Encouraging older workers to stay in the workforce has become a policy priority. At the same time, the life expectancy of Australians has increased dramatically over the past several decades, effectively inserting a new stage in the life course, often called the 'third age'. This report explores the possibility of using that third age to embark on an encore career, a concept originating in the United States. The author then focuses on the role the VET sector might play in developing encore careers in Australia.
Innovation is an important aspect to teaching and learning in the VET sector, and a range of workshops conducted in 2009 identified some key ways of promoting this: using networks to spread new ideas, learning to change in small degrees rather than by radical reform, and encouraging practitioners to reflect on organisational change.
This publication explores both the characteristics and examples of innovative teaching and learning practice in Australia.
An overview of research on innovative teaching and learning practice in Australia is discussed in this publication, which was based on discussions with practitioners and vocational education and training (VET) managers responsible for teaching and learning. It examines why and how people are changing their pedagogy, and with what results. It found that improvements in teaching and learning practice arise from a perceived need to change. The imperatives to change are usually locally based and their success is dependent on a commitment by all those supporting the learner. Practice is best shared through effective mentoring and by using networks effectively.
The purpose of this study was to identify the factors which help successful equity initiatives that had been seeded in TAFE institutes through short-term funding to take root and spread. The report concludes that many equity programs remain stuck in the seeding stage and fail to thrive and grow. It suggests that this is because current funding approaches place too much emphasis on starting initiatives and not enough on the development and scale-up of promising ones.
This report analyses the progression of workers from process workers to supervisors in the oil and gas (hydrocarbons) industry, and the kind of training and work experiences they have undertaken. It also looks for commonalities in the skills progression for different workers, and draws out implications for the oil and gas industry, other industries and the vocational education and training (VET) system. The extensive formal and informal training delivered within the oil and gas industry has essentially been conducted in isolation from the formal VET sector. The study offers insights into the way advanced skills are developed by mature workers in a demanding industry, and suggests ways in which the VET sector could respond.
This report focuses on the training/learning culture in small to medium-large sized enterprises and investigates what factors enhance the value of training and learning in an organisation. The report highlights the importance of informal learning and identifies lessons for marketing training and learning to Australian enterprises. An appendix containing the case studies is available from the web as a pdf file.