Search Results

This paper presents a model to increase participation in vocational education and training (VET) by students with a disability. The model involves structured workplace learning, based on collaborative links between industry, education, community and disability support services, and school-based apprenticeships/traineeships leading to employment. The model supports the strategy of intervening at the secondary school level to reduce early leaving by providing structured VET learning and work placement opportunities and clear pathways to VET opportunities. The authors provide a case study example of the model applied in the WAVES (Western Area Vocational Employment Services) Project operating in South Australia.

Copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission. Show less

This is the final draft of a report of a case study of the GATE project. The aim of the 'Gateways to awareness in training and education' (GATE) project was to study accredited vocational education and training (VET) pathway creation for students with a disability in a regional setting. It intended to increase employers' awareness of the employment potential of young people with disabilities. Issues addressed include: finding a workable definition of 'disability'; overcoming barriers between the VET sector and specialist employment agencies; strengthening working relationships between the education and industry sectors; and enhancing VET in schools opportunities for students with a disability. Show less

During June 2000, a group of Australian representatives from industry, unions, employers and education and training systems undertook a study tour of England, Norway and Sweden under the leadership of the Australian Student Traineeship Foundation (ASTF) - now known as the Enterprise & Career Education Foundation (ECEF). The group investigated the following issues: (1) the attitudes of, and reasons for, the participation of employers in structured workplace learning (SWL); (2) the mechanisms for supporting employer participation and the funding of such mechanisms; (3) the ways in which industry influences the content and delivery of learning and student choices, allowing for factors such as skills shortages and new emerging industries; (4) the role of industry bodies in workplace learning arrangements; and (5) the role of industry in monitoring the quality of workplace learning. This document reports on the tour and its findings, and makes recommendations to the ASTF Board on Australian options for addressing these issues in the future.

Copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission. Show less

The Commonwealth Government's comprehensive review of Australian higher education aims to ensure that Australia's higher education institutions are best placed to meet the educational needs of a post-industrial society and the development of an innovative and creative culture. The Enterprise & Career Education Foundation (ECEF) has been formed by the Commonwealth Government to assist in the development of the Australian schooling system so that it has the capacity to more effectively prepare young people for work and life. ECEF builds school to work linkages in partnership with industry, schools and their wider communities through programs combining classroom learning and structured on-the-job experience. This ECEF contribution to the debate about the role of universities in the preparation of young people for adult life aims to address what it views as the inappropriateness of the traditional 'front end' approach to education and careers, i.e. the assumption that a formal qualification is an essential prerequisite for a successful transition from school to adult life. The ECEF advocates the development of the concept of lifelong learning in which university study is one component of multiple career pathways. Recommendations are made to support this view.

Copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission. Show less

In 2000, a funding application was made by a number of interest groups to the Australian Student Traineeship Foundation (now the Enterprise & Career Education Foundation) for the purpose of investigating the impact that community based learning has on the development of key competencies. Community based learning programs were established in two rural schools in Tasmania (Wynyard High School and Rosebury District High School). A combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies employed to assess the success of the program indicated that community based learning did indeed have a significant positive impact of the development of key competencies. Show less

School-industry programs have been one of the major initiatives in senior secondary educational programs in Australia in recent years. These programs involve workplace-based learning linked to accreditation and recognition as part of upper secondary education. This study documents a pattern of growth and change for school-industry programs with workplace learning. In 1995 fewer than half the Australian secondary schools with Year 11 and 12 students provided some form of program that included industry placements, but by 1999 that figure reached an estimated 86 per cent. The research findings also emphasise a concentration of students in the tourism and hospitality, and business and clerical industries. This report also discusses the school-based new apprenticeships program and compares the management of these programs with non-apprenticeship programs. The report contains chapters on school provision of programs, student participation, program characteristics, learning in the workplace, and employer and community involvement.

Copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission. Show less

Research indicates that community partnerships can drive changes that enhance the social, economic and educational environments of the community. This paper identifies the critical elements that affect local level partnerships. It is based on considerable experience in the creation and expansion of school-business-community partnerships and studies from several sources including the Enterprise & Career Education Foundation's (ECEF's) (formerly the ASTF) and Australian Student Traineeship Foundation's (ASTF's) research.

Copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission. Show less

The ECEF [Enterprise & Career Education Foundation] Research Forum held on May 14-15, 2001 in Sydney, brought together researchers, practitioners and policy makers in the area of school to work transition to examine the following two themes: (1) how to strengthen the links between research, policy and practice in this area; and (2) initiating a collaborative development of a research agenda for this area. The report is divided into two sections. Section one provides an executive summary, key general themes, and material from the first day of the forum which covered two focus areas: (1) 'linking research, policy and practice' which includes the papers: Policy research: lessons and suggestions from a practitioner / Meredith Edwards; Marshalling research to influence policy change: a recent Victorian case study / Jack Keating (full paper in Appendix 1); and (2) 'school to work transitions', which includes these forum presentations: Structured workplace learning: research findings and gaps / Phillip McKenzie; Career education: what we know, what we need to know / Wendy Patton (full paper in Appendix 2); Enterprise education / John Breen; Why partnerships? / Jacqueline Shimeld; Partnerships from a business perspective / David Birch (full paper in Appendix 3); Partnerships: employer perspectives / Richard Curtain; Partnerships from an industry perspective / Gillian Bright. Section two details the content of the second day of the forum and contains: (1) Panel sessions on the theme of 'the links between research and practice' which comprises the following presentations: Notes from a research and community partnership in Whittlesea / John Spierings; Priorities for action: information from practitioners' application forms / Helen Strickland; Case study of Campbelltown Full Service Schools program / a dialogue between Jenny Wolfe & Margaret Vickers; and (2) Group sessions on priorities for research action and action plans (Appendix 5). The report concludes with closing remarks from Harris Van Beek, ECEF Chief Executive Officer, and 'next steps' for immediate action. A list of attendees is included.

Copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission. Show less

An existing staffing shortage in the aged cared sector in Australia is predicted to worsen over the next two decades. The current workforce also has a high proportion of older workers, many of whom will retire during the next 10 years, exacerbating the shortage. During 2000-2001, the Enterprise & Career Education Foundation (ECEF) funded a national aged care project to increase the number of aged care vocational education and training (VET) programs in schools. The aim was to attract more young people to aged care and related health/community services careers. The major aims were to develop the infrastructure in each state to enable increasing numbers of school students to enrol in aged care courses, to increase student and aged care industry awareness of the benefits of aged care VET courses in schools, and to develop sustainability for the aged care VET in schools initiative and long-term support within government and industry. This report outlines the goals, methodology and outcomes of the project and its achievements during 2000 and 2001.

Copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission. Show less

The Enterprise & Career Education Foundation (ECEF), formerly the Australian Student Traineeship Foundation (ASTF), was established with funding from the Australian Commonwealth Government to promote opportunities for young people to gain workplace knowledge and experience before graduating from secondary school. This paper aims to provide insight into the issues involved in youth transitions from school to work, youth employment and the ECEF’s structured workplace learning program. The paper contains a review of the most recent international and Australian literature in the areas of youth employment and education, youth transitions, school-industry programs, and structured workplace learning. Key findings are that: (1) young people in Australia have become better educated; (2) early school leavers are severely disadvantaged in the labour market; (3) Australia has a high rate of school leavers combining part-time work and study in their initial postcompulsory years; (4) youth employment and earning levels have fallen despite strong economic growth, with teenage unemployment being high in comparison with other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries; (5) the transition from education to work is smooth for most students; (6) there has been a significant growth in the number of schools offering school-industry programs; (7) most parents support school-industry programs; and (8) structured workplace learning helped most young people into work or further education. The paper also highlights the six features of successful transition systems identified by the OECD and recommends that vocational education and training (VET) and enterprise education be integrated into the education system in Australia.

Copyright Commonwealth of Australia reproduced by permission. Show less