The Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning and young people in TAFE: welcome challenge or weary acceptance?

In a context of rapid economic and social change, federal and state governments have introduced a number of policies and programs to address the needs of early school leavers, increase retention rates in post-compulsory education and training, and improve young people’s career prospects. One such initiative is the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL), which was implemented on a statewide basis in the Victorian vocational education and training (VET) sector, including Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes, from 2003. The VCAL aims to provide potential early school leavers and disengaged young people with an attractive, vocationally-oriented alternative to the academic senior school certificate. With the roll-out of the VCAL program, TAFE institutes have been experiencing an influx of young learners, for whom most mainstream programs and teachers have not traditionally catered. Many of the young people entering VCAL programs in TAFE have had prior negative experiences of schooling, and have also often been disengaged from formal education and training for some time. Conversely, most TAFE teachers have had little, if any, prior experience of working with this new student cohort. To date, however, there has been little research into the impact and implications of VCAL implementation on TAFE institutes and their staff. This paper examines the introduction of the VCAL in TAFE, and the challenges and issues that it poses, in particular for TAFE teachers. It is based on an analysis of existing research and also new data drawn from interviews with teaching and support staff at a large metropolitan TAFE institute. The paper suggests that if the VCAL is to be delivered effectively on an ongoing basis in TAFE, a number of significant issues relating to funding and teacher support and development need to be addressed.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 9th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference are indexed from TD/TNC 86.226 to TD/TNC 86.262. Show less