The impetus behind Edcellent is not merely to assist students of VCE English; it is to communicate and attempt to amend what often transpires as a learning gap in this subject between the middle school (Years 9 and 10) and the senior years.

To put things more concisely: the majority of teachers of year 9 and 10 English have not been, and may not wish to become teachers of VCE English. The variation in teaching and content communication at year 10 level is vast. As a consequence, many year 11 students find themselves well behind where they need to be at VCE level. A year later, students are expected to complete SACs and an exam for their English ATAR. If we accept that year 12 so often becomes a ‘doing’ year, with the pressure of deadlines experienced by students and teachers alike; years 9 through to 11 must become ‘teaching’ years, targeted towards the specific skills required in VCE English.

I daresay there is not a single student who, at the end of year 11, would accept an exam score of 53.8% (compared to 54.85% in 2017) for Section C: analysis of argument and language to persuade – yet this is the state average, according to 2018 results (the average is lower if the figure for non-respondents is included). Something is not quite working, and this represents an inconvenient truth for VCAA, students, parents, and English teachers – in relation to an area of study that has broadly been in play since the VCE’s inception in 1991. Although greater effort has been made in recent years by a number of schools to address the problems that language and argument analysis provides, the conceptual elements of this area of study remain a mystery to too many.

Staying with the area of study identified in the previous paragraph, while simultaneously acknowledging the components of text response and the comparative analysis of texts, it is a fact that if a student has not been a reader in years 6-11, they will find the political and general knowledge components of editorials, opinion pieces, and news articles a decided challenge. As a general rule, they will lack the weight of accrued miscellaneous knowledge to compete at the highest level. The sooner students develop a political understanding of the universe, the better equipped they become in all facets of VCE English.

Reading is key, always. However, listening is just as essential – which is why I strongly advise students to watch programs like Q&A: in which high profile people of diverse political and racial backgrounds, attempt to hold their ground in debate against adversaries, including members of the audience, often against the odds. In many instances, this program is persuasive language and oral presentation in action, the viewing of which is a small step that students might take to immerse themselves in the language and methods of rhetoric. Consider this quote from the 2018 VCAA English exam report:

‘Students who scored most highly showed a confidence in analysing argument and language that comes with regular and authentic engagement with persuasive writing in many forms.’

This reinforces what is said above: that students must immerse themselves in the language of persuasive texts well in advance of their argument analysis SAC if they hope to do well.

Yet, perhaps the most glaring deficiency, in my experience as an English teacher and tutor for over fifteen years, is the contemporary student’s failure to grasp the symbolic and metaphorical elements in film, language, and visual analysis. If we consider that an extremely high proportion of students are studying film in some capacity (culminating in either Section A or Section B of the exam), and that every student must respond to visual material (photographs and cartoons) in Section C, this is a clear area that requires intensive support through the middle school years.

Ironically, approximately 70% of all brain processing is applied to visual material – yet the skill to analyse visual material (in a visual age) is desperately undeveloped. Anecdotally, and alarmingly, one of my private year 10 students recently remarked that in her school, visual analysis is not done in conjunction with the English curriculum. It is not surprising that many year 12 students approach this area as though they are approaching it for the first time. The ability to interpret the deeper layers of visual content amounts to the life-skill of being able to perceive the world.

Finally, to return to reading: there is not a single text that does not require knowledge of a general, historical, political, or sociological nature. Also worth remembering is that many texts at VCE level are certified masterpieces that have perplexed humankind for centuries, if not millennia. Unfortunately, through no fault of their own, teachers can’t teach general knowledge; while English teachers don’t always have the time or the expertise to teach history.

At Edcellent, we address the aforesaid deficiencies that students experience in the English subject, and bridge the gap between the middle years and VCE.