Heidi Wolfenden S00196837

EDAR 516: TASK 3- Curriculum Planner

YEAR LEVEL/BAND LEVEL

Visual Communication Design- Year 8

Band Level- 7&8

TOPIC

The impact of media messages on body image.

Inquiry Question: What is beauty?

RATIONALE
The Visual Communication topic I have chosen for Year 8 students is The impact of Media Messages
on Body image. The subject matter is highly relevant to students in this age bracket. Young people
are literally bombarded with media messages everyday and it is important for students to be able to
evaluate how they and others are affected and influenced by visual communications.
(Victorian Curriculum, 2015)

A study of over 4,000 television commercials revealed that 1 out of every 3 to 4 commercials sends
some sort of attractiveness message, telling viewers what is or is not attractive. The average
teenager sees over 5,000 attractiveness messages each year. (Teaching Tolerance, 2016)
In one study, 69% of 5th -12th grade girls reported that magazine pictures influenced their image of
the ideal body and 47% wanted to lose weight because of those pictures. (Teaching Tolerance, 2016)
Children are often exposed to images of beauty from mainstream media. However, they are not given
the opportunity to adequately reflect on body image as a social construction. Ideas and ideals about
how bodies should look, vary tremendously depending upon cultural, social and historical contexts.
This unit introduces children to the concept that beauty is not a static concept but is, in fact, socially
constructed.
Giving students the opportunity to critically respond to this type of Advertising message, is a positive
step toward helping them feel empowered in their own bodies and helping them to respect diversity amongst others. (Teaching Tolerance, 2016) Students will be asked to consider the way in which
perceptions of beauty have changed and evolved over time, by viewing and responding to various
artworks and images from a different time periods and cultures.
The Year 8 students will have the opportunity to design a poster for the Reach Foundation and
consider a way to promote a healthy body image to teenagers. The students will work to a creative
brief that is authentic and relevant to real life. They are given the opportunity to use their imagination
and creative thinking skills to find solutions to a genuine problem. These learning activities are
consistent with the Constructivist approach. (Piaget, Dewey, Vygotsky, Bruner) The students are
encouraged to use active learning techniques and reflect on and talk about what they are doing and
how their understanding is changing. (Education Broadcasting Corporation, 2004)
The Year 8 students will be provided with the opportunity to explore and apply methods, materials,
media, design elements and design principles to create and present their Visual Communication
Designs. They will use manual and/or digital drawing methods and conventions and
develop and present visual communications for a specific purpose, for a specific audience in
response to a well-defined brief. (Victorian Curriculum, 2015)

Heidi Wolfenden S00196837

AIMS
This Teaching Program aims to develop students:
Confidence, curiosity, imagination and enjoyment through an engagement with visual communication design practices
Creative and innovative ways to communicate ideas and information
Aesthetic knowledge, including the application of design elements and principles, as they explore
visual communications
Visual communication design practices, processes and technologies
Creative, critical and reflective thinking, using visual design thinking skills
Respect for and acknowledgement of the diverse roles and practices of designers, and the cultural
context of visual communication design.

VISUAL COMMUNICATION DESIGN CONTENT DESCRIPTIONS:

Explore and apply methods, materials, media, design elements and design principles to create and
present visual communications (VCAVCDE001)
Use manual and digital drawing methods and conventions to create a range of visual
communications (VCAVCDV002)
Develop and present visual communications for different purposes, audiences and in response to
specific needs (VCAVCDP003)
Identify and describe the purpose, intended audience and context in a range of visual
communications from different historical, social and cultural contexts (VCAVCDR004)
Identify and describe the use of methods, media, materials, design elements and design principles
in visual communications from different historical, social and cultural contexts (VCAVCDR005)

CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING

Synthesise information from multiple sources and use lateral thinking techniques to draw parallels
between known and new solutions and ideas when creating original proposals and artefacts
(VCCCTQ034)
Consider a range of strategies to represent ideas and explain and justify thinking processes to
others (VCCCTM040)

Heidi Wolfenden S00196837

ETHICAL CAPABILITY
Explore the extent of ethical obligation and the implications for thinking about consequences and duties in decision-making and action (VCECD017)

PERSONAL & SOCIAL CAPABILITY

Describe how and why emotional responses may change in different contexts (VCPSCSE034)
Explore their personal values and beliefs and analyse how these values and beliefs might be
different or similar to those of others (VCPSCSO038)

INTERCULTURAL CAPABILITY
When exploring The Perception of Beauty in Art in Week Two, students are asked to consider the
perception of beauty within other cultures such as: Chinese, Italian and Austrian.
Examine how various cultural groups are represented, by whom they are represented, and comment on the purpose and effect of these representations (VCICCB014)

CROSS-CURRICULUM PRIORITIES
Asia and Australias engagement with Asia.

ACHIEVEMENT STANDARD
By the end of Level 8, students identify and describe how designers use visual communication
practices to respond to briefs in different historical, social and cultural contexts. They apply this
knowledge in the development of their own visual communication practices. Students select and use
appropriate drawing conventions, methods, materials, media, design elements and design principles
to create effective visual communications. Students evaluate how they and others are affected and
influenced by visual communications from different cultures, times and places. They identify and
describe practices of visual communication designers in visual communications from different
cultures, times and places.

REFERENCES:
Educational Broadcasting Corporation.(2004) Workshop:
Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from:
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html
Southern Poverty Law Centre (2016) Teaching Tolerance. Messages from the Media, Teaching
Tolerance, Equity and Justice. Retrieved from: http://www.tolerance.org/supplement/messages-media
Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (2015) Victorian Curriculum Foundation-10.
Retrieved from: http://victoriancurriculum.vcaa.vic.edu.au/