This study evaluates a selection of career development services available for young people. It examines the characteristics of the services provided, with a focus on career decision-making and the provision of information about vocational education and training (VET) options. The education providers and young people surveyed were generally satisfied with the services provided. However, it was agreed that information about VET options could be improved. A better understanding of the ways in which young people seek help will enhance accessibility to services.
The vocational education and training sector (VET) has a reputation for providing learners with a second chance. This report critically examines this idea, and finds that although VET provides opportunities for a second chance at education to many prospective students, the percentage who complete their studies and gain a qualification is modest.
This study identifies and evaluates the pathways available from school to vocational education and training and to work, for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Research involved interviews with seven young people from Victoria who had either just completed secondary school and were enrolling in a VET course, or had completed a course and were looking for work. The study found that only when they undertook apprenticeships and traineeships did students find employment related to their field, and that more emphasis needs to be placed on developing strategies to assist deaf students to overcome attitudinal barriers in the workplace.
This report maps the picture of Indigenous people's participation in vocational education and training and other educational services across Australia's desert regions. The report identifies a range of innovations and barriers experienced in enabling pathways through learning into work and other meaningful livelihood opportunities.
The relevance of higher-level vocational education and training qualifications to students and employers in six industry sectors; namely, disability services; nursing; engineering; electronics/electro-technology; multi-media; and design, is explored in this report. The report suggests possible improvements, including a greater emphasis on opportunities within training programs for extended and practical workplace experience and in cross-discipline knowledge and industry skills.
The ageing society has been attracting the attention of policy-makers in Australia and in many other countries. This paper considers the labour market for the traditional trades in Australia over the next 40 years and investigates whether the ageing society will pose a workforce problem. The broad conclusion is that the ageing society will significantly impact on the size of the potential trades workforce, but that this is unlikely to result in shortages. Rather, any shortage is more likely to occur if the trades lose their attractiveness relative to other occupations. Moreover, the age distribution of the trades workforce will remain largely unaltered.
This research examines innovative solutions developed by the vocational education and training (VET) sector in response to skill shortages in the health sector. The study focuses on VET-trained workers in the health industry, and includes enrolled nurses, nursing assistants, personal care assistants, allied health assistants and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers. The research, which also examines innovative overseas approaches to skill shortages in this industry, found that a partnership approach was one answer to dealing with skills shortages in this sector.
This report explores patterns of regional economic growth in Australia over the period 1984 to 2002 with the aim of identifying the drivers of variation in regional growth; the research also aimed to identify regional opportunities and the policies and practices that can assist in realising them, in particular, the contribution the VET sector may make towards regional growth. The research found that human capital, especially 'enterprising' human capital, whereby individuals take responsibility for action, is the key driver of regional growth.
The study looks at what factors encourage young people to pursue an apprenticeship. Information from students and courses indicates that the key drivers of apprenticeship uptake are intrinsic interest and academic ability. School students with higher academic ability are less interested in apprenticeships. In contrast, those who are part way through their apprenticeship are very positive about the experience, especially the enjoyment associated with learning new skills and future prospects for career progression and pay.
This report looks at whether pre-apprenticeships increase the potential supply of tradespeople, with a special focus on electrotechnology, automotive and engineering students. It found that pre-apprenticeships have been used in Australia for many years and are widely regarded as a valuable strategy for increasing the supply and quality of potential apprentices. Pre-apprenticeships are favoured by employers because they weed out unsuitable candidates and improve retention, while apprentices see them as a useful way of gaining experience in the trade.
This study examined non-accredited community language, literacy and numeracy provision in Australia. A diverse range of providers assist many adults who do not need or cannot yet cope with accredited training. Growth in self-confidence appears as important as development of literacy and numeracy skills, with teachers and tutors playing a key role in this.
The use, learning and transfer of workplace numeracy skills, as well as current understandings of the term numeracy, are examined in this study. It also highlights the importance of numeracy as an essential workplace skill. The report challenges the training system and training organisations to provide numeracy training which makes links directly to workplace contexts as well as to mathematical concepts.
This study examines the existing and potential strategies for sustaining and building greater levels of management and leadership capability in training organisations. The research report is one of the products of a nationally based research consortium: Supporting vocational education and training (VET) providers in building capability for the future.
The vocational education and training (VET) sector seeks to teach courses that will meet the future demands from employers in terms of the quantity and types of skills required. This report, which is part of the larger consortium program, 'A well-skilled future: Tailoring VET to the emerging labour market', examines how the VET sector might anticipate what the future needs of employers might be and describes the difficulty of projecting the evolution of the economy. It offers an initial evaluation of the accuracy of the principal model used for skills forecasting in Australia (the MONASH model) and concludes with a discussion of how best to manage the uncertainty over the shape of future skills demand.
One of the most striking features of the modern world is its changing demographic profile. In almost any policy arena, the issue of demographic change (or ageing) sits alongside globalisation, climate change and the knowledge revolution as areas which are transforming societies, including the ways in which we organise and go about our work activities. This significant and worldwide phenomenon motivated an international meeting of a number of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) research agencies, hosted by NCVER in October 2006. This publication is the result of this meeting and contains the presented papers and comments by discussants. What emerges from the papers is a picture of a worldwide trend that touches many aspects of TVET and the labour market, but one which needs to take into account the very different economies and societies of the world.
Society is becoming increasingly aware of the need for education to play a key role in integrating knowledge and understanding about sustainability into practical, vocational skills which can be used in the workplace. Education for sustainability is now a widely accepted concept which seeks to promote and develop sustainability skills and awareness throughout a learner's educational pathway. This report shows that the vocational education and training (VET) sector has a key role to play in promoting sustainability education by incorporating these skills into training packages. However, significant barriers exist to implementation, including the lack of a shared national vision and adequate resources. The report concludes with suggestions to encourage the adoption of education for sustainability in VET policy and practice.
People's life pathways are no longer as predictable as they were in the second half of the 20th century. It is no longer as simple as moving from school to work, probably via tertiary education, to living independently, then getting married and starting a family. Changes in how people combine education with life-course transitions will influence when and how people make their skills available to the labour market throughout their lives. The report examines the extent to which people's life-course trajectories are changing and the consequences for the vocational education and training (VET) sector. The report finds that the VET sector is significantly more affected by changing life-course patterns than are universities.
Older workers' perspectives are examined in a national survey of the finance sector and case studies of aged care and construction workers. The majority of older workers intend to work beyond retirement age, to achieve a better lifestyle. With training, older workers could mentor younger workers.
This study examined the extent to which English language, literacy and numeracy teachers used classroom management strategies to meet the needs of adult Sudanese refugee learners. While teachers met the needs of these learners insofar as they coincided with those of other refugee groups, the highly oral language culture of these learners appeared not to have been accounted for in teaching strategies. Recommendations include greater flexibility in program content, outcomes and delivery.
Community-run men's sheds have recently developed and proliferated, mainly across parts of southern Australia and with higher proportions of older men not in work. This study examines their role as a place for older men to learn informally. It concludes that such sheds have important wellbeing and health benefits, primarily for older and retired men.