Issues and Their Implications for Ave Practitioners - Essay Example

I. Introduction There is a saying that life is an on-going process of learning and development. That is to say, individuals are supposed to learn. They are expected to be educated as they go on with their work and personal matters. My personal opinion holds these ideas as somewhat lacking of proof and substance. I do believe that there comes a time that adults are no longer interested in being educated or do think of themselves as incapable of learning and thus they stop making efforts to improve themselves. As proof of this, I cite the results of the 2000 International Adult Literacy Survey that stated that 45%-55% of the adult population belongs to the level for lowest literary proficiency (Hagstan, 2002). The rather unexpected revelation indicates that there is indeed an insufficiency for the provision of decent adult and vocational education. To try to solve the issue, many countries responded by installing frameworks that will cater and monitor the ongoing education of adults that is suited to fill to the emerging needs of a rapidly diversifying global market. Policies concerning adult and vocational education are being made and they are hoped to address this issue. There is much fanfare generated by the survey and is leading to many changes or introduction of innovative ideas for AVE. In my chosen field of AVE education, the issue now is that how is my career be affected in light of the developments in social and economic scenes. To be sure, my field can surely be affected and it is in this matter that I try to examine in this paper. II. In the Local Scene It is undeniable that AVE education is considering that most adults would like to achieve career mobility. It even becomes more important as intercultural interactions make the scene competitive as Australia open its doors to immigrants to ensure it has enough skilled workforce that its aging population can provide. Perhaps the foremost question now is how recent events can define or affect the future of Adult and Vocational Education program. Is there a need to be concerned with the trends in the teaching workforce condition in the local scene According to McKenna and Fitzpatrick in their 2004 paper "Building sustainable adult literacy provision", Australia has been characterized before by a minimal amount of opportunities for literacy instructors for professional development due to lack of clear training and career pathways. There was a lack of support and necessary information to determine the needs of literacy instructors in teaching adults. The situation has increasingly improved, however, as Australia made changes to address this issue. The enthusiasm that characterizes the development of the literacy programs by the Australian authorities is actually a recent development. According to McKenzie and Kirkpatrick (2004), Australia has been the one who lag the most in response to the results of the International Adult Literacy Survey while other countries have proactively formulated and enacted reforms. Curtain (2008) suggests that the reason for this may be due to inclination of the Australian government to a certain type of approach to innovation. According to Curtain (2008), there are two approaches that governments tend to follow in spurring innovation. The first one is founded in the principle that market competition and forces could generate innovative ideas on their own. On the other end of the spectrum is the approach that operates in the principle that enterprise rarely innovates alone and the government should proactively formulate a national innovation system. In this approach, a network is established between skilled personnel, government research and enterprises. Curtain, in his paper, argues that Australia tends to use the first approach. While other countries such as Finland and Singapore have developed from a humbling beginning, Australia had been left behind. Having this in mind, Australian authorities have stepped up efforts to improve literacy rates. Efforts to provide a federally recognized certification and courses have been able to endow a semblance of standards or reference by which learning teachers in AVE can look into. Government institutions such as the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) have acknowledge these problems as it explicitly stated in their strategic plan "Shaping our Future 2004-2010". There is evidently a growing interest in pursuing AVE improvement and this is apparent in the paper published by the National Quality Council (2008). In this paper, the authorities set out the framework and system by which the emerging skills and abilities are identified and studied promptly and recommendations regarding educational content, teaching techniques and learning methods are evaluated and applied. In other words, it seeks to meet the diversity of individual and enterprise needs by offering training packages that are structured and well suited. The ramifications of the initiatives such as the one mentioned above are indeed great. As an AVE teacher, the changing times and the changing nature of skills needed by adults indicate that what I know from now, what I know to teach during this time can be obsolete in the near future. Thus I need to adapt the content of my teaching portfolio and at the same time gather necessary knowledge to be able to teach appropriately. I need to learn so I can know what to teach so that my student can gain the necessary skills for the industry. Initiatives such as those of the National Quality Council can help greatly in fulfilling these needs. I can use the information that they provide to determine what and how should I teach and at the same time, it provides me a direction for learning. It helps me to be responsive, flexible, functional and able to recognize what I need to teach and learn. II. On Teaching AVE As adult and vocational education professionals, we deal with a unique set of students who differ considerably from young students as they are more developed behaviorally and socially. Adults have a greater appreciation of the learning process and they attend by choice. They are also highly motivated- something that most of the young population are not keen to. Nonetheless, the task is still daunting considering that adult basic education deals with individuals who are in different development level. Teachers are tasked to educate their students with useful literary and numerical skills that they can use in the improvement of their life. That being said, the greatest question that is the concern of every teacher is whether their educational portfolio and teaching method will indeed translate to a beneficial tool that the student can use. Up to this point, we have been praising the initiatives offered by local authorities. That is to say, we think that it is good that somebody would tell us what is needed to be taught and learned but the important question that should be apparent by now is who will be teaching us what is needed to be learned. Who will be the one to teach the one teaching us and so on. This paradox is further complicated by the fact that there is an ever-expanding range of teaching methods, technologies, literacy and contexts for delivery. Training requirements for AVE can be truly diversified. Education for AVE professionals is complicated by the fact that some skills require work or other experiences, licenses and certificates. There is also one very important factor that is gaining momentum and this is the incorporation of increasingly complex literacy to vocational teachings. It is not a hidden fact that many AVE teachers do not have master's or doctor's degree but rely on their work experience and knowledge bringing us to the traditional meaning of vocational educational - practical knowledge. Changing trends in the economy, from a labor-intensive one to an information technology driven understanding, has made it important to incorporate academic to practical knowledge. Teaching professionals from non-vocational schools are being tapped to fill the adult vocational needs of a new economy. As an example of the changing work environment, consider for example the workplace for factory workers where they are called upon to contribute ideas to improve the company all the while providing physical labor. Other instances include the need to provide entrepreneurial skills from the small to medium point of view. There is the great necessity keep abreast of developments in the AVE field. Adult and vocational education teaching has become quite complicated as there is increasing diversity in skills and aptitudes, greater technical knowledge and more stringent methods for training and teaching. It calls for a greater creativity. Already, countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom require adult education teachers and adult literacy instructors to acquire a bachelor's degree while others go even further by requiring teacher certification from a government approved teacher training program provider. AVE professionals must avail of continuing education or a 'cradle to grave' learning to maintain and upgrade certification and the difficult matter to accept is that requirements vary among institutions. AVE profession may seem, at this time, to be a daunting profession but this is not actually the case. Seminars, graduate courses and conferences are increasingly being made available. The Australian government is also stepping up efforts to improve literacy rates. IV. Business Drivers According to Callan (2007), Australia has become very serious in improving its standing in the knowledge economy. This is in line with the goal of creating a knowledge ased economy to complement the services sector. Primary drivers for the direction of AVE is the needs of the economy which means that emerging businesses can and do determine future vocational and adult needs. Businesses are key players in the future of adult education and their activities such as forming consortiums and providing input to training entities and colleges. Already, training institutions conduct regular discussion with business to know the skills currently needed in the workplace. Partnership of business to training providers has encouraged innovations to training delivery. According to Callan (2007), this trend has resulted to breakthrough innovations in the adult educational system of Australia. These include development in training delivery, closer partnership with the industry, higher levels of customization of training and skills centers introduction. The benefit of partnership is that it results to innovations. There are many documented cases wherein partnerships have provided learning and teaching opportunities such as that of the trade apprenticeship program of car body repair shop Russco in partnership with the Barrier Reef Institute wherein students are exposed to clients and workplace projects. What do all of these have to do with AVE teaching It means that there is now a clear training program that the AVE teacher can avail that is truly responsive to the needs of adults and vocational students whereas before, there is no clear and distinct program. V. International Influence Many available literature points out to the fact that many of Australia's initiative in improving AVE education is due to developments in other nations. Australia is part of OECD and is one of the highly looked upon nations in the world. Nonetheless, it has been criticized for not putting much concern in its literacy issues. A review of literature provided by the National Council for Vocational Education Research (NCVER), however, states that Australia has improved and that today, when compared with other nations, it has an advanced national reporting and quality assurance system for the integration of literacy to adult and vocational education. Nations such as Canada, Ireland, United Kingdom and the United States have developed adult literacy policies responsive to the social and economic trends. The actions of these countries have prompted Australia to follow the suit and subsequently, lead the way. Perhaps the most concrete example wherein the international scene has influenced Australia's programs is the national infrastructure and collaborative ventures developed as a response to the International Literacy Year. Another major international influence is the response required by the United Nations Decade of Literacy plan which lead to the formulation of its 2006 Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey. These formulation of policies have inspired Australia to pursue further its literacy agendas and has resulted to the Australian National Training Authority's strategy for the AVE sector, "Shaping thefuture: The national strategy for vocational education and training 2004-2010". Australian system has learned much from the international scene with regards to policy concepts and contexts that include the need to improve leadership and expand research on skills needs and performance. The country was also a given a broader understanding of efficient regulatory frameworks, product development and program development and delivery. Sufficed it to say, the international innovations in AVE policy has influenced Australia to carry out reforms, to innovate and cultivate literacy ideas and to pursue further improvements. It has helped the AVE teaching professional sector by illuminating the need to improve the field. It is due to this reforms that AVE teachers are provided with a clear and bright future. Conclusion The future for AVE teaching is, in a nutshell, challenging but exciting. Developments in business, technology and international setting are contributing to a more defined learning and teaching content. Policies and frameworks are defining future paths and it is these reasons that make AVE teaching now a very good profession to be in. Reference: Curtain, R. (2008). Innovation and vocational education and training. Lessons from leading national innovation systems. NCVER: Aidelaide. Callan, V. 2007. Generic skills: Understanding VET teachers' and students' views, NCVER: Adelaide. Hagstan, J. 2002. Exploring the international adult literacy survey data: Implication for Australian research and policy. ARIS Language: Australia, Melbourne. McKena R & Fitzpatrick L. 2004. Building sustainable adult literacy provision: A review of international trends in adult literacy policy and programs. 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