Search Results

One of the precepts of Game Theory states that whoever starts the game is more likely to win. This paper explores the game of training reform and particularly its impact on teachers who certainly do not make the rules. It traces the impact of the Training Reform Agenda from 1990 to its echoes of Victorian Minister Kosky's 2002 statement Knowledge and Skills for the Innovation Economy. The study considers the effects of these reform rhetorics on curriculum and teachers' work. It considers who speaks and who must remain silent when curriculum decisions are made. The author focuses particularly on education and training in jewellery design and other arts education as she explores what is spoken and what is unspoken in the politics of training reform. Reference to learning that is, or should be, rich in thinking and creativity leads to a critique of many of the assumptions underpinning Training Packages and to Ross's concept of artistic 'mental slavery'. The author goes on to consider the application of some novel theories and novel solutions to the analysis of Training Reform, Game Theory in particular. She refers to Akerlof, Spence and Stiglitz' work on 'information economics' where the 'players have different information and are privileged with different, unequal knowledge about the object of a game'. This analysis throws new light on the question of who can speak and who must remain silent during Training Reform events such as the development of a Training Package.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive and relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less

In this paper, we take up the idea that [information and communications technology] ICT enabled global workspaces may constitute a new kind of learning space. While there is now a good deal of literature concerned with conceptualising companies as 'learning organisations', we are concerned here with the ways that individuals conceptualise learning and teaching in their work at local sites of a global corporation. Our study focuses on three people who constitute a work group, one located in Melbourne and two located at the Sydney office. The group constructs its role as the mediation of highly technical knowledge across and between local and global networks of communication within and external to the organisation. PaceSetters is a global company concerned with the design, development and support of health technology products. It operates with a network of distribution and marketing facilities spanning all continents. In this work, we focus on the metaphors people use to construct themselves as learners, teachers and knowledge producers, individually and in intersecting communities of practice. We pay specific attention to the integration of ICTs into the established work practices of these new learning spaces and to the ways in which conflicts are played out in new workplace learning contexts.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive and relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less

The research described in this paper investigated the understandings of the concept of learning styles among VET [vocational education and training] teachers and trainers; and the perceived usefulness of learning styles as part of VET delivery considerations. The research took place in six provider sites across three States, and involved some 240 VET practitioners in a questionnaire, in focus groups, and in case studies. The questionnaire component of the research indicated that VET practitioners identify learning styles among their students along two major dimensions. The first of these relates to teacher observation of group and individual responses to content presentation methods; and the other is associated with observation of preferred contexts for learning. The qualitative components of the research indicated that VET practitioners identify a wide range of values in an understanding of style, as well as display a considerable understanding of style as an expression of individual differences. An iterative model of practitioner style identification and response to style was developed from the combined quantitative and qualitative data.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive and relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less

Increasingly, the VET marketplace requires vocational education and training (VET) practitioners to network with industry representatives. 'Networking with industry' is a new catch-cry within VET, but more research is needed to understand the complexities and benefits of such networking. This paper is based on research conducted over two years, 2003-2004, of 40 networks funded by Reframing the Future. The paper builds on a report entitled 'Building industry training networks' (Mitchell 2004) [indexed at TD/RTF 95.66], and shows that networks are complex and can be difficult to manage, as participants' needs and ambitions can constantly change. To be sustained, networks also need to continuously provide value for all members. The paper provides the VET sector with guidelines of how to effectively build networks that impact positively on the individuals and organisations involved and that enhance VET's achievements in the marketplace.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive and relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less

In 2003 and 2004 as part of the [Australian National Training Authority] ANTA funded Adult Literacy Innovative Projects, [Adult Migrant Education Service] AMES Research and Learning Innovation conducted research into strategies for the successful engagement of older learners in information and communication technology (ICT) learning. This paper presents a summary of the findings of that research - strategies for the successful engagement and retention of older learners (those aged 45 years and over) in ICT learning and potential barriers which can prevent these learners from engaging with and benefiting from learning in general and ICT programs in particular. It presents case studies of four very different, highly successful, approaches to ICT learning for older learners. Using data from the case studies the paper provides an overview of: the 'older learner' profile; a profile of the skills, experience and attitudes that are characteristic of teachers/trainers working successfully with older learners and ICT; and the ‘top ten’ strategies for creating an effective learning experience for older learners. The research and this paper address both teachers/trainers and program coordinators involved in the planning and delivery of ICT programs for older learners. From the teacher/trainer's perspective the findings will inform teaching practice and from the perspective of program coordinators the research can be used to inform program planning as well as staff development programs.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive & relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less

Young people are being prepared for employment through VET [vocational education and training] studies both at school and in TAFE. Students with disabilities are actively encouraged to access VET studies delivered by either provider. Within VET, the 'employability' skills are recognised to be of increasing significance, particularly by employers. 'Learning' is identified as one of these generic skills - that is, students need to acquire the skills for learning, particularly for work. Lifelong learning skills are recognised as essential in preparation for a vocation, and should be addressed within VET in Schools modules. This paper reports on a 5-week overseas study tour to investigate various approaches to developing the 'learning skills' component of generic (employability) skills in young VET students - especially those who have a disability. People who are specialists in equity, integration, diversity, vocational learning in schools/polytechnics/institutes, lifelong learning and generic skills - including students - were interviewed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy and France. The findings of this study, and the resultant recommendations to the NSW Department of Education and Training, will be discussed.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive and relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less

The increasing value that education provides to the economy and society is now well established (Samier, 2000; McKenzie, 1999) and makes understanding the motivations for 'buying' formalised learning significant. From a supply-side perspective, providers must respond in a strategic manner to an increasingly complex environment. Reductions in Government funding have been accompanied by increased competition between providers for both students and funding. The result has, in part, led to pressure to treat education as a 'product', increasingly focusing on factors such as institutional standing, product differentiation and niche markets, relentlessly seeking new opportunities to achieve strategic objectives. Finally, there is the increased influence of stakeholders. From a demand-side perspective, the individual must be proactive in an environment where knowledge becomes rapidly obsolescent and workers are under constant pressure to up-grade their skills and knowledge throughout their working life. This paper reports findings relating to the relative importance of a number of product attributes, such as cost and the extent of credit transfer, in the individual’s decision to undertake post-compulsory education and training. The methodology utilised is experimental choice analysis which is a stated preference technique. This method combines an extensive iterative qualitative phase of data collection with a rigorous statistical technique to ultimately determine the marginal rate of substitution for the various product attributes.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive and relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less

The 'automation' of teaching and learning as I describe, is not simply a collection of technology driven tools for pedagogical change at work. I do not limit the term to such areas as the virtual classroom, e-learning or the role of the personal computer as a replacement for human intervention in learning. It is not simply changes in technology that is at the core of what I chose to call 'automated' learning. It is rather as though thinking itself has become an obstacle to 'throughput' in automated knowledge flow programs. Thinking 'wastes time' and there is probably someone else out there who already knows what you don’t! Whole areas of thinking at work that require skilful development within appropriate teaching and learning reference frames for success, are being devolved to the workers to articulate or are abandoned, neglected or eliminated altogether in implementation design programs that follow an automaton-diffusion paradigm to cope with 'continual' workplace change, i.e. towards an absence of pedagogy at work. This strategy assumes that individuals and groups will 'pick up the slack' outlined in the 'why' and 'what' in changing workplace circumstances and teach themselves the 'how'. Within such strategies however, there can be subtle coercion. The threat is that someone else, or at some place else, the information we seek is already known and can be got - without the need for a learning program. While there are clearly issues that go to workplace change (and these can be articulated), it is more than an issue about change necessities and subsequent implications for people at work. Strategic change merely reflects strategic choice that is, in turn, founded on changing power struggles taking place between stakeholding groups in political 'time', e.g. to the seat and imbalances of power, to job distributions or expectations and to the politics inherent to decision making for this. Thus, the analysis also considers the evidence in the data about expectations, realities and uses of political power and the power relations that underpin evolving new job roles and changing learning strategies within corporations. Castells (1996) suggests that the economy of today is founded much more on information that converts to innovation rather than production as such. Sophistication in computers and communications rewards ongoing 'artistry' and innovation over learned, fixed skill sets. The human innovator and its product, knowledge growth, are the 'new' and valuable dynamics for our civilisation. The paper is part of a work in progress thesis that examines teaching and learning within innovation intensive corporations. The focus of the broader thesis is the power and politics that influences teachers' work within transforming corporate environments.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive and relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less

Recent research by Golding, Harvey and Echter (2004) of men's learning patterns in small rural towns has established the significance of a number of variables that determine whether and how men learn in these contexts. This paper presents the findings and implications of that research, based on a survey of men in 10 towns. In essence, the research shows that men learn much from their active involvement in community and service organisations in small rural towns. They prefer learning that is informal, practical and local and provided through that organisation. The paper asks whether there might be a need, in the light of the research evidence and men’s expressed learning preferences, to examine and reconsider the gendered nature of many adult and VET [vocational education and training] learning organisations in order to better accommodate the learning preferences of a wider range of men and women. The paper identifies particular problems for men in rural towns where a TAFE is often not accessible and where an adult and community education (ACE) provider becomes the primary public site for adults undertaking local, formal learning and for accessing services including the Internet. The implications of the general reluctance of men to learn in formal and structured settings is contrasted with the many other ways in which men access learning in community-based, volunteer and service organisations. Some suggestions are made as to how learning contexts and policies might be reconfigured to more closely match the needs of older men as well as for the majority of rural men with negative previous experiences at school. The implications of the research for appropriate teaching and learning contexts for boys, as well as for re-engaging later learners and breaking the cycle of intergenerational reluctance to learn by some men, are also considered.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive and relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less

Nurturing and enhancing the skills and abilities of the workforce is critical to a firm's ability to sustain a competitive advantage, and to the ability of the economy as a whole to remain competitive. The need to continually develop the skills of employees has become even more of an imperative in the context of rapid technological change, globalisation of production and changing forms of work organization. Education and training confer significant economic and non-economic advantages for the individual, the firm and society, and whilst these gains are notoriously difficult to measure, they are almost universally acknowledged. Whilst it is almost undeniable that an increasingly globalised economy requires a more highly skilled and malleable workforce, in the current context of reduced government intervention and increasing competitive pressures on enterprises, the provision and funding of education and training has become increasingly problematic. Accordingly, issues surrounding the precise nature of the relationship between the individual, the employer and the government are crucial to the future of VET [vocational education and training] in Australia. This paper critically examines both the economic and psychological approaches to the examination of employees' decision to participate in VET, and presents a discussion of the advantages of a cross-disciplinary approach to enhance our understanding in this field. An experimental design process utilising this approach is also reviewed along with an examination of future research applications.

Published abstract.

Available papers from the 8th Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) Conference, 'Emerging futures: recent, responsive and relevant research', are indexed from TD/TNC 81.564 to TD/TNC 81.610. Show less