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Understand this general capability

Personal and Social capability

Introduction

The Personal and Social capability provides a foundation for students to understand themselves and others, and navigate their relationships, lives, work and learning. Students with well-developed social and emotional skills find it easier to manage themselves, relate to others, collaborate, develop empathy, set goals and resolve conflict. They feel positive about themselves and the world around them. 

 

The Personal and Social capability supports students to build their ability to regulate their thoughts, emotions and behaviours. This ability assists students to effectively engage with new ways of thinking, knowing and doing in an increasingly demanding and diverse global society.

 

The Personal and Social capability learning continuum Level 1a supports students with disability to access age-equivalent content and participate in learning on the same basis as their peers.

Structure

The Personal and Social capability learning continuum is organised into 4 elements, as shown in Figure 1: 

  • Self-awareness 
  • Self-management 
  • Social awareness 
  • Social management. 
 
Figure 1: Personal and Social capability elements

Self-awareness

 

This element is organised into 3 sub-elements:

  • Personal awareness – students develop an appreciation of their personal qualities and areas for growth. Through acknowledgment and assessment of their thoughts, feelings, actions and abilities, students can plan for growth across a range of contexts.
  • Emotional awareness – students explore the factors that influence emotions in themselves and in others, and how emotional responses affect behaviour in a range of contexts.
  • Reflective practice – students reflect cyclically on feedback and self-assessment to evaluate their learning and the factors, personal or otherwise, that influence this learning.

Self-management

 

This element is organised into 3 sub-elements:

  • Goal setting – students develop the organisational and planning behaviours needed to set, adapt and achieve goals.
  • Emotional regulation – students constructively express, manage, monitor and evaluate their emotional responses in a range of contexts.
  • Perseverance and adaptability – students persist in the face of setbacks and frustrations. They learn to review and modify their approaches when faced with challenges and to build strategies to complete tasks and overcome obstacles.

Social awareness

 

This element is organised into 3 sub-elements:

  • Empathy – students recognise the emotions, abilities, needs and concerns of others. They develop their understanding about how respecting the perspectives, emotional states and needs of others is essential to social interactions.
  • Relational awareness – students recognise the value of their relationships and examine what makes their relationships work. They learn to participate in positive, safe and respectful relationships, defining and accepting individual and group roles and responsibilities.
  • Community awareness – students gain an understanding of the role of advocacy in contemporary society. They learn to build their capacity to take responsibility for their social, physical and natural environments.

Social management

 

This element is organised into 5 sub-elements:

  • Communication – students learn to negotiate and communicate effectively with others through verbal and non-verbal means in a range of contexts.
  • Collaboration – students cooperate in groups and constructively contribute to ways of working and outputs. They develop the ability to initiate and manage successful personal relationships through participation in a range of group activities.
  • Leadership – students explore the ways that they can lead themselves and others. Students build their leadership capacity by examining a range of approaches and learn to select appropriate strategies in different situations.
  • Decision-making – students choose from possibilities to solve problems. They develop their understanding around factors that influence decisions and learn to evaluate the outcomes of decisions.
  • Conflict resolution – students develop and apply strategies to prevent, defuse and resolve conflict to reach constructive outcomes.
Key connections

General capabilities support and deepen student engagement with learning area content and are best developed within the context of the learning area.

Through English, students develop personal and social capabilities as they learn that language is central to personal and social identity. When engaging with a range of texts, students explore diverse perspectives and how these shape different interpretations and responses. Interacting with others in formal and informal settings helps students to become effective communicators. They are able to articulate their opinions and collaborate with others. Through close reading and discussion of texts, students experience and evaluate different personal and social behaviours and perspectives. They develop connections and empathy with characters in different contexts.

In Humanities and Social Sciences, students develop personal and social capability (self- and social awareness) as they gain an understanding of people and places through historical, geographic, civic, economic and business inquiry. Through learning experiences that enhance reflective practice, students develop an appreciation of the insights and perspectives of others. They develop understanding of what informs their personal identity and sense of belonging, including concepts of place, and their cultural and national heritage. 

 

Learning through inquiry enables students to develop self-management skills by directing their own learning and providing opportunities to express and reflect on their opinions, beliefs, values and questions. Social management skills are developed as students collaborate with others to make informed decisions, show leadership and demonstrate advocacy skills to achieve desired outcomes, and to contribute to their communities and society more broadly.

While Personal and Social capability is fundamental to engaging in any learning environment, it is core to Health and Physical Education. Through the 2 content strands, students develop interpersonal skills such as communication, negotiation, teamwork and leadership, and an appreciation of diverse perspectives. These skills allow students to explore their identity and understand influences that form their sense of identity. They learn how to recognise, understand, validate and respond appropriately to their emotions, strengths and values.

Languages enhances students’ personal and social capability. Through the Communicating meaning in [Language] strand, students develop a range of interpersonal skills essential to effective communication, such as decision-making, negotiation and collaboration. Content in both the Communicating meaning in [Language] and Understanding language and culture strands encourages students to develop an appreciation of diverse cultures and perspectives, and recognise how these influence identity, including their own.

Students develop self-awareness and self-management skills as they direct their own learning, plan and carry out investigations, and become independent learners who can apply science understanding and practices to make decisions. They build skills in social awareness and social management as they engage in collaborative investigations that require them to work cooperatively in teams, share resources and processes, make group decisions and show leadership. Empathy and respect are developed as students identify and learn about the diverse world views and perspectives that have informed the development of science, and the ways in which different individuals and groups may perceive scientific knowledge, advances or solutions. 

Students develop personal and social capability as they engage in project management and design and production activities in a collaborative workspace. They direct their own learning, plan and carry out investigations, and become independent learners who can apply design thinking, and technologies understanding and skills when making decisions. They develop social skills through working cooperatively in teams, sharing resources and processes, making group decisions, resolving conflict and showing leadership. Designing and innovation involve a degree of risk-taking, and as students work with the uncertainty of sharing new ideas, they develop resilience. 

 

Students consider past and present impacts of decisions on people, communities and environments and develop social responsibility through understanding of, empathy with and respect for others. They develop an understanding of diversity by researching and identifying user needs. Students reflect on the impact that digital tools and environments such as social media can have on their personal wellbeing and apply appropriate strategies in face-to-face and digital environments.

In The Arts, students develop personal and social capability as they make and respond to arts works, ideas and practices. When working with others, students develop social management skills and empathy for multiple perspectives as they communicate effectively, collaborate, make decisions that meet the needs of themselves and others, and demonstrate leadership as they create arts works. As artists and as audiences, students develop self-awareness and self-management skills when they set goals, work collaboratively, reflect upon various arts practices, and build resilience, adaptability, and perseverance while thinking about their work and the work of other artists.

Downloads

General capabilities documents and glossaries are available on the downloads page.

General capability downloads