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Until a decade ago there was not much in common between the training which took place in enterprises, sometimes known as Human Resource Development (HRD) and the training that took place with TAFE and other providers of vocational education and training (VET). Over the last decade various measures introduced as part of training reform have changed this relationship and this paper, tracing the changes that have taken place, argues that there is now an area of overlap between VET and HRD, where accredited VET programs are delivered in the workplace, and that this area of convergence appears to be growing. Three enterprise case studies are used in the paper to illustrate the nature of the area of overlap, and to suggest some features which contribute to enterprises' likelihood to engage in accredited training. Show less

This paper looks at apprenticeship learning and training from a new standpoint - the psychological contract. The notion of the psychological contract is commonly used in the human resource management field to understand the nature of employment relationships. It has not previously been applied to apprenticeships in any systematic manner. This paper reports on a research project that applied a pre-existing instrument to apprentices and employers and also included qualitative case studies in nine companies.

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This study examines how learners and the processes of learning are understood and presented in a sample of courses leading to the attainment of the Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training (since replaced by the new Certificate IV in Training and Assessment). It considers the implications of these findings for the development of teaching and learning in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia. The study involved an analysis of 16 case studies in South Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. Seven of these sites were public registered training organisations (RTOs), four based in capital cities and three in regional areas. The remaining sites comprised nine private RTOs and two enterprise-based organisations, both located in capital cities; three community based organisations, two in capital city locations and one in a regional area; two commercial training organisations, one in a capital city location and the other regional; and two government-funded organisations located in the higher education sector. The case study sites were therefore spread across a number of locations, as well as across a range of different types of RTOs. The research demonstrated considerable diversity in the types of courses leading to the attainment of the Certificate IV qualification, as well as a variety of ways in which the qualification was contextualised to meet the requirements of the organisations and individuals involved. In enterprise contexts the Certificate IV was understood as a business process that contributed to wider organisational and strategic goals, with an immediate focus on developing human capital for the enterprise. Learners and learning were understood in context-specific ways; this stands in contrast to circumstances where the audience for the Certificate IV was more non-specific, and topics related to learners and learning were approached in more general terms. The authors suggest that future discussions need to examine ideas on how teaching and learning might embrace the learner-centred, work-centred and attribute-focused approaches now acknowledged as important for the future of the VET sector. Discussions also need to consider more seriously the impact of characteristics such as gender, race and ethnicity on learning, and the ways in which learning might best be understood and organised to take account of these learner attributes. Show less

This research paper has been produced as part of the ILO project, Apprenticeships Development for Universal Lifelong Learning and Training (ADULT), funded by the Government of Flanders. The ADULT project aims to explore how apprenticeship systems are being modernised and transformed to promote and enable lifelong learning and decent work for youth, adults, and older workers (both employed and unemployed). This research paper examines the attractiveness and potential attractiveness of apprenticeships to those who might seek to undertake one. This study is confined to formal apprenticeships, that is those which are overseen by governments and/other bodies. It considers apprenticeship as an option for adults as well as young people. It provides examples from across the world, from low-, medium- and high-income countries. The focus is on attractiveness to individuals rather than the attractiveness to employers of engaging with the apprenticeship system.

The paper explores reasons why apprenticeships are sometimes regarded as unattractive or low status career choices. It also highlights the experiences and lessons learned from the initiatives taken by various countries in improving the attractiveness of apprenticeships. These include structural changes and enhancements to apprenticeship programs, as well as better promotion of apprenticeships to potential apprentices and those who advise them.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less

This paper reports on longitudinal research carried out with eleven young people (aged 16 to 19) during their first year of full-time work. The purpose of the research was to find out what they learned about work, and how and where they learned it. Interviews with their supervisors, parents and TAFE teachers (where they were in apprenticeships or traineeships) added to the researcher's understanding of the young people's learning. As these young people were placed at the intersection of several different VET and employment policy agendas, the findings shed some light on the application of policy in practice, and on areas that urgently need further, large-scale, research with a view to refinement of current policies.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner.

The title of the conference was 'Changing practice through research: changing research through practice'. This volume of the collected papers is indexed at TD/ANTA 82.129; selected papers are indexed from TD/TNC 60.137 to TD/TNC 60.149. Show less

In Australia, the workforce in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) as compared to that in other sectors of education is not easy to describe or analyse. TVET practitioners work in a variety of institutions, locations and roles, and do not necessarily see themselves as a coherent body of professionals. This diversity makes it difficult to generalize about practitioners and, more importantly, for governments and practitioners' employers to devise policies and practices that address their required qualifications and professional development. Arrangements among countries vary depending upon the way in which the TVET system is organized, but in general there is some commonality in the ways in which teachers, instructors and trainers can be classified. One way is by their working context (which we may call 'site of training practice') and another is by the extent to which the training they deliver is involved in some way with government-accredited qualifications (which we may call 'formality of training'). A third way is by the extent to which training is a full part of the individual's career (which we may call 'role focus of trainer'). This chapter uses Australia as a case study to examine TVET teachers, trainers and instructors and the ways in which their skills are developed and certified, using these classifications as an organzing framework.

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

Researchers from 13 different countries participated in this international conference on apprenticeship research. The conference comprised three keynote addresses and three workshops. The keynote papers are: The crowded market: agencies dealing with apprenticeships in Australia / Erica Smith; Apprenticeship systems in the German speaking countries: different logics and policies with respect to full-time VET and higher education / Thomas Deissinger; Apprenticeship (AP) and enterprise-based learning in the Mediterranean region / Helmut Zelloth and Richard Sweet. Papers from the first workshop, ‘Interventions by government and other stakeholders in apprenticeships’, chaired by Erica Smith are: Workplace trainers: provisional principles for an open architecture of professional development / Graham Attwell, Philipp Grollmann and Eileen Luebcke; Towards innovative apprenticeship: the evaluation of the development of integrated regional vocational education and training centres in Hungary / Magdolna Benke; The Italian apprenticeships: the results of the latest reform / Sandra D’Agostino; Competence development through workplace learning: the case of the French vocational baccalaureat from Vocational Lycees and the Maisons Familiales Rurales / Benedicte Gendron, Jean-Claud Floutard, Cecile Gendre and Pascal Varnier; Innovation and the Swiss vocational education and training system / Philipp Gonon; Apprenticeship in the United States: patterns of governance and recent developments / Robert I. Lerman; The long winding road to Ireland’s 1993 national apprenticeship programme / Barry Nyhan; Plural administration in dual systems in selected European countries / Felix Rauner, Wolfgang Wittig and Ludger Deitmer. Papers from the second workshop, ‘Designing optimal conditions for the development of competence through on-the-job learning’, chaired by Peter Schlogl are: Developing tools to support work based competence development / Graham Attwell and Raymond Elferink; The relevance of the dual system to English VET / Michaela Brockmann, Linda Clarke and Christopher Winch; Comparing two cases of trainers’ practice: implications for professional development / Philipp Grollmann and Pekka Kamarainen; Facilitating learners’ motivation and competence development in the workplace: the UK context / Natasha Kersh and Karen Evans; Relations between characteristics of innovative learning environments and competences in secondary vocational education / Regina H. Mulder and Gerhard Messmann; Coaching and collaborative work based learning in Dutch VET: the ‘TEAMstages’ project / Jeroen Onstenk; Occupational commitment and vocational identity / Felix Rauner and Lars Heinemann; Promoting competence development of apprentices through combined workplace and workshop learning / Eduard A. Stoger. Papers from the third workshop, ‘Costs, benefits and outcomes of apprenticeships’, chaired by Lorna Unwin are: Quality and impact of a new apprenticeship approach in the Italian region of Marche / Elmo de Angelis and Ludger Deitmer; Investigating the quality of cooperation of learning venues in countries with little history of cooperation: the case of China and Malaysia / Ludger Deitmer and Ramli Rashidi; Costs and benefits of apprenticeships in the lowest track of VET / Katleen De Rick; Quality of apprentices and training strategies of firms in Switzerland / Marc Fuhrer, Stefan C. Wolter and Samuel Muhlemann; Costs - benefits - quality: the specific profile of Austrian apprenticeship and its future potentials and drawbacks / Lorenz Lassnigg; Costs, benefits and quality of apprenticeships: a regional case study / Felix Rauner, Lars Heinemann, Dorothea Piening and Rainer Bischoff; Certifying professional competence within workplace learning: preliminary suggestions of the project MOVE PRO EUROPE at EADS in Germany / Andreas Saniter and Barbara Burger. Show less

Apprenticeships can be seen as the ultimate in cooperation between [technical and vocational education and training] TVET providers and industry as they are based on a combination of work and study. They provide appropriate skills for companies and also all-round occupational and generic skills, as well as providing a tried and tested means of moving young people into the full-time labour market. However there are many different actual and potential models of apprenticeship, which can be confusing for countries looking to begin or re-develop an apprenticeship system. This paper uses part of the work undertaken for a project funded by the International Labour Organization and the World Bank to compare and contrast apprenticeship systems in 11 countries, for the purpose of drawing out some principles of good practice. The project was undertaken to provide suggestions for the process of reform of the Indian apprenticeship system (Planning Commission 2009). Experiences of other countries, both in the developed and the developing world, indicate that apprenticeship systems cannot be transplanted among countries; however, key features of countries’ systems can be identified and sensitively developed in other countries.

The paper explains how an international comparative study arrived at principles for good practice. In the project, 11 individual country case studies, based on reports, literature and stakeholder comment, were produced by a team of national experts, and subjected to a cross-case analysis to extract these principles. The use of national experts was judged to be more effective than having people write on other countries’ systems. The latter method has proved in many instances to result in inaccurate reports, susceptibility to the influence of limited numbers of stakeholders and a lack of sophistication in analysing trends. The country case studies took into account agreed international benchmarks for describing, analysing and evaluating apprenticeships, based on the framework described in the recently-released memorandum by INAP, the International Network on Innovative Apprenticeship (INAP Commission 2012) and the framework developed by one of the authors in the International Encyclopedia of Education (Smith 2010). The countries were selected to cover a range of variables. A cross-case analysis was undertaken which drew together data from the countries using a thematic approach and simple data display techniques (Miles and Huberman 1994). The analysis covered both systemic issues and ‘the life cycle of the apprentice’. The data were then further reduced to develop an identified set of principles of good practice in apprenticeship systems. These principles of good practice were then contextualised within a consideration of issues of ‘quality’, expansion and simplification strategies for apprenticeships and incentives for employers and apprentices.

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2009 was a bad year for Australia’s international vocational education and training (VET) industry. Racism affecting international students on the streets and in the national media discouraged students from applying to study in Australia and made international education the centre of political controversy. In such an environment it has been easy to lose sight of the teaching and learning processes that are at the heart of VET for international students. This paper reports on part of a research project, funded by Service Skills Australia, that examined VET practitioners in the service industries. As part of that project the author carried out case studies in two registered training organisations (RTOs) that delivered training to substantial numbers of hospitality students and interviewed senior managers from four other RTOs. Staff and students alike reported on the benefits of having international students enrolled in their courses, and reported instances of good practice in pedagogy that have implications well beyond the international student cohort.

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The notion of employability skills has been in the forefront of educational debate over the past 15 years, in many countries including Australia. Implicit in business input into the debate has been the assumption that schools should be producing young people with ready-developed employability skills. This study set out to challenge that assumption by examining how such skills are developed in workplaces. The research was based on case studies which were carried out in 12 Australian enterprises of varying size and drawn from different industry areas (including three group training companies). The enterprises were located in four states: New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland, and included examples of first time workers who were part-time student workers as well as school leavers in their first jobs. The study found that employers of young people accept their role in helping these young people to develop their employability skills and see the benefits of doing so. It discovered a wide range of approaches which employers use to encourage the development of these skills and also strategies that the young people utilised. The study confirms the importance of the workplace as a site for learning and developing employability skills.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner.

Volumes of papers are indexed at TD/TNC 90.162 and TD/TNC 90.163. Selected individual papers are indexed from TD/TNC 90.164 to TD/TNC 90.211. Show less