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Effective learning occurs when interaction occurs. Interaction occurs when people engage each other, and engagement can occur in many ways. Learning from engagement can take place face-to-face. Engagement on telephones and emails is also a site for learning. Learning occurs in the engagement between a person and various kinds of texts, and when a person engages with the texts of their thoughts. As the case study of the plumber’s apprentice presented here illustrates, in all these interactions, it is the engagement that brings to the fore the past experiences (skills and knowledge) of the interactants. Simultaneously, these often unconscious choices from past experiences are guided by two factors: (a) facets of the interactants’ identities, and (b) expectations of future scenarios that mix with identity resources to define the experiences selected. That is, the identity-shaped selection of experiences forms the essence of learning that occurs in these engagements. Put another way, the outputs (benefits, impacts) of ‘the essence of learning’ are situationally formed and determined. However, the resources to engagement are only partly formed from the skills and knowledge we have come to refer to as human capital. The essential resource component is, in fact, aspects of the human participants’ identities. When the knowledge and skills of human resources blend at the point of engagement with the relevant components of identity resources, social capital is at once produced and built. Learning is, in these moments of engagement, the simultaneous using and building of the knowledge and identity resources from which social capital is formed.

Published abstract.

The collection of refereed papers is indexed at TD/TNC 73.622; individual refereed papers are indexed from TD/TNC 73.623 to TD/TNC 73.650. The collection of non refereed papers is indexed at TD/TNC 73.651; non-refereed papers are indexed from TD/TNC 73.652 to TD/TNC 73.680. Show less

Adults use all sorts of resources in their learning events. For example, they might use a computer, a book or a face-to-face interaction with a colleague. An elusive component of learning events - another of these resources - has been shown to be the identities of the learning participants. These identities are key to influencing the effectiveness of the learning outcomes. Some researchers identify the importance of the role of identity as an aspect of social capital development in workplace learning communities of practice. Others, such as Falk and Kilpatrick (2000) refer to ‘identity resources’ as a component of social capital building and learning. However, the articulation of the rather general term ‘identity’ remains incomplete. What is required is to identify the kinds of identity resources that are called into play in interactions and what this might mean for VET [vocational education and training] learning. This paper provides a framework for practitioners that helps make identity work explicit in the design of VET programs.

Published abstract reprinted by the permission of the copyright owner.

The volumes from which this paper is taken are indexed from TD/TNC 77.351 to TD/TNC 77.353. Individual papers are indexed from TD/TNC 77.354 to TD/TNC 77.437. Show less

In this paper the author situates vocational education and training (VET) and equity in a socio-cultural context and makes explicit the socio-cultural ideological bases currently informing VET policy in order to show the direct equity consequences for actual and potential VET stakeholders. The paper is set out in four main sections: the author’s position on the way equity should be understood and a framework for understanding it; some possible short-term remedies for VET policy; priorities for longer-term research; and appendices including a table relating socio-economic trends to VET needs and a listing of work on equity conducted by the Centre for Research into Learning in Rural Australia (CRLRA).

The volume of collected papers from the workshop is indexed at TD/TNC 66.421; individual papers may be found from TD/TNC 66.422 to TD/TNC 66.433. Show less

This paper examines the two way connection between community capacity and vocational education and training (VET). The value of VET to a community is related to many factors operating within and on that community. The existing community capacity at any given time impacts on how training can contribute to the social and economic well-being of the community members. Also, VET activity in its own right can build community capacity in a number of different ways.

Community capacity is an ecological concept. Just as ecology in the natural sciences has people look at ecosystems rather than individual elements of that system in isolation, community capacity has us look at how VET practice fits into the sum total of what goes on in a community. Show less

This study examines the question of how a non-metropolitan community consolidates and develops sustainable economic and social activity through the learning of community members. It includes an examination of the respective contributions of schooling, post-school education and training, and learning at work as well as learning at home.

Published abstract.

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

The conference was convened by the Lifelong Learning Network, which is a policy research network based at the University of Canberra. The authors of this paper maintain that social capital helps communities respond to change. Their research into managing change through vocational learning in communities and in small business has highlighted the importance of relationships between people and building trust. There is also a clear link between the formal and informal infrastructure of communities and the quality of the outcomes experienced. Communities can be geographic communities or communities-of-common-purpose, such as agricultural discussion groups. Kilpatrick and Falk present their model of the simultaneous building and use of social capital and explore the ways in which vocational learning, as part of a community-of-common-purpose, can be used to bring benefits to regions.

The collected papers of the conference are indexed at TD/ACT 59.13. Show less

Social capital is defined as the networks, norms and trust which constitute the resources required for individuals, workplaces, groups, organisations and communities to strive for sustainable futures in a changing socio-economic environment. This paper is an Australian pilot study whose purpose is to derive tentative indicators of social capital through a grounded theory approach, which in turn allows for subsequent refinement and testing. The study consists of an intensively analysed whole-community case study. The assumptions and issues considered in the project’s development are explained, and the matter of definition, literature and possible uses of social capital are also discussed. The complex conceptual, definitional and methodological matters for the project are operationalised through the research question which is: ‘What is the nature of the interactive productivity between the local networks in a community?’ Through answering this question, the research begins to address an area for inquiry which is both under-researched and in which there is a great deal of uncertainty. Show less

Successful rural community development efforts focus on harnessing the resources already present to find community solutions to community concerns. For these efforts to be successful, high levels of cooperation, communication and trust need to be built within the community. This paper is based on a pilot study which investigated the role of the local school(s) in the process. The study found that not only do schools educate youth, but they perform a myriad of other functions within their communities, from providing physical resources such as facilities and equipment, to involving community members in the academic, sporting and cultural activities of the school, to encouraging youth and community members to work together to develop a greater understanding of their community and its potential. As school and community work and learn together, relationships are built and strengthened, and networks, extending into and beyond the community, are established. The study also investigated those factors which influence the nature and extent of a school's contribution to its community, and found that leadership, both within the school and in the wider community, is central to the school-community partnership. A leadership philosophy which supports community participation and shared decision making ensures that relevant solutions are found to meet local community needs. This philosophy is based on the importance of relationship building and establishing networks. Community leadership processes which harness and develop existing school-community relationships and networks are therefore laying a solid foundation for rural community sustainability.

Published abstract. Show less

The results presented here have implications particularly for those in positions of civic leadership and those framing policies that affect rural communities. It will be shown that the development of trust relationships across the broad spectrum of a community and the development of trust 'bridges' between communities is important for the sustainability of rural communities. Perhaps of greater significance, is the restoration and development of links between civic and state/federal leaders which will be shown to have a significant impact on civic participation. The challenge for state and federal political leaders is to initiate meaningful dialogue with rural communities in such a way civic leaders (and their constituents) believe that their message is more than rhetoric for the sake of 'buying' votes at the next election. A further implication that arises from the study is that in order for trust to develop, community infrastructure must be retained and maintained. The loss of infrastructure will be shown to be a key reason for a decline in morale and civic participation.

Excerpts from publication. Show less

The research project, ‘Role of VET in regional Australia’, sought to document the impact of vocational education and training (VET) on the social and economic wellbeing across seven of Australia’s regions. The aspect of the study reported in this paper is the dynamics surrounding partnerships and leadership across VET providers, clients, systems, organisations, communities and institutions. These dynamics produce social capital. The paper discusses how VET contributes in a number of ways, yet there is evidence that it can contribute much more effectively. Good quality partnerships and a new style of leadership, ‘enabling leadership’, are shown to enhance both the quality and quantity of VET outcomes, and the inherent features of these partnerships are processes that are collaboratively and locally designed to meet local needs. These local ‘endogenous development’ processes arise in the context of the local/global tension. Strong social cohesion, trust and social capital underpin these successful VET outcomes. Vocational education, training and learning is a tool which regional citizens use in diverse situations for their diverse lifelong learning purposes.

Volumes of collected papers are indexed from TD/TNC 64.481 to TD/TNC 64.483. Individual papers are indexed from TD/TNC 62.625 to TD/TNC 62.632 and from TD/TNC 64.484 to TD/TNC 64.541. Show less