Are TAFE Institutes as learning organisations changing the experience for teachers?

TAFE institutes operate in a world where the nature of work is changing rapidly, demanding flexibility, greater knowledge and a higher level of skills. Educational institutions are in the process of adapting to these demands with an acknowledgement that their graduate students must demonstrate the attributes of lifelong learning. The responses of TAFE institutes include research initiatives, a greater emphasis on outcome-based learning, a revision of assessment procedures and reviews of curriculum. TAFE institutes are also responding to the impacts of global change and the emerging knowledge economy by embracing the concept of the learning organisation and making policy shifts to reflect their aspiration to move towards this concept. There is a convergence between the notion of 'lifelong learning' and the notion of 'the learning organisation' in the recognition that workers and professionals need to learn and develop continually in the context of their workplace, rather than simply through a series of outside courses. However, whereas TAFE institutes are introducing policies in relation to learning organisations, and are beginning to focus training around the notion of lifelong learning for their students, there appears to be a gap between the idea and reality in relation to their own staff. Awareness of the shift in policy and the aspiration towards becoming a learning organisation should infiltrate at every echelon of a TAFE institute for this policy shift to succeed. This paper draws on research as part of my PhD with data collected from senior and middle managers, and TAFE teachers at two TAFE institutes (I have one other TAFE institute to complete). Preliminary data analysis reveals a gap between the vision at the top and the reality in the wider teacher cohort. This paper seeks to describe the research being undertaken and to discuss the implications of preliminary data analysis.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 10th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference are indexed from TD/TNC 89.401 to TD/TNC 89.447. Show less