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The Delphi method was utilised to solicit the views of senior people responsible for policy, staff development and other significant Vocational Education and Training (VET) commentators, about the challenges faced by VET practitioners and the associated staff development issues. The researchers found that the Delphi method appeared to offer some advantages over more common forms of research with such people. The paper presents some key findings from the research in order to illustrate points about methodology. Appendices provide an example of a Delphi survey form.

Published abstract.

The volume of collected papers is indexed at TD/TNC 60.88. Show less

This publication has been prepared by the interagency technical vocational education and training (TVET) group on skill mismatch in digitised labour markets, to support experts and policy-makers who wish to engage in discussion on the potential of web-based big data for skills policy. It outlines how such data can be used to mitigate labour market challenges, reduce skills mismatches and strengthen the links between the labour market and education and training.

The focus is on overcoming conceptual and practical challenges and limitations, system development and using big data for skills policy in practice. Examples of big data initiatives from around the globe illustrate its potential and provide insight into how big data are already supporting policy-makers in shaping the futures of work and education.

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Based on an assessment of progress made in key policy areas in the last three years, this draft Joint Report proposes new working priorities for the period 2012-2014 geared to mobilise education and training to support Europe 2020. The draft Joint Report also sets out a number of options to adjust the governance of ET 2020 to ensure that it contributes to Europe 2020. The Communication is underpinned by two Staff Working Documents. They take stock of the situation in individual countries and key thematic areas and draw on National Reports provided by Member States as well as other information and data.

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The role of learning and development specialists has changed radically in the past 20 years. Previously viewed as a necessary cost in good economic times, learning and development professionals have gradually developed an increasingly wide range of specialisms and become key organisational figures as companies increasingly value knowledge generation and innovation as key competitive advantages. This recent study has gathered data from high-level specialists and a broad national member base to build a profile of the current body of learning and development professionals.

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This paper reports on the first phase of a research project which investigated how young people in non-metropolitan areas in Australia imagine and navigate their pathways as they leave school and make choices about their future trajectories. The overall research question was: How do, and how could, young people imagine and navigate pathways related to post-school education, training and employment? There were three sub-questions: Who are the influencers and how do they affect the decisions? What could change to provide better post-school outcomes for a larger proportion of young people? What could change for communities and employers to better utilise young people's talents? The paper involved interviews with relevant organisations in the communities who had frequent contact with young people. This was the first phase of the project. Later phases involved interviews in schools and with young people, both those still at school and those who had left.

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The rediscovery of the value of apprenticeships has been one of the most significant trends in vocational education in recent years. In this volume, the renewed interest in the apprenticeship tradition and the various steps towards the implementation of innovative apprenticeship programs are analysed and discussed from different perspectives. The beginning chapters describe recent developments in apprenticeship training in different national contexts. The remainder of the book analyses the way in which both the quality and profitability of apprenticeship act in concert as the most influential drivers of innovation in this field.

The chapters are as follows: Introduction: rediscovering apprenticeship / Felix Rauner and Erica Smith; Competence development through workplace learning: the case of the French vocational baccalaureat / Benedicte Gendron; The transition from vocational education and training to higher education in the German-speaking countries / Peter Schlogl; Plural administration in dual systems in selected European countries / Felix Rauner, Wolfgang Wittig and Ludger Deitmer; Creating the social foundations for apprenticeship in Ireland / Barry Nyhan; Italian apprenticeship reform: impact from national and regional perspectives / Sandra D’Agostino, Elmo De Angelis and Ludger Deitmer; Towards innovative apprenticeship: the evaluation of the development of integrated regional VET centres in Hungary / Magdolna Benke; The distinct nature of work-based VET in England: a reflection of employer interests? / Michaela Brockmann, Linda Clarke and Christopher Winch; We need them, they need us: work-based learning programmes for young people in the Mediterranean region / Richard Sweet and Helmut Zelloth; We’re here to help: agencies dealing with apprenticeships in Australia / Erica Smith; Apprenticeship in the United States: patterns of governance and recent developments / Robert I. Lerman; Comparing two cases of training practice: implications for trainers’ professional development / Philipp Grollmann; Facilitating learners’ motivation and competence development in the workplace: the UK context / Natasha Kersh and Karen Evans; Coaching and collaborative work based learning in Dutch VET: the ‘TEAMstages’ project / Jeroen Onstenk; Costs, benefits and quality of apprenticeships: a regional case study / Felix Rauner and Lars Heinemann in collaboration with Dorothea Piening and Rainer Bischoff.

Individual chapters are indexed from TD/TNC 101.306 to TD/TNC 101.319. Show less

The paper describes a recent research project which analysed 10 national apprenticeship systems to draw out a model framework which was used to suggest options for the development of the Indian apprenticeship system. The paper discusses the successes and challenges of this model of analysing apprenticeship systems, including the advantages and disadvantages of bringing findings from other countries to inform national developments. It also discusses the challenges posed when working with a team of researchers across many national cultures to compare and contrast apprenticeship systems.

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In Australia as elsewhere, the national government is keen to improve pathways between vocational education and training (VET) and higher education. The limited availability of such pathways is often attributed to a lack of will on the part of universities. VET teacher-education in Australia has been grappling since 1998 with the challenges imposed by a VET-sector qualification at Certificate IV level that has become, through government regulation, a ‘licence to practise’ in VET teaching. This paper uses the discussions within the national community of VET teacher-educators and a case study in one university to illustrate the difficulties that exist in laying pathways and guiding students along them. It draws on the debates that have taken place in AVTEC, the Australian VET Teacher Educators’ Colloquium, the author’s research into assessment issues in embedding the Certificate IV within university courses, and preliminary data from an evaluation of students’ reactions to authentic and deep embedding. These data are used to argue that difficulties in cross-sectoral integration are real and are derived from different approaches to pedagogy and evidence requirements, rather than being manufactured by education providers anxious to maintain their boundaries. The VET teacher education community holds unique expertise in this area and therefore the work done in its own courses is of substantial significance.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of AARE.

Selected papers from the 2006 AARE National Conference are indexed from TD/TNC 89.545 to TD/TNC 89.550 and from TD/TNC 89.701 to TD/TNC 89.710. Show less

This publication reports on an investigation, commissioned by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) through the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) and carried out by Charles Sturt University’s Group for Research in Employment and Training (GREAT), which examined the impact that competency based training (CBT) has had on the role and responsibilities of instructors across the vocational education and training (VET) sector. The following five questions were investigated in the study. What is the quality and nature of CBT instruction in a range of providers across Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) levels, industry areas and geographical locations? To what extent are levels of understanding of CBT by instructors in the VET sector common across a range of locations? How have instructors adapted their practice to accommodate CBT, and how have new practices evolved? What are some of the staff development issues present in CBT? What type of staff development model can be applied to instructors in the VET sector when introducing an innovation like CBT? The range of techniques used in the investigation process included a literature review, a nation-wide survey of instructors, detailed case studies of six VET providers who use CBT, and two focus groups with staff development personnel and new instructors. Show less

Training packages have been fiercely resisted by many in the vocational education and training (VET) sector. Now they are here to stay, with 70 packages already endorsed, the challenge is for players at all levels in the VET system to work with them. This paper sets out the views of those working with training packages, from the academics who view them as ticky-tacky boxes constraining workers within narrowly defined fields of activity, through the bureaucrats and teachers who must, through gritted teeth or alternatively with pleasurable anticipation, implement them, to the 'enthusiastic campaigners' who have tried to win hearts and minds to the concept of a workers' paradise where anyone can gain a qualification through learning in his or her daily work. The paper identifies some of the basic underlying difficulties with training packages which, it is argued, stem from their being written for the workplace while their primary field of application is in educational institutions

Excerpts from printed abstract used with the permission of the copyright holder.

Volume one of these proceedings is indexed at TD/TNC 68.31, volume two is indexed at TD/TNC 68.32 and individual papers may be found from TD/TNC 68.17 to TD/TNC 68.29 and TD/TNC 68.33 to TD/TNC 68.100. Show less