Lessons and challenges: Vocational education in schools - Research overview

This report provides an update on research findings and policy directions in relation to vocational education and trainning (VET) programs in schools between 1997 and mid-2003. It builds on a 1997 general review of research on the topic.

• As VET in Schools has evolved, early concerns about its value have been addressed and it has achieved a legitimate place in the school curriculum for senior year students in Years 10, 11 and 12. Earlier research had found that, in many schools, VET programs were of low status and seen as a ‘soft’ option. However, a major recent study reports a ‘sea change’ in cultural attitudes within schools, although industry acceptance of these programs remains an issue.
• Research undertaken towards the end of the timeframe considered by this project and focused on short-term outcomes, suggests that school VET is helping students to move on to work or to post-school VET at higher qualification levels, and that structured workplace learning is a key mechanism for achieving this. It is of concern, therefore, that the amount of real work experience is diminishing per student in VET in Schools programs.
• While a range of personal and social benefits of school VET programs have been identified by students and their teachers—such as improved student motivation and confidence and reduced absenteeism from school—the emerging outcomes data suggest that VET in Schools programs apparently have not kept more young people at school. Rather, they have made school more attractive for those students already planning to continue their studies.
• The literature also makes it clear that the practicalities of implementing VET in Schools programs, including the structured workplace learning components, remain major obstacles that are poorly understood by policy-makers and system-level managers.

The aim of this research was to develop a stocktake of activities and issues in vocationally oriented education in schools through the perspectives of the published research literature and policy documentation. Structured interviews were also undertaken with key policy personnel in Australian Government and state policy units with responsibility for vocational education in schools. The review focused on the period 1997 to mid-2003.

In accordance with the research brief, the starting point for the stocktake is the first general review of research on vocational education and schools, conducted in 1997 for the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) (Ryan, R 1997). This review noted that, while the literature on vocational education and training (VET) in schools was extensive, little of it was based on firm data or systematic research. A concern in the 1997 review was the lack of data on outcomes and student achievement from the school vocational education experience.

This has now been substantially remedied by a range of studies and by data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY).

Findings

Concepts and policies

As vocational programs in schools have evolved and become more widespread, the issue of defining the different types of programs has become more of a challenge. This was apparent in the review of the literature, which has found a number of studies that lack a definition of the type of vocational program involved. Our view is that differing definitions essentially reflect the multiple objectives of vocational learning programs and the differing goals of their proponents.

The broad categories of vocational programs in schools are described in this review under the following headings:

• vocational learning
• VET in Schools
• school-based New Apprenticeships
• work experience
• structured workplace learning.

In this report, the term ‘vocational learning’ is used as the most broadly encompassing term, following the example of the Department of Education, Science and Training, while VET in Schools is restricted to those programs involving recognised training in accordance with the National Training Framework as adopted by the Ministerial Council on Employment, Education,Training and Youth Affairs.

Interviews undertaken for this review with Australian Government and state policy personnel identified a strong trend to promote vocational learning, with VET in Schools programs (as defined by the Ministerial Council on Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs) as one component of this broader program context. There is also a trend for broader vocational learning to be part of a suite of programs, including career and enterprise education programs, designed to make school curricula more relevant to students’ future working lives and to make stronger links between school and community. Since the development of the National Training Framework and the adoption of the Ministerial Council on Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs definition, there is now more general agreement on the use of terminology.

Concern to develop a clearer definitional framework for vocational learning in schools reflects in part a more sophisticated conceptual rationale for, and critique of, vocational programs in Western countries, particularly Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD) members. Even so, varying stakeholder motives and perceptions cloud debate.

According to OECD research, the most successful transition pathways are those that allow both a high level of general education and an occupational qualification. This principle has been reflected in many aspects of VET in Schools policy development in Australia since 1997, especially the development of certification and assessment procedures that encompass both vocational and general education, often through the embedding of vocational learning within broader curricula.

Much of the evolution of VET in Schools in Australia since the mid-1990s has occurred as educators and policy-makers have attempted to develop bridges between vocational and general education. As a result, all states and territories now have some mechanism for recognising vocational courses in the senior secondary credential, and for counting the results towards tertiary entrance. The possible effects of marginalisation of VET in Schools programs remains an issue, although there is evidence of increased popularity among students with high academic abilities.

Participation trends

Despite difficulties in gathering reliable and consistent data, it is clear that enrolments in vocational learning programs have increased substantially since 1997. Student numbers in VET in Schools have increased from an estimated 60 000 in 1996, to 185 500 in 2002. This growth represents an increase in the proportion of senior secondary students engaging in VET in Schools programs from 16% to 44%. Participation in structured workplace learning has also increased, although average hours available to students have decreased in recent years.

Although research on the capacity of vocational school programs to be equitable is patchy, there are indications that, with appropriate support and individualised modifications, these programs offer scope to develop pathways to further learning and to work for all students. Many of the lessons learned in relation to equity target groups provide models of delivery that represent good practice for all students. For example, VET programs have also been found to offer potentially positive outcomes for school students in rural areas—providing that the particular challenges arising from remote locations are addressed.

Outcomes

In 1997, only a small number of formal evaluations had been completed, but by mid-2003 there was now a much more substantial body of evidence from which to seek conclusions. A number of studies have suggested that school VET provides a pathway to post-school VET, with higher proportions of school VET students continuing on to post-school VET. Studies of employment outcomes indicate that school VET programs are associated with higher employment levels (Johns et al. 2004, p.10), particularly full-time employment (Fullarton 2001), and the link between school VET and employment has been found to increase beyond the first year after leaving school (Johns et al. 2004, p.11). Work placements have been associated with positive employment outcomes (Enterprise and Career Education Foundation 2002a).

Improvements in knowledge and learning are harder to demonstrate than social and personal benefits. A range of studies show that benefits to students lie less in the acquisition of specific vocational skills and more in confidence, maturity and independence, improved motivation and reduced absenteeism (Malley et al. 2001a). The largest issue for students, however, is marginalisation of VET programs and the status of VET courses.

School VET programs attempt to make use of real work experience to enable transfer of specific learning to generalised contexts and competencies, and to place them in a broader educational framework. Structured workplace learning is the primary mechanism for achieving this, so it is unfortunate that students’ average participation has decreased in recent years, despite greater numbers receiving some exposure.

Work placement was found to be a critical success factor in achieving positive employment outcomes for school VET students in rural areas (Johns et al. 2004). There is a substantial body of research that supports the value of learning at and from work, not simply for vocational skills, but for its contribution to general education. The evidence suggests that authenticity, acceptance of responsibility and freedom from school constraints are important factors in the popularity of vocational programs and work placements among students (Ryan, R 1997, 2002; Malley et al. 2001a).

Vocational learning in schools as an educational experience

Two broad themes are evident in research and these debate:

• the appropriateness of assessment and certification practices
• the quality of the experience for students and its contribution to learning outcomes.

A great deal of progress has been made on technical issues involved in the assessment of vocational programs, their inclusion in senior secondary certificates and their use for university entrance. However, debate continues over the value of specific, compared with generic, vocational skills, the practice of embedding vocational modules under the Australian Qualifications Framework in broader school courses, problems arising from competency-based assessment, and differing views of the nature of underpinning knowledge in vocational education.

Quality issues

A consistent feature of critiques relating to vocational programs in schools is that the quality of the learning experience both in schools and in job placements is questioned, often in ways which reveal a depth of mistrust and cultural difference between the parties, especially school educators and industry representatives. There is a lack of systematic research on industry acceptance of VET in Schools in particular.

Resource issues

The research leaves us with little doubt that vocational programs in schools are resourceintensive and that this has been a constraining factor throughout the life of these programs. Costs of vocational programs vary. There may be little additional cost where a simple vocational curriculum is substituted for an existing subject, but as qualitative change is made, especially the integration of a substantial degree of structured workplace learning, costs rise significantly. Research by Polesel et al. (2003) identified fees as a key barrier to student participation in school VET programs. Apart from financial costs, there may simply be too few qualified and enthusiastic teachers and cooperative workplaces and employers. Considerable concern exists within school systems on the future of vocational programs once seed funding ends. A report commissioned by the Department of Education, Science and Training (2003) has explored cost issues more comprehensively than most existing sources.

Emerging issues

Although not the subject of systematic research, the literature makes it clear that the practicalities of implementing VET in Schools and vocational learning at school and worksites remain major obstacles that are poorly appreciated by policy-makers and system-level managers.

There is little evidence that school VET programs have assisted in the major objective of encouraging increased retention enabling school completion—they may merely be providing a more attractive option to continuing students (Malley et al. 2001a). Several commentators have placed vocational learning initiatives in a broader context of school reform. To move beyond this pattern may require more comprehensive reform which focuses on structures and institutional form, as well as on curricula and programs (Selby Smith 2002, p.28).

The literature contains very little comment and no systematic research on vocational education for younger age cohorts. Clearly, duty-of-care issues, which already concern teachers, are greater when younger students are involved in workplace experience (Currie & McCollow 2002). However, the need to develop pathways into vocational programs from early in the secondary years has been identified as crucial to the participation of disadvantaged students, particularly Indigenous young people (Australasian Committee of Chief Executive Officers of Curriculum, Assessment and Certification Authorities 2002) and those with a disability (Barnett 2002).