Tag: role

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Faces in tertiary places and spaces: experiences of learning in both higher education and VET

Author/s: Roger Harris

Edition: Volume 48, Number 3, November 2008

Summary: The development in today’s society of knowledge workers for tomorrow is of critical importance. Worldwide, there is considerable interest in the respective roles of higher education (HE) and vocational education and training (VET) in building human capability. This paper is designed to provoke such questions as: what kinds of learning places and spaces are Australia’s HE and VET institutions? and how do individuals make sense of the learning and teaching in these sectors? The paper focuses on the experiences of those learners who have studied in both sectors – faces who are therefore in a unique position to analyse them as learning places and spaces. A survey was undertaken of 556 learners who commenced study in technical and further education (TAFE) and universities in South Australia. Subsequent interviews with 69 of these students explored their educational histories in greater depth. The data reflected important differences in the learners’ experiences within the sectors. The findings can provide policy-makers and institutional leaders with insights into how best to position these two sectors to the advantage of learners with changing needs, expectations and desired pathways. They suggest that greater recognition could be afforded to the different but increasingly complementary roles that HE and VET play.

Keywords: learning places, survey, role, higher education, vocational education

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Professional knowledge formation and organisational capacity-building in ACE: lessons from the Victorian Research Circles

Author/s: John McIntyre

Edition: Volume 48, Number 2, July 2008

Summary: The national reform agenda of the Council of Australian Governments challenges community education agencies to contribute to its goals and raises questions about their capacity to do so. It is crucial to define the conditions that are necessary to develop the capability of adult and community education (ACE) organisations to play a broader social and economic role. These include not only policy frameworks underwritten by strategic research, but the engagement of practitioners and organisations. The recent development in Victoria of Circles of Professional Research Practice, a form of participatory action research designed to promote such an engagement by ACE organisations, is analysed, drawing on material from an evaluation of the Circles intended to capture the experience, document its outcomes and recommend on its future applications. The article reviews the rationale of the Research Circles, describes aspects of their operation and analyses the factors creating conditions favourable to professional knowledge formation and organisational capacity-building. In doing so, the Research Circles are theorised as a ‘negotiable space’ constructed at the intersection of policy, research and practice, drawing out implications for capacity-building in Australian community education and training organisations.

Keywords: ACE organisations, social, economic, role, engagement, circles of professional research practice

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