The effectiveness of action research as an organisational change process for improving Indigenous completion rates in mainstream VET

This paper draws on a recently completed National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) funded project that investigated the effectiveness of action research in changing vocational education and training (VET) provider practices in order to improve Indigenous completion rates. Action research was used over a twelve-month period by a team in each of four TAFE institutes. The experience of action research was new to all team members except for the team facilitators. As a process by which colleagues learn better ways of thinking, interacting and working, the approach implemented in this context proved to have limitations as well as strengths. The paper describes the model, its outcomes, and the factors that impacted on its effectiveness.

Excerpt from published abstract.

The collection of refereed papers is indexed at TD/TNC 78.501. Available refereed papers are indexed from TD/TNC 78.502 to TD/TNC 78.518. The collections of non-refereed papers are indexed at TD/TNC 78.519 and TD/TNC 78.520. Available non-refereed papers are indexed from TD/TNC 78.521 to TD/TNC 78.556.

This paper draws on a recently completed National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) funded project that investigated the effectiveness of action research in changing vocational education and training (VET) provider practices in order to improve Indigenous completion rates. Action research was used over a twelve-month period by a team in each of four TAFE institutes. The experience of action research was new to all team members except for the team facilitators. As a process by which colleagues learn better ways of thinking, interacting and working, the approach implemented ...  [+] Show more