Research messages 2004 is a collection of summaries on all research projects published or completed by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research in 2004. It is the first year such a product has been produced by NCVER. The summaries are clustered under five broad themes used by NCVER to organise all of its VET research and analysis: Industry and employers; Students and individuals; Teaching and learning; VET system; and VET in context. Fifty-six pieces of work are included and each summary provides details of how to access the full research report.
This report presents issues associated with incentives for training existing workers in small to medium-sized firms, identified through a small sample of case studies from the retail, manufacturing, and building and construction industries. While the majority of employers recognise workforce skill levels are fundamental to the success of the business, their understanding and support of the national vocational education and training sector varies markedly. Employers and employees tend to prefer informal, on-the-job training because the returns to the enterprise are more immediate. Accredited training which is supported by employers and employees is mainly driven by external mandates, such as occupational health and safety, licensing and contractual requirements and industrial awards.
Australia's innovation capacity is, in part, reliant on its teaching workforce - to teach and promote new technologies to industry. This pilot study examines how vocational education and training (VET) teachers, in particular TAFE teachers, maintain the currency of their skills and knowledge base. It also explores their role in the development and diffusion of innovative practices and new technologies in the manufacturing sector. Despite the lack of recognition of TAFE teachers in national innovation policies and programs, they do provide a technology diffusion function. However, there are impediments to maintaining the currency of teacher skills and equipment, including inadequate capital expenditure on equipment, an aging teaching workforce and reduced access to professional development and return-to-industry programs.
This research was designed to identify how vocational education and training practitioners viewed learning style differences between students and how they took account of those differences in designing and delivering teaching. It involved surveys, focus groups and case studies in five TAFE institutes and one professional network of public and private trainers. The research found that teachers have developed a range of personal methods of identifying individual and group learning styles and a range of techniques to respond to them.
Reforms to Australia's vocational education and training (VET) sector have had a significant impact on practitioners' work in public and private providers. This study analyses practitioners' perceptions of, and reactions to, the changes. The scope of these changes has been substantial and has required shifts to practitioners' habits, norms, skills and knowledge. While the greatest changes have been increased work responsibilities and shifts in relations with industry in particular, a key theme is the varied impact the changes have on VET organisations and practitioners.
Financing vocational education and training, as part of Australia's commitment to lifelong learning, will become a greater challenge as increased spending on other public services, such as health and welfare caused by an ageing population, constrains government education expenditure. This report examines a range of mechanisms to encourage individual contributions to and participation in vocational education, drawing on international examples, and presents available findings about the effectiveness of these mechanisms in the Australian context. The research suggests learning accounts and paid educational leave offer the most potential. Mechanisms must offer incentives for individuals to invest, preferably in conjunction with incentives for employers, such as taxation breaks and superannuation.
Vocational education and training (VET) programs for young people in Australia have significantly expanded over the past decade. This publication provides an overview of research into the VET options available to school-aged people. It also details the emerging social benefits and outcomes of undertaking recognised VET options. The challenges which face the implementation of vocational education in schools are also summarised.