Unpackaging literacy and numeracy in training packages

This article investigates how literacy and numeracy are addressed in training packages in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector. The research involved a literature review and interviews with vocational education teachers. Drawing on this information, the policies and practices of the identification, teaching and assessing of literacy and numeracy in training packages were examined. The research found inconsistencies in definitions and interpretations in the terms ‘literacy’ and ‘numeracy’. Despite this, the interviews revealed that the vocational education teachers were actually teaching far more literacy and numeracy than they were explicity aware of. However, the teaching of literacy and numeracy skills was not ‘explicity incorporated into the teaching and assessment plan and not strategically developed and ‘built-in’ as part of the delivery’. A ‘built-in’ approach to literacy and numeracy skills appears to be more effective. It is argued that improvement in literacy and numeracy delivery in training packages requires a strategic commitment from registered training organisations (RTOs) to invest more time and resources. The research suggests that the lack of explicitness, which in turn leads to a lack of identification, of literacy and numeracy skills in training packages, is a significant problem within the Australian VET system but the authors advise that further research is needed to validate this assertion.

A 2004 report by the authors on this topic is indexed at TD/TNC 79.558. Show less