Working together: integrated language, literacy and numeracy support in vocational education and training

This report investigates language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) teachers and vocational teachers ‘working together’ to deliver LLN support to students that is ‘integrated’ with the students’ vocational courses. With the exception of specific workplace LLN programs, this form of provision has been little researched in Australian vocational education and training (VET), and yet in the current ‘skills crisis’ environment, and with the federal government’s ambitious targets for increasing the tertiary qualifications of adults, it assumes much greater significance. In this report, we describe...  [+] Show more

This report investigates language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) teachers and vocational teachers ‘working together’ to deliver LLN support to students that is ‘integrated’ with the students’ vocational courses. With the exception of specific workplace LLN programs, this form of provision has been little researched in Australian vocational education and training (VET), and yet in the current ‘skills crisis’ environment, and with the federal government’s ambitious targets for increasing the tertiary qualifications of adults, it assumes much greater significance. In this report, we describe current pedagogical practices in programs involving integrated LLN in VET courses, outline the perspectives of key participants, mainly LLN teachers, vocational teachers, managers and students, and then suggest recommendations to improve provision.