The Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) scheme provides funds to help Indigenous communities in rural and remote Australia provide employment, skills development, and various essential and desirable municipal services. However, there is room to improve the range and quality of employment and community development activities available. There is also room for increasing the number of participants who engage in and complete courses leading to trade and other formal qualifications.
The vocational education and training (VET) sector is an important source of qualifications for associate professionals; the second fastest growing occupational group in Australia's labour market. The report offers employers, industry organisations, and professional associations an insight into the benefits of contracted work-based training arrangements, like New Apprenticeships, for training associate professionals. However, relatively few undertake training at this level through apprenticeship-type pathways.
There is increasing worldwide focus on education reform, driven by rising pressures for lifelong learning, the burgeoning impact of technology, and an escalating pace of change in much of industry and society. This report examines the key trends in Europe and North America in finding more effective means of strengthening the impact of educational research on practice. It analyses trends to accumulate, communicate and achieve stronger interaction and interface between research, policy, and practice. The author suggests that the knowledge development process in vocational education and training should involve three stages - the first stage providing initial research information, before moving toward an 'intermediate' and then a 'mature' stage of evidence building through feedback and testing of the research.
Vocational education and training (VET) can assist rural communities develop the necessary skills to survive and prosper in changing social and economic environments. This report investigates the implementation of training packages in five rural communities, and the strategies providers, community and industry stakeholders use to achieve positive outcomes. Providers in the rural communities reveal that flexibility is the key to successful training. However, some funding and delivery policies/regulations hinder their efforts. The authors find that policies and incentives that support collaboration will assist training diversity in non-metropolitan Australia.
A key challenge of Australia's vocational education and training (VET) system is to serve the broad needs of individuals, communities, and industries. This includes the provision of literacy and generic skills which meet the needs of all groups. This study investigates and documents workplace literacy in aged care facilities and call centres, within the context of the changing nature of work which requires a highly literate, responsive workforce. The report acknowledges the effectiveness of training approaches and procedural practices in these industries; however, it points to the VET sector's role to resist narrowing of literacy and generic skills which meet company requirements.
Indigenous engagement with vocational education and training (VET) has improved significantly, but successful Indigenous completion rates are lower nationally when compared to the overall population. This report, based on an action research project, examines intra-institutional factors at four Queensland TAFE institutes to better understand and take action on issues affecting Indigenous completion rates. At policy level, the authors conclude mainstream programs require examination at three levels - intellectual, cultural and social - to develop effective responses to facilitate successful Indigenous completion rates. At organisation level, the authors recommend examination of organisational culture for consistency of values and beliefs, and practices in terms of content, teaching, support, and collaboration.
There are differences between, and among, people in ethnic communities. This study seeks to provide a more nuanced snapshot of vocational education and training (VET) participation and completion rates among Arabic, Bosnian, Cantonese, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese communities. It investigates the effectiveness of English as a second language programs as a pathway to training. Overall, the participants of this study favour programs which provide clear pathways to employment, offer language support, acknowledge existing vocational skills, and include work experience in their training. The critical role of teachers was also emphasised by participants, particularly teachers sensitive to cultural issues such as language and values, and who constructively use cultural diversity in training programs.
Remote Indigenous communities are under increasing pressure to share responsibility for community well-being and capacity building. Their challenge is to achieve social and economic sustainability without losing core values of Indigenous law, culture and language. Education, training and employment are essential elements to this future scenario. This report is based on a study of a remote Indigenous community in its quest to implement a culturally appropriate health service, and integrate training and employment of local Indigenous people as a means of strengthening community capacity. The authors find education and training, including literacy, must be linked to community goals and aspirations. Literacy, in particular, is more likely to be adopted if linked to cultural and religious activities, and community responsibilities.
Communication and other literacy skills are vital to public safety organisations. This report investigates the impact literacy levels may have on the ability of volunteers to meet demands for more formal training and assessment. The role of these organisations to develop the skills of people in rural and remote communities is also considered. The research finds public safety organisations are important sites of adult learning, particularly for men. While the introduction of more formalised training presents opportunities, such as building community capacity, challenges also exist. Strategies to overcome potential barriers include developing training and assessment that relates to local situations, adapting training and assessment materials to suit learners, and including hands-on, practical training where possible.
The conception of literacy is changing to reflect the profound economic, social, political and cultural changes of the past half century. In this report, the authors examine three broad literacy ideologies - cognitive, individual-based model, economics-driven model, and sociocultural model. While current research situates literacy in social practice, government policy aligns more with the cognitive and economics-driven models of literacy. The authors find the need for a new national literacy policy which is flexible and accommodates current and future literacies, and supports community capacity-building. They also find at practitioner level that all are teachers of literacy and need to be able to recognise and teach all of the different literacies needed by learners. The report also highlights implications for literacy testing. The report includes an overview (part 1) and discussion paper (part 2).
Australia's competitive success with innovation-based products and services is an influential factor to its long-term prosperity. This study examines the role of vocational education and training (VET) and occupations in innovative industries and firms. The authors find VET is vital to developing knowledge and practical skills across a broad range of occupations, and people in vocational occupations are among principal sources of ideas for technological innovation. Further, innovative firms reported a high level of satisfaction with public and private training, which the authors conclude is due to the high level of consultation between firms and TAFE. However, firms identified the need for employees to develop generic skills, such as working in teams and developing problem-solving and communication skills, as an opportunity for the VET sector to meet unmet demand.
This report provides insights into the school-to-work transition of 72 young people from a low-income region, who undertook an industry-specific school vocational education and training (VET) program. The training program was a one-year building and construction industry initiative, which involved schools, industry and TAFE. The majority of students reported confidence, enthusiasm, and satisfaction with their transition to work and early career experiences. Further, they recognised the value of persevering with their training despite challenges, and this was reflected in the high retention rate in apprenticeships for this group.
This report critically examines two approaches to benchmarking vocational education and training (VET) - benchmarking through performance indicators and comparative case studies. The author finds both approaches provide useful information, although the case study approach enables a more thorough analysis of particular issues and can take greater account of complex and diverse institutional structures. This approach also accommodates the complex links between education, the labour market and other social institutions. However, there are a number of issues related to each approach in terms of available data. To make benchmarking most useful, the author states individual studies must clearly link to Australia's VET policy agenda and answer specific research needs.
The number and variety of industry-provider training partnerships in the vocational education and training (VET) sector is growing considerably. This report investigates the nature of the larger VET industry training partnerships and provides practical guidelines for training providers when setting up and managing these specific partnerships. These guidelines include: recognising the competitive realities industries face and developing customised and flexible training to meet businesses' needs; accepting 'break even' outcomes may be the best initial result a training provider can expect from a partnership; finding and developing staff who are responsible for the start-up phase of the partnership; evaluating and seeking feedback on the partnership; and, building training staff capabilities.
Social partnerships provide communities with the capacity to address problems, such as community breakdown, unemployment and social exclusion. This report analyses the types of social partnerships that involve education in community contexts. It identifies that partnerships are complex and multi-layered and successful partnerships require: acknowledgement and negotiation of the interests and expectations of all participants; development of resource and support structures; recognition of volunteer contributions; and, development of outcomes that recognise the full range of achievements and success within the partnership. The implication of the range and nature of social partnerships and their effect on VET policy are also discussed in the report.
This suite of overviews provides a comprehensive summary of each of NCVER's managed adult literacy and numeracy research projects funded in 2002. The suite of reports examine a wide range of literacy and numeracy issues - from its definition in policy-making terms, teaching and learning approaches and outcomes, to the professional development needs of literacy practitioners. The research also covers literacy practices and various approaches across Indigenous and ethnic communities, industry, volunteer and community settings.
The importance of close connections between vocational education and training (VET) systems and industry is highlighted in this report. The report finds that any system of entry-level training, which aims to help students make a successful transition from school to work, must have support mechanisms and frameworks in place to enable accurate assessment of industry and labour market needs. From Australia's perspective, the Korean experience provides useful insights to improving school retention rates, and establishing formal pathways for VET students who are not undertaking apprenticeships and traineeships. From the Korean perspective, useful lessons include developing inter-sectoral linkages between industry and education, applying flexible teaching and training methods, implementing a national qualifications framework, and introducing apprenticeship-type arrangements.
This report adds to the work on recognition of prior learning (RPL), particularly as it focuses on private registered training providers' RPL processes - how it is practised and the factors that facilitate or impede its implementation. It reports that advantages of RPL can be found in the information gained from students', trainers' and employers' processes of acquiring and assessing recognition. However, the demand on resources - time and funds - are viewed by providers as factors which limit the promotion of RPL and its use by students, particularly those from disadvantaged groups.
This report investigates students' learning experience at a TAFE institute and determines the factors that influence students to continue or discontinue their studies. Students who reported satisfaction with their learning experience highlighted relationships with teaching staff and respect for their expertise and organisation as significant factors in their experience. While students who were dissatisfied with their experience were in the minority, they were considerably more likely to leave their course before completion. Indicators of unsatisfactory experiences included poor relationships with instructors, a sense of 'struggling' with course content and difficulties accessing administrative or support services. The study recommends ongoing diagnostic assessment within courses, and closer screening of students at enrolment to determine their learning needs and strategies to meet these needs.
Possessing generic or employability skills is vital in the current labour market. The vocational education and training (VET) sector, like other education sectors, must ensure its clients gain and develop generic skills. This volume of readings summarises NCVER managed research into generic skills undertaken in 2001 and 2002. The work covers four main topics: defining and specifying generic skills; exploring training providers', teachers' and learners' perspectives of these skills; exploring the workplace perspective of generic skills; and assessing these skills. To ensure people gain the generic skills they need, the research suggests improving the documentation of these skills in training packages, and sharing good teaching, learning and certifying practice.