Transcript Slide 1

Erica Smith and Annette Foley,
University of Ballarat
Australian Council of Deans of Education Vocational
Education Group (ACDEVEG)
Why are universities interested in
VET teacher-training?
 The Australian Council of Deans of Education (ACDE) is the peak
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association of the deans of faculties and heads of schools of education
in Australian universities and other higher education institutions.
15 universities provide teacher-training qualifications for VET
practitioners, through Faculties of Education, with a few through
Faculties of Business. Approx 2000 students enrolled, all adults and
most already VET practitioners.
Courses include degrees or associate degrees for those with only VETsector industry qualifications, and graduate diplomas or masters for
those with degrees in industry/discipline areas.
All VET teacher-training courses offer pathways from the Cert IV TAA
and some offer additional credit for the Diplomas.
A working party from 15 universities was formed to respond to the
Productivity Commission draft report on the VET workforce. This
working party has now become the standing ACDE Vocational
Education Group (ACDEVEG). See www.acde.edu.au
An overview of the history of VET
teaching qualifications
 Hugh Guthrie’s recent history is on the NCVER web site.
 Full-time TAFE teachers used to undertake a degree or higher
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education Diploma.
In the 1990s the States gradually rolled back their requirements,
ending with NSW in 2007; Tasmania is now moving the other
way. Some States retain a salary bar for higher education quals.
The minimum requirements of the AQTF have introduced a false
ceiling as well as a floor.
Development of the Cert IV TAA was contaminated/
confused by the parallel development of the AQTF.
The new Dip VET offers hope but also potential disappointment.
How do university courses engage
with the Cert IV TAA?
Cert IV is entry
requirement
prerequisite/
concurrent
Uni degrees –
Grad Dip,
Bachelor
Subjects
credit
Course based credit –
discretionary
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Joint delivery
of Cert IV:
RTO & Uni
VET qual
Embedded
Cert IV qual is
part of entry level
credit
Brennan Kemmis, R. and Smith, E. (2004). Report of workshop: Implementing the Training and
Assessment Training Package across the sectors. AVTEC. Melbourne, 22-23 November. (On AVTEC
web site)
Why do VET practitioners need a university qualification
in VET pedagogy? Benefits for them
 Provides underpinning knowledge for their practice; skills to critique,
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interrogate and update practice; evidence-based teaching, based on
research;
Provides a chance to mix with experts and other teachers/trainers;
Provides general educational development to function at an
appropriate level when interacting with industry;
Provides a foundation for career pathways within VET, in industry and
within the tertiary sector;
Pathways to higher-level qualifications eg masters and research
degrees
What are the barriers ?
 Personal challenges include…
 Workload constraints
 Feelings of inadequacy.
 Cost
 Time
 Motivation to undertake any further qualification
 Pay-off
 Accessibility
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Flexible
Online
Face to face
What are the barriers?
 Institutional cultural expectations
 Cost
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Staff expectations
Institutional expenditure
 Time allocation
 Workload factor
Comparability
 Other sectors (school-teaching, Early Childhood)
require and/or encourage degree qualifications;
 Other countries require degree qualifications eg
UK (Qualified Teacher Status ) and Germany
(require Masters);
 The Australian government expects 40% of the
population to have degrees; VET educators
should certainly be within this 40%
The changing VET environment
As identified by the PC, VET practitioners need to deal with the following:
 Deliver a higher volume of training;
 Respond to unpredictable fluctuations in demand for training in a climate of
policy change, economic volatility and shifting international ties;
 Deliver more training at higher levels of qualification;
 Deliver more training in foundation-level language, literacy and numeracy skills;
 Handle a more diverse student population;
 Engage in more flexible modes of delivery;
 Develop stronger ties to industry and engage in more employment-based
delivery;
 Adapt to overlapping boundaries with schools and higher education;
 Undertake a greater volume of recognition of prior learning and recognition of
current competency.
These issues are all covered in detail in university VET teaching/training
qualifications but most are barely addressed in the Cert IV TAA
What did we recommend? (Recs 1-5)
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VET practitioners should be encouraged to undertake VET
teaching/training qualifications above the Certificate IV level. Career
progression for full-time VET teachers and trainers, and part-time staff
where appropriate, should be related to the progressive acquisition of
higher-level VET teaching/training qualifications. Relevant industrial
agreements should reflect this progression.
Establish formal arrangements between IBSA and the relevant universities to
provide a pathway from the Certificate IV through Diploma to a university
VET teaching/training qualification. **
Universities should collaborate to achieve more consistency among
their VET teacher-training courses. **
The delivery of the Certificate IV in TAA should be undertaken by a
teacher/trainer holding a Diploma in Training and Assessment or a
university VET teaching/training qualification. ***
A Diploma in Training and Assessment or a university VET
teaching/training qualification should be the minimum qualification for
those supervising staff without the Certificate IV TAA.
Recs 6-8
6. A minimum of 25% of RTO staff should hold a university qualification
in VET teaching/training and this should be considered during
AQTF audits (Standard 1). ***
7. RTOs and governments should be aware of the role of university
qualifications in VET teaching/training in building leadership
capability in RTOs and policy settings, and into academic careers in
the discipline.
8. Further targeted research should be carried out into VET
teachers and their qualifications. This should include the
contribution of VET practitioners' teaching/training qualifications to
teaching practice, quality and student satisfaction, and the impact of
the nature of the workforce on career progression and take-up of
higher teaching qualifications.
What is ACDEVEG doing?
 a mapping of the ‘body of knowledge’ in higher-education VET teacher
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training programs;
the possibility of a standard credit package for the new Diploma of
VET;
promoting a better understanding of the nature of higher-education
VET teacher-training courses;
the implications of the strengthened AQF for our courses, particularly
with regard to credit offered for Cert IV and vocational qualifications;
a textbook on VET teaching and learning
discussing with stakeholders the potential for standards against which
HE courses in VET teacher-training can be accredited, which can be
presented to the sector as a possibility;
Why qualifications rather than (or as
well as) PD?
 For staff – qualifications provide transferability among
contexts, broader understandings and reflection,
personalised assistance that is not scrutinised by the
employer, a testamur, a pathway to higher level quals;
 For organisations – assessment provides confidence that
learning is undertaken and retained, broader
understandings of the topics, staff with higher levels of
education, ‘training’ that is subsidised by the
Commonwealth, scrutiny by Academic Boards, a guarantee
of quality when someone transfers among VET employers;
 … in fact just the same arguments VET providers use to employers!
What programs does UB offer?
 Associate Degree in Training & Education: embeds Dip
VET Practice, will embed Dip VET from 2013 (subject to
Academic Board approval)
 Proposed new Bachelor in Tertiary Teaching and Training:
embeds the Associate Degree and Grad Cert in HE
teaching, as well discipline subjects; from mid-2013 (subject
to Academic Board approval)
Each offers credit for Cert IV TAA/TAE, Diplomas, & vocational quals.
 PhD Masterclass for senior VET managers , commenced
2012
 All offered by distance with optional workshops
Contact details
 Professor Erica Smith [email protected] 03-5327
9665
 Dr Annette Foley, Sub-Dean for Education,
[email protected] 03-5327 9764
 Council of Deans of Education www.acde.edu.au