The General Capabilities are one dimension of the Australian Curriculum and are taught through the content of the Learning Areas. They involve knowledge, skills, behaviour and dispositions.

There are seven General Capabilities, and this second series in Targeting General Capabilities examines two of them:

Critical & Creative Thinking— Children learn to generate and evaluate knowledge, clarify concepts and ideas, seek possibilities, consider alternatives and solve problems. The elements explored and assessed are:

Inquiring, exploring and organising information and ideas.
Generating ideas, possibilities and actions.
Reflecting on thinking and processes.
Analysing, synthesising and evaluating reasoning and procedures.
Ethical Understanding —Children learn to identify and investigate the nature of ethical concepts, values and character traits, and understand how reasoning can assist ethical judgement. The elements explored in this book are:
Understanding ethical concepts and issues.
Reasoning in decision-making and actions.
Exploring values, rights and responsibilities.
Each unit begins with a stimulus, followed by assessable activities that examine the element through the different Learning Areas with links to the Australian Curriculum. The assessments are tailored to the sub-elements, rather than through the lens of specific Learning Areas, thereby consolidating their understanding of the concepts and providing guidance for further reflection. Answers for most activities are in the back of the book, but many are open-ended.