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This chapter discusses the changing and emerging characteristics of work, work practice and work requirements, and their consequences for vocational education. Changing patterns in work and working life are proposed as comprising: (1) the kind of work available; (ii) how individuals participate in work; (iii) what constitutes competence within that work; and (iv) those participating in work. The consequences for vocational education are systemic in terms of the kinds of occupations that need to be developed, variations in and complexity of work requirements, shifts in employer/employee relations, and the demographic shifts in those who will need to be supported by vocational education. The chapter examines these patterns of change to work and working life, and discusses policy and curriculum practice associated with each. Overall, it argues that the changes to work make it more demanding, and the frequency of change in work and how work is carried out demands careful, comprehensive and targeted preparation and on-going development. Moreover, with broader participation in the work force and longer working lives, the arrangement for this preparation and on-going development will need to be targeted, differentiated and sustained.

Published introduction.

The book from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 100.51. Individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 100.52 to TD/TNC 100.244. Show less

The is the sixth innovation report since the announcement of 'Backing Australia's ability', the Australian government's five year innovation statement. It provides an opportunity to reflect on the achievements of Australian government departments and agencies against the themes of 'Backing Australia's ability', along with their progress in addressing broader national goals through their implementation of the National Research Priorities. The report additionally presents the findings of the third Australian Innovation Scorecard, comparing Australia's innovation performance to that of other countries in the OECD. It thus provides a broader global context for Australia's innovation activities and a means of tracking the nation's progress in an increasingly competitive global economy. Finally, the report outlines the important role that key institutions and strategic planning processes are playing in informing the future of Australian science and innovation and ensuring that Australia remains well-placed to benefit from its investments in the future.

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A complex set of relational factors shape adult students' transition to higher education. Through accounts provided by adult vocational education students, a set of related interdependencies between what the university and other forms of support (e.g. family, friends) afforded these students and their agency, capacities and engagement were identified as shaping their transition to higher education. Bases for these students' engagement in their studies were found in their intentions and previous experiences that together shaped how they construed what is afforded by the university and other sources of support. Consequently, beyond what universities provide to support these transitions, considerations for promoting successful student transition into higher education necessarily require accounting for students' experiences, access to different kinds of support outside the university and their previous experiences. Therefore, rather than proposing general prescriptions about what universities need to do to promote successful transitions, [these] complex factors likely [play] out in quite person-particular ways. All of this reinforces the view that successful transitions to higher education are quite individual processes, and not just wholly dependent upon what educational institutions provide, and those affordances need to be [informed] by and aligned with different kinds of student needs.

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This paper discusses theorising and empirical work which proposes that the dispositions underpinning cognitive activity need to become more central to deliberations about how individuals think about and engage in skilful vocational practice. Such activity has consequences for how and what is learnt, as well as individuals’ ongoing development. Having reviewed ideas about the dispositional underpinnings of skilful knowledge, the paper reports a study examining how individuals construct knowledge associated with their vocational practice. This study provides tentative findings about the source of dispositions and their role in vocational activity. The paper concludes by advancing some implications for instruction. Show less

[This report] is designed to support international engagement by the Australian [vocational education and training] VET sector by articulating some of the opportunities available and also some of the challenges faced. It is designed to encourage a shared vision, and greater collaboration and partnerships, amongst the key stakeholders of the sector. [This report] provides an overview of the Australian VET sector as well as Australia’s international education and training engagement, in order to ‘set the scene’ for the operating environment of the sector. Some key issues in the international education and training arena for the Australian VET sector have been highlighted. [This report] then proposes a range of objectives and strategies to maximise the opportunities available in the period 2007-2011.

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There are growing expectations that tertiary education graduates will be ready for working life, that is, possessing the capacities to participate effectively in an occupational practice in a specific work situation. Yet, graduates are often unprepared to fulfil this expectation. In response, tertiary education increasingly includes workplace experiences (i.e., practicums, internships, and work placements). It is necessary to understand these experiences' efficacy and their optimisation to promote work-life readiness. Drawing on students' experiences of internships, this paper discusses what constitutes the value of internships in post-secondary diploma courses in Singapore.

A quantitative analysis of interview data identified the contributions afforded through these experiences in workplaces - students' intentional engagement, and their readiness for working life. Central here is how these contributions promote the development of the adaptability required for effective participation in contemporary working life. The analysis identifies challenges including students' adapting to new work environments, navigating workplace practices, and developing occupational capacities. Workplace supervisors' and host educational institutions' support suggests interns' adaptability can be enhanced by promoting the relations between the support they received, on the one hand, and their engagement with challenges during internships, on the other. These findings offer an understanding about the experiences and outcomes of interns' learning through workplaces and offer implications for supporting and augmenting transitions into working life.

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This annual report for 2002-03 contains information about the Department of Education, Science and Training's (DEST's) role, its corporate governance arrangements and management accountability framework, and its performance against the outcomes and outputs framework set out in the 2002-03 Portfolio Budget Statements. The first two chapters contain the Department Secretary's review of the year and an overview of DEST. Chapters three to five report on DEST's performance in achieving the following outcomes: students acquire high quality foundation skills and learning outcomes from schools; individuals achieve relevant skills and learning outcomes from post-school education and training for work and life; and Australia has a strong science, research and innovation capacity and is engaged internationally in science, education and training to advance its social development and economic growth. Chapter six looks at management and accountability arrangements. Included as appendices are: Occupational health and safety; Freedom of information; Payments to advertising and marker research organisations; Discretionary grants; Consultancies; Ecologically sustainable development and environmental performance reporting; Commonwealth disability strategy; Financial statements; Glossary and acronyms; Tables and figures. Show less

The Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) and the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) funded a project in 2001 to analyse and report on industry requirements for ‘employability skills’. This project was jointly managed by the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and was completed in March 2002. Employability skills were defined for the purposes of the project as ‘skills required not only to gain employment, but also to progress within an enterprise so as to achieve one’s potential and contribute successfully to enterprise strategic directions’. The project was commissioned to provide: (a) advice on possible new requirements for generic employability competencies that industry needs, or will need in the forseeable future, since the development of the Mayer key competencies; (b) clear definitions of what Australian industry and enterprises perceive as employability skills and the terminology being used to describe them; and (c) a proposed suite of employability skills and assessment and reporting options. The project also investigated industry reactions to the proposed suite and reporting options and undertook case studies involving a number of large enterprises and focus group research with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This report is based on a review of Australian and overseas policy and research literature on key employability skills. It clarifies concepts and terminology, analyses the principles and purposes of different approaches to key employability skills, develops a framework of such skills to support the fieldwork aspects of the overall project, and suggests strategies to facilitate the development of these skills more effectively within Australian education and training.

The project final report is indexed at TD/TNC 70.178. The report on detailed case studies with large enterprises is indexed at TD/TNC 70.180 and the report on the SMEs research is indexed at TD/TNC 70.181. Show less

The aim of this report is to help industry, government policy makers and training providers better understand the drivers of skill needs in the agrifood industry and identify the options for meeting those needs. This report provides the findings of a high level review of the skills and workforce issues confronting the agrifood industry and its five industry sectors: food processing, meat, seafood, racing, and rural and related industries. The key drivers of skills needs for the agrifood industry are: development of the regions; worker attraction and retention; demographic change and employment arrangements; consumer and customer service demands; competitiveness and productivity demands; business compliance; innovation; and globalisation. The relationship between these drivers and skill requirements are analysed and conclusions are developed on how changing drivers may impact on the skills base. Participation, attainment and expenditure trends in vocational and technical education are also discussed. Strategies addressing a broad range of issues driving current and future skills and workforce needs, with a focus on the role of training are recommended. Some of these strategies include: utilising existing industry champions to promote the agrifood industry as a preferred career choice for people in regional and urban areas; the provision of incentives such as higher remuneration, better working conditions and flexible arrangments to encourage older and experienced workers to remain on the job longer; developing skills in international business management; creating partnerships with government, industry and communities to strategically invest in infrastructure development; education of the industry on the challenges and opportunities of globalisation, the importance of research and innovation, and the effecient use of new technology in the global marketplace; developing and distributing tools and resources relating to environment, food safety, occupational health and safety risks and sustainability; adopting a futures approach to the development of training packages to better link research and development to competencies; and providing clear information about career paths and job opportunities that enable informed employment and education choices. Show less

Maintaining and improving the capacity to be effective in work is held now to become an important social goal in order to maintain, individual, local and national well-being, including standard of living (Organisation of Economic and Cultural Development [OECD], 1996). Yet, without knowing more about how individuals are able to engage in work and learn through that work, and are motivated to continue to learn, there can be no certainty about whether the expectations upon individuals are realistic. This paper reports the initial findings of an investigation that aims to understand something of these relations through understanding the working lives of five individuals. It aims to explore these individuals’ working lives including how they exercised their agency ethically at work. In doing so, it aims to identify how this agency is shaped by individuals’ identity and subjectivity, and how these shape their participation in, and learning through, work.

Published abstract reprinted by the permission of the copyright owner.

The volumes from which this paper is taken are indexed from TD/TNC 77.351 to TD/TNC 77.353. Individual papers are indexed from TD/TNC 77.354 to TD/TNC 77.437. Show less