Work in Progress

Reality check: Matching VET needs and learning in regional Australia

• Summary
• Purpose
• Approach
• Research questions
• Methodology
• Organisations

Summary

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to provide:

1. An understanding of the way in which VET offerings in regional areas can realistically, and in economic terms, meet skill needs and an understanding of how VET capacity is harnessed to match local regional development.

2. Information about the ways in which VET can become more mobile and flexible in meeting local skill needs in specific regions so as to improve the match between needs and VET offerings

Approach

Interviews and Case Studies

Research questions

This proposal addresses two key questions about VET in regional localities, with each question leading to a subset of further enquiry.

1. In particular regions of Australia, how well does the range of VET offerings meet local skill needs based on realistic economic opportunities?

a. What is the current situation in regional areas - what does recent research indicate is happening?

b. How do VET providers make decisions about what courses and programs to offer within their areas of operation - who decides and on what basis are the decisions made?

c. What do Regional Development Boards need to know and do in order to address skills needs in their localities - what negotiations do they make with providers - do they have leverage to get courses running - what solutions and funding have they accessed - what economic or industry factors influence decisions and how do they relate economic opportunities with realistic local frameworks?

2. How can VET become more mobile and/or flexible to meet those locally identified needs?

a. What sort of provision approaches have been tried to date - how well do they operate - what are the strengths and weaknesses?

b. What could be strengthened or enhanced - what is needed to utilize them more fully?

c. What training, if any, could be offered to providers and/or users to enhance flexibility?

Methodology

The research will proceed in four phases and will engage two Regional Development Boards (RDB) located at the Limestone Coast (South Australia) and Cairns (Queensland).

Phase 1. Reviewing relevant literature and information sources

* Conduct an Australia-wide review of previous 3 years' research on skill development, capacity building, industry/VET partnerships and VET performance and training delivery in regional areas.

Aim: to provide a broad picture of what is currently understood to be occurring in regards to delivering regional VET as an answer to perceived local needs.

* Search VET websites for specific regional locality course offerings

Aim: to provide an overview of current course availability in regional areas and how these will match with localised industry and commercial enterprises.

* Conduct an Australia-wide review of selected regional development authority strategic plans

Aim: To provide an overview of how such plans identify localised skill needs in relation to their economic development plans for their specific region and in relation to availability of current courses (as above).

Phase 2. Canvassing regional providers and RTOs

* Conduct a series of telephone questionnaire-based interviews with up to five selected training organisations' relevant managers and educators in regional areas of each state and territory. The questionnaire will be focused on the subject of course provision and decision making on offerings in regional areas.

Aims:

(1) To ascertain at management level the basis on which their organisations make decisions about course/training program offering in their particular locality.

(2) To find out the methods used to deliver these programs and the level of flexibility at which students and clients can access the teaching and learning within the programs

(3) To find out from teaching staff through telephone interviews their views/knowledge and experience of alternative options they consider could be used (or have already used) for effective flexible and mobile delivery of teaching and learning in their region.

Phase 3. Conducting case studies

* The researchers will travel to two nominated Regional Development Board areas to conduct in-depth case study research on skill development needs and their integration with regional education and training.

Aims:

(1) To ascertain how skill shortages and their development needs in regions are being met through local providers

(2) To understand how and whether skill shortages and development needs in regions are related to particular issues such as:

* Whether it is a supply of training issue

* In what ways may skilling issues be related to an industry-type

* How might population level of a region impact on development?

* Whether a realistic understanding of economic issues impact on VET delivery

(3) To investigate any RDB integrated learning and employment strategies that have been funded

Note: The researchers expect that a number of other questions/local issues will arise following the survey of related literature, and these will be developed and added into the enquiries made within the case studies.

Phase 4. Analysis and write up

The final report will provide a qualitative analysis of the current issues of skill development within diverse regional industries and their communities. This analysis will utilize the sample case studies in stage 3 which will be compared and contrasted to the situation presented by other recent research from stage 1 and to the information given by VET providers in stage 2. From this triangulated comparison, the concluding chapter will be presented in the form of a 'reality check' that overviews the accepted view of regional skill development against how well offering in those areas are realistically - in both economic and operational terms - meeting skill needs. Added to this overview will be considered views of particular stakeholders on how VET might become more mobile and/or flexible to meet those needs than is the present case.

Organisations