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This research paper focuses on the provision and teaching of vocational education and training (VET) programs to young people within Victorian secondary schools. The study identifies and discusses the way that VET in schools programs are nuanced as they are made to fit the state system, then with the individual school settings and circumstances. These programs are important in offering a range of relevant and useful programs to a diverse range of senior secondary school students. The study found that when a VET program is provided to students through a secondary school setting in Victoria it will: (1) be made appropriate for students aged 15 to 21; (2) occur as part of one of the two senior secondary school certificates; and (3) often have undergone some modifications to its authenticity with some flow on effect to its reliability and validity due to the limitations and nature of the school-based context. Accordingly, teachers and school administrators are required to be creative in fine-tuning their program provision as they work through issues that arise around costs, quality and effectiveness.

Author's abstract. Show less

Education Links is produced by a group of teachers, students and university staff working to bring about democratic and socially progressive change in Australian schooling, as part of a broad political movement towards socialism in Australia. The magazine aims to present a socialist analysis of a wide range of theoretical and practical issues in education and is not affiliated with any political party.

Excerpt from publication.

Contents: Editorial; Multiple tales for training / Peter Waterhouse; Navel-gazing TAFE: from Kangan to [vocational education and training] VET and beyond / Peter Rushbrook; Revisiting the craft tradition / Peter Ewer; Feminist pedagogy and praxis / Kate Pritchard Hughes; Does it add up: adult education, mathematics and economic rationalism / Gail FitzSimons; Building castles in the air? / Crina Virgona; Perspectives on unemployment / Mark Brophy. Show less

The author attempts to relate and interweave a number of distinct themes, beginning with a description of scientific management as developed by Frederick W. Taylor. This is followed by an introduction to the notion of skill formation, and a brief discussion of the current political and economic context and the relationship between workplace reform and educational reform. The third section reviews competency-based training.

The paper concludes with a summarised critique which leads to the finding that the Richmond TAFE model of CBT is an example of 'classroom Taylorism' and represents a form of 'educational engineering', which works against the interests of the learners. Show less

This article explains some of the curriculum and assessment practices that enable vocational education in schools (VETiS) programs in Victoria to be recognised and incorporated into the senior secondary school certificates through the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) and the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL). The author outlines the two curriculum frameworks and reviews the strategy and processes for the tandem usage of competency-based and scored assessment as they apply in the Victorian context. The purpose is to demonstrate the complexities and the 'balancing act' occuring at the operational and policy levels between equity and quality.

This article is part of a thematic edition of Vocal entitled 'What works for vocational education and training in schools in terms of developing connections, building capacity and enhancing collaboration'. Articles are indexed from TD/TNC 94.144 to TD/TNC 94.150 and from TD/TNC 94.264 to TD/TNC 95.276. Show less

This paper briefly reviews historical narratives of ‘hands on’ learning and Industrial Education as presented by Anderson (1926) and Bennett (1926 & 1937). It is suggested that precedents for some of the contemporary debates in curriculum and pedagogy within Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) have deep roots and their seeds and branches can be found in these historical narratives. For example, in recent years there has been discussion around the development and use of training packages. Training packages are text based specifications of vocational qualifications and as such some VET practitioners and researchers have questioned their effectiveness and whether they constitute a new form of curriculum. This paper specifically focuses on three historical attempts at documenting ‘the mysteries of the trade’. Each is presented as a vignette contextualised through significant events of the time. These are, (1) Moxon’s treatise of 1683, ‘The Doctrine of Handy Works’; (2) Diderot’s ‘Encyclopedie’ of 1751, an enlightenment project undertaken in France, that amongst other things documents the trades and industry; and (3) the Russian system of instruction which involves systematic approaches to mechanical instruction in the trades and industry as developed by Della Vos at the Imperial Technical School in Moscow. It is suggested that together these examples stand as ancestors to more contemporary attempts to document trades and occupations as the basis for education and training.

Published abstract. Show less

This paper reports on the early stages of research in progress. It is a research project being funded by the Institute for Social and Environmental Sustainability at Latrobe University to research sustainability, [vocational education and training] VET and the transition to a low carbon economy. With governments at all levels putting in place targets, policies, infrastructure and projects to initiate more sustainable living, this paper identifies and tracks some of the key policies. In the international arena, the United Nations has instigated and facilitated substantial work in these fields. While amongst the policies and plans being put in place at a federal level are the National VET Sector Sustainability Policy and Action Plan 2009-2012, the Green Skills Agreement, and The Green Skills Agreement Implementation Plan 2010-2011. All of these policies are calling for significant changes to be instigated. Jobs are changing in a number of different ways. With some jobs, modifications are occurring to accommodate a shift to more sustainable practices; this is being accompanied by the creation of new jobs in emerging industries, while less sustainable jobs stand to be eliminated. These changes to work and jobs bring skill development within VET to the fore.

Authors' abstract. Show less

The implementation of the Green Skills Agreement ratified by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in 2010 provides the national policy context for this analysis of skills for sustainability. Data from three different but complementary studies provide powerful insight into the attitudes and perceptions of young people who are studying, or are recent graduates of, Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) programs. [The authors] argue that the voices of the young people who participate as students are largely absent from analysis and policy-making, despite policy rhetoric about a demand driven Australian tertiary education sector responsive to consumer (student) interest and need. The combination of these three studies contributes to an improved understanding of what these young adults think and are learning with regard to skills for sustainability in their VET courses and in their workplaces.

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

This chapter looks at the development and current rendition of TAFE across Australia. The development is divided into four historical periods. The first period is one where aspects of European Technical Education are introduced and established across the country. The second period is associated with a federal government inquiry into Technical and Further Education (TAFE) that culminates with the two volume report being tabled in the federal Parliament in 1974, (ACOTAFE 1974). This is often referred to as the Kangan Review [available in VOCEDplus at TD/LMR 85.637] after the Chairman of the committee. This review laid the foundation and in using the acronym saw the formal appearance of TAFE as a label for a sector of Australian education. This review defined the sector then allocated federal funding. The third period is associated with the National Training Reform Agenda which saw a national umbrella placed over the sector and the emphasis shift to that of providing vocational education and training aimed at achieving labour market and productivity outcomes. The fourth and current period in TAFE's development is one of adherence to neoliberal agendas and earmarked in this chapter as an age of mutual responsibility. In this period the focus of TAFE has further sharpened around the use of taxpayers funds to provide vocational education and training that is designed to satisfy the needs of employers and current labour market requirements.

Published abstract. Show less

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

Education Links is produced by a group of teachers, students and university staff working to bring about democratic and socially progressive change in Australian schooling, as part of a broad political movement towards socialism in Australia. The magazine aims to present a socialist analysis of a wide range of theoretical and practical issues in education and is not affiliated with any political party.

Edited excerpt from publication.

Contents: An historical reckoning: education and training reform / Terri Seddon; Lurking in the wings / Roy Martin; Ford factory learning / Mike Brown; Claiming common ground / Helen Gribble; The training market / Simon Marginson; Bottom line training / Robin Sefton; Vocational education reform: kamakazi style / Peter Kell; Brave new vocationalism / Grant McMurdo. Show less