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STUDY SUMMARY RELIGION AND SOCIETY 2006–2010 Please Note: This study summary comprises excerpts from the VCE Religion and Society Study Design. The summary is not a substitute for the VCE Study Design. Users are advised to consult the VCAA website (http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/vce/studies/religion/religionindex.html) to view the full accredited Study Design and other resources. Rationale The beliefs, values and ideas of religious traditions can play an important part in maintaining and shaping culture. Religious beliefs about the nature of existence and the purpose of human life provide an ultimate frame of reference for understanding the world and for guiding daily personal and communal action. This study of Religion and Society is designed for all students interested in the great questions of life. It also seeks to develop understanding and respect for the perceptions of the participants in religious traditions. Therefore it values and promotes open inquiry without bias towards any one tradition while drawing on the personal and collective experience of the students. Structure The study is made up of four units: Unit 1: Religion and society Unit 2: Ethics and morality Unit 3: The search for meaning Unit 4: Challenge and response Each unit contains between two and four areas of study. Entry There are no prerequisites for entry to Units 1, 2 and 3. Students must undertake Unit 3 prior to undertaking Unit 4. Units 1 to 4 are designed to a standard equivalent to the final two years of secondary education. Unit 1: Religion and society This unit focuses on the role of religious traditions in shaping personal and group identity. It examines ways in which individuals and groups affect and change religious traditions, and are affected and changed by them. The unit provides the opportunity for students to understand the often complex relationships that exist between individuals, groups, religious traditions and the society in which they live. Throughout this unit at least two or three religious traditions should be studied. These should be chosen from more than one of the following groups: VCE RELIGION AND SOCIETY 2006–2010 STUDY SUMMARY • Primal religions (for example, Australian Aboriginal religions, religions of the Pacific islands); • Asian religions (for example, Buddhism, Hinduism, Chinese religions); • Semitic religions (for example, Judaism, Christianity and Islam). Unit 2: Ethics and morality Ethics is a discipline that investigates morality; it involves reflection on what ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, and ‘good’ and ‘bad’ mean when applied to human decisions and actions. It is concerned with discovering ways of acting that are worthy of choice and of discerning those that are unworthy of choice. Value choices are fundamental to being human. Ethics is particularly concerned with the justification for moral choices – the argument and reasoning behind them. The cumulative effect of decisions made by individuals and groups determines the quality of an individual’s personal, social and working life, the health of the environment and ultimately the very future of the world. Ethical questions are raised at the personal, family, local, wider community, national and global level. Ethics is not just a matter of individual awareness and personal decision-making. Family, community and traditional connections tie people together and provide an ethical background to what individuals do, supporting some choices and disapproving of others. Generations have always wanted to pass on to their children the values they hold dear and these values are enmeshed with the dominant religious and philosophical traditions of the times. Today, religious traditions compete with powerful alternative sources of values represented in the media and popular culture. Nevertheless, society still relies on a cultural heritage that contains a variety of ethical perspectives as well as numerous commonly held moral values centred on human dignity and basic justice. These moral values remain fundamental to legal and social systems, and constitute the everyday categories of ethical discourse in the modern world. They are taken to be the starting point and common ground for ethical discussion in a pluralistic society. Unit 3: The search for meaning This unit focuses on core religious beliefs and the ways in which they create meaning for religious communities and individuals. These beliefs refer to views about ultimate reality held by individuals, groups, organisations and whole societies. Religious beliefs may be communicated and expressed through the following aspects: formal statements of belief, myths and other stories, sacred texts and other religious writings, rituals, symbols, social structures, oral or written codes of behaviour, religious experience and spirituality. Reference may be made to one or more traditions. This tradition/s should be chosen from one or more of the following groups: • Primal religions (for example, Australian Aboriginal religions, religions of the Pacific Islands) • Asian religions (for example, Buddhism, Hinduism, Chinese religions) • Semitic religions (for example, Judaism, Christianity and Islam) Any tradition selected should be a system with the eight interrelated aspects outlined on page 7 of the study design. Unit 4: Challenge and response Religious traditions change and develop over time. They respond to the needs of their membership, and to changes in society, while seeking to maintain their integrity, convictions and credibility. Religious traditions themselves can provide the impetus for social change, or they may respond to external challenges. This unit focuses on internal and external developments which challenge significant beliefs of the selected tradition/s, and which may produce enduring historical or social consequences for ©VCAA 2010 2 VCE RELIGION AND SOCIETY 2006–2010 STUDY SUMMARY the tradition/s or for their social milieu. Students explore historical profiles of religious traditions, and analyse decisive occasions of religious challenge and response. They also consider the implications of religious belief for action on behalf of social justice and for assessment of new problems arising from social and technological change. Assessment Satisfactory Completion The award of satisfactory completion for a unit is based on a decision that the student has demonstrated achievement of the set of outcomes specified for the unit. This decision will be based on the teacher’s assessment of the student’s performance on assessment tasks designated for the unit. Levels of Achievement Units 1 and 2 Procedures for the assessment of levels of achievement in Units 1 and 2 are a matter for school decision. Units 3 and 4 The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority will supervise the assessment of all students undertaking Units 3 and 4. In the study of VCE Religion and Society students’ level of achievement will be determined by School-assessed Coursework and an end-of-year examination. Percentage contributions to the study score in VCE Religion and Society are as follows: • Unit 3 School-assessed Coursework: 25 per cent • Unit 4 School-assessed Coursework: 25 per cent • End-of-year examination: 50 per cent. ©VCAA 2010 3