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International research data unambiguously correlates effective educational leadership with improved student learning. Such leadership not only improves the professional performance of teachers but also models learning excellence. Undoubtedly, students learn so much from what they observe others doing. But how can educational leaders model what they have not experienced, themselves? How can today's educational leaders model learning excellence when there is an ever-increasing disparity between contemporary improvements in pedagogical approaches and the lived reality of leadership? To prepare world class educational leaders of learning, it is essential that the process for learning about leadership is closely aligned to what is now considered to be best practice in promoting student learning. If enactivism is the new bench mark in pedagogical practice, how could it be applied to the preparation and practice of leaders? This chapter applies the assumptions and intentions of enactivism to the context of leadership. Although this process enables educational leaders to resume their pivotal place as models of learning excellence, it has profound implications for leadership expectations and accountabilities.

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The voice of professional educators in prison education has been all but drowned out by the demands of delivering a contract, where the design, the content and the appropriateness of the curricula for prison learners has been insufficiently considered. The current prison education commissioning system has failed all the stakeholders of prison education: the prison learners themselves, the prison education staff and taxpayers. If we are to see development of a truly fit for purpose, innovative prison education curriculum, that sees the education provision being designed and delivered around educational needs and aspirations as opposed to narrow, target-based contractual restrictions, then the voices of those who teach and those who learn behind the walls needs to be heard.

In England, prison education is outsourced, which has led to a culture of cost cutting. The frequent change and instability in the tendering/re-tendering process has meant that the issues of workforce planning and refreshing education infrastructure have not been properly addressed, as there has not been long-term accountability. The process of commissioning education for profit in prisons has arguably diverted resources away from the development, design and delivery of truly meaningful education. It has become more about managing the contract, than its purported aims of delivering meaningful education in order to reduce reoffending. Additionally, it has created a fragmented workforce who face many challenges, including unfavourable employment conditions. In the commercial culture of delivering prison education contracts, teachers have been treated as a commodity, to be traded to the bidder who can deliver prison education for the lowest price for government.

The University and College Union (UCU) carried out surveys and focus groups with its prison education members, to seek out those 'drowned voices' and better understand the issues. UCU also carried out a joint members' survey with the Prisoner Learning Alliance (PLA), which led to the report, 'Hidden voices: the experience of teachers working in prisons' (2021) [available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 150.102]. This paper summarises the research findings.

UCU found that issues such as inadequate assessments when prisoners enter prison, not enough different levels of education for prisoners, unsuitable learning space and facilities, inadequate resources, inflexible curricula and insufficient time for teachers to plan and prepare for lessons, are interlinked and as such, will require a strategic approach to resolve. These issues have a detrimental impact on learners and teachers alike. However, going beyond the learning 'space', additional issues for educators themselves are their pay, their precarious employment contracts, their unsatisfactory continuous professional development (CPD), their lack of career progression, the senior management structure and in some instances, their pension. UCU believe the current Prison Education Framework (PEF) commission model is failing learners and failing staff. As one UCU member describes it, 'It's a broken system within a broken system'.

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The adult education sector in Australia has undergone significant changes in recent years including a shift towards the marketisation of education and the delivery of highly prescriptive vocational education and training (VET). This article reports on research that explored the ways in which educators in the adult sector understand their work and identify as professionals in this changed context. The findings of the study suggest that educators who have work histories as ‘teachers’ strongly resist the ways in which current discourses of VET position them as ‘trainers’. Data from interviews with educators and observations of them at work are analysed to highlight the ways in which they understand teaching and training as binary opposites. I examine the consequences of teachers investing in a rigid and uncompromising teaching/training binary and argue that it is counterproductive to their forging new identities in a changed education context.

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As online course offerings continue to increase in institutions of higher education and K-12 settings, so does the need for professional development in online pedagogy for educators. Developing online educators can be enhanced by applying models of skill acquisition and online learning practices with mentoring for skill development. These practices and processes are rooted in understanding the foundational role of self-direction in online professional development. To understand the ways in which educators develop online teaching skills, self-directed learning, the Dreyfus and Dreyfus model of adult skill acquisition, and a model of online teaching skill development are reviewed. Then, a framework for mentoring for skill development is explored. The purposeful ongoing mentoring model (POMM) and POMM-R provide guidance on how faculty mentors can effectively support online skill development.

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In fiscal year (FY) 2016, RAND Project AIR FORCE conducted a study for the Air Force Air Education and Training Command (AETC) of inefficiencies in the nonrated technical training pipeline. The goal of this research was to identify ways to improve the efficiency and responsiveness of the Air Force's technical training enterprise for both officers and enlisted personnel. The study identified many opportunities to improve the technical training planning process, resource allocation process, and the flow of students through the technical training pipeline. Perhaps the most significant challenge that we identified was how difficult it is for the process overall to respond to changes in the demand for trained airmen, particularly when requirements change in the year of execution. The inability to rapidly right-size the instructor pool was a central shortfall. With the results of this effort in hand, AETC began to look outside the Air Force for insights and best practices upon which they could draw.

AETC asked us to investigate two models of particular interest: (1) how colleges and universities, institutions that similarly face fluctuations in enrollments and demands for coursework, right-size their instructor corps and (2) best practices associated with supply chain management. In addition, AETC asked us to explore one potential solution - a flexible instructor pool - to address the challenging problem of rapidly sizing the instructor corps to respond to changing requirements that occur late in the planning process. Each of these three topics, as posed by the Air Force, is examined in a separate part of this report. In this summary, we offer a brief overview of the findings and recommendations based on these analyses and concluding thoughts on the benefits the Air Force can realize from implementing the types of flexible resourcing options discussed.

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The objective of the study was to identify the knowledge, skills and practices of diabetes educators in order to better understand attributes and barriers to effective teaching and learning. Results showed that respondents were aware of the teaching and learning needs of their clients. However the authors conclude that strategies to address barriers to effective teaching and learning and the need to maintain advanced skills and knowledge in the context of continuously changing practice and client demographics need to be considered.

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Contemporary teaching practices have led to the development of apprenticeship programmes delivered online. This research examines the use of reflective online diaries in an online apprenticeship programme by presenting feedback from students enrolled in an online Insurance Practice Apprenticeship programme in Ireland over two academic years. Adopting an action research methodology, the lecturer reflects on the use of online diaries by analysing data collected using an online survey with student groups. A number of changes were implemented after reflection on the feedback from the first cohort of students. In comparing the feedback between the two groups, an improvement in module satisfaction can be seen. This demonstrates the importance of reflective thinking in the development of an educator, paying particular emphasis to the role of student feedback on pedagogical approach where improved student learning can be achieved.

Published abstract.

The volume from which this paper is taken is available in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 151.801. Show less

This report presents a framework and some recommendations for the design of higher level qualifications for vocational education and training (VET) educators. The authors contend that it is timely for the Skills Council to be considering the future of the Diploma of Training and Assessment, as well as new higher level VET teaching qualifications. The authors reviewed current literature as well as conducting interviews and focus groups. Many of the participants felt that VET teaching is highly skilled and that VET educators require the same level of qualifications as educators in other educational sectors. Participants also identified some barriers to higher level qualifications including the cost of gaining further qualifications. The report concludes with some general recommendations as well as some specific recommendations for [Innovation and Business Skills Australia] IBSA. Show less

Australia's vocational education and training (VET) sector will continue to be an important contributor to ensuring our workforce has the necessary skills to meet current and future social, economic, and environmental challenges and opportunities. However, many people still hold negative perceptions of VET. These perceptions are often driven by poor understanding of VET and by policy decisions and media representations that reinforce the belief that university is necessary for personal and professional success. Following a referral from the Minister for Skills and Training, the Hon Brendan O'Connor MP, on 30 November 2022, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Employment, Education and Training commenced an inquiry into the perceptions and status of VET, and Commonwealth supported information on VET available to students, and how they impact: (1) education and training choices of students, particularly those who lack the necessary foundation skills, or experience other disadvantages; and (2) employer views and practices in relation to engagement with VET.

The inquiry focused on the Commonwealth Skills and Training portfolio and include consideration of: (1) information available to students about VET qualifications and related career pathways along a student's journey through secondary schools, vocational education, higher education, and work transitions, with a focus on how this combines with other sources of advice, including informal advice, to influence student choices, and how Commonwealth funded information for students about VET may be improved; (2) perceptions and status of the VET sector and how this may be impacting student enrolment choices, employer engagement, and recruitment and retention of the VET educator workforce, and how perceptions and status of the VET sector can be improved. International best practices in relation to VET perception and qualifications status should be examined; (3) successful partnerships between VET providers and employers that have demonstrably created career pathways and secure employment opportunities for students, considering the best practice elements of these successful partnerships, and how more partnering may be encouraged among VET providers and employers; and (4) Commonwealth programs which could influence the above, and intersections with state and territory, industry, and philanthropic efforts, including any structural barriers to improvement.

The Committee has made 34 recommendations in this report which aim to address negative perceptions of the VET sector and enhance the quality of and access to VET. These include: (1) significantly overhaul the functions of the National Careers Institute (NCI); (2) campaigns to promote VET and VET careers via a variety of channels to diverse audiences; (3) promoting VET in secondary schools and reducing reliance on the Australian Tertiary Admissions Ranking (ATAR) as the primary measure of success in secondary education; (4) developing a national careers education strategy for secondary schools; (5) improving vocational education and training delivered to secondary school students (VETDSSS) via cooperative partnerships and employers and increased school funding; (6) rationalising development and implementation of VET qualifications and units of competency; (7) addressing systemic barriers to women's participation in VET, with a focus on eliminating gender-based violence and workplace discrimination and challenging gender stereotypes; (8) enhancing apprenticeships, including by piloting a network of industry-led apprenticeship support providers, lifting pay and conditions for apprentices, and exploring new apprenticeship pathways; (9) creating a robust framework for developing, implementing, and funding microcredentials; (10) ensuring that the VET Workforce Blueprint contains measures to attract and retain qualified VET educators with industry expertise and a greater range of pedagogical competencies; (11) improving the quality of and access to facilities and supports available to VET students and staff; and (12) defining a clear roadmap to a genuinely integrated tertiary education system. The Committee's report was informed by and intersects with the findings, recommendations, and measures pursued through other inquiry and reform processes, including the Employment White Paper, National Skills Agreement, and Australian Universities Accord. The Committee's findings and recommendations should be considered alongside those processes.

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America's K-12 public education system has experienced tremendous historical growth in employment, according to the US Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics. Between fiscal year (FY) 1950 and FY 2009, the number of K-12 public school students in the United States increased by 96 per cent while the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) school employees grew 386 per cent. Public schools grew staffing at a rate four times faster than the increase in students over that time period. Of those personnel, teachers' numbers increased 252 per cent while administrators and other staff experienced growth of 702 per cent, more than seven times the increase in students. This report analyzes the rise in public school personnel relative to the increase in students since FY 1992. Analyses are provided for the nation as a whole and for each state.

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