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Project summary
Project approach
Project purpose
Research questions
Methodology
The organisations:
CREEW (Centre for Research in Education, Equity and Work)
CURVE (Centre Undertaking
Research in Vocational Education)
Project summary
Title: |
Supporting VET providers in building capability for the
future |
Project type: |
Research - National managed program |
Project no: |
NR4025 |
Status: |
Project in progress |
Commenced date: |
1 January 2005 |
Completion date: |
31 December 2006 |
Theme: |
VET system > VET providers |
Contact: |
Roger Harris
Centre for Research in Education, Equity and Work (CREEW)
Mawson Lakes Boulevard
MAWSON LAKES SA 5095
phone: +61 8 8302 6246
fax: +61 8 8302 6832
email: roger.harris@unisa.edu.au |
Related links: |
CREEW website
CURVE website
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Project approach
The two-year program is built around 9 major research activities (RA's), each
with a set of associated questions, method and outcomes. The 9 activities are:
RA1. Supporting VET providers in building capability for the future: visions
and options
RA2. Understanding career pathways in VET
RA3. Analysing critical issues in teaching, learning and assessment
RA4. Assessing the impact of cultures and structures on individual and organisational
capability
RA5. Investigating learning through work
RA6. Examining human resource management (HRM) in VET providers for a changing
environment
RA7. Investigating approaches to sustaining and building educational leadership
RA8. Examining decision-making about workforce development
RA9. Supporting VET providers in building capability for the future: insights
and opportunities
The project uses a consortium of researchers drawn from a number of institutions
(the consortium approach). The aim of a consortium is to gather together the
best available team to undertake the program of work.
Throughout the research program the consortium will maintain regular and on-going
contact and information flow with key stakeholders and networks using a range
of processes.
Project purpose
The purpose of this program is to support VET providers in building capability
for the future by:
- developing a clearer understanding of the dynamics of the changing VET
workplace and the capacity of VET providers to respond to the increasingly
complex and changing demands of clients
- critically analysing key management, leadership, human resources and industrial
relations practices and their applicability for VET providers
- investigating cutting edge practices in VET that support increased quality,
agility and responsiveness
- examining the inter-relationships between the development of people, practices
and cultures and their impact on the capability of VET providers
- generating a diverse range of products and services that can be both disseminated
widely and used to conduct workforce development workshops at the local level
in order to promote individual and organisational capability.
Research questions
RA1. Supporting VET providers in building capability for the future: visions
and options
Question:
- What issues, futures, constraints and opportunities will influence individual
and organisational capability in VET providers?
RA2. Understanding career pathways in VET
Questions:
- How and in what ways are careers conceptualised and managed in VET?
- How does this influence the workforce development needs of all categories
of staff employed in VET providers?
RA3. Analysing critical issues in teaching, learning and assessment
Questions:
- What do individual learners and industry clients want from VET in terms
of teaching and learning experiences, services and support, and how can these
best be met?
- What skills are needed by VET practitioners in the design of learning programs
and resources and in the provision of assessment services to meet the needs
of different client groups and how might these be developed most effectively?
- What are the critical success factors (individual, organisational and systemic)
in developing and implementing innovative approaches to teaching, learning
and assessment in VET providers, and how might models about good practice
be most effectively transmitted?
RA4. Assessing the impact of cultures and structures on individual and organisational
capability
Questions:
- To what extent and in what ways do the cultures within VET providers influence
individual and organisational capability?
- In what ways and for what purposes are VET providers adapting their organisational
structures to enhance individual and organisational capability?
RA5. Investigating learning through work
Questions:
- How and in what ways can learning and development practices within VET
providers be organised to better support learning at work?
- What are the major enablers and constraints to learning through working
and what strategies and models can organisations deploy to encourage productive
learning at work?
RA6. Examining human resource management (HRM) in VET providers for a changing
environment
Questions:
- What is the state of best practice in HRM/HRD in Australia and internationally?
- To what extent are public and private VET providers using a range of HRM/HRD
practices and integrating them into their business strategies?
- What models of HRM/HRD will best fit the requirements of VET providers
in the future, particularly with the management of casual and sessional staff?
RA7. Investigating approaches to sustaining and building educational leadership
Questions:
- How is educational leadership manifested within and across VET providers?
- To what extent and in what ways can VET providers ensure continuity of
leadership and management?
RA8. Examining decision-making about workforce development
Questions:
- How is workforce development interpreted, prioritised and managed and what
are the factors that influence decision-making processes in this area?
- How are decisions about workforce development related to organisational
strategic planning and individual performance management?
RA9. Supporting VET providers in building capability for the future: insights
and opportunities
Question:
- What options, models and strategies from this program of research can inform
strategic decision-making in VET providers?
Methodology
RA1. Supporting VET providers in building capability for the future: visions
and options
Method: |
- national Future Search conference - a structured participative approach,
engaging participants (approx. 30-40) in large group 'brainstorming'
as well as small group discovery.
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Outcomes: |
- a website; a Future Search report; a network of key stakeholders
engaged in and committed to the research program to build capability;
insights for shaping the research program; a listserv
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RA2. Understanding career pathways in VET
Methods: |
- a national survey of VET teachers, trainers and support staff from
a representative sample of VET providers
- these data will be supplemented with relevant data from in-depth
interviews for research activities 4, 5, 6 and 8
- extant data from the Graduate Destination Survey - e.g. nature and
extent of completions of relevant higher education qualifications by
VET staff
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Outcomes: |
- a life-cycle perspective on the development of career pathways in
VET and the implications these pathways might hold for labour supply,
skills development and succession planning in the sector; literature
review, discussion paper, report, professional development kits and
information sheets
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RA3. Analysing critical issues in teaching, learning and assessment
Methods: |
- examination of international research on trends in teaching and learning
policy and practice, and professional dialogue on critical issues with
DFES (England) and Scottish FE Unit
- dialogue with at least 20 networks (e.g. Enterprise RTO Network,
Horticulture Teachers' Network, ACPET, Learnscope, Flexible Learning
Leaders, Reframing the Future, industries, disciplines, professional
associations and providers)
- preparation and electronic dissemination of a Discussion Paper on
critical issues; online feedback
- 3-hour focus groups in two capital cities and two regional centres
on the Discussion Paper
- 15 case studies to identify good practice and factors that help and
hinder innovation
- Interviews with key VET practitioners and VET stakeholders
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Outcomes: |
- a series of publications, literature review, discussion paper and
final report on different topics and directed at different audiences,
including case studies and models of good practice; a half-day mini-conference
(up to 100 participants) in one capital city and one regional centre
to 'test' the drafts and promote the findings
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RA4. Assessing the impact of cultures and structures on individual and organisational
capability
Methods: |
- individual and group interviews
- document analysis
- participant observation
- The sample will include TAFE, private, enterprise and community Registered
Training Organisations (RTOs); both metropolitan and regional in three
states and one territory
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Outcomes: |
- a greater understanding of the impact of cultures and structures
on the organisational capability of RTOs; a literature review, a set
of working models and processes with the potential for application
across a range of RTOs and a final report
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RA5. Investigating learning through work
Methods: |
- case studies - through interviews and observations - of a diverse
range of VET providers to establish current learning and development
practices; mix of learning and training solutions for skills development;
current strategies that support learning at work; extent to which work
is organised to support learning; extent to which other environmental
and contextual factors suggested by the literature are present
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Outcomes: |
- a literature review, final report and the development of a diagnostic
tool to evaluate the extent to which the organisation of work is conducive
to learning, including piloting the tool to evaluate how work can be
organised to facilitate learning at work
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RA6. Examining human resource management (HRM) in VET providers for a changing
environment
Methods: |
- a systematic review of national and international best practice in
HRM and HR practices in VET
- a survey of public and private VET providers of HRM/HRD (human resource
development) practices
- a series of 12 case studies to develop models of best practice HRM/HRD
for the VET sector
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Outcomes: |
- a systematic review of the literature and research on HRM/HRD best
practice; discussion paper incorporating the results of the survey;
final report including case studies
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RA7. Investigating approaches to sustaining and building educational leadership
Methods: |
- interviews with VET staff who operate at the levels of manager, teacher,
trainer and support staff, examining how leadership development occurs
within a specific structural, cultural and operational context
- in-depth investigations in at least 6 VET organisations across at
least 3 states, with between 3-5 interviews occurring with respondents
from the four groups. In total, approx. 120 interviews, each of 30-45
minutes in length. Guiding questions in these semi-structured interviews
will be the capability frameworks identified in past VET research into
leadership. A key emphasis will be on succession planning in VET providers
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Outcomes: |
- examination of how effective leadership is being manifested at all
levels in our diverse VET enterprises, including not only among managers,
but also teachers, trainers and support staff; a literature review;
a report on current leadership development efforts in VET organisations
at building enhanced capabilities, existing and improved methods for
sharing these developments across VET, and professional development
strategies from other sectors that might be introduced to enhance organisational
effectiveness in VET
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* RA8. Examining decision-making about workforce development
Methods: |
- interviews and case studies to explore forms of decision-making used
in VET providers and factors influencing decisions taken
- interviews also with individual employees in those VET providers
to identify how decisions they make about their own development relate
to those made by the organisation
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Outcomes: |
- a literature review and final report leading to an improved understanding
of decision-making, provide VET providers, systems and individuals
an opportunity for improved decision-making
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RA9. Supporting VET providers in building capability for the future: insights
and opportunities
Methods: |
- dissemination forums - in selected metropolitan and regional cities,
with key message presentations from Consortium members, and large and
small group discussions to critique and synthesise findings, develop
insights and identify opportunities
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Outcomes: |
- Symposium at International Conference on Researching Work and Learning
(UTS, Dec. 2005); Integration Paper; strategies for capacity-building
in VET providers; 'testing' of the relevance of the products; training
of local leaders in how to use the products (a 'cascading' approach);
ideas for further research and development
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The organisation/s
CREEW (Centre for Research in Education, Equity and Work)
CREEW began in 1994, and has been a recognised research centre within the
University of South Australia since 1998. The Centre has excellent infrastructural
support with dedicated physical facilities, electronic communication systems
and access to a range of academic and general staff. Its website lists previous
projects undertaken which provide a background for the work of this Consortium
based on the established field networks and successful record in VET research
developed by CREEW over time. Key areas of VET research have included professional
development, changing work of VET practitioners, innovative approaches through
Training Packages, private providers, learning styles, on- and off-job sites
as learning environments, and learning organisations. Members of CREEW have
won many VET national managed research and evaluation projects, ARC and government
grants, published widely and presented regularly at conferences.
CREEW website
CURVE (Centre Undertaking Research in Vocational Education)
CURVE was established at Canberra Institute of Technology in 1999. Members
of the CURVE team, in addition to having well-developed research skills, have
direct and significant teaching experience in VET and a thorough understanding
of the influences and issues impacting upon training providers, teachers, learners
and policymakers across the VET sector. With a strong focus on practice and
practitioners, CURVE is a nationally recognised as a leader in the key areas
of teaching, learning and assessment research. CURVE researchers, often in
collaboration with others, have successfully obtained funding from the national
managed VET research and evaluation program, ANTA, DEST and the ACT Government.
CURVE website
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