VET in higher education: rethought pathways, pedagogy or pragmatism?

This paper reports on the preliminary findings from a project funded by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) to investigate the provision of vocational education and training by higher education institutions. The project involved a review of the literature, an analysis of the sketchy statistics available on enrolments in Australian mixed sector tertiary institutions and interviews with 61 people. The study found that higher education institutions offer vocational education for a variety of reasons: as a historical legacy, as a result of a merger or acquisition, to broaden the institution’s role and source of students, and as a part of vertical integration - incorporating the sources of baccalaureate students such as preparatory colleges and senior secondary colleges as well as vocational education colleges. The study also found that while sectoral designation was very important for TAFE institutes offering higher education programs, it was of far less importance to mainly higher education institutions offering vocational programs. Of far greater importance for public and private providers of vocational education were the different funding arrangements from governments. The findings from the study seem to indicate that Australian mixed sector institutes of tertiary education are developing partly for pragmatic reasons and partly to improve student pathways from vocational to higher education and to desirable occupations. Distinctions in pedagogy develop from differences in curriculum, field, industry orientation and teachers’ response to students, which seem to be indirectly related to sector.

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