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The need for vocational education to respond to demand-side factors has become a key policy goal for vocational education in Australia. However, what comprises the demand side has not been critically appraised. Assumptions that only industry and enterprises comprise the demand side are questioned by the legitimate claims for inclusion by regions and individuals. Taking this more inclusive definition of the demand side of vocational education, the outcomes of a study that investigated the changing relationship between industry and enterprises are reported. It also mapped the needs of the four client groups. Identified are both commonality and difference in these needs, some of which are not readily reconcilable within an enterprise or industry-led vocational education system. Means for reconciling the needs of the client groups within curriculum development are discussed, as are some supply-side considerations.

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This research explores the potential for developing instruments that assess and acknowledge the wider benefits of learning for adults participating in non-accredited community adult language, literacy and numeracy programs. The research comprised three stages: (1) a review of national and international research; (2) a number of potential assessment instruments that could be used to assess and acknowledge the outcomes of learners in non-accredited adult language, literacy and numeracy programs were identified; and (3) the selected instruments were trialled and evaluated in the field at the partner sites. The instruments tested in the study take account of the diversity of learner needs and motivations. The study found that a range of instruments and approaches would probably be required to assess and acknowledge learning outcomes that are specific to particular learners or cohorts of learners. It highlighted that these assessment methods can bring benefits both to the learner and the tutor, especially when they are completed jointly in ways that inform learning plans and aim at building self-confidence. Show less

This project investigated how best to utilise school students' experiences in paid part-time work to enable them to have a better understanding of post-school pathways, as well as the ability to make wise decisions about these pathways. In this context, paid work experiences are regarded as being more 'authentic' and informative than school-organised work experiences, since paid work entails an employment arrangement, immersion in workplaces and the exercise of the obligations and requirements on the part of both employees and employers. The specific questions addressed by the project were: In what ways can school students' engagement with paid work experiences assist them and their peers to understand work, working life and post-school pathways? What kinds of teaching practices might secure these outcomes? How can schools best organise experiences to inform students about work, working life and post-school options? The study found that it is not clear the degree to which, despite all the interest expressed by school systems and statements about the centrality of vocational education and training (VET) programs, there are adequate resources, support and organisation to ensure successful programs. Some of the difficulties in negotiating classroom-based activities designed to reflect on the students' paid work experiences were a product of the standing and status of vocational programs within the schools. The research provided evidence that a reluctance to recognise the value of paid employment and its rigours placed additional demands upon students. For instance, students engaged in vocational options were often forced to negotiate inflexible arrangements within the academic programs. Hence, for students seeking both pathways, there were impediments that added to the complexity and stress of their study programs. This leads to a question about the capacity of schools to support the full range of post-school options for students through effective vocational education provision. Show less

The aim of the project reported here was to examine the nature of social partnerships and how they may be relevant to the vocational education and training (VET) sector. VET, which supports industry, individuals and communities, is increasingly identified as an important means of strengthening local communities. This relatively recent role for the VET sector complements its long-standing role in the development of skills and attitudes necessary for work. This sector also offers ‘second chance’ opportunities to those who had been unsuccessful at school or university. In this study, social partnerships were documented through a desktop review and a phone survey. In-depth case studies were also conducted in three states (Queensland, South Australia and Victoria) to provide a detailed view of how these partnerships actually work. The project identified community partnerships, which grow out of community concerns and commitments and are formed to address local issues or problems, and enacted social partnerships, which are initiated by agencies external to local communities, but with a view to developing and/or supporting particular functions within those communities. VET is characterised by both community and enacted social partnerships which are often constructed in ways which support vocational learning, particularly for young adults, through a range of diverse local initiatives. Social partnerships also contribute to broader objectives aimed at strengthening communities by building relationships, working productively with a diversity of partners, and enhancing capacity for local governance. The project findings provide a basis for considering how community-building through social partnerships might be used to support vocational education and training goals. The findings reveal dangers inherent to the community-building approach and how they might be negotiated as community-building proceeds. The report also offers suggested strategies for advancing community capacity-building and monitoring performance through social partnerships. Show less

Current social and economic imperatives are leading to workplaces being seen as important and necessary learning environments in their own right, rather than places to augment knowledge learned elsewhere. Frameworks for workplace learning can draw upon a long tradition of learning through practice that predates processes of learning in educational institutions. However, to legitimize and extend their worth, there is a need to identify and elaborate their purposes, conceptions of learning through work, and augment these with recent conceptual and procedural advances. Ultimately, these frameworks are characterized by what workplaces afford learners and how individuals elect to engage with what is afforded them.

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A key concern for Singapore and a focus for current government policy is maintaining the lifelong employability and productivity of its workforce. An important element of this national policy agenda is the employability of the increasing portion of the workforce aged over 45 years (i.e. mature-age workers). The research project reported here aims to understand more about how best to assist mature-age workers maintain their employability across working life and what Singaporean workplaces and government agencies might do to maintain their employability. The project comprises three components: (1) an analysis of relevant literature; (2) conducting interviews with mature-age workers, some of whom are also employers; and (3) administering a survey to verify and extend ideas advanced in the literature review and interviews. From the findings, it is proposed that to sustain lifelong employability across Singapore's working population, government policies and community practice comprising the following are required: flexible [continuing education and training] CET provisions that articulate into high-level and highly regarded qualifications; workplaces fully utilising and further developing mature-age employees' capacities, including their contributions to others' learning; CET providers effectively engaging Singapore's growing mature-age population through flexible curriculum and pedagogic practices and by providing highly regarded certification; mature-age workers effectively directing their engagement in CET, and investing time and resources in sustaining their lifelong employability; a national charter to ensure workplaces, CETs and workers all fulfil their commitment for Singapore to excel as a community that values and supports lifelong employability; guidance and support to assist and advise mature-age workers, particularly women, in making appropriate CET choices, and in maintaining their sense of self as workers and learners; and clearly articulated education and qualification pathways across the tertiary and higher educational sectors.

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The integration of workplace and school-based experiences is necessary for effective vocational education and training (VET) in schools programs. Access to authentic workplace experiences are likely to be important for programs which both aim to develop an awareness of the world of work as well as to develop specific vocational knowledge. The utilisation of students’ paid part-time work in conjunction with classroom activities has the potential to enrich learning about the world of work and develop the knowledge required for working life. Show less

This paper reports on the views of 20 teachers who were involved in designing and delivering higher education programs in TAFE institutes. It is part of a broader National Vocational Education and Training Research and Evaluation (NVETRE) funded project that examined the growth of, and implications for, higher education in TAFE. The aim of the project was to understand the purposes of such programs, how they have been developed and implemented, the impact they are having on institutional partnerships, how they are perceived by participants, and whether they open opportunities for students. One set of project interviews explored teachers' views of the nature of higher education programs in TAFE. In this paper, issues associated with the identity, concerns and professional positioning of teachers who are responsible for delivering higher education programs in TAFE institutes are explored. It is argued that this identity is a bifurcated one. On the one hand, these teachers are situated in a VET environment, with its attendant physical, industrial and resource implications, and a mandate to liaise closely with industry. Yet, simultaneously, they are expected to have completed post-graduate qualifications, provide course content and assessment regimes that are current but more intellectually demanding than those in the VET sector and find time to engage in scholarship and research activities. The paper is divided into three sections. It begins with a brief literature review of the phenomena of higher education in anglophone vocational or further education institutions. Next, the Griffith University project, 'Higher education in TAFE' is described. This is followed by a consideration of the four specific forms of tension, namely, epistemological, pedagogical, industrial and institutional, that were found to impact on the work and identity of the teachers who were interviewed in the study. The paper then concludes by considering the upshot of these tensions within the broader and changing landscape of higher and vocational education. Show less

This paper reports some initial findings of an investigation which seeks to understand the consequences for vocational education and training (VET) provisions and policy of the changing relationships among the four key VET client groups, industry, enterprise, individuals and regions. While over the last decade industry's needs have dominated vocational education policy and provisions, the initial findings of the study include evidence that the shift to an enterprise focus is being enacted, with consequences and concerns for industry goals and the aspirations of individuals and regions. Evidence is furnished of how an enterprise based approach to VET may jeopardise the realisation of individuals' and regions' goals as well as the potential erosion of transferable knowledge. Show less

In this chapter, the author proposes a way to think about, identify and describe what embodies competence for vocational educators with the aim of contributing ideas to the understanding of the relationship between the social world and the mind. The author adopts the cultural-historical activity theory to identify competence in the work of vocational educators and the chapter begins by positioning the project within this approach. This is followed by an account of the occupational view of vocational educators and a discussion of situational requirements for practice. Finally, the author suggests mediation between occupational needs and situational requirements as a means to how competence can be identified.

The monograph from which this chapter is taken is indexed at TD/TNC 66.308. Selected chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 66.309 to TD/TNC 66.317 and at TD/TNC 66.491. Show less