Participation and access in TAFE: social service or economic utility?

This paper provides an analysis of participation and access issues which were identified by the Kangan Report of 1974 (indexed at TD/LMR 85.637) and which remain significant in Australian technical and further education in the 1990s. A conjectural and deliberately dichotomous 'social service'/'economic utility' framework is superimposed upon some of TAFE's features in order to explore changes in the system and the attendant assumptions about participation and access. In each case, it is shown how the notions of participation and access may be interpreted and what might be the future consequences of policies which tip the balance between social service and economic utlility in either direction.

This paper provides an analysis of participation and access issues which were identified by the Kangan Report of 1974 (indexed at TD/LMR 85.637) and which remain significant in Australian technical and further education in the 1990s. A conjectural and deliberately dichotomous 'social service'/'economic utility' framework is superimposed upon some of TAFE's features in order to explore changes in the system and the attendant assumptions about participation and access. In each case, it is shown how the notions of participation and access may be interpreted and ...  [+] Show more