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This study analyses how one Victorian regional [Technical and Further Education] TAFE Institute is working towards understanding and contributing to skill formation for the green economy. While we already know that the provision of vocational education and training in regional areas contributes to regional innovation and development, (Kilpatrick, Johns and Rosenblatt, 2000; Gelade and Fox, 2008; Kearns, Bowman and Garlick, 2008; TAFE Directors Australia, 2011), this research provides a case study of how this is occurring with regard to the development of green skills. The study presents the perceptions and understandings of participants drawn from four different cohorts. These cohorts are (1) key players in the community/industry representatives, (2) TAFE managers, (3) TAFE teachers, and (4) TAFE students. The study found that work and jobs are changing to become more sustainable though investment in large scale alternative energy generation while often lauded had failed to reach fruition. Likewise, [vocational education and training] VET training programs are also changing with teachers and students contributing to the complex arrangements around the supply and demand for green skills. The teachers at this regional TAFE who participated in the study reported that they were well supported in accessing and participating in relevant sustainability-related professional development. Finally, numerous examples were evident throughout the study of how the work performed by staff at this TAFE institute was contributing towards regional and community development.

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This paper argues that dominant constructions of vocational education and training are too narrow and derived from technicist notions of work. With respect to the employment contract associated with waged work such constructions are presented as being in the general interests of employers. For this reason, the concept of work-related learning is proposed. Within this broader framework the democratic right of working people to contribute to the organisation and structure of work is explored. Some case studies of workplaces organised in different ways are presented. This is followed by further exploration of alternate forms of political economy.

Volumes of collected papers are indexed from TD/TNC 64.481 to TD/TNC 64.483. Individual papers are indexed from TD/TNC 62.625 to TD/TNC 62.632 and from TD/TNC 64.484 to TD/TNC 64.541. Show less

This research examines explicit and implicit understandings of the training plan in apprenticeship contracts, and the potential impact of mismatched expectations on completion rates. In order to examine the effects of mismatched understandings, a small research enquiry of four case studies was conducted with participants from the food trades industries. Apprentices, employers, and trainers were all interviewed for their knowledge and understandings of the apprenticeship training agreement or training plan. The research findings show that the apprentices had poorly informed understandings of both the explicit conditions for training set out in their training plan and the implied understandings associated with the training between the three signatory parties. These misunderstandings resulted in three of the four participants considering leaving their apprenticeships.

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This research uses an analysis of three case studies of innovative programs to explore the way that contemporary approaches to curriculum and pedagogical practice in VET might facilitate blindspots. The inclusions and exclusions of a particular field of study and/or practice can be very revealing and if de-differentiation is about breaking down and blurring the borders of such areas then what might be gained from applying such a process to VET. The concepts of informal, non formal and incidental learning are used to expand what passes as knowledge in this area before work towards an alternative analytical framework is presented. This framework has two distinctive lenses. The first involves aspects of what is generally considered to be innovative practice in enterprise based training programs. The second lens utilises concepts that are aimed at making the political dimensions of such programs more overt.

Published abstract.

The volume of collected papers is indexed at TD/TNC 60.88. Show less

This paper offers a brief re-viewing of the history of apprenticeship and trade training in Victoria, Australia. The paper uses Green's model of skilled work to frame up the discussion. The historical narrative has been constructed from secondary sources and is presented as four distinct historical periods. The first period is described as involving low regulation, the second as disputed regulation, the third as consolidated dual regulation and the fourth as shared responsibility under national regulation. Two vignettes of trade training are also included. The first shows the beginning of trade training in plumbing at RMIT and the other the introduction of self-paced competency based training in sheetmetal trades at Richmond TAFE. The paper concludes that the history of apprenticeship and trade training in this state confirms the resilience of apprenticeship and the oscillation around the economic and political interests of the various stakeholders and industrial parties.

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