Our Implementation seminar for VCE Politics (Units 1 and 2), took place at Parliament of Victoria on Wednesday 6 December 2023.

if you missed out, you can register to access the resources and recordings from most of the sessions here.

Recordings and resources from these sessions are still being edited and compiled – we expect to have these available for download no later than Tuesday 12 December.

B
1

Overview of Unit 1:
Politics, power and political actors

This session will provide Politics educators with an aerial view of the key components of the new VCE Politics study design, along with an insight into the key concepts, knowledge and skills that sit at the heart of Unit 1: Politics, power and political actors. Join Nicholas Melaisis, co-authors of the new SEV Politics Units 1 and 2 textbook, and Adam from the VCAA as they discuss the approaches to implementing new requirements in Semester 1 of 2024.

Nicholas Melaisis is a secondary educator with close to two decades classroom experience in schools across Melbourne, regional Victoria and Sydney. Throughout this time, he has served as a Head of Humanities and Director of Teaching and Learning. Nicholas believes the study of the humanities, in particular VCE Politics, Sociology and F-10 Civics and Citizenship Education, matters now more than ever, by offering learners an opportunity to critically investigate the world around them and imagine possibilities for new futures.

Adam Brodie-McKenzie is the Curriculum Manager for History, Politics, Civics and Citizenship at the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA). He is also studying a Doctorate at the University of Melbourne focusing on civics and citizenship education. Before this he was Master Teacher in the Humanities at the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership, a learning specialist and secondary school teacher in the humanities for over a decade.

Politics and journalism

In this session we explore reflections from a national and state politics reporter about the nuances of reporting on political issues, along with how media discourse impacts ways we can approach the case studies that we use in the classroom.

Benita Kolovos is an experienced politics reporter and journalist who has covered Victorian state politics since 2017, and who now works as Victorian State Correspondent for Guardian Australia. She previously led The Guardian's reporting on the Victorian state election in 2022, and has interviewed and worked closely with a diverse political figures and interest groups across Victorian state politics. 

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Issues for Australia’s democracy

Join co-author of the new SEV Politics textbook Jaan Butler as he provides new and experiences teachers of politics with insights into the key concepts, knowledge and skills that sit at the heart of Unit 2, Area of Study 1: Issues for Australia’s democracy, along with an exploration of Australia’s First Nations peoples: Voice, Treaty, Truth as an issue study.

Planning a sequence: facilitated planning and collaboration time

E
1

Global challenges to democracy

The first part of this session will highlight the key knowledge and skills relevant to studying Unit 2, Area of study 2: Global challenges to democracy. Our focus will be on consolidating and extending the knowledge and skills covered earlier in the course, and providing guidance to teachers who might be new to the source. The second part of this session will step through the political inquiry process modelling the use of Populism as a case study for this AoS.

Sharing strategies: facilitated planning and collaboration time

This will be an informal session which will provide VCE Politics educators an opportunity to exchange some practice approaches and resources in advance of the new study design implementation. 

Author panel: VCE Politics Units 1 and 2 

Join authors of our new textbook for the subject for a Q+A-style conversation reflecting on new study design requirements, and how these have been tackled in the text.