Description
Diana Wilkinson, Chief Social Researcher with the Scottish Government, assisted NCVER to facilitate a forum to discuss the development of national research priorities for the vocational education and training sector. This paper summarises Diana Wilkinson's impression of the forum and uses two contrasting case studies of Scotland and Australia to consider the extent to which it is feasible to align academic research investment with medium-term priority-setting.Summary
About the research
The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) is managing a consultation process to consider education and training research priorities for 2010 and beyond. To begin deliberations a forum of invited stakeholders was convened in October 2009.
Diana Wilkinson, Chief Social Researcher with the Scottish Government, was invited by NCVER to kick off the process by discussing the nexus between research and policy.
Key messages
- Australia, by comparison with Scotland, lacks an overarching skills and lifelong learning policy, under which the national research priorities could be framed. On the other hand, while the Scottish and United Kingdom governments invest a considerable amount of funding in educational research, there are no ‘national research priorities’ to shape that investment.
- The cross-cutting nature of VET research, the complex problems it seeks to address and its relevance to wider policy contexts demand multi-disciplinary approaches to the research.
- To encourage research that is more forward looking, the national priorities should focus on the strategic gaps in the evidence base rather than on shorter-term issues.
Following the consultations, the NCVER Board, in mid-2010, will provide advice to the education and training ministers on the national priorities.
Tom Karmel
Managing Director, NCVER