Addressing the challenge of scholarship and industry currency in vocational education: a pilot

This paper explores a pilot project in which three VET teachers in an Australian dual-sector university trialled a scholarship framework by undertaking a small ethnographic inquiry into current practices in their respective industries. The framework defined a method for engaging with industry while simultaneously developing VET teacher capability in scholarly practice. The teachers were asked to reflect on their experience of engaging in a scholarly project and how new knowledge has been incorporated into their teaching and curriculum design. The reflections were analysed using the...  [+] Show more

This paper explores a pilot project in which three VET teachers in an Australian dual-sector university trialled a scholarship framework by undertaking a small ethnographic inquiry into current practices in their respective industries. The framework defined a method for engaging with industry while simultaneously developing VET teacher capability in scholarly practice. The teachers were asked to reflect on their experience of engaging in a scholarly project and how new knowledge has been incorporated into their teaching and curriculum design. The reflections were analysed using the indicators of scholarly quality from the self-same framework, and the key enabling factors and benefits were identified. The claimed success of the pilot is traced primarily to having a framework that provided a logical guide for the planning and execution of the projects and institutional support in the form of mentoring and paid time release.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner.

This research was also presented at the 20th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association Conference in 2017. The conference paper is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 129.168.