Vocational Education and Training Issues in High School - Case Study Example

Running Head: VET ISSUES IN HIGH SCHOOL NAME: INSTITUTIONAL AFFILIATIONS: Originally a series of local initiatives, Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Schools is now largely driven by policy makers and politicians who, too frequently, fail to appreciate the challenges the reform poses to teachers, school managers and workplace coordinators. Research has identified perceptions of poor quality in training, difficulties in curriculum development, assessment and accreditation, lack of opportunities for workplace learning, inadequate delivery methodologies, sometimes profound cultural incompatibilities and resourcing issues as barriers to successful implementation. Recent research has clarified many of these issues and provided some pointers to their resolution. These challenges should not detract from the positive achievements of VET in Schools that include a range of benefits to students of a personal and vocational nature as well as a broader impact on school culture. Interview Questions 1. What are the major resource issues incurred in the implementation of VET program? 2. What are the problems that result from timetabling of the VET program? 3. What are the problems caused by Structured Work Placement? 4. What are the major parity esteem issues? 5. What are the assessment issues in VET program? Interview Notes Schools with VET programs needed to employ program coordinators, provide professional development for teachers, develop learning materials and purchase services from TAFE or other RTOs, leading to considerable costs to schools (Schools Council, 1994). Many schools passed on costs to parents, especially where training was provided by TAFE or another non-school RTO; these fees have been as high as $2 000 (Currie and McCollow, 2002, p.63). Research by Polesel et al. (2004) identified fees as a key barrier to student participation in school VET programs. There seems little doubt that VET in Schools is resource intensive and that this is a constraining factor throughout the life of VET programs. Often, State or Federal Government assistance is given as start-up or seed funding, which seldom covers the full cost of programs and will end before the program does. It is clear that there are shortfalls between numbers of students funded by state sources and those actually participating (Malley et al., 2001a). There are restrictions by funding agencies on the use of funds for capital purposes, although this may be needed to meet industry standards (Spark, 1998; Keating et al., 1998). School students place most value on vocational education that provides real workplace experience. However, this is not easily provided and the typical VET experience is school-based, albeit structured to achieve AQF competency-based requirements, with a small or simulated workplace component. The research evidence is clear that real work experience is the ideal means of incorporating vocational goals into school programs, enabling a transfer of specific learning to generalize competencies, and placing them in a broader educational framework. However, this rarely occurs in Australia (Ryan, 2002, pp.4-5). About half of VET in Schools enrolments is in subjects that are easily developed from traditional school curricula, for example, hospitality, office studies, information technology (Malley et al., 2001b). Case Study Report This suggests that the schools are filling a previously unmet need in small rural communities. Adults participating in VET in schools programs fall into two distinct groups. They are young adults who must undertake further training to be eligible for the Common Youth Allowance and mature aged adults who are seeking training to upgrade skills or enter the workforce. Time and cost of travel are major impediments to these groups, and Year 11 and 12 students who are undertaking study in a regional centre (Chiswell et al forthcoming). The Australian national vocational education and training strategy, A Bridge to the Future (Australian National Training Authority, 1998) states that to improve international competitiveness, to foster economic growth and to increase productivity, Australia must build its national stock of skills. Further, adults will be expected to update their vocational skills and to acquire new ones. The strategy recognizes that access to opportunities for adults to undertake further education and training is limited for those living in rural communities, and states that initiatives are needed to offer learning pathways to equity groups, including people in rural and remote communities. Vocational education and training in schools is recognized by national VET policy documents such as A Bridge to the Future as a way of addressing the training needs of young people making the transition from school to work. Benefits for students associated with VET in schools programs include assistance with employment-related decisions, improved knowledge and understanding of industry and the world of work, increased self awareness, and improved personal and interpersonal skills (Misko 1999). Research has identified a number of factors which foster and support VET programs in schools (Chiswell et al forthcoming, 4). They relate to commitment to VET reflected in the school’s objectives and goals, availability of school and community resources, local development to meet local needs and partnerships with the community and other schools. Lower retention rates for rural students to Year 12 as compared with their urban counterparts contribute to a disadvantage for entry and completion of post compulsory education (Cunningham et al 1992, Lamb et al 1998). Factors contributing to lower retention rates for rural students include not valuing formal education, the need to travel to access final years of schooling in some states, curriculum which is not attractive to rural students, and lower expectations of academic achievement (Cunningham et al 1992). Rural Australians are less likely to have post-school qualifications than those in metropolitan areas, and are less likely to have university level qualifications. Those people with lower levels of education experience more unemployment and are less likely to undertake further study due to lack of confidence in their ability as learners in formal training situations (Kilpatrick & Bell 1998). Rural schools are a central focus of activity within small rural communities, both for school-aged children and adults (Miller 1995). Indeed, closure of the local school can be a factor in the demise of small communities (Jolly & Deloney 1996). Schools can contribute not only to the education of young people, but also to the economic and social development of a local community. As part of the community development process, linkages between community members are fostered, allowing opportunities for the development of a community’s social capital. Schools can play an important role in developing these linkages. As one of a limited number of institutions present in rural communities, schools have the potential to become a focus for building social capital through facilitating networks and sharing expertise with the wider community (Falk & Kilpatrick 2000). VET programs in rural Tasmanian schools are filling a previously unmet need for education from adults and young people of post-compulsory school age. Expansion of the role of the schools was resource intensive. This research noted the value of appropriate teacher styles and relationships with the students, highlighting the need for professional development of teachers unfamiliar with working with adult learners. As well, professional development of teachers and VET coordinators to develop skills for interacting with people in the workplace and developing networks in the local community was required. Many of the things that make the program work were related to small, resource intensive, class sizes. The impact of the VET programs on the community and local businesses is an area for future research. VET in schools programs increase the contact between schools and the community beyond traditional forms of association. This development of new networks plays an important role in building social capital in local communities (Falk & Kilpatrick 2000). Making school resources and expertise accessible for use by community members through community education programs provides an important means of building new relationships with adults in the broader community. The experiences, expertise and role modeling they bring into the school environment will assist in changing the nature and role of rural schools, making them even more relevant and valuable to their communities. Despite the enormous range and significance of the challenges involved, the increased uptake of VET programs in schools suggests that their benefits outweigh the difficulties. Systems across Australia have taken up this challenge, developing a range of structural reforms designed to create smoother links between the education and training sectors and expand the range of learning opportunities for students (Barnett and Ryan, 2005). Increasingly, systems are meeting the need to respond not only to national training packages and university entrance criteria, but are also providing for locally designed courses that retain these benefits. Many jurisdictions have made changes that move away from centralized to local delivery of VET programs (Barnett and Ryan, 2005). Schools and state systems persist with VET in Schools programs, not only because of their politically appealing character, but because of real if not unqualified benefits to students, benefits which recent research has increasingly been able to identify and in many cases quantify. One early study, reporting on students who were in Years 11 and 12 in 1991-93, found that vocational students were less likely to go to university than non-vocational classmates (Malley et al., 2001a), but a number of later investigations have suggested that school VET provided an effective pathway to later study, with higher proportions of school VET students continuing on to post-school VET studies (Ball and Lamb, 1999; Fullarton, 2001). Reference: Keating, J., Kell, P., Lynch, G. and Freeman, B. (1998) VET in Schools Delivery Analysis: Report to Professional and Leadership Development Centre. Melbourne: RMIT. Kirby, P. (Chair) (2000) Ministerial Review of Post-compulsory Education in Victoria, Melbourne: Government of Victoria. KPA Consulting (2004) Review of the Implementation of the AQTF Standards. Brisbane: Australia National Training Authority. Lambert, H. and Stehlik, T. (2002) School-based Vocational Studies and the Transition to Further Education and Employment: Report of a Pilot Study into the Destinations of Independent School Graduates. Proceedings of the 10th annual conference on Post Compulsory Education and Training, Gold Coast, 2002. Malley, J., Keating, J., Robinson, L. and Hawke, G. (2001a) The Quest for a Working Blueprint: VET in Australian Schools, Vol 1. Adelaide: National Centre for Vocational Education Research. Malley, J., Keating, J., Robinson, L. and Hawke, G. (2001b) The Quest for a Working Blueprint: VET in Australian Schools, Vol 2. Adelaide: National Centre for Vocational Education Research. [Online] www.ncver.edu.au Read More