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This report uses case studies from seven rural and regional areas
to examine the impact of schools and vocational education and training
(VET) on building community capacity.
- Rural and regional communities use at least three different models
to organise school-VET partnerships.
- Regional communities may
use: a regional cluster model based on collaboration
and characterised by the central coordination of student
needs and
industry resources
and/or a specialised program model that targets students
with specific needs and/or has a particular industry focus.
- Rural communities are more likely to use a whole-of-community model
that attempts to engage many community members in a joint effort
to respond to the broad range of students' needs.
- The success of VET programs in these areas is dependent upon the
capacity of a rural or regional school-VET partnership to: analyse and respond
to identified community issues; harness community resilience (a 'can
do' approach); connect the program with shared community values;
and develop a shared purpose that includes a range of community
representatives.
- School-VET partnerships can provide a positive way of keeping students
engaged in school, as community work placement can refocus students' understandings
of why they are at school.
- School-VET partnerships can assist rural and regional communities
to keep more young people in the community, preventing their moving
to metropolitan or larger regional areas. This contributes to community
capacity-building and viability and maintains or strengthens economic
capital.
- Where schools and/or their students have low credibility with local
business, school-VET partnerships can be a pathway to the creation of
stronger community relationships. Further, school-VET partnerships
with a social justice agenda can provide work-related networks and
connections
for some of the most disadvantaged students in the school community.
In both contexts the degree to which marginalised individuals or groups
are included within the existing social capital in the community is
increased, with a corresponding increase in social capital overall.
Social capital refers to the network of relationships and skills which
result from community and civic activities.
- The capacity for young people to directly contribute to school-VET
partnerships has not been fully explored in programs. Young people are
usually passive rather than active participants in school-VET partnerships.
Although most partnership decisions are made with the benefits for
young people in mind, they usually occur on behalf of, rather than
with, young
people.
- Providers of VET programs to small and isolated rural/remote communities
must demonstrate flexibility in content, delivery and policies, in
terms of class sizes and curriculum content, to ensure that the needs
of young
people have priority over administrative convenience.
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