In his presentation at the recent VDC VET National Teaching & Learning Conference, veteran VET researcher Dr Justin Brown from Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) has taken an historical look at VET workforce planning and development reflected in a wide range of government reports beginning with the Tregillis report of 1969 and ending with recent federal government papers foreshadowing the forthcoming VET Workforce Blueprint.
A more detailed look at the same issues is provided in a paper authored by long standing VET researcher Roger Harris. That paper gives a comprehensive and historical overview VET workforce initial training and continuing professional development for those wanting a ‘deeper dive’ into this topic. It can be accessed here.
Justin’s presentation and what he reported
His paper focused around 5 key questions:
- How have government reviews into the VET workforce defined the key problems?
- What questions do they seek to answer?
- What are the challenges they have identified?
- What solutions have they offered?
- What recommendations have they made?
It’s hard to do justice to his presentation, so here are a few highlights I’ve picked out. concentrating on the most recent work he described.
First, he notes that the Joyce Review of 2019 identified quite a number of issues related to the VET workforce and particularly its teachers. The Review suggested a number of solutions, including that the ultimate incentive for RTOs to improve the quality of trainers is to place strong regulatory requirements around the registration and quality assurance of all RTOs. It proposed a number of recommendations too, according to Brown, but – interestingly – he suggested none actually focused on teacher quality.
Second, there was the consultation draft for VET Workforce Quality Strategy. It proposed a range of solutions, including:
- Developing and using capability frameworks and professional standards to support performance planning and management, professional development, workforce planning and self-assessment of performance
- Providing ongoing professional support and industry currency to improve the capability and skills of the VET workforce to strengthen learner outcomes
- Fostering best practice and continuous improvement to create a clear illustration of best practice for supporting the VET workforce to drive continuous improvement, and finally
- Making best use of VET workforce data to assist in understanding the needs and demands of the VET workforce now, and into the future.
As we all know good data on the VET workforce remains a problem (which maybe an issue an implemented Blueprint will help to resolve) and there has also been resistance to developing nationally agreed capability frameworks and professional standards for VET teachers.
The conclusion Justin (and indeed others) have drawn is that we know what the problems are – and report after report has told us what they are for a long time now – but we have just failed to effectively address them over a very extended period. Essentially, we have just tinkered at the edges. All this despite some important final thoughts Justin’s paper presented. These are that:
“The VET workforce builds Australia’s human capital and contributes to its economic prosperity by equipping workers with the skills that industry needs. The VET workforce also contributes to social inclusion and civic participation.” (Productivity Commission 2011)
“The skills and knowledge of the VET workforce are essential to ensuring high quality, valid assessment across all training products.” (Quality of Assessment in VET 2016)
“High-quality teachers are essential for a high-quality training system that is respected by students and employers.” (Joyce Review 2019)
“VET trainers and assessors are a vital component of Australia’s VET sector…They are at the front line of ensuring that learners in the VET system receive high quality and engaging training…” (Developing a VET Workforce Quality Strategy 2020-21)
And, of course:
“Attracting more people to the sector, particularly as teachers, trainers and assessors, is essential to ensure succession planning and the viability of the workforce into the future.” (Consultation Paper for Developing the VET Workforce Blueprint 2024).
Roll on a really great Workforce Blueprint that is then effectively implemented.
