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An innovative work-based training initiative in the racing industry has replaced traditional jockeys' apprenticeships with a competency-based training program. The article describes the background to the training project, the partnership between TAFE NSW and the Australian Jockey Club (AJC) and the new articulated career pathways.

The case study is part of a special feature on work-based learning in this issue of Training Agenda. Show less

Trades Norwest Senior Anglican College is designed to engage students who might have been disengaged with the learning process or expectations at previous schools. The College strives to provide students with a model that enables them to work and think differently about learning. At Trades Norwest students can start a School Based Apprenticeship or Traineeship (SBAT), begin their vocational training and concurrently complete their Higher School Certificate (HSC). The project intent was to identify and analyse the aspects of the Trades Norwest approach to senior education that is seen to be having significant success in re-engaging students previously disengaged or in the process of disengaging from senior education.

A non-traditional model of education emphasises building students' practical employment and business skills while also improving literacy and numeracy. Assessments have a practical focus and students would not be required to sit for formal exams. HSC study is integrated within a strong vocational environment with all students expected to complete their HSC and the first stage of their chosen vocation or trade. An SBAT as offered by Trades Norwest is quite different to a full-time apprenticeship or traineeship. Trades Norwest endeavours to provide its students with work integrated learning practices. This is beneficial to students and (indirectly) employers as it provides students/apprentices/trainees with knowledge about a vocation outside the academic institution which they attend. Employers benefit because they can assist in the training of new people in their industry.

The primary method of collecting both qualitative and quantitative data was by conducting a series of parent, student and staff surveys. This was to enable the investigation of how the four foundations of the Trades Norwest Integrated Learning Model (project based learning model) is making a difference to the way students engage in the education process and why the model is successful in creating and maintaining an active participation in the learning process. Case study research was designed to enable data collection regarding various aspects of the model. This included teaching practice, student wellbeing, trade focus, and the program model. Surveys were also issued that asked students about their perceptions of their immediate previous school and then a comparison of any noticeable perceptual changes.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less

The purpose of this case study was to pilot the creation of a virtual learning community for a selected group of middle managers within NSW Health. Middle managers in this context include individuals who occupy positions immediately below Senior Executive Service level and who typically would be accountable for an operational service function. The underlying rationale was to explore this mode of delivery, and, in the process, ascertain future requirements for effective online learning. The aim was to develop appropriate solutions for implementing a flexible management development strategy which would fulfil the leadership skills and ongoing career development needs of middle managers.

The Australian Flexible Learning (AFL) Framework products and services have enabled the registered training organisation (RTO) to achieve the following outcomes: to experience an online virtual learning community as a form of flexible learning for developing management/leadership capabilities; to commence the process of formulating an e-learning strategy to support an evolving management development program; to develop a clearer understanding of the issues involved in online learning, in particular facilitation skills, design issues, content and learner support infrastructure and collaborative networks; and to improve integration of organisational change processes with future directions in learning and development, and in particular management development strategy. Show less

This booklet provides a brief overview of workplace assessment and how it can work for organisations. The information in this booklet is drawn from extensive research carried out by the Centre for Vocational Assessment Research between 1996 and 1997. Three case studies, which were part of this research, are featured to provide insight into the experience of organisations implementing workplace assessment. These organisations, one a small business employing less than ten employees, one a medium sized organisation, and one a large company using shift workers, were all based in New South Wales.

'Assessment works!: the kit', also produced by the Centre for Vocational Assessment Research, can be found indexed at TD/TNC 52.113. Show less

Sustainability is a growing concept and a genuine concern for both public and private vocational education and training (VET) organisations. Using [Technical and Further Education New South Wales] TAFE NSW as a case study, this project aimed to highlight the practices in place across TAFE NSW institutes with relation to sustainability and to discover which were most important for successful implementation. The primary objective was to gain an understanding of the impact of the key influencers across different levels of the organisation. The study adopts the definition of the term ‘sustainability’ and ‘sustainability education’ as provided by the National VET Sector Sustainability Policy and Action Plan 2009-2012 (National VET Sector Sustainability Action Group and Ministerial Council for Vocational and Technical Education 2009, p.2): ‘interconnectedness of a healthy environment, social justice, equity and economic vitality; and ‘green skills’ for professional, vocational and generic skills required for green jobs and greening existing jobs’.

The paper highlights the following key factors for advancing the sustainability agenda in a VET organisation: (1) for successful implementation of sustainability practices, sustainability needs to be a vision across the organisation; (2) while sustainability needs to be supported by institute leaders, individuals who act as ‘levers’ between leaders and practitioners play an important role in implementing sustainability practices and supporting leaders and practitioners with changes; and (3) by being committed to education and sustainability, an organisation also has the ability to influence how students engage with sustainability.

Excerpts from publication.

As part of the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) Building Researcher Capacity Scheme, a community of practice scholarship program has been created to encourage a culture of research in vocational education and training (VET) organisations. With the guidance of an experienced mentor, VET practitioners without any formal research experience undertake their own work-based research project. The scholarship also provides participants with an opportunity to have their research peer-reviewed and released by NCVER in VOCEDplus. Show less

The new Vocational Education Commission in Thailand sees TAFE Global drawing on the TAFE NSW infrastructure. TAFE Global, the international arm of TAFE NSW was successful in its bid to provide services to the Thai government in its vocational education reform process. The project could result in the development of strong relationships between Thai and NSW Institutes with staff exchanges, joint ventures and other shared activities anticipated over the next few years. Another international project TAFE Global has been involved with has been the provision of short term training services to three small islands located in the South Pacific - Kiribati, Tuvalu and Tonga. Because of a local trained personnel shortage, 60 TAFE NSW teachers have participated in conducting over 80 short courses in areas such as power generation, child care, accounting, safe food handling and many others. All courses are customised to meet local requirements in both content, delivery model and structure. Show less

TAFE NSW commissioned this report as part of its ongoing commitment to building sustainable and productive relationships with business and industry. It is intended primarily to communicate how TAFE NSW is working effectively with enterprises and industry organisations to develop the State’s workforce. This report contains examples of TAFE NSW collaborating effectively with industry in developing the skills of the workforce. The 10 longer case studies and the eight shorter snapshots in this publication were deliberately selected as outstanding examples from the current work of TAFE NSW, to enable the identification, description and promotion of effective strategies used within TAFE-industry partnerships. These exemplars were also selected because they highlight the benefits arising from TAFE-industry partnerships, particularly in positively influencing workforce planning and development. A feature of the report is the depth of detail provided in the interviews with industry personnel about the value they attach to the work of TAFE NSW in assisting industry with workforce development challenges, such as rapidly up-skilling new staff or re-skilling existing staff.

Excerpt from publication reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This case study demonstrates an example of community education and worker re-skilling. The Darling ACE with the Far West Regional Council of ACE and Sunraysia Institute of TAFE 'Farm Chemical Users Course', provides important clues as to both the meeting of current needs, and the setting of future directions.

Edited excerpt from publication. Show less

From 1980 to 1995, the University of Western Sydney at Hawkesbury (formerly Hawkesbury Agricultural College) in Richmond, New South Wales, Australia, pioneered an innovative undergraduate degree in Systems Agriculture based on experiential education, systems thinking, and adult learning theory. Today this program is in trouble and has reverted back to a more traditional teacher-directed approach. This article discusses the rise of the innovative education paradigm at Hawkesbury, the unique Systems Agriculture program itself, and its eventual decline. Reasons for both the shift to innovative education and its eventual downfall are explored. Implications for institutions of higher education contemplating innovative educational approaches are suggested.

Published abstract. Show less

Previous studies have documented the personal transformation that many low literate adults undergo when they engage in literacy campaigns. In particular, research has captured how improved literacy leads to a greater willingness and capacity to speak out, or what is often referred to as voice. This paper focusses on the impact of an adult Aboriginal literacy campaign on those responsible for implementing it. Through the words of these 'maestras', we reveal how the teachers and trainers of the campaign, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, experience a similar trajectory of transformation to the literacy students. This transformation, we argue, is the result of the pedagogic relationship between students, local campaign staff and national trainers. This dialectical relationship in which teacher is learner and learner teacher is at the heart of the literacy campaign model and is part of what Giroux (1988) characterises as a radical theory of literacy and voice. We further argue that the impacts of the literacy campaign at the individual and collective levels and crucially, the sustainability of these impacts depend largely on this pedagogic relationship and the new, shared understanding of the world which results.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less