2015-2020 New Area of Study

Discovery
- Reading the new Area of Study concept

The HSC common content consists of one Area of Study common to the
HSC Standard and Advanced where students analyse and explore texts
and apply skills in synthesis.
.

Area of Study
An Area of Study is the exploration of a concept that affects
our perceptions of ourselves and our world. Students
explore, analyse, question and articulate the ways in which
perceptions of this concept are shaped in and through a
variety of texts.
Syllabus
" An Area of Study is the exploration of a concept that
affects our perceptions of ourselves and our world.
Prescription
" This Area of Study requires students to explore the ways
in which the concept of discovery is represented in and
through texts.
Page 2

Etymology of discover:

discovrir (Old French) - to unroof or unveil

Page 3

Discovery (prescription in full)

Discovery can encompass the experience of discovering something for the first
time or rediscovering something that has been lost, forgotten or concealed.
Discoveries can be sudden and unexpected, or they can emerge from a
process of deliberate and careful planning evoked by curiosity, necessity or
wonder. Discoveries can be fresh and intensely meaningful in ways that may
be emotional, creative, intellectual, physical and spiritual. They can also be
confronting and provocative. They can lead us to new worlds and values,
stimulate new ideas, and enable us to speculate about future possibilities.
Discoveries and discovering can offer new understandings and renewed
perceptions of ourselves and others.
An individuals discoveries and their process of discovering can vary according
to personal, cultural, historical and social contexts and values. The impact of
these discoveries can be far-reaching and transformative for the individual and
for broader society. Discoveries may be questioned or challenged when viewed
from different perspectives and their worth may be reassessed over time. The
ramifications of particular discoveries may differ for individuals and their worlds.

Page 4

By exploring the concept of discovery, students can understand how texts have
the potential to affirm or challenge individuals or more widely-held assumptions
and beliefs about aspects of human experience and the world. Through
composing and responding to a wide range of texts, students may make
discoveries about people, relationships, societies, places and events and
generate new ideas. By synthesising perspectives, students may deepen their
understanding of the concept of discovery. Students consider the ways
composers may invite them to experience discovery through their texts and
explore how the process of discovering is represented using a variety of
language modes, forms and features.

Page 5

What are students required to do?

In their responses and compositions, students examine, question, and reflect
and speculate on:
their own experiences of discovery
the experience of discovery in and through their engagement with texts
assumptions underlying various representations of the concept of discovery

how the concept of discovery is conveyed through the representations of

people, relationships, societies, places, events and ideas that they encounter
in the prescribed text and other related texts of their own choosing
how the composers choice of language modes, forms, features and
structure shapes representations of discovery and discovering
the ways in which exploring the concept of discovery may broaden and
deepen their understanding of themselves and their world.

Page 6

The place of the Area of Study

in the Advanced and Standard Curriculum

Page 7

A note on Representation (slide 2)

Representation is the way ideas are portrayed through texts.
Language is important in this process, as are a societys overriding
ideology, its power and class structures and its notion of ethnicities.
In the context of the Area of Study, you are expected to examine how
a concept is culturally understood through its various representations
in texts.
A text both mirrors and shapes the society that has produced it.
The following table can assist you in exploring representation in a
text:

Page 8

What do I do to get started on getting my

mind around the concept?
As you are aware, you will need to find 2-3 related texts of your own choosing
of a range of forms and mediums, different to each other and to the
prescribed text, Life of Pi (2012) directed by Ang Lee. Peruse SMCNet for a
Related Texts list that is soon to be added.
You can start by reading the rubrics closely and inverting the statements to
consider the possible nature or kinds of Discovery that you are searching for
in texts. When you invert the rubrics, you set yourself up for asking the right
kinds of questions. Overarching questions For example:
Does the text represent the experience of discovering something for the first
time or rediscovering something that has been lost, forgotten or concealed? If
so, what is it and why is it of significance to a person or group?
What is the nature of the discovery? Is it sudden and unexpected, or they can
emerge from a process of deliberate and careful planning evoked by curiosity,
necessity or wonder?

How is the discovery emotionally, creatively, intellectually, physically and

spiritually meaningful?
Page 9

 And so onSee how many more you can come up with! You will be asked to
share these in class with your peers.
Remember: the most successful means of learning is the process kind!
Students who are enquiry driven reflect on, evaluate and respond imaginatively
to their learning on a regular basis are because of this, able to engage with
concepts and texts more perceptively and insightfully. Keep your knowledge and
your skills sharp the Area of Study is, after all worth 40% in weighting of your
overall mark.
How do you do this? Keep a learning journal.

Page 10

10

What do I do with a learning journal?

What is it?
A learning journal is a personal collection of free writing thoughts, opinions,
predictions and representations based on texts and on learning.
A tool for developing self-evaluative and meta-cognitive skills.
A personal conversation between the student and the teacher
What is it not?

A workbook, collection of reviews or polished writing.

How is the journal used?
Responding : The activity that occurs when students read, listen to or view
texts. It encompasses the personal and intellectual connections a student
makes with texts. It also recognizes that students and the texts to which they
respond reflect social contexts. This typically involves: reading, listening and
viewing that depend on, but go beyond, the decoding of texts; Identifying,
comprehending, selecting, articulating, imagining, critically analysing and
evaluating.

Page 11

11

How??
Free writing linked to the Area of Study
-responses to artworks, novels, film, TV, media articles, computer games, short
stories, poetry, songs etcetera.
-stream of consciousness writing
-free association writing, creatively playing with language and form
-sketching visual representations of what you are learning abut the concept
Reflecting on learning
Comments on work completed
Questions
Habits of mind*

Page 12

12

Habits of Mind are the characteristics of what intelligent people do when they are
confronted with problems, the resolutions of which are not immediately apparent.
(Costa)

Development of writing skills

In the Journal, because of its first-draft,
instant response, thinking-aloud-onpaper kind of informality, students make
discoveries in the act of writing.
Jack Thompson
Strategy for self-assessment
Heightened meta-cognition
Ownership of learning
You have the chance to reflect and
identify gaps in your learning

Writing is thinking!
Practice builds fluency in writing and the
motivation to write.

Page 13

13

Journal entries can be .....

Expression of opinion
Predictions, questions
Expressions of empathy, sympathy
Links to personal context
Analysis of language
Character profiles

Collages
Diagrams and other visual representations
Written in different forms

Exploration of an idea
In years 11 and 12, students choose their own extra texts and analyse them. Response journals help
to prepare them for this. In years 11 and 12, students need to reflect on their own learning processes.
This is a difficult skill and is started in early years. In HSC English, students are required to develop a
personal, critical response to texts.

Page 14

14

On the frustrations in English:

Many dislikes are, in fact, problems of misunderstanding, so that when
students articulate their puzzles and perplexities, they actually begin to
explore and solve them or find patterns. Boredom is similar it is a failure
to make connections.
Jack Thompson

On Discovery and your learning:

"When the time is ripe for certain things, they appear at different
places in the manner of violets coming to light in early spring.
- C18th century Hungarian mathematician Farkas Bolyai