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 domestic demand for tertiary education (that is, excluding overseas students) is looked at in this paper. It argues that the concept is problematic because of the dominant role of the government in provision, and discusses the factors that impinge on it: fees, returns to study and demographics. It shows how student demand has been changing and looks at likely trends in coming years.
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.
This report examines the relationship between socio-economic status and participation in the vocational education and training (VET) sector. Research indicates that students from low socio-economic status areas are over-represented in the VET sector; it also shows that VET students from these areas complete qualifications at a better-than-average rate.
Vocational education and training (VET) is much more important to young people than might be immediately apparent. This paper focuses on how young people participate in vocational education and training, what they study and their outcomes. Of particular note is the importance of VET for those young people who do not proceed on the conventional academic path of 12 years of school followed by university.
This report is part of a suite of research projects entitled 'A well-skilled future: Tailoring VET to the emerging labour market' conducted by a consortium of researchers from the National Institute of Labour Studies and the Centre for Post-compulsory Education and Lifelong Learning. This report aims to clarify the term 'skill shortage' and to explain how skill shortages can be resolved naturally by market forces. It also provides some guidance on determining when a skill shortage requires public-policy intervention.
Research messages 2006 is a collection of summaries on all research projects published or completed by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research in 2006. 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. Twenty-nine pieces of work are included and each summary provides details of how to access the full research report.
Using wage data from the Student Outcomes Survey, this study examines whether there is a pay off to actually completing a vocational education and training (VET) qualification, noting that many VET students do not complete full qualifications.
Patterns of pathways between and within vocational education and training (VET) and higher education are examined in this study. It compares the notion of straightforward pathways with what is actually happening. The researchers interviewed 49 students in South Australia who had participated in VET and/or higher education and who had been through more than one transition between VET and higher education. The study concludes that pathways, while not necessarily seamless, and (as the title indicates) are often not straightforward, do work for the students interviewed.
Using Australia as an example, this paper shows that globalisation poses distinct challenges for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems as nations adjust to their areas of comparative advantage. Other challenges that are less often taken into account are the internationalisation of training markets and the entry and exit of skills embodied in people due to migration flows.
These two-page research overviews summarise the 13 reports which make up the research project, 'A well-skilled future: Tailoring vocational education and training to the emerging labour market'. The project has been undertaken by a consortium of researchers from the National Institute of Labour Studies at Flinders University and the Centre for Post-compulsory Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of Melbourne. The various overviews in this suite address questions relating to changing work skill needs and work organisation arrangements, and their implications for the vocational education and training sector.
The aim of this research is to define good practices which support partnerships between adult and community education and vocational education and training, and identify negative practices which work against such collaborations. The research finds that strong and committed lead personnel, time, respect between organisations and a clear understanding of objectives are key factors for success. Each purchased copy of the report also includes a copy of 'Creating effective ACE and VET partnerships: Good practice guide'.
This guide aims to assist teachers by providing a set of 'good practice' strategies for designing effective literacy and numeracy programs for Indigenous VET students, and for building effective literacy and numeracy support into existing VET courses.
This study investigated whether adult literacy and numeracy courses produced social capital outcomes, which are changes in students' connections with networks of people. The study found that 80% of the students improved the structure of their networks and the way they communicated, as well as contributing to positive socioeconomic benefits in the areas of education and learning, employment and the quality of working life, and access to goods and services. Reporting on these outcomes may go some way towards providing a more complete picture of the benefits of literacy and numeracy courses, emphasising that these courses are about more than the acquisition of a set of technical skills. At the same time, it is recognised that this may be problematic.
This study examines the nature of the impact of vocational education and training (VET), and its project-based activities and partnerships, on the development of sustainable communities in regional Australia. It finds that VET plays a critical role as the entry point to learning and builds considerable social and other forms of capital in regional communities. The study points to new opportunities to integrate these assets into strategic regional development.
This report presents a profile of technical and further education (TAFE) institutes for the 2003 calendar year. The project was undertaken to illustrate the extent of variation in the sector. The report also provides data on TAFE institutes that can be used by the institutes for planning, performance monitoring and marketing purposes.
Research messages 2005 is a collection of summaries on all research projects published or completed by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research in 2005. 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. Forty-two pieces of work are included and each summary provides details of how to access the full research report.
Teaching and learning styles in the vocational education and training (VET) sector have changed substantially over the last decade in response to changed national and international conditions. This 'at a glance' describes these changes, which can basically be summarised as a shift from traditional teaching in classrooms to facilitating learning, and involving a substantial reliance on the workplace in the learning process. Making this shift can be a challenge for some VET teachers and this publication offers useful strategies and models for dealing with the changes.
Presented to the Second Sino-Australia Vocational Education and Training Conference at Chongqing on 3-5 August, 2005, this paper looks at linkages between the Australian vocational education and training system and the labour market--the formal legal and administrative structures, general skills development, and the dynamics of the labour market.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate, from a national perspective, the impact and outcomes of market reform in vocational education and training (VET), particulary the introduction of competitive tendering and 'user choice'. It does so by examining the structure, composition and dynamics of contestable or 'quasi-markets' for VET, assessing the impact and effects of market reform on providers and clients, and evaluating the outcomes, both intended and unintended, of market reform in VET.