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TRAC (Training for Retail and Commerce) was established by the Dusseldorp Skills Forum. It is an employer-school program which requires employers to pay for their placement students and to assess students for Higher School Certificate (HSC) marks.

Erica Smith explores the reasons behind the dramatic success of the program including its professional approach, the focus on improving skills, not job-seeking, the liaison between schools and industry and the criteria used for selecting students. Show less

This report contains additional and analysed material from the study reported in 'School students' learning from their paid and unpaid work' (TD/TNC 68.01), a project designed to determine the extent and learning outcomes of school students' engagement with workplaces. This report discusses the qualitative comments which students made about their workplace experiences in response to a number of open-ended questions. Show less

Few Australian school students, particularly those completing their senior secondary years, leave school without some experience of workplaces. While well over half of school students now have part-time work, the traditional work experience program is still the most common way in which secondary students gain some knowledge of workplaces. However, little policy attention is expended on work experience and it is viewed in some quarters as a 'poor relation' of structured work placements, which form part of VET in schools programs. This article presents findings about work experience derived from a recent study of school students' learning in workplaces. School-based case studies and employer interviews were used to augment the data from a survey of 1451 school students. Despite other forms of workplace engagement becoming more common, it is argued that work experience should be retained. While aspects of work experience can be improved, it is argued that the baby should not be thrown out with the bathwater.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This report describes and analyses how the work activities undertaken by students while at school affect their post-school pathways into and between work and study. Increasingly, students are involved with workplaces while still at school. The three major ways in which this is happening (in order of extent of engagement) are through work experience, paid part-time work, and VET in Schools programs, which generally include structured work placements. A special form of part-time work, which also involves gaining vocational education and training (VET) qualifications, is a school-based apprenticeship or traineeship (collectively known as school-based New Apprenticeships). The research questions for the project were as follows: To what extent does involvement with workplaces (including multiple involvements) while at school affect school leavers' subsequent pathways, and in what ways? How can multiple pathways be described and conceptualised? What are the students' views about the worth to them of their different involvements with workplaces? The main findings of the survey include: work experience performed a useful function in opening respondents' eyes to career possibilities; those who had undertaken school-based New Apprenticeships had a smoother transition into secure and substantial post-school activity than those who had not, but this path was not likely to lead to a full-time university course; even after leaving school, the jobs of both groups were concentrated in the industries of retail and fast food/hospitality, the areas in which school students typically worked; part-time jobs acquired by students while at school remained important after leaving school, occasionally as the only activity, but more commonly as a supplement to full-time study or another full-time job; a school-based New Apprenticeship could confirm their decision for those who had decided upon their careers however, it could also deter some from that career; school-based New Apprenticeships were likely to provide a pathway into apprenticeships or traineeships in a similar industry area, but the long-term career plans of those who had undertaken them were less likely to be within that industry area; work experience and school-based New Apprenticeships both had some influence on respondents' study intentions; a high proportion of the respondents held VET qualifications: two-fifths had completed a Certificate II and one-quarter a Certificate III; about one-eighth were currently enrolled in either Certificate III or Certificate IV qualifications.

The study builds on the work of two previous studies (School students' learning from their paid and unpaid work / Erica Smith, Annette Green, indexed at TD/TNC 68.01, and School students' views on their working and learning in the workplace / Erica Smith, Lou Wilson, indexed at TD/TNC 70.13). Show less

This paper discusses, through the findings of several research projects undertaken during 2000–2002, the way in which Australian teenagers learn and talk about work. It reports the young people’s perceptions of work - both part-time work and full-time work after leaving school - and the ways in which they compare and contrast work and school. Willis in the 1970s in England uncovered 'how working class kids get working class jobs' and this paper uses Willis’s findings as a starting point to begin to examine, nearly 30 years later, teenage perceptions of work and workplaces in Australia. These early experiences of work and the comparisons the young people make with formal learning are important for the teenagers’ future identities as workers and learners.

Published abstract reprinted by the permission of the copyright owner.

Volumes of papers 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

This project addresses a major research gap: the lack of any large scale research into the overall learning experiences of young people in workplaces. The four research questions devised for this study are: (1) What is the extent and nature of the way in which Year 10 and Year 12 school students experience the workplace? (2) What is the nature and relative importance of learning gained from these experiences? (3) Are there variations in the way in which different equity groups access these experiences and learning? (4) What effects do such experiences of the workplace have on later access to employment and higher education? A literature review, mainly of Australian material but including some works from the United States of America (USA) and the United Kingdom (UK), was carried out. A questionnaire which received 1451 responses was administered to Year 10, 11 and 12 students in 13 schools in New South Wales (NSW) and South Australia (SA). Case studies were carried out in five schools including interviews and focus groups with students and teachers, as well as interviews and focus groups with employers. This report outlines the findings from each stage of the research process and draws some conclusions, which have clear policy implications, from the findings. Show less

An important development in the post-compulsory education system has been an increased involvement of secondary school students in learning in workplaces, both in work experience and structured work placements in vocational education and training (VET) in schools programs. In addition, an increasing number of school students are now in formal paid employment, including around 4,000 in employment as part-time apprentices and trainees (MCEETYA, 2000). These changes encourage debates including: the suitability of school students having paid work; the desirability of recognition for the skills gained in paid work; inequities of access to all types of workplace experiences, and whether work placements encourage an uncritical acceptance of workplace values which need to be challenged. However, there has been little explicit examination of what students learn in workplaces and how they learn it. This paper reports on an National Research and Evaluation Committee-funded project which examines the extent and nature of learning which students in years 10, 11 and 12 gain from their experiences in workplaces. The paper gives the results of the first two phases of the project, which involved consultation with key stakeholders and a survey of students in years 10, 11 and 12 in a number of schools in New South Wales (NSW) and South Australia (SA). The third phase of the project - case studies in six schools - is currently being carried out.

Published abstract.

The two volumes of collected papers are indexed at TD/TNC 64.287 and TD/TNC 64.355. Selected papers from volume one are indexed from TD/TNC 64.288 to TD/TNC 64.320; selected papers from volume two are indexed from TD/TNC 64.321 to TD/TNC 64.354. Show less

Young people experience work and work-related learning in a number of contexts before leaving school. Some of these contexts are mediated by the formal education and training system whereas others are independent. After leaving school these diversities continue whether the young people go directly to full-time work or whether they continue in education programs. The paper reports on the findings of a longitudinal study of young people who had experienced a variety of types of engagement with workplaces while at school; several years later they were contacted again to find out the effects of that engagement on their post-school activities. A number of concrete and important findings emerged, particularly about the role of school-based new apprenticeships, and also a series of models were developed to describe the complexity of the young people's pathways.

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This article examines the extent and the usefulness of part-time work among school students in Australia. The author begins by looking at the first jobs that students often have, such as working in family shops and farms, usually paid part-time. Other children begin with paper rounds and babysitting and move on to fast-food outlets and shops. Smith identifies reasons for the increase in student workers over the last fifteen years, from supplementing family incomes in disadvantaged homes to the present financially secure teenagers who work for extra spending money or because they believe that the work will help them to get a full-time job later. Smith then addresses the relevance of this experience to the students. Following research in the United States, where student employment has been part of the labour market for a long time, both advantages and disadvantages are noted. Accepting that part-time work is now likely to be the norm for Australian students, questions must be asked about placement in vocational education and training (VET) programs; how it is seen by students and how relevant it is. Researchers from the University of South Australia and Charles Sturt University are currently undertaking a study, to be completed in early 2001, to examine in detail the learning experiences of students in all aspects of work. Show less

Research into school students and their experiences of the world of work, both during their school years and the first few years post school, has offered some insights in to some of the factors influencing the decisions young people make about their career options and pathways. This paper will explore some of the data from a research project which in itself was a follow-up study to two previous projects, one with a range of school students and one with school-based new apprentices. While the study was designed to find out the effect of workplace experiences while at school on post-school pathways, qualitative findings suggest that each individual has a unique context, story and blend of circumstances which produce the individual's pathway. This is the focus of this paper. The research also offers some valuable insights into the types of experiences, guidance and support that young people could find more useful in terms of finding out more about work and study options and possibilities.

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