This study examined a model of assessment that could be applied nationally for Year Twelve Vocational Education and Training (VET) subjects and which could yield both a differentiating score and recognition of competence. More than fifty colleges across all states and territories of Australia field-…
Indigenous students complete secondary education at about half the rate of non-Indigenous students, yet are twice as likely to participate in Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Schools subjects. This paper explores the reasons for this phenomenon. It draws on data from two national studies: …
The political decision to implement competency-based training widely throughout vocational education systems in Australia, before rigorous evaluation through adequate pilot programs, was made because it was viewed as essential for increasing skill levels and work productivity. Recent data indicate t…
AFTER a period of dramatic growth in school completion in Australia, rates of school retention have begun to decline. At its peak in 1992 the national rate of retention to Year 12 was approximately 77 per cent. By 1995 the rate had fallen to 72 per cent. The aim of this paper is to document state, s…
As more teachers move into new areas such as enterprise-based workplace education, concerns have been expressed regarding the deprofessionalisation of their work. This article explores an approach to workplace education, within a manufacturing environment, which not only re-defines the work of teach…
This paper conceptualises value positions in education in terms of cognitive dispositions derived from critical theory and cognitive structures derived from cognitive science. Categorisations of value positions in general, adult and vocational education are analysed for commonalities and differences…
There are two contrasting world views discernible in contemporary Australian government skill-formation literature: one which recognises the need for the development of underlying cognitive structures and interpersonal attributes for the workplace; and one which values the development of pre-specifi…
In Australia and elsewhere, a sometimes heated debate is taking place about the significance for higher education of the adoption of competency standards by professions and other occupations. To many in the higher education sector, it is self-evident that competency standards cannot do justice to th…
