standard specified for the ‘C’ rating. The ‘t’ notation is not described in course standards.

A ‘z’ notation is to be used where a learner provides no evidence of achievement at all.

Internal assessment of all criteria will be made by the provider. Assessment processes must gather evidence that clearly shows the match between individual learner performance, the standards of the course and the learner’s award.

NOTATION ON EVIDENCE OF LEARNING

Some of the criteria standard elements use the terms reacting, responding and recognising.

In the context of this preliminary level course reacting/responding might be defined as:

• an intentional repeatable and observable behaviour that can be interpreted simply, objectively and conclusively.

In the context of this preliminary level course recognising might be defined as:

• intentionally signalling identification of (someone or something) through gesture, facial expression or sound from having encountered them before.

Each provider is responsible for ensuring the integrity and validity of their assessment results against the requirements of the course, including standards, and for maintaining records and documentation that will demonstrate the integrity, accuracy and validity of the award decisions they make each year.

Under Section 55ZN of the Office of Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification Act 2003, TASC may give a provider written direction regarding the provision and assessment of an accredited other education course.

The assessment of Preliminary Humanities Stage 4 will be based on whether the learner can:

• 1. identify personal and community histories
• 2. use historical skills
• 3. identify the location, features and purposes of places
• 4. use geographical skills
• 5. use basic social rules.

Criterion 1: identify personal and community histories

The learner:

Rating C
identifies extended family members and shows how they are related to themselves
identifies major changes to objects and places over time
identifies significant community events and indicates how they were/are commemorated.

Criterion 2: use historical skills

The learner:

Rating C
collects and categorises sources that depict significant objects, people and places from past and present
sequences key events on a simple timeline
constructs a narrative about their own, their family’s or their community’s past using familiar texts, objects or images, and showing how things have changed over time.

Criterion 3: identify the location, features and purposes of places

The learner:

Rating C
locates and identifies major features of places used regularly at school and in the community, and the activities undertaken there by self and others
uses simple, everyday language to describe weather and seasons.

Criterion 4: use geographical skills

The learner:

Rating C
represents familiar places on jointly constructed pictorial maps and models
organises information about places regularly visited, and the main features and activities undertaken there
communicates simple location instructions and directions for travelling to known places in the local community.

Criterion 5: use basic social rules.

The learner:

Rating C
identifies challenging situations and discusses relevant self-help skills
identifies safe behaviour for a range of activities
attends to and implements some basic social rules, cooperating with others and showing an understanding of the impact of their behaviour on others.

Preliminary Humanities Preliminary to Level 1: Stage 1, 2, 3 or 4 (with the award of):

SATISFACTORY ACHIEVEMENT

PRELIMINARY ACHIEVEMENT

The final award for Preliminary Humanities Stage 4 will be determined by the provider from five (5) ratings.

The minimum requirements for an award in this course are as follows:

Satisfactory Achievement (SA)

5 ‘C’ ratings

Preliminary Achievement (PA)
2 ‘C’ rating

The Department of Education’s Curriculum Services will develop and regularly revise the curriculum. This evaluation will be informed by the experience of the course’s implementation, delivery and assessment. In addition, stakeholders may request Curriculum Services to review a particular aspect of an accredited course.

The Department of Education acknowledges the significant leadership of Wendy Frost in the development of this course.

The accreditation period for this course is from 1 January 2019 until 31 December 2023.

During the accreditation period required amendments can be considered via established processes.

Should outcomes of the Years 9-12 Review process find this course unsuitable for inclusion in the Tasmanian curriculum, its accreditation may be cancelled. Any such cancellation would not occur during an academic year.

Version 1.0 Accredited on 4 December 2018 for use from 1 January 2019.

GLOSSARY OF VERBS

attends to	take notice
categorise	sort items into distinct groups with common elements
choose	decide or select the most suitable from a number of different options
communicate	to impart knowledge of something through words, gestures or other non-verbal means
co-construct	to build or form by putting together parts alongside another person or with someone’s assistance
construct	to build or form by putting together parts
create	make something
explore	investigate, search for
identify	recognise and name or indicate who or what someone or something is.
indicates	shows through verbal or non-verbal means
family	can be either direct family members (mum, dad, siblings or other significant people)
label	identify by placing a name or word used to describe the object or thing
react	a reaction or response is a deliberate, repeatable and observable behaviour that can be interpreted simply, objectively and conclusively
recognise	be aware of or acknowledge.
represent	to express as a word, symbol or the like
respond to	provide an answer; reply
select	choose in preference to another or others.
sequence	arrange in order
show	give information; illustrate
subject matter	refers to the topic or theme under consideration
understand	perceive what is meant, grasp an idea, and to be thoroughly familiar with

2. GLOSSARY

artefact	object made and used by human beings
chronology	places, events and dates arranged in historical time order
community	an identifiable group interacting on the basis of shared origins or interests
Country (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples)	a Country is a space mapped out by physical or intangible boundaries that individuals or groups of Aboriginal Peoples occupy and regard as their own. It is a space with varying degrees of spirituality
culture	the customs, habits, beliefs, social organisation and ways of life that characterise different groups and communities
data	refers to conditions, ideas, or objects in a raw or unprocessed form that are directly recorded, they can be quantitative or qualitative. For example: observations of weather
environment	The living and non-living physical elements of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere; can also include the build environment
Information and communication technology (ICT)	technology used to handle information and assist communication
local area	the area around the learner’s home or school that can be explored in a few hours
narrative	a way of making sense of the past based on a selection of events
oral history	people’s spoken recollections of the past, recorded through an audio or video interview
primary source (History)	objects and documents created or written during the time being investigated
primary source (Geography)	sources that have been unprocessed; may include original information and data collected by the student, for example measurements, observations and images from a field trip
secondary source (History)	accounts about the past that were created after the time being investigated and which often use or refer to primary sources and present a particular interpretation
secondary source (Geography)	sources of data and information that have been collected, processed, interpreted and published by others, for example census data, newspaper articles
space	A geographical concept that includes location, spatial distributions and organisation of space, for example the location, size and physical features of the classroom