VDC held its annual VET National Teaching & Learning Conference at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre on 15 and 16 August. It proved to be largest and (arguably) best yet, with the theme at this sold-out event “From Competence to Excellence – Strive to Inspire” resonating throughout the program. There were some exceptional keynote presentations and other sessions over the two days, and I’ll highlight a few here, and then focus in on others in subsequent issues of VDC News.
On Day 1 there was a research stream with 6 presentations and 7 speakers. There were also 3 concurrent workshops presented by Deborah Smith (entitled Inspire Engagement and Excellence), Matthew Dale (Entitled Embracing Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in VET: A pathway to excellence and Inspiration) and Feren Yen (Entitled Trauma-Aware Education: Fostering Inclusion and Resilience in the Classroom). Craig Robertson provided an update on VET qualification reform (which I’ll summarise next issue) and Vicki Abraham inspired us with her presentation. More of her presentation in another article in this issue.
Dr Justin Brown from ACER took a deep dive into issues with VET workforce planning and development through the medium of a number of the key reports on this topic. It provided a great summary of relevant research and reports, including a summary key papers in this body of research by Roger Harris.
Dr Anitza Geneve from TAFE QLD looked at digital capability in the VET sector, while Dr Tabatha Griffin and Michelle Hall, both from NCVER, highlighted issues around what student success might really look like and, spoiler alert, it’s not just about completions. (VDC News highlighted this work in an article here.) Joanne Waugh, also from NCVER, gave us an overview of her recent report which looked at what is needed and motivates RTOs to be high performing. Again, we have summarised this work in an earlier article here.)
Dr Suneeti Rekhari from TAFE NSW talked about that system’s journey from one of compliance to one more focused on self-assurance and continuous improvement. This is particularly relevant given the directions ASQA is moving. Peter Schreiner, also from TAFE NSW, described the work he did as a VDC Australian VET Sustainability Fellow. We’ll hopefully highlight this work in another article later.
Day 2 involved 3 keynotes. Two of them: Shelley Ware’s and Nevo Zisin’s reminded us about how and why we should keep a focus on issues related to Aboriginal people on the one hand and those who are transgender on the other. The last keynote of the conference was by Olympian gold medallist Dr Lauren Burns OAM. She described how people can realise and elevate their potential.
Earlier on Day 2 Claire Field bought attendees up to date with what’s going on in the VET sector and what possibly lies ahead. Tony Kirton looked at the use of gestures as a fundamental communication skill and tool. There was also a presentation by 3 staff from POP Education on the use of ChatGPT in building personas for use in learning development, role playing and to facilitate the exploration of ideas and concepts. Finally, a panel of experts talked a bit about how issues with new teachers without the Cert IV and working under supervision is being handled given changes to ASQA regulation.
Finally, one of the real highlights was a couple of panel presentations by our Skillaroos and their mentors, who will all soon be heading off to Lyon in France in September to compete in WorldSkills. WorldSkills is a huge event focused in a wide range of technical and trade areas. Let’s wish all of them well over there as they are really impressive and articulate people dedicated to their trade and technical areas. The Skillaroos we heard from will be competing in floristry (Naomi), carpentry (Trey) and mechatronics (Will and Magnus). The first two Skillaroos compete as individuals, but the 2 mechatronics contestants are a team. They are ably supported by WorldSkills Australia’s CEO Trevor Schwenke and three of their mentors also spoke to us: Raman (Heavy Vehicles), Damien (Mechatronics) and Dayne (Floristry).
