Partnerships between literacy teachers and community service workers have the potential to engage people with low literacy levels in learning. Through interviews and surveys with these two groups, this paper explores their views on literacy, how it impacts on their work, and their ideas about partnerships with each other. Overall, partnerships are viewed more favourably by literacy teachers than community service workers. In addition, if partnerships are to proceed, both groups need to develop a greater awareness and appreciation for each other's roles. This research was undertaken by a novice researcher in the Community of Practice Program and was funded as part of NCVER's Building Researcher Capacity initiative.
Work practices, skill use and the nature of the workforce in the Australian red-meat-processing sector have undergone significant change over the last few decades. This research overview, based on case studies of four leading enterprises, discusses the importance of supervision and training in the workplace, and how vocational educational and training can contribute.
This survey collects information about the destinations of apprentices and trainees approximately nine months after leaving their training. Information was collected on employment outcomes, reasons for non-completion, satisfaction with the apprenticeship or traineeship, and further study destinations.
Governments are interested in the relative efficiency of institutions, and in addition, information on efficiency can be used by individual institutions to benchmark themselves against their peers. The main factor that was found to affect efficiency, as defined in this paper, was degree of remoteness. Further, institute size is an important factor, with smaller institutes tending to be less efficient. This paper employs a mathematical technique known as Data Envelopment Analysis to examine the efficiency of TAFE institutes.
In mid-2010 NCVER undertook a review of its building researcher capacity initiative in order to inform its direction into the future. The review found that the initiative had achieved a high profile among vocational education and training (VET) practitioners. The scholarship programs had heightened awareness about the role research can play in fostering good practice and a culture of evaluation. The review found, however, that more work needs to be done to find the best ways to encourage new VET researchers within universities.
This paper assesses the fitness-for-purpose of the existing Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) instruments as a source of information on the determinants of youth transitions in Australia.
Apprentices with a learning disability can face significant barriers to completing their training. This paper explores what these apprentices, their lecturers and disability support staff see as the most effective strategies for helping them to overcome these difficulties. Instructional approaches which accommodate students' learning styles, individual tutoring and supportive relationships were endorsed by all groups as effective. This research was undertaken by a novice researcher in the Community of Practice scholarship program, which is funded through NCVER's Building Researcher Capacity initiative.
This briefing paper draws together findings from two LSAY (Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth) research reports: 'Participation in and progress through New Apprenticeships'; and the 'VET pathways taken by school leavers'. These two reports use data obtained from young people who were in Year 9 at school in 1995 and whose educational and occupational activities were traced each year thereafter. Student characteristics, fields of training, commencement and completion rates, and reasons for discontinuing are all explored. This paper, published by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), is part of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth research program.
This briefing paper draws on findings from several LSAY Research Reports (5, 27, 31, 33 and 41) which report on how student attitudes and engagement in the formative school years influence subsequent participation in post-compulsory education and training. Data is used from two LSAY cohorts: students who were in Year 9 in 1995, and students who were in Year 9 in 1998. Attitudes to school in the LSAY program are based on student responses to a set of 30 items, and intentions to further study are recorded in Year 9. This paper, published by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), is part of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) research program.
This study provides a comparison of the post-school education systems of Australia and Canada using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australia Youth and the Canadian Youth in Transition Survey. The results indicate that the Canadian college system is more attractive to high achieving school graduates than is the somewhat comparable Australian VET sector.
This paper explores a range of issues related to the development of the VET workforce. It examines key issues underpinning professional development structures and proposes a set of features integral to a comprehensive workforce development strategy.
Student intentions and outcomes in regard to studying the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment at NSW community colleges is the subject of this paper. Gaining employment and acquiring presentation skills were the most common reasons given for undertaking the course, but for many students the course did not deliver this. Those students who accessed pre-course information and thus had more realistic expectations of what the course would entail were more likely to report that the course met their expectations. The research was funded through the NCVER's Building Researcher Capacity initiative and was undertaken by a novice researcher in the Community of Practice scholarship program.
Half a dozen VET researchers and commentators contemplate the future of the VET sector. Their thoughts point to the need for more effort to articulate the role of VET in tertiary education and to streamline its governance.
In this interview, Steve Davis talks with researcher Tanya Bretherton about her report 'Developing the child care workforce: Understanding 'fight' or 'flight' amongst workers'. The early childhood education and care sector in Australia has long been characterised by low-skill/low-pay jobs. The current policy environment, however, may offer scope for the sector to move towards a path of skill growth. This report, based on case studies of four early childhood education and care providers, investigates how innovative employers are overcoming challenges in the sector to improve workforce development.
In this interview, Steve Davis talks with researcher Mike Dockery about his report on 'Education and happiness in the school-to-work transition'. Using data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY), this report examines the relationship between education and happiness. The report finds that undertaking vocational qualifications such as an apprenticeship has a positive impact on happiness both during the training period and after completion. For university graduates, however, happiness declines following completion of their study.
The early childhood education and care sector in Australia has traditionally been characterised by low skill/low pay jobs and high staff turnover. Some employers, however, have attempted to combat high turnover through careful recruitment and skill development. This research overview describes the approaches of innovative employers who have excelled in the delivery of early childhood education and care services, while also providing staff with a high-quality workplace and attractive employment conditions.
The early childhood education and care sector in Australia has long been characterised by low skill/low pay jobs. The current policy environment, however, may offer scope for the sector to toward a path of skill growth. This report, based on case studies of four early childhood education and care providers, investigates how innovative employers are overcoming challenges in the sector to improve workforce development.
The national research priorities for tertiary education and training 2011-2013 were endorsed by the Ministerial Council for Tertiary Education and Employment (MCTEE) in June 2010. This document sets out the context for the priorities, what was learnt from the consultations and the final advice on the priorities by the NCVER Board to MCTEE. The five priority subject areas endorsed are: skills and productivity, structures in the tertiary education and training system, the contribution of education and training to social inclusion, learning and teaching, and the place and role of VET.
This good practice guide is based on research that looked at how to teach adult literacy and numeracy using a social capital approach. The guide suggests ways VET practitioners can adopt a social capital approach to their teaching practice. A social capital approach refers to the process in which networks are drawn on or created during the various stages of the literacy and numeracy program. The guide also outlines indicators of social capital outcomes.
Having a choice of transition pathways from school to work, further education or training gives young people the best chance of success. Using the 1995 cohort of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth, this study looks at the role post-school qualifications play in the year-by-year movement between labour market states by young people. Higher post-school qualifications are found to increase the chances of being permanently employed and provide protection against being persistently unemployed or out of the labour force.