Senior secondary pathways reform

[On-screen text: Senior Secondary Pathways Reform]

[On-screen title text: Vocational and Applied Learning Pathways]

[On-screen name title text: Kerryn. Vocational and applied learning teacher. East Doncaster Secondary School]

Kerryn: I really like that they can learn by doing, I think it's a really important way of learning and that they're actually getting up out of their seat and going somewhere and doing something, and that the learning can be reflective.

[Students use tools in woodwork classroom]

Kerryn: Number one thing is absolutely flexibility in the classroom. And as a 20-year professional teacher, it means that, yeah, I have a lot of ability to choose the things that I think are best for the classroom and I really enjoy that, and I really appreciate the fact that we can choose to do things that the students are interested in.

[Students practise skills in the cooking classroom and outdoors drawing]

Kerryn: The applied learning classroom is much more dynamic than a regular classroom. So, students are often all doing different things, rather than everyone doing the same thing, which I really enjoy. We're often working to a theme, and that means that they're doing a little bit of something in each of their classes, but it sort of weaves its way through and it's a much more integrated kind of experience for the students.

[Students use tools in woodwork classroom and adjust lighting/sound controls in auditorium]

Kerryn: Many people kind of discount applied learning because they think it's a non-academic where what applied learning really is, is learning by doing and by learning by doing, you get the experience of it, and you can apply it then in real world situations, and it's the start of something amazing. I've seen many students go off to TAFE and then build on that and go to university, or they go out and work in industry and get a job. And so yeah, it's really satisfying to see them meet those goals.

[On-screen text: Senior Secondary Pathways Reform]

[On-screen text: If you’d like to find out more information about teaching vocational and applied learning workforce programs go to https://bit.ly/val-teaching-programs]

[On-screen text: The Education State, Victoria State Government Education and Training]

[On-screen text: Victoria State Government logo. Authorised by the Victorian Government, Melbourne]

[End transcript]