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This paper looks at the vocational education and training (VET) strategies and policies that are being adopted in Australia, why they are being adopted, and what Australia can learn from policies in other countries, mainly New Zealand and the UK. Six issues, relating to one or more of the objectives in Australia's national strategy for VET for 2004-2010 [available in VOCEDplus at TD/LMR 85.685] are considered: (1) workforce/adult training and retraining in the light of ageing and shifting occupational structures; (2) equity issues for indigenous and other groups; (3) managing demand and funding so that priorities are met; (4) developments in qualification structures and quality assurance; (5) enhancing provider capacity to ensure quality and responsiveness; and (6) regional and community capacity building. An analysis of national strategies, policies, objectives and priorities of government agencies was undertaken to provide a point of comparison with Australia's national strategy for VET. A major theme to emerge from this analysis is the need to define the potential workforce broadly to include those wishing to re-enter the workforce and those who have left the workforce, and to develop and adopt strategies targeting particular sub-populations and market segments. Show less

This report reviews available literature and data relating to the participation and success of people from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds and Indigenous people in Australian higher education, including information on school achievement and retention where this is relevant to access to higher education. Where data are available they are reported for both urban low SES people and rural/remote low SES people. The analysis does not include international students. The report also contains a broadbrush summary of the equity activities and initiatives of Australian universities and a summary of equity policies, programs and trends in selected nations, in particular the United Kingdom, USA and Canada. The purpose of the report is to shed light on the factors associated with the persistent underrepresentation of low SES people and Indigenous people in Australian universities with a view to informing policies and strategies and providing a framework for further analysis of equity for people from low SES backgrounds. The report includes a summary of barriers and inhibiting factors as well as suggestions for possible ways of defining and measuring socioeconomic status for higher education purposes. Recommendations for future work are also proposed.

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Five opinion pieces were released in 2013: (1) 'Cultural identity a factor in Indigenous education' by Howard Salkow (released 22 April); (2) 'Schools play a role in impacting tertiary entrance rankings and university enrolment' by Tom Karmel (released 1 June); (3) 'Teaching numeracy in VET' by Tom Karmel (released 22 July); (4) 'Skilling numeracy practitioners' by Howard Salkow (released 14 August); (5) 'Inconsistent university policy and practices impact VET graduates' by Howard Salkow (released 28 November). Show less

The theme of this conference was 'Who makes education policy?'. Many of the papers in this volume were prompted by the unprecedented changes to education in 1981. Many different areas of educational policy are covered, including systems and administration, research and policy, higher education, family and policy, community and policy, school councils, women, rural children, indigenous people and political influences. Show less

The agricultural sector is the least diverse sector in the UK, especially when it comes to people who identify as Black or a Person of Colour (BPOC). Estimates of the numbers of BPOC people vary between 0.8-1.2 per cent in UK agriculture, in a country where we are estimated to make up 17 per cent of the general population and 33 per cent of all children. We are not attracting a large population of the public and, wanting people to support us and join us, means we must represent them more. The objective of the study was to travel and learn how we can understand the barriers and create solutions to encourage BPOC people to enter and thrive in the UK agricultural sector.

Initially I spent time understanding the situation in the UK and then travelled to the US as it has a large BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) population, a shared history with the UK and very similar issues with regards to recruiting BPOC people into the agricultural sector. Visits included museums, speaking to farmers, ranchers, cowboys, growers, vets and educators and exploring other sectors like baseball and the military. In US agriculture there is a current drive to highlight the social justice movement and history of BIPOC people. They are also actively celebrating difference including other faiths and cultures. This is something the UK agricultural sector should embrace. Engaging with more diverse groups and people and connecting with them, can only help increase understanding and highlight the similarities we share and break down negative biases which holds back so much progress. We need to do this at both an individual level and organisational level. We all have a responsibility to create a culture of making sure that everyone can feel like they belong.

Many barriers are systemic and were created in the past but are still very relevant and active today. Creating equity and inclusion is crucial. Equity means creating a more level playing field and inclusion is making people feel like they belong. From acknowledging and accepting the past, creating positive opportunities for marginalised people, platforming and promoting BPOC people, and creating support networks and systems to help BPOC people be an equal part of the sector is key to making any programme a success. BPOC people need to be included in the process to create effective solutions for them. There are plenty of inspiring BPOC who want to be or are in the agricultural sector, despite the barriers laid out in front of them. The belief that BPOC people do not want to work in agriculture is false. By increasing the diversity of people in our sector and inspiring the next generation, we will help create ideas, innovation and talent plus making the sector more representative of the country we serve. To achieve this, we need to start investing more time, money and effort into working for positive change.

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This report is based on a visit to Australia by a team of 13: seven from the Adult Learning Inspectorate (ALI), a senior manager from Centrica and senior officials from the Department for Education and Skills, the Learning and Skills Council, the Sector Skills Development Agency and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority. The purpose of the visit was to gain an understanding of vocational education and training (VET) in Australia, focusing particularly on the development of workplace skills. The specific aims were to: survey the arrangements for VET in the context of the Australian government's policies and priorities and the perceived shortage of workplace skills; review the vocational provision on offer to learners, particularly apprenticeships and traineeships; examine the role of public and private providers in VET and the ways they are responding to the needs of employers; review the funding arrangements and the methods used to assure the quality of the provision; and study the ways in which Australia is addressing the needs of its Indigenous people. The study concluded that the challenge facing VET providers in Australia is broadly the same as in England: to ensure that there are sufficient numbers of skilled people to meet the demands of a modern economy competing in global markets. Show less

The 17th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association Conference (AVETRA) Conference was held on 22-24 April 2014 at the Outrigger Hotel, Surfers Paradise, Queensland. The theme was 'Informing changes in vocational education and training (VET) policy and practice: the central role of research'. The keynote sessions were as follows: Developments and anxieties and the completion agenda in American post-secondary education system / Thomas Bailey; Continuing education and training in Singapore: Skills, innovation and productivity / Soon Joo Gog; Apprenticeship: not just a learning experience / Erica Smith. The pre-conference workshops preceding the concurrent sessions were: Becoming a researcher through higher degree research studies: challenges and strategies / Sarojni Choy and Ros Kemmis Brennan; Writing and reviewing for the 'International Journal of Training Research' / Roger Harris, Berwyn Clayton and Steven Hodge; VOCEDplus: the resource of choice for VET researchers / Rose-Anne Polvere; Pedagogies that engage marginalised groups / Tony Dreise and Sally Thompson; The practitioner hub / Michele Simons, Linda Simon and Melinda Waters; Problem?: what problem?: refining your research question / John Stanwick and Michelle Circelli.

The presentations were: Learning a trade: apprentices' perspectives on workplace learning / Selena Chan; Sustainable employee driven innovation program in a VET workplace: a case example / Helen Gray; VET providers delivering associate and bachelor degrees: issues and impacts / Victor Callan; Work(er) driven innovation / Raymond Smith; Delineating personal and institutional facts to elaborate the goals and processes of vocational education / Stephen Billett; Rethinking innovation in VET practices: putting socio-material approaches to research to work / Melinda Waters; The ageing population: what are the implications for adult and community education (ACE) and VET? / Sally Thompson; Spaces for learning: restor(y)ing identities and perspectives through reflective autobiography / Jennifer Miles; Successes and stumbling-blocks: the role of research in informing changes to workforce development practices in industry / Roger Harris; Delivering higher education in VET: the experiences of VET teachers and managers / Rosalind Carter; Outcomes of incorporating e-learning in school VET delivery: how has Gen Y benefited from the 1:1 laptop program? / Catherine Ryan; When art becomes food: an application of Bourdieu's distinction to hospitality pedagogy / Andrew Dolphin; Historical influences on vocational education and training (VET) in Vietnam / Thi Hanh Ho; VET in Victoria: policies that abandon disadvantaged learners / Sally Brennan.

Learning pathways for economic enterprise in remote Aboriginal communities: are certificate IIIs the ticket? / Eva McRae-Williams; Measuring the cost and benefits of language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) training in the workplace / Justin Brown; Codes of conduct and its impact on ethical action in vocational education and training / Sonal Nakar; Safety beyond classroom training to workplace learning for workers in perilous work environments / Kristine Yap; A marriage prearranged: contextualised leadership training meets national training frameworks / Jill Hadley; Midlife blindness and employability: the correlation between societal perceptions of blind people and those who support their employment / Bruce Blackshaw; Footprints to pathways: reconciliation action planning in industry to sustain indigenous employment in Queensland (QLD) / Bronwyn Ewing; Distance-based learners navigating between remote and real-time learning contexts / Hilary Timma; Successful transitions into the labour market for equity groups / Linda Pfeiffer; Recognition of prior learning (RPL) 'traveling' to vocational education and training policy: RPL as an example of educational policy marketisation and Europeanisation / Marin Gross; Where are the female trades teachers?: a study of views on increasing the number of female trades teachers / Linda Simon.

Failure to launch: a case of career transition from trade to teacher terminated / William Blayney; Can creative thinking skills help adult migrants complete a community VET course? / Joanne Maxwell; An authentic approach to facilitate vocational and technical education students' transition from education to work / Adeline Goh; Efficiency of Australian TAFE providers / Peter Fieger; Pouring new VET into old academic bottles / Stuart Middleton; Informing VET policy and practice: what research tells us about how senior vocational teachers view change / Jennifer Davids; Financial literacy education in the vocational education and training sector / Levon Blue; Amplifying the voice of remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander VET stakeholders using research methodologies: volume 1 / John Guenther; A different journey: youth in learn locals / Louise Ellum; Co-creating innovation through shared expertise: principles underpinning the epistemology and scholarly contribution of a portfolio-based professional doctorate / Philip Thomas; The value of including languages other than English in vocational courses / Ivano Buoro; Working with cultural and linguistic diversity in manufacturing workplaces: a critical perspective / Keiko Yasukawa; Mimesis and vocational education / Stephen Billett; Guided learning: contemporary workers' experiences and benefits / Sarojni Choy; The Fulbright experience: a VET scholar's reflections / Damien Pearce; Where is the lifelong learning in Australian regional communities? / Rob Townsend.

Education for sustainability: an enabler of quality VET pedagogy? / Gitanjali Bedi; What do senior figures in Australian VET and industrial relations think about the concept of skill in work? / Erica Smith and Andy Smith; The role of vocational disciplinary knowledge in building VET teacher capabilities / Chris Corbel; New Zealand's first tertiary high school: student perceptions of their learning experiences in the first two years / Colleen Young; Expertise and the representation of knowledge in training packages / Steven Hodge; 'I don't just wear it... I live in it': pushing the boundaries: pedagogical practice in the hair and beauty industry / Roslin Brennan Kemmis; Adult community education and the older citizen / Ainslie Lamb and Ronald Browne; Workplace-based learning in Swedish upper secondary apprenticeship education / Ingrid Berglund; Assessment of unskilled adults' prior learning: fair to whom? / Vibe Aarkrog; Learning to integrate literature into essays: the challenge for new undergraduate VET trainers / Ann Kelly; Teacher professionalisation in relation to retention strategies / Bjarne Wahlgren; Challenges to the career development of socially disadvantaged young people not in education, employment and training: implications for vocational intervention / Patrick Danaher; Online learning communities: bridging the divide between theory and practice / Leo Gregorc.

A case of contemporary workplace learning: experiences of the teacher education practicum in vocational education and training in schools / Helen Keen-Dyer; Constituting VET professional development in contemporary times / Stephen Billett; Teaching fractions to indigenous adult learners enrolled in a civil construction course: knowledge and action in tandem / Bronwyn Ewing; Competencies for event planning and management: challenges to Thailand's vocational education sector / Apiramon Ourairat; Credit transfer rates at a regional university on the pathway towards dual sector status / Roslyn Cameron; Casual teacher perceptions of VET work / Katrina Kavanagh; Novice VET teacher learning through mentoring / Susanne Francisco; Competence-oriented curriculum reform in Austrian business schools and business academies / Christiane Schopf; Donor supported technical and vocational education and training (TVET) reforms in Bangladesh: perceptions, challenges and concerns from lived experiences of piloting teachers in transition / Tony Holland; Innovation: transgressive movements in working with knowledge in crossdisciplinary settings / Lorraine White-Hancock; National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) funded research for the research theme 'Students and individuals' (1999-2012) / Roslyn Cameron; Staff perspectives about gamefully designing Charles Darwin University / Alicia Boyle; Justice, employment and vocational education in the aged care and disability services sector / Mary Leahy.

How does VET research make an impact?: paths across the rickety bridge / Llandis Barratt-Pugh; Learning on the margins: experiencing low level VET programmes in a UK context / Liz Atkins; Models of continuing education and training: VET practitioner perspectives / Darryl Dymock and Raymond Smith; Geographical dimensions of imagined futures: post school participation in education and work in peri-urban and regional Australia / Susan Webb; Does education and training for remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders lead to 'real' jobs?: evidence from the 2011 Census / John Guenther; Self-directed learning and apprenticeships: an emerging grounded study / Damien Pearce; Professional learning strategies which may have contributed to the improvement in VET lecturers' skills and their motivation for further learning / Anne Dening; Workplace change and learning: perceptions of workers / Mark Tyler and Darryl Dymock; VET practices and practice architectures / Stephen Kemmis; Practitioner research: do we value a culture of inquiry in VET? / Linda Simon 'Disadvantaged' older workers: exploring their experiences pursuing training opportunities to increase employability / Rebecca Meyers; Digital connectivity for networked learning: lessons of the learner experiences of farmers for the Australian vocational education and training system / Patrick Danaher; Deviating from the norm: promoting innovative student pathways / Helen Weadon.

Abstracts of all presentations are included in the conference program booklet. Available papers from the conference are in VOCEDplus from TD/TNC 116.1619 to TD/TNC 116.1623, TD/TNC 116.1625 to TD/TNC 116.1632, TD/TNC 116.1635, TD/TNC 116.1641 to TD/TNC 116.1650. Show less

This open access book explores cultural competence in the higher education sector from multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary perspectives. It addresses cultural competence in terms of leadership and the role of the higher education sector in cultural competence policy and practice. Drawing on lessons learned, current research and emerging evidence, the book examines various innovative approaches and strategies that incorporate Indigenous knowledge and practices into the development and implementation of cultural competence, and considers the most effective approaches for supporting cultural competence in the higher education sector.

Excerpt from publisher's website.

The chapters are as follows: (1) Cultural competence and the higher education sector: a journey in the academy / Jack Frawley, Gabrielle Russell, and Juanita Sherwood (pages 3-11); (2) The 'culture' in cultural competence / Michael Davis (pages 15-29); (3) Reflecting on a way of being: anchor principles of cultural competence / Gabrielle Russell (pages 31-42); (4) Locating human rights in the cultural competence context / Michael Johnston (pages 43-57); (5) On the critical, morally driven, self-reflective agents of change and transformation: a literature review on culturally competent leadership in higher education / Alessandra Pecci, Jack Frawley, and Tran Nguyen (pages 59-81); (6) Beliefs, events and values inventory assessment of global identity: implications and applications for international, cross-cultural and transformative learning / Felix Wang, Kathleen Pait, Kris Acheson, Lee Sternberger, Renee Staton, and Craig N. Shealy (pages 83-113); (7) Evaluating cultural competence in Indigenous higher education contexts in Australia: a challenge for change / James A. Smith and Kim Robertson (pages 117-135); (8) Indigenist leadership in academia: towards an aspirational model of mindful servant leadership / Kerrie E. Doyle, Catherine Hungerford, Chris Pitt, Paul Saunders, and Kyar Wilkey (pages 137-157); (9) Racism a social determinant of Indigenous health: yarning about cultural safety and cultural competence strategies to improve Indigenous health / Juanita Sherwood and Janine Mohamed (pages 159-174); (10) Healing mainstream health: building understanding and respect for Indigenous knowledges / Liz Rix and Darlene Rotumah (pages 175-195); (11) History in the now: asserting Indigenous difference in 'Top End' higher education using culturally responsive pedagogy / Michele Willsher and Janine Oldfield (pages 197-212); (12) The Sydney language on our campuses and in our curriculum / Rosanne Quinnell, Jakelyn Troy, and Matthew Poll (pages 215-232); (13) Students and academics working in partnership to embed cultural competence as a graduate quality / Amani Bell, Stephanie Barahona, Gulnaz Beg, Susan Coulson, Roman Eymont, Jodie Hartman, Tom Hubble, Natalie Leung, Michael A. McDonnell, Jiaru Ni, Tai Peseta, Ehssan Sakhaee, and Jonnell Uptin (pages 233-254); (14) Embedding cultural competence in science curricula / Rebecca Cross, Elisa Bone, Peter Ampt, Tina Bell, Rosanne Quinnell, and Jaime Gongora (pages 255-275); (15) Embedding cultural competence in faculty: a mixed-methods evaluation of an applied Indigenous proficiency workshop / Kerrie E. Doyle, Lauren Zarb, Kyar Wilkey, Kayla Sale, Chris Pitt, and Dein Vindigni (pages 277-293); (16) An Indigenous Australian cultural competence course: talking culture, race and power / Bronwyn Fredericks and Debbie Bargallie (pages 295-308); (17) Learning through reflection - enhancing culturally proficient learning communities in midwifery practice and education: an experience-based learning journey in London, UK / Penny Haora (pages 309-330); (18) International students in Australia, employability and cultural competence / Tran Nguyen and Donna Hartz (pages 331-348); (19) Future directions: cultural competence and the higher education sector / Jack Frawley, Gabrielle Russell, and Juanita Sherwood (pages 351-356). Show less

Keynote presentations: Modernising South Australia’s vocational education system / Adrian Smith; Developing the skills of the 21st century workforce: the evolving education and training system of China and India / David Finegold; Hands on and hands up / Robyn Archer. Refereed presentations: VET pathways in Tasmania: collaborating for successful participation / Anne Langworthy; Indigenous VET expectations and outcomes: evidence from the 2006 [Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth] LSAY / Nicholas Biddle; Life after qualification: the [continuing professional development] CPD needs of UK and Australian VET teachers / Richard Lander-Clarke; Pathways, student motivations and human capital theory / Nick Fredman; ‘Way beyond my realm’: using educational pathways to build confidence and capacity / Mary Leahy; Conceptualising a role for VET within the senior secondary certificates / Kira Clarke; Skills recognition in Australian rail: emerging opportunities in a safety critical industry / Lisa Davies and Anne Morrison; What do VET students and graduates think about ‘skills for sustainability’? / Mike Brown and Fabian Sack; The odd couple: can skills recognition in VET cohabit with university learning? / Mark Doran and Alicia Toohey; First year apprentices’ experiences of workplace learning / Selena Chan; Deepening the analysis of labour market segmentation / Serena Yu. Presentations: Skills development in post-conflict countries: Afghanistan as a case study / Robert Duffy and Richard Pickersgill; The VET data transparency agenda explained / Sandra Pattison; Making the links between quality training, graduate destinations and building alumni in TAFE / Kate Dempsey; Initial pathways and transitions for apprentices and trainees with disability / Stian Thoresen; Boosting productivity and workforce participation: the interdependence of workers, employers and VET / John Buchanan; How to leverage the power of data and analytics to achieve enhanced student outcomes? / Nathan Banks; The effectiveness of peer learning in a vocational education setting / Flip Leijten; Diversity in pre-apprenticeship programmes / Phil Toner; ‘Getting the real picture; preparing early for university study’: a pilot for VET to HE transition / Janelle Davis; Hurdling the great divide: investigating enabling factors in construction industry transitions between VET and HE / Jane Carnegie; The importance of [language, literacy and numeracy] LLN skills to improving life and work outcomes / Blanca Camacho and Lynn Sendy-Smithers; The changing perspectives of adult literacy within Australia / Julianne Krusche; A change in the wind?: adult literacy policy and practice / Kate Perkins; Migrant women in regional Australia: the role of education and training in improving social inclusion / Denise Beale; Willingness-to-move: analysis using choice modelling / Aaron Nicholas; Neighbourhood effects of participation in education and training: implications for social exclusion / David Johnston; Improving workforce planning and development: perspectives of sessional VET practitioners / Natalie Jacques; Building capacity for scholarly practice in mixed sector institutions / Melanie Williams; Return on training investment: an industry perspective / Amanda Thomas; Beyond subject matter knowledge: the role of cultural competence in promoting academic success for minority groups / Eva Ritter; Determinants of mature age entry into education and training and its impacts / Domenico Tabasso; Beyond the policy: what did [Productivity Places Program] PPP deliver in SA? / Jeremy Phillips; Navigating VET: the experience of ‘at risk’ youth / George Myconos; Outcomes from workplace learning in school-based VET / Cain Polidano; Playing the odds: how does the [Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning] VCAL influence school leaving? / Sheldon Rothman; Teachers’ perspective of attributes and practices that enhance Indigenous students’ completion rates / Anne Bowden; Certificate IV in Aboriginal cultural heritage management: preliminary evaluations / Maddy Maitri; Support Indigenous educators in their work with children from birth to age five in remote Australia / Christine Tayler; Campus carbon footprint management: an Australian VET perspective / Penny Johnston; Productively independent: three decades of national research capacity / Don Zoellner; From TAFE to polytechnic / Amanda Torr; ‘Good teacher’?: effects of mentoring program on new teacher retention in TAFE-industry training / Mani Nallasamy; Extent to which subject-matter experts selected by industry can add criteria to frameworks of industry training packages / Hayden Downing; The art of the possible: measuring the impact of applied research / John Stanwick and Jo Hargreaves. Show less

The 21st No Frills Conference had more than 70 presenters participating within six breakout sessions over two days and eight pre-conference workshops. The program featured eminent international and national speakers and presentations that covered a broad range of research pertinent to the tertiary education sector. This is the guide to all the sessions and other events forming this year’s conference.

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