Search

A research project was conducted in Australia to assess the use of and attitudes toward online learning by vocational and technical education (VET) researchers. Information was gathered from 18 (13 women and 5 men, aged between 30 and 58) participant-researchers through a workshop in Adelaide, completion of a participant profile, a structured e-mail survey, a structured telephone interview, four online focus group events, and a second workshop to discuss the working paper. The research study found that, on average, the team had 3.4 years involvement in online learning and were involved in a variety of ways. Twelve of the team were involved in the professional development or mentoring of other staff in online technologies; 9 were involved in the development of online modules and training packages; 8 were involved in online delivery; and 3 were involved in LearnScope projects. Multiple roles in online learning were the norm. Most of the subjects learned about online learning matters through colleagues with online learning expertise or discipline expertise, while a significant number learned through formal professional development programs. Six of the respondents thought all teachers could become effective facilitators of online learning, 8 did not think so, and 4 were unsure. Only 3 respondents thought that all students could learn effectively through online activities, 10 respondents did not, and 4 were unsure. Having computer skills was the most common attribute mentioned for students to learn online. Benefits of online learning were considered to be meeting the individual needs of students and promoting access to VET for disadvantaged learners. (Contains 10 tables.) (KC)

The attitudes and experiences of 18 vocational education and training (VET) practitioners considered to be at the leading edge of online education in technical and further education (TAFE) in South Australia were examined to determine how leading-edge VET practitioners engaged in designing, developing, and facilitating online learning understand their changing roles and professional practice. The practitioners' responses reinforced the fact that online learning is a new frontier pedagogically, technologically, and organizationally. The new tasks of designing, developing, and facilitating online learning both required and stimulated new forms of work organization for VET practitioners. The practitioners generally considered this work a positive experience and credited it with increasing their job satisfaction. However, they also cited negative effects of the introduction of online instruction that call into question the long-term sustainability of online work as it is currently organized. It was concluded that the quality and extent of online education will inevitably be constrained unless the human resource management of training organizations addresses the organization of online work more explicitly. Issues that must be addressed include better job design to accommodate the working conditions associated with online work and institution of sophisticated strategies for building and sustaining work and knowledge networks. (Contains 24 references.) (MN)

The implementation of an educational reform and the subsequent reconfiguration of curricula in a competency format prompted research into the learning experiences of students within a newly reconfigured competency-based curriculum. The curriculum was the technical and further education (TAFE) New South Wales (NSW) Tertiary Preparation Certificate III, first implemented in 1983 as a transition course to further education for adults. Adoption of the particular research perspective for the practitioner researcher in this case was dependent on factors that included nature and purpose of the research; experiences of the researcher within their practice; practitioner's conceptualization of being in the world; and pragmatic considerations, such as time and access. Consideration of these factors led the practitioner researcher to adopt an eclectic Symbolic Interactionist theoretical framework along with its methodology of participant observation. A model of practitioner research was proposed as a way of conceptualizing the conflicting yet complementary roles of teacher and researcher. Key characteristics of the three roles of teacher, course coordinator, and researcher were established, and a graphic representation was developed of these characteristics and the types of interaction and skills involved in each. (Contains 31 references.) (YLB)

Increasing the mobility of service providers, including professionals, via mutual recognition (of regulatory systems) agreements (MRAs) has become a significant issue worldwide. Despite increasing interest in MRAs, it may be argued that MRAs are but one of a larger range of major developments that have fueled current interest in occupational competence descriptors and professional practice. Other important developments are as follows: rapid and accelerating change; public dissatisfaction with the professions; the limited understanding of the nature of professional practice; the emergence of a knowledge society; globalization leading to a corporate model of service provision; and moves to alternative and flexible modes of service delivery. The claim that mutual recognition is but one issue among these major developments may be illustrated by the examples of the following accreditation schemes: (1) the Law Society of New South Wales Specialist Accreditation Scheme; (2) the regulatory model recently developed in the United States by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing; (3) the competence-based assessment strategy developed by the Dietitians Association of Australia; and (4) various practices being used to assess competence in 17 Australian professions. These examples demonstrate that the role of professional competence standards in MRAs and in professionals' mobility is far from clear. (Contains 25 references.) (MN)

The experiences of early school leavers in a New South Wales Central Coast community during the year after they left school were examined to identify ways of easing their transition into the community and the work force. Data were collected through interviews with community service providers, representatives of educational agencies, refuge workers, and local employers. Few schools had a system for providing early school leavers with information about their options. Unlike in Europe, the responsibility of schools to early leavers in the North Coast appeared to be minimal and did not embrace the idea that early school leavers should be followed up via some well-established community-based arrangements. Because many early leavers left school too suddenly for the school to intervene or left "under a cloud," they were unlikely to receive sympathetic farewells and relevant information, even though they are the students most in need of information and support. It was concluded that the reason early school leavers pose such a problem for policy is because Australia's vocational education and training system remains based on the historical dominance of the apprenticeship system. Greater integration of education and training arrangements with the local community and its employer networks and support services was recommended. (Contains 32 references.) (MN)

The research implications of the concepts of working knowledge and work-based learning were examined. A research agenda for work-based learning arising from the analysis of "working knowledge" was presented. The agenda listed questions pertaining to the following areas: (1) the conditions bringing about work-based learning; (2) the nature of working knowledge; (3) knowledge formation and learning at work; (4) academic institutions and their knowledge codes; (5) contemporary knowledge formation; and (6) working identity. The impact of the "embeddedness" of learning in the workplace on attempts to research how knowledge is produced in workplaces was discussed, focusing on the following items: (1) what employees deem to be learning practices and how they understand these practices by their various conceptions of learning; (2) the work relationships and social learning that occur among employees and their influence on formation and modification of worksites' learning practices; and (3) the organizational culture that provides a context for learning. The following factors conditioning a learning culture were explored in an analysis of the problem of researching how an organizational "learning culture" is produced in enterprises: environments pressing the organization to change; organizational systems promoting learning; and practices securing employee commitment. (Contains 18 references.) (MN)

The occupational pathways of a representative national sample of Australian school leavers were examined over a 7-year period after leaving school. The study was based on the initial vocational interests of male (n=1436) and female (n=1273) high school pupils and formed part of the longitudinal 1970 Youth in Transition study, a national probability sample of Australian youth. The interest inventory used was a 24-item questionnaire of the Holland typology of interests. In a followup over the 7-year period, the full-time occupation was classified in terms of realistic, investigative, artistic social, enterprising, or conventional interest categories. Results indicated a major disparity between initial vocational interests and occupational destinations at the commencement of a career. Sufficient evidence was found to argue that the vocational interests of youth were not always reflected by their initial occupational pathways. The results indicated greater congruence with the passage of time and pointed toward a period of career exploration followed by consistency. (Appendixes include 27 references, 1 figure, and 3 data tables.) (Author/YLB)

The question of whether apprenticeships and traineeships can survive in Australia's emerging social and economic environment was explored through a review of two bodies of research. The first consisted of recent reviews of the quality of traineeships in Queensland and Tasmania and apprenticeships in Victoria. The second was a study on the future of work that was being conducted by the Research Centre for Vocational Education and Training and Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training. The recent success of Australia's New Apprenticeship system was considered in the context of the structure, content, and skill requirements of the jobs currently being created. The following problems were identified as affecting the long-term survival of apprenticeships and traineeships: increasing detachment from a centralized industrial relations system and industrial awards; increasing reliance on skill opportunities provided by the content and structure of work in individual enterprises rather than within an industry; high levels of employer influence and declining levels of employer investment in training; increasing dependence on a regime of public subsidy and training regulation; uncertainty about how to deal the competing trends of on-skilling and de-skilling; and reluctance to admit that not all workplaces are or even aspire to be learning organizations. (Contains 12 references.) (MN)

A study investigated the critical reasoning skills of a group of 111 Australian adult tertiary students who were practicing adult vocational and further education teachers and trainers, using the recently developed Critical Reasoning Test (CRT). It examined some variables that might be expected to affect critical reasoning scores. These tertiary teachers' mean CRT score was found to be only at or below the "average" levels of other professional, non-teacher normative samples. No significant between-group CRT mean differences were found for these students' year of course, graduate/non-graduate status, age, or gender. In conclusion, the effective teaching-learning of the skills and dispositions underlying critical reasoning does not appear to be progressing well in at least some areas of tertiary education. Such evidence suggested that more attention should be given to facilitating this important area of student learning in universities in the new millennium. (YLB)

A survey was designed to assist in constructing a picture of new vocational education and training professionals working in organizational settings in Australia. They were practitioners whose positional titles included training and development (T&D), human resource development, or human resource practitioners who work within organizational settings or as consultants to organizations. The subscriber data base for "Managing T&D" was used as a research sample. Of 1,200 surveys circulated throughout Australia, 197 usable responses were received. Results indicated respondents perceived that training is increasingly being afforded a high priority in Australian workplaces; 80 percent worked in organizations that employed T&D staff; the naming or labeling of the profession as practiced in organizations is not consistent and could be seen as an indicator that this is still an evolving field of practice in organizations; the lack of requirement by organizations of a constant or specialist qualification of its practitioners could also be seen as supporting the claim the field is still evolving; there was considerable consistency in the nominated current skill requirements for practitioners and in perceptions about current areas of high importance to organizations and predictions about future areas that would be of high importance to organizations; and there was a relatively commonly held sense of the purpose of this field of professional practice. (YLB)

Indexes of socioeconomic status (SES) are widely used in school and higher education because of the known relationship of low educational participation and achievement by socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Because an index of SES can predict which areas and social groups need to be "targeted" to improve educational participation, this methodology assumes that disadvantage is concentrated in particular localities. Some analysis of "area" disadvantage is an essential step in determining what policies can be effective in countering the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage on post-school participation, especially vocational and technical (VET) education. However, SES is one among several useful dimensions, including the characteristics of "equity groups" and the particular strategies that are known to be effective in addressing VET needs. An approach can be taken where SEIFA indexes (Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas) are used to identify those localities in Australia where large areas of disadvantaged people live. The rationale for using such indexes springs not only from their widespread use in public policy but from the evident need to address the conceptual weakness of equity policy in the VET system. The SEIFA indexes predict areas with low achievement in education generally, but these areas are those with higher levels of VET participation and achievement. Economic factors may be more useful than educational and occupational measures to identify these potential VET clients. Further research will summarize an analysis of the application of SEIFA indexes to VET participation in disadvantaged urban regions. (Contains 15 references and 2 tables.) (KC)

Eighteen VET practitioners considered to be at the leading edge of online education in technical and further education in South Australia were interviewed to determine the extent of their knowledge about and experiences of online learning and teaching. Data were gathered through a survey, structured interviews, online research events, and two face-to-face workshops. Responses indicated that, despite a VET policy environment keen to accelerate the take-up of online learning, online teaching and learning remains a very new area of human endeavor and a new area for VET policy and practice. The practitioners were actively involved in constructing knowledge about online learning. However, they were not yet systematically or consciously reflecting on the inferences to be drawn from their individual and collective experiences. Although the practitioners were excited and challenged by their online activities, they were also frustrated and pressured by lack of time, infrastructure, and resources. The practitioners' four main sources of professional learning about online teaching and learning were as follows: learning by doing; learning through work colleagues and teamwork; learning through communities of practice; and learning through formal off-the-job professional development. Organizational culture, policies, and structures played a big role in the VET practitioners' adoption and implementation of online VET. (MN)

The vocational education and training (VET) profession in Australia is confronted with a radical reconstruction, not only in terms of the new work VET professionals are expected to perform but also in terms of the new culture and professional roles that have emerged out of the diversifying sites of professional practice. Reasons for the shift in the conceptualization of professional work in VET must include the changes brought about by over a decade of training reform and the establishment of a competitive market in VET provision. The VET market is characterized by an increasing variety of providers. The VET sector is exhibiting quite radically changed employment patterns, particularly non-standard employment. Today, VET delivery increasingly relies on casual and part-time staff. The changes reflect quite fundamental shifts in the way knowledge, learning, skills, and work are conceptualized in contemporary societies. A future is predicted in which the VET professional is either a VET consultant working across a number of VET sites or a learning manager employed to manage learning activities of large VET providers. The new VET professional must in some senses not only be capable of spanning the cultural divide that distinguishes the world of work from the world of education but also that which distinguishes the world of private enterprise from the world of public service. (Contains 16 references.) (YLB)

A study examined challenges associated with investigating the role and occupational identity of learning practitioners who operate within the organizational as opposed to the educational institution context. These challenges include the following: (1) naming this group of organizational practitioners; (2) distribution of learning responsibilities; (3) diversity of theoretical bases for practice; (4) diverse models of organizational practice; (5) reported shifts in prerequisite competences of practice; and (6) new understanding of learning. The study shows that a new type of learning practitioner is emerging in organizational context. Research challenges arising at least in part from the shifting nature of this comparatively unregulated field of practice exist and need to be addressed. Such research could be seen as contributing a better understanding of the learning that is occurring in organizations and in institutions contributing to work force capability building as a basis for the ongoing development of professionals who work in this area. (Contains 33 references.) (KC)

A study examined the profiles of vocational education and training (VET) clients in disadvantaged areas of Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, building on earlier analysis of VET participation in those cities. The study examined the characteristics of VET clients coming from postal codes identified as disadvantaged to determine, if possible, to what extent high levels of participation are accompanied by comparable achievement, judged by appropriate measures such as level of course and module outcomes. Information was gathered from earlier studies and by mapping VET client data for postal codes in Sydney and Melbourne. The study confirmed earlier findings that the most disadvantaged areas of both cities have the highest numbers of TAFE (Technical and Further Education) participants. The relationship between disadvantage and participation is apparent mainly at the extremes of the most disadvantaged and most advantaged postal codes. A different map could be created by mapping another criterion of disadvantage, such as economic resource, because some lower income people have higher education levels. The study supports the contention that VET policy should give greater attention to addressing equity issues in disadvantaged urban regions because this is where large numbers of people do participate in VET. (Contains 16 references, 6 tables, and 5 figures.) (KC)

Ideas about what constitutes work, the ways work is organized, the tools used in work, and the relationship between work and the other components of life are all changing rapidly. The implications of these changes for vocational education and training (VET) in Australia and elsewhere were examined. The following issues were considered: (1) the loss of a clear direction or mission for VET; (2) increasing debate over focusing VET programs on meeting the individual needs of vocational education students or concentrating on developing an industry-driven system focused on employers' needs; (3) debate over whether VET should focus on particular jobs, careers, work in general, or life in general; (4) debate over the extent to which the VET curriculum should focus on specific vocational skills versus broad, underlying principles; and (5) debate over the relative emphasis placed on preemployement versus in-employment training, classroom-based and experience-based training, and course-centered versus individualized instruction. The following immediate challenges facing VET were identified: (1) making employer involvement in VET an economic imperative; (2) improving awareness of workplace realities among vocational teachers; (3) adapting cooperative programs to deal with multiple employers; and (4) building international alliances in VET. (Contains 24 references, 3 figures, and 1 table.) (MN)

The informal vocational learning experiences of 13 young Australians preparing for the transition from school to work were examined. At the time of their interview, all 13 youths were students at a hybrid educational site in the Sydney metropolitan area that allows students to combine general education with vocational qualifications and experience in the workplace. The youths responded to an advertisement for research volunteers who had a clear vocational goal and believed they were engaging in activities designed to increase their opportunities for gaining employment in their desired area. Although the respondents' stories reflected a wide range of patterns of activities, they also contained several similarities. All students interviewed had changed their place of education at the end of year 10, and all chose to transfer to an educational institution offering a hybrid approach to postcompulsory education and training. All were aware of the importance and desirability of preparing for a range of career options. Despite being vocationally goal-oriented, many participants were unable or unwilling to articulate anything but a vague concept of "pathway." All participants had workplace experience in their area of vocational interest, and all considered exposure to work in their chosen industry a valuable experience. (Contains 24 references.) (MN)

The factors influencing active learning in small enterprises were examined. Data from earlier Australian studies were examined in an attempt to provide a framework that might inform the relationship between educational systems and small enterprises. Special attention was paid to a 1988 study of systematic differences between small businesses that affect their emphasis on learning. The proposed framework includes eight factors that motivate enterprises and their staffs to seek new or further learning and six factors shaping the kind of learning that is valued or required. The learning motivators were as follows: (1) new employees; (2) critical incidents; (3) knowledge-intensive or skill-intensive products or services; (4) rapid changes in the knowledge/skill underpinning the industry sector; (5) operations involving danger or liability; (6) learning orientedness of partners and allies; (7) changes in the political, legal, or cultural context of the enterprise; and (6) scope to develop/acquire new knowledge. The factors identified as structuring learning in small enterprises were as follows: (1) scope to share knowledge within the organization; (2) the quantity and characteristics of the knowledge used by the enterprise; (3) employees' educational level; (4) the availability of learning programs; (4) the learning infrastructure available to the enterprise; and (6) owner/manager attitudes. (Contains 10 references.) (MN)

Current research into youth transitions in Australia documents an increasingly individualized process in which significant numbers of youths are deemed at risk of not making a successful transition from school to work. Many theorists are questioning the applicability of the linear model of transition to current conditions. Other theorists are questioning whether the model was ever applicable to all students (especially "nonmainstream" students). The literature also documents the perceived failure of policy in ensuring successful transitions through recognized "pathways" of vocational learning and experience. It may be argued that, by broadening their focus to include the informal vocational experiences young people initiate and the type of learning that occurs in such instances, educational researchers may provide useful insights into how young people experience the transition process and how they seek to position themselves in the youth labor market. Research on this area is being conducted as part of the Research Centre for Vocational Education and Training's national key center program supported by the Australian National Training Authority. It is hoped that this research will shed new light on the increasingly complex transition process experienced by noncollege-bound young people and help policymakers devise more effective policies to assist this transition. (Contains 22 references.) (MN)

A study used item response theory to examine the vocational interests of 2,709 high school students (1,436 males; 1,273 females) in Australia in relation to Holland's vocational interest typology (1973, 1985, 1997), which identifies six fundamental vocational types (realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional) that link interests and work environments within the ambit of personality. Participants completed a 24-item questionnaire. Partial credit analysis was used to determine the location of the four questions that made up each of the vocational scales. Infit mean squares centered on 1.0 and separability was satisfactory for all scales (0.85 to 0.99) except the investigative scale. The conclusion was that scales and items conformed generally to the measurement model. The analysis of items using a Rasch model provided new information on how individuals responded to items and the complexity of responses within interest categories. It was concluded that simple raw scores or summing scores may not offer a valid basis for assessment of interests. (Included are two tables and six figures that show the distances between rating scales on the six scales. Contains 15 references.) (YLB)

A study examined the structure of the general vocational interests of 2,709 male and female high school pupils in Australia. The study was part of the longitudinal "Youth in Transition," a national probability sample of Australian youth. Participants completed a 24-item questionnaire that reflected J.L. Holland's vocational interest typology. Multidimensional scaling was used to analyze the intercorrelation matrix, and a three-dimensional solution demonstrated only partial support for the circular ordering of interests. The theoretical consistency of the hexagonal arrangement was evaluated using a randomization test and yielded a correspondence index of only 0.24. A quasi-spherical configuration of interests emerged and the underlying dimensions of interests, namely things versus people and data versus ideas were supported. The results have implications for the classification of interests, and possible explanations of these results are discussed. document (Contains 26 references.) (Author/KC)

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the roles of interest, knowledge, and learning strategies on recall within a specific subject domain at an early stage of learning. Students (n=17) at two levels in a postgraduate music therapy course were assessed for their levels of prior knowledge, interest, and the number of strategies they used to process information. They were presented with a video clip of a music therapy session and asked to recall as much as they could of what transpired. The following week they were asked again to complete further questionnaires and to recall whatever they could from the video. Recalls at times 1 and 2 were correlated 0.078. Knowledge correlated 0.206 with recall 1, whereas interest correlated -0.004 and the number of strategies correlated -0.371. On the second occasion, knowledge, interest, and strategies correlated 0.059, 0.419, and 0.364 respectively with the amount of recall. Results fail to support the knowledge component in a model of domain learning in music therapy but support the minor influence of individual interest and strategies together with a social disposition that correlated 0.324 with recall at time 2. (Contains 7 tables and 13 references.) (Author/SLD)

The hypothesis that making judgments is the basis for workplace learning was examined by studying work in a range of occupations with a view to identifying and analyzing the main judgments involved in individuals' work performance. To test the hypothesis, six practicing professionals (three men and three women) were interviewed. Two of interviewees were public servants with division-level responsibilities. The occupations of the other four were as follows: psychiatrist; private school principal; nurse turned ambulance officer; and corporate consultant. During the interviews, the professionals were asked to reflect on the judgments they make in critical work situations. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed in the context of theories regarding workplace learning and logic of action. It was concluded that growth in capacity to make judgments is evident in the following abilities and actions: (1) an ability to separate the stage of presentation of the initial need to make a judgment from the stage of the contiguous actualization of that judgment; (2) an ability to "read" the conative, emotive, and ethical considerations in the light of that separability; and (3) the decentering of the practitioner's sense of identity at one of these stages, but not in both of them. (Contains 34 references.) (MN)

Work-based learning (WBL) is one response of education and training institutions to criticisms they have failed to adapt to changing economic times and the changing nature of work. Formal educational institutions are challenged by the perception that they are inadequate to the task of preparing the present and future work force with the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions required in post-industrial workplaces; discourses focusing on learning that occurs outside formal educational institutions; and discourses problematizing what counts as knowledge in contemporary society. Potential impact of WBL can be explored by focusing on technical and further education (TAFE) in Australia. TAFE should be a natural home for WBL because it claims an explicit and direct connection with the world of work, but its teachers face an intensifying dilemma in their educational practices, due to their location in an educational institution rather than the workplace and by curriculum practices grounded by notions of content stability, compartmentalization, occupational continuity, and universally applicable outcomes. Differences that distinguish WBL from current vocational education and training (VET) practices relate to the individualization of the learning program and to the multiple sets of relationships that are created between the participating organization, learners, provider, and VET practitioner. (Contains 34 references.) (YLB)

Much recent debate has suggested Australia's technical and further education (TAFE) teachers not only need new knowledge and skills but need to perform their professional practices in new ways and in new contexts. What this debate has failed to recognize is that these change discourses are in effect constructing new professional identities for teachers, which interact and compete with the traditional discourses that once provided TAFE teachers with a distinct and separate educational identity. Any explanation concerning the construction of TAFE teachers' identities must look to both the historical and contemporary discourses that all circulate within the institutional life of the organization and must indicate how these discourses work to construct TAFE teachers as particular types of teachers. Three dominant institutional discourses within the institution of TAFE have shaped the formation of TAFE teachers' identities: industrial skill development, liberal education, and public service. The discourses of new vocationalism and economic rationalism have now joined the discourses of industrial skill development, liberal education, and public service in constructing the institutional practices of TAFE and its teachers. The failure of these discourses to make headway in changing TAFE teachers' understanding of who they are in VET can be accounted for because they leave little room for ambiguity and contradiction. (Contains 32 references.) (YLB)

More attention should be given to the local dimension of equity research. A question that must be asked is to what extent there is an unequal distribution of opportunities to participate in vocational education and training (VET) that is mirrored by area of residence in both urban and rural localities. Questions must also be asked about the extent to which relatively advantaged (employed and educated) individuals consume the resources allocated to a locality or region. Local analysis studies the characteristics of participants who live or work in a certain area. The characteristics of VET participants living in a postcode can be compared with the characteristics of that locality in general and with the profile of VET participants in the region or state using a "profiling" methodology. The representation of equity groups in particular areas may be explored by using information about VET participants from AVETMISS and Census mapping software. One conceptual model of VET participation, which is holistic or ecological in character, assumes that participation is a complex product of provider, area, and clientele factors. It suggests these three possible approaches to local equity analysis: area participation, catchment, and provider equity analyses. A study of Sydney postcodes has found that technical and further education is highest in areas where relatively disadvantaged people are living. (Contains 15 references, 3 tables, and 1 figure.) (YLB)

Despite increased attention to learning within the workplace and investigation into the distribution and nature of learning-related activities, how these trends have impacted the role of human resource (HR) professionals has been less extensively examined. Studies examining their role indicate that HR development (HRD) positions name traditional responsibilities associated with an orthodox training role--instruction, program design, and administration. Some HRD professionals are expected to provide advisory and diagnostic services, perform expanded training oriented roles, handle organizational change or development, analyze needs, conduct skill audits, and advise on individual career development. Later studies have reflected expanded roles. Personal attributes essential for senior positions are flexibility, tenacity, and capacity to accept challenges and question the traditional way things have been done. Arguably, the role of HRD professionals now requires an acute awareness of the business of their enterprise, a strategic focus, and flexibility in modes of delivery along with skills associated traditionally with training and development. Areas of uncertainty concerning the nature of this area as a career field are whether the role is more strategic; whether the role is enhanced or degraded; how outsourcing affects HRD as a career field; the challenge of knowledge management; and organizational positioning. (Contains 20 references.) (YLB)

A study analyzed patterns of participation at the local level in adult and community education (ACE) and technical and further education (TAFE) in Melbourne, Australia postcodes. Patterns of participation were hypothesized as being different from those in Sydney, New South Wales, where previous research established the marked differentiation of TAFE and ACE clienteles by postcode of residence. Results of the Melbourne postcode analysis confirmed the broad trend noted in the Sydney studies for TAFE and ACE participation to be differentiated by the socioeconomic status of the postcode. However, the Melbourne participation maps showed a good deal of variability in this broad relationship that needs to be explained. There were also considerable local variations in participation across adjacent postcodes. The general trend was for relatively high rates of participation in TAFE and ACE in most areas; yet they were differentiated to a degree by socioeconomic influences. This complexity was consistent with the marked diversification of VET in Melbourne and a corresponding differentiation of clienteles and services in TAFE and ACE. (Contains 15 references, 3 figures, and 3 tables.) (YLB)

The topic of repeated judgments of interest in vocational education was examined in a study in which 10 female full-time technical and further education (TAFE) students (aged 15-60 years) were handed 120 randomly selected real profiles of TAFE students who had completed subject interest surveys in a previous study. The 10 TAFE students judged how interested they would be in studying subjects described by the profile writers. After the students had made a total of 120 judgments, they were retested. The students' responses were analyzed in terms of a lens model in which judgment is considered a function of task properties, cognitive control, and knowledge. The question of whether cognitive feedforward alters students' perceptions was examined by considering students' responses to seven cues: quality of teaching, importance of the subject, ability, difficulty of the subject, whether the course was liked, study time, and homework time. No significant differences in the levels of lens model indices from pre- to post-information judgments were found. It was concluded that students overcompensated in their efforts to maximize judgment accuracy and that they were unable to make full use of the entire range of cues. (13 references) (MN)

Models of workplace learning and principles for funding workplace learning in Australia were identified through case studies and a literature review. A diverse array of workplace-based approaches to delivering nationally recognized qualifications were identified. The following were among the nine funding proposals formulated: (1) funding arrangements should be primarily designed to facilitate growth of the overall training effort; (2) funding should be provided only to registered training organizations (RTOs) for programs delivered under their mandate; (3) priority for funding should be provided to programs delivering outcomes that are transferable to a range of enterprises within the relevant industry sector or that provide portability across industries; (4) funding for workplace learning should be provided on a basis reflecting the variables in costs rather than on a fixed-rate basis; (5) funding arrangements should encourage industry to share in the total cost of training development and delivery; and (6) all trainees in funded programs should have access to a source of advice and support independent of the employer and the RTO. Five specific recommendations for further action by Australia's Board of Vocational Education and Training were also presented. (A list of case study participants and a literature review with a 27-item bibliography are appended.) (MN)

The outcomes attained by Australian adults enrolled in competency-based Certificate in Adult Foundation Education (CAFE) courses were examined. Special attention was paid to the outcomes achieved by students in the two lowest of the CAFE program's four levels. The main data sources were as follows: literature review; enrollment data from the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) Student Information System; questionnaires circulated to all 74 TAFE colleges with students enrolled in the relevant levels of CAFE; in-depth interviews with four CAFE teachers from four TAFE colleges selected to provide a representative picture of CAFE at the lower levels in New South Wales (NSW); and interviews with three key figures involved in adult basic education (ABE) curriculum development. Although the teachers saw CAFE as resulting in a wide range of benefits for learners, their support for CAFE was by no means unanimous. CAFE was found to vary by geographic region, college size, funding, and local interpretations of the CAFE syllabus. CAFE was said to not be meeting the learning needs of all entry-level ABE students. Concern was expressed about the reduction of diversity of ABE provision in TAFE in NSW. In addition, teachers consistently expressed concern about the difficulty with appropriate placement in levels of the course, the time needed by some students to achieve their learning goals, assessment, and results. (Ten tables/figures are included. Contains 77 references.) (MN)

This overview paper highlights implications of keynote papers and discussion at the first National Issues Forum held by the Research Center for Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Australia. It discusses evidence that the school-to-work (STW) transition is a problem for an increasing number of young people and why. It outlines the government's range of responses to help young people, including greatly increased public funding for VET. However, evidence is presented that shows VET providers have failed to attract an increasing proportion of young people, shown by the decline in young people's participation in VET. Reasons for the decline include: changing patterns of demand for skills; and changing youth attitudes and competition from adults for access to training. Recent survey results are presented on employment and earnings outcomes achieved by young people who use a VET course to prepare them for employment. The paper suggests that VET's traditional strengths--its institutional base and vocational focus--may also be its greatest weaknesses in the future. Evidence is presented that countries with similar training arrangements (apprenticeship system and well-defined occupational structures of the industrial award system) are making major changes to how their structured education STW pathways work. The paper concludes by exploring types of changes VET needs to make. A case is made for VET providers to undertake continuous reassessment of how well they are currently meeting needs of potential students. (YLB)

The formal and informal pathways taken by Australian women from nonaccredited adult community education (ACE) to accredited programs of vocational education and training (VET) were examined in a national survey. Data were collected from a review of the literature on ACE, and telephone interviews with providers of ACE and VET (from a sample limited to 50-80) in urban and rural regions within Australia's states and territories. Information from the interviews was systematized into a comprehensive database that was in turn used to produce a print handbook to help providers plan pathways in ACE and VET organizations. The research established that in most states, the basic conditions promoting pathway development are lacking or poorly developed. Resourcing emerged as a key issue. It was recommended that VET competition policy be designed to reward rather than discourage arrangements that facilitate learners' movements from one provider to another or from ACE to VET within providers. Pathway planning was found to be facilitated where it is an integral part of community-based practice. A range of pathway-planning models, including entry point, integrated, provider partnership, community development, and culturally appropriate models, were identified. (The bibliography contains 50 references. Appended are the project interview schedule and a glossary of acronyms.) (MN)

An exploratory investigation into training and learning in small businesses in Australia was conducted to identify issues surrounding training and learning and issues relating to the research methodology. Data were collected from a review of the literature, case studies of six small enterprises, and a review of two case studies conducted previously. Emphasis on learning was found to vary considerably between small businesses depending on the following: the small business's basis for competition and reliance on knowledge; whether its staff are permanent or casual; and who in the firm has the knowledge contributing to business success. A new approach to learning in small businesses was proposed that is based on a range of learning activities. At the individual employee level, the proposed approach includes discussions with product representatives, supplier-run seminars, and periods of working in other job areas. At the firm level, the proposed approach includes knowledge introduced by staff recruited from competitors or customers and new approaches learned from previous business allies. It was concluded that research into training and learning in the small business sector must look not only at learning within the firm but also at learning between firms and their operating environments. (Contains 33 references) (MN)

Australia's Certificate in Adult Basic Education (CABE) curriculum was examined through a case study of a CABE English class of nine students that was held in an outer Sydney Technical and Further Education college. Data were collected through the following activities: (1) semistructured interviews with the teacher and three students; (2) review of the teacher's planning notes and handouts and student writing; and (3) two 3-hour classroom observations conducted during weeks 5 and 12 of the 18-week course (English 1). The teacher had 18 years of experience teaching high school and had been a full-time adult basic education teacher for 6 years. The students were a 40-year-old female, 21-year-old male, and 36-year-old female. The literacy being constructed by the teacher in the study classroom was a performative, functional literacy that was concerned with individual students' personal growth and placed strong emphasis on building self-esteem and developing self-confidence. A variety of texts were being used in class, including the following: writing opinions, descriptions, and book reviews; reading newspapers and books; doing crossword and other puzzles; and giving a talk. There was some evidence of student literacy practice outside the classroom. The students saw themselves, often for the first time, as successful learners. The teacher viewed herself as a facilitator, and the students saw themselves as successful learners on pathways to further courses or jobs. Numerous student writing samples are included. Appended are the following: chronological summary of data, transcripts from two observation, and table detailing four reader/writer roles.) (Contains 38 references.) (MN)

In the second phase of a two-phase study, enterprise training in Australia was examined through case studies of training at 12 Australian enterprises in 2 sectors. The six finance and insurance enterprises and six retail enterprises studied were selected to obtain a sample that was representative from the standpoints of enterprise size and geographic location. Both industry sectors were found to be operating within an intensely competitive and increasingly deregulated environment. In both sectors, the primary drivers of training were as follows: customer focus; technological change; workplace change; enterprise commitment to training; and individual decision making. Estimates of training expenditure ranged from 1.4%-5% of payroll in the finance and insurance enterprises and from 1% -4% of payroll in the retail enterprises. The case studies confirmed the overall validity of the model of enterprise training formulated during phase 1 of the study. According to that model, three groups of factors (training drivers, mediating factors, and environmental factors) affect enterprise training. The public policy implications of the case study findings were discussed. (Twenty-seven tables/figures are included. The bibliography contains 36 references. Appended are an overview of the case studies and summary of the survey questions.) (MN)

The National Framework for the Recognition of Training (NFROT) is one of the key structures underpinning training reform in Australia. NFROT's basic principles and fundamental purposes are supported by almost everyone involved with the framework, and there is strong evidence that NFROT has provided considerable benefits to providers and learners alike. Despite these benefits, NFROT's implementation has been plagued by several serious flaws, including the following: confusion regarding the extent to which a "national" system exists; inconsistencies of approach; difficulties of "product recognition"; bureaucratization without quality assurance; confusion about the most appropriate role for industry; and the system's inability to deal with a range of types of training. The following are the paramount issues facing NFROT: whether a national system or nationally consistent system is needed; whether all courses, training programs, and providers should be treated identically; and the extent of regulation required to ensure quality assurance. It is recommended that the system be reformed by exercising one of three options for structural reform (a single authority, model legislation, legislative consistency) and by focusing on providers, improvement, or consistent criteria. (Appended are NFROT's 31 principles and an annotated list of 8 related reports, decisions, etc. The paper contains 27 references.) (MN)

The financial operations of providers of adult and community education (ACE) in New South Wales, Australia, were examined in a conceptual and empirical study. Enrollment data were analyzed and case studies of three community colleges and two community adult education centers in metropolitan, coastal, and rural communities were conducted. Four types of indicators were developed and used to compare ACE providers' income and activity costs: income, expenditure, activity, and activity cost indicators. Current funding arrangements were found to be associated with diversity in providers' income and activity. The observed variation in providers' income and activity was only partly accounted for by providers' size and scale; the variation was also due to providers' situation and the nature of the locality where ACE was being delivered. Participation in ACE was, to a certain point, associated with higher levels of household income, qualifications, and population density. Several ways in which ACE's current funding scheme may act as a disincentive to equity were discussed. (The bibliography contains 19 references. Fifty tables/figures are included. Appended are the following: letters to providers requesting cooperation; provider expenditure profiles; database summary formats; questions for assessing in-kind contributions; and main postcodes of metropolitan providers.) (MN)

The factors affecting the outcomes of indigenous Australians' participation in vocational education and training (VET) were examined in a study in which 7 Aboriginal researchers in 5 Australian states and territories interviewed 70 indigenous Australians enrolled in VET and 48 coordinators and teachers in technical and further education (TAFE) colleges, independent Aboriginal providers, and universities with significant programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in 1994. The study focused on the following: pathways to VET; learners' issues and concerns; institutional issues and provider views; literacy, language, and learning; and effective course delivery in VET. Seven guiding principles for improved VET course delivery to indigenous Australians were identified. VET providers were encouraged to adopt the concept of course delivery as a cross-cultural activity as their rationale for planing, developing, and evaluating programs for indigenous Australians. (The bibliography contains 51 references. Appended are the following: educational indicators for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander profile for local government areas in eastern Australia; learner interview schedule; summary of learner characteristics; institution interview schedule; list of TAFE institutions with the highest enrollments of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in 1993; summary of institutions interviewed; and examples of data management layouts.) (MN)

Studies of vocational education and training (VET) students' movement into higher education (HE) typically show that VET students granted admission perform at least as well as other admitted applicants; however, such students are often less likely to gain admission in the first place. A move toward competency-based training (CBT) and a concomitant move toward ungraded means of reporting achievement have been among the key reforms implemented in Australia's VET system in recent years. Across Australia, universities have demonstrated a wide variety of responses to VET's introduction of CBT. Some universities have devised a system for converting VET results into a score that can be compared with the tertiary entrance score achieved by school leavers, whereas other universities have established distinct quotas for applicants seeking admission either as tertiary transfer students or on the basis of VET qualifications. Yet other universities have developed close working relationships with VET systems and devised a range of procedures to facilitate VET students' transfer to HE. Some VET providers are reviewing their policy of using only ungraded assessment and are introducing new criterion-referenced grading systems. It is hoped that the new systems will ameliorate many HE institutions' concerns over ungraded assessment. (Contains 31 references.) (MN)

A project investigated the integration of key competencies into workplace training in Australia. Part 1 of the project researched the work of personnel engaged in on-the-job training (OJT) curriculum development in five industries to find out how key competencies were being incorporated into OJT curricula and to suggest models to guide this process. Part 2 used action research at 22 sites to test ways to incorporate key competencies into workplace training and develop models for incorporating them into OJT delivery, assessment, and reporting. Findings indicated a typical work activity is composed of both industry-specific work skills and several generic skills. In a holistic approach, the development of key competencies would be a process of the trainee acquiring more integrated combinations of competencies while moving from school into the workplace. Key competencies were not all equally applicable or relevant to all jobs. They needed to be made explicit in training activities. The variables in a training culture and context had a significant effect on the nature of teaching key competencies. Recommended approaches to training in key competencies stressed the importance of integrated, context-specific training for developing skills and expertise and used key competencies to link on- and off-the-job training. The project identified a need for research to further understanding of key competencies in workplace training. (Appendixes include 60 references, project information papers, exemplars from curriculum case studies, and 22 case studies.) (YLB)

The factors leading to positive outcomes in vocational education and training (VET) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were examined through person-to-person and telephone interviews with indigenous Australian students and VET providers. The interviews focused on the following: the range of VET provision and the extent of its variation in urban, regional, rural, and remote contexts; students' concerns regarding course access, design, and delivery; typical pathways taken to VET by indigenous Australian people; and language and literacy issues in the delivery of VET and their relation to culturally relevant course design and delivery. It was concluded that many factors affect outcomes of participation and that these factors must be viewed as part of a "human system" of delivery. Language and literacy were deemed key to successful outcomes of VET, and the following guiding principles for better course delivery were identified: recognize that education and training is a cultural response; make space for Aboriginality within institutions; involve Aboriginal communities in course delivery; be flexible and negotiate appropriate teaching and learning; recognize that a range of support is needed; make language and literacy part of course delivery; and evaluate the effectiveness of each part of the course delivery system. (MN)

A three-part strategy for research in vocational education and training (VET) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, was proposed. The strategy was developed after a review of current key documents, initial consultations with key stakeholders and NSW Board of Vocational Education and Training officers, discussions with focus groups of users of VET research, and circulation of a discussion paper to VET stakeholders from the public and private sectors. The strategy's elements were as follows: a framework (broad set of principles) within which research and development within the VET sector can be developed and maintained; specific proposals for priority areas for research activity; and specific proposals for processes that the NSW Board of Vocational Education could adopt to strengthen the quality, amount, and usefulness of research. It was recommended that research in VET adopt the model of best practice in industry and that priority be given to research on the following topics: future scenarios and implications for VET planning; delivery of VET; reflection of the rhetoric of training reform in practice; the role of industry in VET policy and practice; and better data to help in training reform. (Appended are the following: definitions, description of the study methodology, and list of organizations providing input to the project.) (MN)