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Recent attention has focused on the pervasiveness of informal learning in the workplace and the important role played by workers in fostering the learning of their work colleagues (Harris and Simons 1999). This has raised some significant questions with regard to the role of the workplace trainer and how that role might be conceptualised. In the light of the presenters' findings from a National Research and Evaluation Committee (NREC) funded research study on workplace trainers, this paper offers a critique of the current conception of the role of workplace trainer as represented in the Training Package for Assessment and Workplace Training. Then, drawing on network learning theory, distinctions are drawn between different types of workplace trainers. In particular, the paper focuses on the roles of trainers primarily located in the workplace and the roles of trainers primarily located in training providers, but who also enter organisations to train workers. A model, highlighting how workplace trainers act on and within the learning and work networks in their enterprises to facilitate learning, is presented and discussed.

Volumes of collected papers are indexed from TD/TNC 64.481 to TD/TNC 64.483. Individual papers are indexed from TD/TNC 62.625 to TD/TNC 62.632 and from TD/TNC 64.484 to TD/TNC 64.541. Show less

This report is a review of the literature, available research and current Australian practice relating to work placements. Its purpose is to draw together findings on work placements from three educational sectors in order to inform policy and practice in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector. The review has uncovered many gaps in the literature, indicating the need for further research in the VET sector. It is suggested that a major gap is the lack of a scoping study carried out in the school sector. Many critical challenges in work placements are highlighted, such as resourcing, professional development, tensions between workplace and provider cultures, variations in quality of workplace learning environments and equity in access. Show less

This paper explores and comparatively analyses theory and research in the role of human resource development (HRD) practitioners in stimulating employees to take responsibility for their learning and personal development in organisations in the UK, The Netherlands and Australia. The hypothesis is that the discrepancies between theory and practice may exist because of the barriers HRD practitioners' experience in the workplace, which in the main force them into traditional activities. The paper concludes that although organisations have supposedly made a shift to more non-traditional learning systems, HRD practitioners seem not to have changed accordingly.

The three volumes of conference proceedings are indexed from TD/TNC 72.49 to TD/TNC 72.51; selected papers are indexed from TD/TNC 72.08 to TD/TNC 72.11 and TD/TNC 72.52 to TD/TNC 72.100. Show less

The consortium 'Supporting vocational education and training providers in building capability for the future' undertook a two-year program of work which focused on approaches intended to help vocational education and training (VET) providers to build their capability. This publication summaries the work undertaken by the consortium of researchers investigating how VET organisations are building capability in an environment of ongoing change. Show less

In the 1990s, one of Australia's police services moved from a centralised, academy-based system of training towards a more integrated model of professional development. As a consequence, probationary constables spent reduced time in the police academy (6 months) before moving into the workplace for 18 months of work-based learning. This paper explores how those changes affected the ways in which probationary constables are viewed and accepted into the workforce. A useful model for this exploration is that of legitimate peripheral participation, as advocated by Lave and Wenger in 1991. Although Lave and Wenger acknowledge that peripherality, rather than being a negative term, allows for an understanding of inclusion into a community of practice, there is still a long journey to be travelled before full acceptance is accorded to the newcomer. By exploring the 'voices' of the probationers and their senior officers, the conflicts and difficulties that arose during their work-based probation and the negotiations required to help develop competent police officers, it is possible to trace the journey of probationary constables from periphery to a more central acceptance. This paper explores how the probationary constables were viewed and accepted into the workforce to become full and trusted members of a community of practice.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

Workforce development is a relatively new concept that extends beyond training, and is increasingly used by educationalists, policy-makers and scholars. It draws on human resource development and management, workforce planning and workforce capability development, and is often highlighted in debates on skills shortages where there is a need to increase the pool of skilled workers in critical industries. The literature has claimed that the concept takes us in new directions, and is not merely more of the same. But what does workforce development mean? This chapter opens the book with an analysis of the concept of workforce development, why it has become prominent now and why this book has been written. It then introduces the chapters to follow that serve to illuminate different perspectives and issues that together comprise what we term workforce development.

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The VOCEDplus landmark documents are key documents considered by history and authoritative commentary to have influenced the development of the Australian vocational education and training (VET) system, providing vision and/or leading to significant change. This paper is part of a series of forthcoming overviews that analyse and describe how these landmark documents impacted on the development of various aspects of Australia's VET sector.

This paper provides an overview of the Australian VET workforce since 1969. It analyses reasons for the dearth of information about the workforce, and then focuses on three main questions: what is known about the VET workforce, what capabilities does it require to carry out its roles effectively, and how can it be most appropriately prepared and developed? It concludes that many issues raised by four early landmark reports are still to be resolved, and perhaps they never will be, given the very nature of VET and the multitude of expectations from its diverse stakeholders. It focuses on the following landmark documents: The training of skilled workers in Europe: report of Australian Tripartite Mission 1968-69 [Tregillis report] (TD/LMR 85.640); TAFE in Australia: report on needs in technical and further education [Kangan report] (TD/LMR 85.637); Formal preparation of TAFE teachers in Australia: a report to the Council by the Staff Development Advisory Committee [Fleming report] (TD/LMR 85.662); Education, training and employment: report of the Committee of Inquiry into Education and Training [Williams report] (TD/LMR 85.677). Show less

This study, funded by ANTA, is an interpretive examination of on and off-job sites as learning environments. Its approach sought to uncover constructs and explore meanings that apprentices, workplace mentors and TAFE teachers develop and place on their worlds, in particular on integrated training. The general aim of the research was to establish a picture of integrated training, and the specific aims were to: analyse the relative contributions of the workplace and provider environments to the learning of apprentices; explore how they might best complement each other for the benefit of apprentices; and identify the enabling factors and barriers to establishing integrated models of training. A general conclusion is that such learning journeys as apprenticeships/traineeships are essentially about relationships, trust, commitment and common goals. The report concludes with implications for training and learning theory, policy and practice, and research, and with a summary of the study’s key findings and themes. Show less

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of extraversion and pre-training self-efficacy as individual characteristics on varying levels of training outcomes. Data were collected from 109 male employees entering a training program on efficient communication in organizations. The research was conducted in two stages: before training and immediately after training. The results showed that extraversion was positively related to pre-training self-efficacy, which was positively related to affective reactions, utility reactions and post-training self-efficacy. Affective reactions were also found to have a stronger relationship than utility reactions with declarative knowledge. An hypothesized model and three alternative models were tested. The results revealed stronger support for the hypothesized model.

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One of the most significant outcomes of training reform that has taken place over the past decade has been the (re)claiming of workplaces as legitimate learning environments. With the move to de-institutionalise training, the role of the workplace mentor falls under the spotlight. Critical issues are the quality and diversity of learning occurring in such environments and the extent to which workplace mentors are ready, willing and able to fulfil what appears to be demanded of them. Since the mid-1990s, Australian research has contributed to a growing body of literature on workplace learning. Yet there is precious little attention paid to the conceptualisation of the role of mentor as it might apply in an enterprise setting or how this role might vary, and the degree to which learning is formalised, in differently sized enterprises. Our previous research has demonstrated that the single most important factor in the quality of the workplace learning is the workplace mentor. The learning environment and processes ('learning culture'?) within an enterprise provide a powerful framework which shapes how a person who helps others learn might operate. A number of authors have identified functions/skills that characterise the mentoring relationship. Insights from examining apprentices' learning on-the-job also suggest that the workplace mentor may alter the 'anatomy' of work to help the learner grasp its component parts and their interrelatedness. The extent to which these functions/skills are evident and different from those embedded in the workplace trainer standards is one of the prime foci of this research. The paper will examine this issue in the light of research data gathered within a National Research and Evaluation Committee funded project during 1998-99. Data will be analysed from a range of mentors across three states (South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria) and three industries (real estate, building and construction, information technology).

Published abstract.

The volume of collected papers is indexed at TD/TNC 60.88. Show less