AVETRA Day 5

 I have taken brief notes today as the panels discuss various items. 

On the last and fifth day, the keynote consists of a series of interviews with Leslie Lobie (NSW education), Associate Professor Michael Dockery, Chris Hall (president of students union) , all members of the TAFE Directors Australia, discussing ‘where VET fits’. Each speaks on the topic supplemented with work of the Korea Unesco's Soo-Hyang Choi.  Craig Robertson convenes the session and takes on the role of interviewer.

Soo-Hyang Choi begins by setting the scene. Posits that economies with large percentage of SMEs (Australia/NZ) face different challenges which can be more daunting than for countries with large corporations. Shared the survey with data gathered from many countries. Shared challenges including reluctance of education to move into digital, preferring to stay with the tried and true. Inequities widening in many countries. Where does TVET then fit in? Agility and flexibility of learners a key. Microcredentials seems to be important. Individualised/personalised learning even more important. Lifelong learning pathways a key, with boundaries between school and post school requiring blurring. High level skills important. Higher end of TVET and HE require integrations. Lower end of TVET needs to move beyond foundational skills. 

Associate Professor Mike Dockery continues. Strong agenda to move learners into STEM courses. Skills shortages, and future jobs require STEM skills push this goal. Women under-presented and require more support. However, there seems to not be evidence of there being a skill shortage. Women who graduate from STEM still struggle and generally do not do as well beyond qualification. STEM skills are not growing. What is growing is health, personals services etc. which are where women do well. STEM narrative tends to concentrate on HE but STEM intensive occupations are predominant in trades/VET. Better recognition of these important as many of these technician level skills continue to be in high demand (e.g. in the mines sector). Degree completion at TAFE still emergent. These students tend to a mix of usual HE or VET demographic. Predicts pathways from VET/TAFE to HE will increase. Shared study on career advice. 20 years of data from the longitudinal survey indicates higher SES students tend to obtain HE information but lower SES students tend to be less likely to be directed to HE. Over time this divide has increased and lower SES students are getting less opportunities to try out careers, visit workplaces etc. Supports the importance of VET. HE is not the be all and end all. The future of work requires more 'services' - social media, health etc. 

Chris Hall provides context. The student union has tended to be university focused but over the last few years, higher VET sector / TAFE engagement increased. Discussed funding cuts across both sectors and impact on students. Advocated for fair funding for both sectors, regardless of discipline area. Important to provide students with wider choice and clear information about their options and pathways. HE sector has the student community and stronger culture of support. However, VET is not as effective in this. However VET as authentic learning which HE can learn from. Important for students to do what they aspire towards, regardless of whether in VET, TAFE or HE. 

Leslie Lobie contended that there are tensions between providing education that is wide and deep; general and specialised; and to also prepare learners for the future. Core and enduring knowledge and skills are important to provide the platform for lifelong learning. Literacy and numeracy augmented with creative, critical, computational, ethical thinking etc. teaching and curriculum are also important to provide faciliation and direction. VET is in a terrific position due to its authentic and strong connections to industry requirements. VET needs to also include higher cognition to application. Theory and practice need to go together. Quality of teaching is also important as VET teachers not only need to keep up with industry trends but also the pedagogy. Discussed review of the Australian Qualifications Framework, especially with respect to VET. The AQF requires refreshing to meet future challenges. Shift from a hierachical structure to a more fluid model. Shared descriptors around knowledge and skills that allow for bands so that K and S are not delimited to 'levels'. Students should be able to move in and out of sectors. Microcredentials are included as a option. VET should not only provide learning for those at the beginning of a career but for ongoing personal and professional development.

A panel then convenes to discuss and this includes Craig Robertson as convenor, Professor Sally Kitt (President of Australian teaching fellows), Megan Lily (Head of Australian Industry group), Andrew Williamson (Executive Director for international education at Holmsglen), and Paul Whitelaw (Head of Hotel School at Southern Cross University.

Each panellist provides perspectives on the previous keynote panel contributions on 'role of VET' and where it can go. An interesting conversation revolving around the challenges not only for Australian VET but for all other systems as well. 

Presentations follow and notes below from the first one.

Dr. John Pardy from Monash University on ‘the barely discernible track: vocational education as post-school option. Running through the 'track' between school - TAFE- University. There is a track that goes from school to university and then to TVET. Summarised why this may be so. VET is almost invisble to school leavers, especially those from higher SES. People move into VET either because they are not able to get into HE or come back after HE for specialised training to attain employment or to upskill while at work. HE changed from elite to mass system. TVET moved from craft-based to higher technical. Discussed two policies which have contributed to the legacy of how VET is percieved. Australian Tec College and Trade training centres in school. Used neo-institutional theory to unpack the implications historically and comparatively. Introduced literature underpinning this concept. Important to address the challenge whereby students are interested in the type of learning and qualification offered by VET but not in attending TAFE. Detailed the study of studying the two policies through perpectives from teachers, managers of technical colleges. Technical colleges channel students in the last few years of school into apprenticeship into or HE. Similar concept for the Trades training centres. These help extend secondary schooling and meet learner needs. Challlenges faced in having suitable teachers who had industry experience and would be teacher registered.

The conference closes with a plenary session with Steven Hodge, Linda Simon, Keiko Yasukawa, Phil Loveder and Craig Robertson.