From the ACARA website:

General capabilities in the Australian Curriculum

• Literacy

• Numeracy

• Information and communication technology (ICT) capability

• Critical and creative thinking

• Personal and social capability

• Ethical understanding

• Intercultural understanding.

General capabilities, a key dimension of the Australian Curriculum, are addressed explicitly in the content of the learning areas. They play a significant role in realising the goals set out in the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (MCEETYA 2008) – that all young people in Australia should be supported to become successful learners, confident and creative individuals, and active and informed citizens.

The Melbourne Declaration identifies essential skills for twenty-first century learners – in literacy, numeracy, information and communication technology (ICT), thinking, creativity, teamwork and communication. It describes individuals who can manage their own wellbeing, relate well to others, make informed decisions about their lives, become citizens who behave with ethical integrity, relate to and communicate across cultures, work for the common good and act with responsibility at local, regional and global levels.

The general capabilities encompass the knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions that, together with curriculum content in each learning area and the cross-curriculum priorities, will assist students to live and work successfully in the twenty-first century. They complement the key learning outcomes of the Early Years Learning Framework (COAG 2009) – that children have a strong sense of identity and wellbeing, are connected with and contribute to their world, are confident and involved learners and effective communicators.

The Australian Curriculum includes seven general capabilities:

 

SEAQ's focus will be on the last four General Capabilities (GCs) and their place in social inquiry learning. Click on the weblink to find a full description of each GC, its organising elements and the learning continuum which shows the expectations at each level. The levels are: L1 (end of Prep or Foundation); L2 (end of Yr 2); L3 (end of Yr 4); L4 (end of yr 6); L5 (end of Yr 8); L6 (end of Yr 10).

Critical and creative thinking: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Critical-and-creative-thinking/Introduction/Introduction.

Personal and social capability: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Personal-and-social-capability/Introduction/Introduction.

Ethical understanding: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Ethical-understanding/Introduction/Introduction.

Intercultural Understanding: http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/GeneralCapabilities/Intercultural-understanding/Introduction/Introduction.