Managing Australian Vocational Education And Training For Economic Recovery (original) (raw)

Optimising Australia's conceptually confused National Training System: one economic option for post-market vocational education and training

As the successful implementation of competitive VET markets enters into a predictable decline trajectory, it is incumbent upon policy makers to consider post-market options. This article explores the potential of optimising the notional national training system. In order to understand how this might be achieved, a discourse analysis of selected maps of the intended system from points of discontinuity along the policy trail is undertaken to demonstrate how Australian executive federalism has produced VET policy for the past three decades. This process exposes the existence of multiple realities that can be simultaneously experienced which, in turn, creates conceptual confusion as to what VET is and what is expected of it. By understanding the power of discourses to bring into existence the things they describe and how this activity is conducted, it becomes possible to contemplate future directions in the development of public policies for vocational education and training.

Pathways: Developing the Skills of Australia's Workforce. Occasional Paper

National Centre For Vocational Education Research, 2011

The National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) is an independent body responsible for collecting, managing and analysing, evaluating and communicating research and statistics about vocational education and training (VET). NCVER's inhouse research and evaluation program undertakes projects which are strategic to the VET sector. These projects are developed and conducted by NCVER's research staff and are funded by NCVER. This research aims to improve policy and practice in the VET sector.

Patching bits won’t fix vocational education in Australia – a new model is needed

International Journal of Training Research, 2016

Australia's vocational education and training (VET) qualifications comprise units of competency that are bundled together in qualifications and nestled in training packages developed for particular industries. This article argues that this model is broken and cannot be fixed by patching bits of the system. Competencybased training (CBT) is based on an atomistic ontology that results in the fragmentation of knowledge and the atomisation of skill. CBT underpins a fragmented VET system with thousands of qualifications. It facilitates a market that has resulted in: thousands of private providers; the erosion of technical and further education (TAFE) institutions as the public provider; the transfer of unprecedented amounts of public funding to private profits; and, scandals and rorts. The same atomistic ontology underpins VET qualifications, the VET system and the VET market. The article concludes by briefly discussing an alternative model of qualifications using the capabilities approach.

The Outcomes of Education and Training: What the Australian Research Is Telling Us, 2011-14. Research Summary

National Centre for Vocational Education Research, 2015

During 2011 to 2014, a set of five national research priorities directed research into Australia's tertiary education and training sector. Over this time the National Centre for Vocational Education Research's (NCVER's) research has focused on delivering some clear messages about many of the challenges facing the sector. The outcomes of the research have also pointed to some of the solutions. These are summarised in this report under each of the five priority areas: skills and productivity; structures in the tertiary education and training system; the contribution of education and training to social inclusion; learning and teaching; and the place and role of vocational education and training (VET).