International Research Snapshot
RESEARCH SNAPSHOT | Marjan Mckeough , Senior Librarian, ETIS (Education and Training Information Service) Centre for Learning & Innovation, DET
The ETIS intranet is available to TAFE NSW staff.
This eZine feature is brought to you by ETIS - the Department of Education and Training’s Education and Training Information Service. ETIS manages the NSW Vocational Education and Training Database linking in with the national vocational education database managed by NCVER. They are excellently placed and qualified to identify and share with us these key, recent reports and articles with particular relevance to VET teaching and learning. (Ed)
- Workplace Learning
- Employer Training
- Recognition of Prior Learning
- Indigenous Learning
- Partnerships
- International Comparisons
Canadian Report on Employer Investment in Workplace Learning. Are there lessons here for Australian employers, especially as the popular mix in Canada and Australia is similar.
SAUNDERS Ron, 2007, Moving forward on workplace learning: report from the Forum on Employer Investment in Workplace Learning Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN); Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) Ottawa : Canadian Policy Research Networks
This Canadian report from the Forum on “Employer Investment in Workplace Learning" reports on the highlights of the forum as well as the ideas for action across all front which were developed from it. It warns that Canada needs to invest more in workplace learning than it has done up to now if it is to have a well-educated workforce for the future and maintain its current prosperity.
The key issues which emerged during the forum were:
- Insufficient employer investment
- Need for government and private sector leadership to encourage employer investment
- The need for workplace learning opportunities to keep on attracting employers
- Lack of workplace training in basic literacy and numeracy
- Importance of training issues such as money, time, adult learning styles and quality programs.
Proposals to improve workplace learning included:
- partnerships and collaborations among firms, workers, unions, governments and educational institutions
- a tool box with a wide variety of supports, initiatives and flexibility
- awareness and marketing campaigns to convince employers
- quality standards for prior learning certification and training providers
- increased government financial incentives to companies and individuals.
The report includes two examples of innovative workplace training – at Staples Business Depot and Dexter Construction Company.
Employer training pilot programs from the UK. Conducted over three years, this report contains insightful commentary and findings.
Hillage, Jim; Loukas, George; Newton, Becci;Tamkin, Penny, 2006,
Employer Training Pilots: final evaluation report. Nottinghamshire , U.K
Employer Training Pilots (ETPs) were introduced in the UK in September 2002 to encourage employers to invest in skills and qualifications.This report presents the results of the evaluation covering the first three years.The evaluation had two main strands: a quantitative assessment of the effect of ETPs on workplace training activity in pilot and control areas; and a more qualitative ‘process’ evaluation including surveys and interviews with the main stakeholders, providers, employers and learners involved in each of the pilot areas, and analysis of management information data.
Most employers had a positive attitude towards the ETPs and think that their employees have a better quality work output after their training pilot. Most learners were given time off for training and feel they have learned new skills. There were high completion rates for the ETPs and employees were more inclined to undertake further learning.
Skills brokers were used to attract employers and learners to the pilots and their roles includes: recruiting employers; identifying training needs and solutions; providing ongoing support to employers and trainees; and supporting learners and employers at the end of the training to help them make the most of it. Pilots and their brokers also work with other organisations such as Trade Unions; information advice and guidance providers; training providers and employers and learners.
Always a popular topic and this book presents differing viewpoints regarding validity between adult experience and academic knowledge.
Andersson, Per; Harris, Judy 2006, Re-theorising the recognition of prior learning. Leicester, U.K. NIACE.
This book challenges the orthodoxy of experiential learning and the particular readings of knowledge, pedagogy, learning, identity and power which it privileges by introducing different theoretical resources to RPL and drawing on experiences of RPL in the UK, South Africa, Australia, Sweden, Canada and the USA. It provides a range of re-conceptualisations of the relational terrain between adult experience and learning on the one hand, and specialist or academic knowledge on the other.
This book is available for loan from ETIS http://etis.cli.det.nsw.edu.au/cli/etis/services/services.shtm
Three case studies on indigenous workforce skilling and its impact on communities and the workforce.
Industry Training Federation of New Zealand (ITF), 2006, Maori and industry training: update 2006. Wellington, ITF
The trend in Maori participation in industry training has continued to increase over 2004 and 2005 and by proportion of the labour force in industry training, Māori are the most highly represented ethnicity. The proportion of the Māori labour force in Industry Training in 2005 was higher (11%) than the proportion of the total labour force involved in Industry Training (6%).
The report includes three case studies which were updated from the case studies in the 2005 report.
A table indicates how Industry Training Organisations are contributing to the Māori Tertiary Education Framework
50 success stories – Leonardo Da Vinci innovation stories contributing to the Copenhagen process – linking policy to practice 2006, European Union
This report describes in some detail how 50 innovative and transnational Leonardo Da Vinci projects are contributing to the Copenhagen process and the Lisbon strategy. These projects are based on best practice examples and are divided into the seven categories: transparency, guidance and counselling, recognistion of skills and qualifications, sectoral cooperation, validation of non-formal and informal learning, quality assurance and the changing role of vocational teachers and trainers. Each entry includes a detailed description, website and partnership countries.
Amy-Ellen Duke, Karin Martinson, Julie Strawn. Wising up: how government can partner with business to increase skills and advance low-wage workers, 2006, Center for Law and Social Policy ( U.S.) (CLASP) Washington , D.C. : Center for Law and Social Policy
Helping low-wage workers upgrade their skills is a critical part of public policies to advance workers and to attract and retain 'good' jobs - those that pay enough to support a family and offer health care, sick leave, and other important benefits. One promising approach has states and local governments partnering with business and industry to train workers and encourage the creation and retention of good jobs. This report examines five such training partnerships underway in four states, and offers innovative practices, challenges, and lessons learned for states and localities.
International Comparisons in Further Education, 2007, DFES
This report compares and analyses selected reform issues of vocational education of Finland, Ireland, Sweden and New South Wales. The report is divided in the following sections: The Role of Governance, Centralisation/Decentralisation, Levers and Policy Tools for Innovation, Interplay between Support and Quality Assurance Mechanisms, The Role of Employers, Strategies for Engaging Employers, The Role of Tracked/Unified Post-Compulsory Systems, Attractiveness and flexibility, Opportunities for Recurrent Learning, Financial Support/Incentives for Participation, Programme Design and Learner Feedback.
The report also includes a chapter on the vocational education sector in each country, including statics and reform issues.