Change and VET: thinking the unthinkable

The story of vocational education and training [VET] is guided by a grand narrative which consists of five elements. This presentation will explore the most commonly cited element - the notion of relentless, disruptive change. If the future of VET is being created on a foundation built upon an uncritical acceptance of turbulent change - what are the consequences if the widely held view is not accurate? The theoretical perspectives of Michel Foucault and their further adaptations by Peter Miller, Nikolas Rose and Ian Hacking as to how governments operate in advanced liberal democracies...  [+] Show more

The story of vocational education and training [VET] is guided by a grand narrative which consists of five elements. This presentation will explore the most commonly cited element - the notion of relentless, disruptive change. If the future of VET is being created on a foundation built upon an uncritical acceptance of turbulent change - what are the consequences if the widely held view is not accurate? The theoretical perspectives of Michel Foucault and their further adaptations by Peter Miller, Nikolas Rose and Ian Hacking as to how governments operate in advanced liberal democracies and the importance of the use of statistics will guide the exploration of change in the VET sector. After a brief overview of the ubiquity of the change theme in VET, the presentation will compare three landmark documents: The Kangan Report 1974, John Dawkins' Improving Australia's Training System 1989 and the most recent Skills Australia discussion paper Creating a Future Direction for Australian Vocational Education and Training in 2010. The results of this comparison through the use of both narrative and auto-ethnographic methodologies by a former senior education and training bureaucrat will invite participants to think the unthinkable and open new ways of conceiving of the role and place of VET.

Author's abstract.