Tell me the old, old story or new messages?: five decades of inquiry into VET teacher development

At various points during the last five decades (that is, the 1970s to the present), the attention of policy makers has inevitably turned to the initial preparation and ongoing development of the sector's teachers and trainers. In this the latest decade, these issues have re-surfaced as headline topics capturing the interest of policy-makers, industrial parties and researchers alike. While much research has been dedicated to the topic over the years, concerns about practitioner capability remain constant. Is it a matter of the old, old story being told over and over again or have we...  [+] Show more

At various points during the last five decades (that is, the 1970s to the present), the attention of policy makers has inevitably turned to the initial preparation and ongoing development of the sector's teachers and trainers. In this the latest decade, these issues have re-surfaced as headline topics capturing the interest of policy-makers, industrial parties and researchers alike. While much research has been dedicated to the topic over the years, concerns about practitioner capability remain constant. Is it a matter of the old, old story being told over and over again or have we missed something in the telling and re-telling?; This paper reports on a qualitative synthesis of some key research on the development of teacher capability produced between the years 1978 and 2011. Fleming (1978), Butterworth and Gonczi (1984), the VEETAC Working Party on TAFE Staffing Issues (1992, 1993), OPCETE (2000), Dickie et al. (2004) and the Productivity Commission (2011), amongst others, have all attempted to provide solutions to the various 'problems' assigned to VET practitioners and their skill development. In this paper, contexts, purposes, methodologies and recommendations have be re-analysed to determine if there might be new and useful messages for the sector today.

Published abstract.