Faculty of Education - Research Publications
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ItemeGovernance practice and potential in the local government sector( 2003)This paper presents initial findings of a research project into the current extent of, demand for, and strategic inhibiters / facilitators to / for the development of electronic governance (eGovernance) in the local government sector in Australia. Undertaken by members of the sector in Victoria, in conjunction with the Centre for Public Policy of the University of Melbourne, the project is will produce a final detailed strategic report by the middle of 2004. Based on the results of survey data collected by members of the project team during 2002-3, this paper argues that the local government sector, as typified by municipalities in the state of Victoria , can be seen to have an interest in a broad range of activities that fall under the rubric of eGovernance as defined within.
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ItemThe Australian academic profession: A first overview(Research Institute for Higher Education, Hiroshima University, 2008)
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ItemRethinking equity in tertiary education: why we need to think as one sector and not two(Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA), 2010)Equity policy in Australian tertiary education is differentiated by educational sector, with the higher education and vocational education and training sectors having different policies, and in some cases, different definitions of equity groups. This is problematic because pathways from VET to higher education are meant to act as an equity mechanism by providing students from disadvantaged backgrounds with access to higher education. This presentation examines equity policies and definitions in both sectors, and it examines data on student pathways within VET and between VET and higher education. It finds that, apart from students with disabilities, students from disadvantaged backgrounds are over- represented in VET and under-represented in higher education. However, students from disadvantaged backgrounds are over-represented in lower-level VET qualifications and under-represented in higher-level qualifications, particularly in diplomas and advanced diplomas. This matters because diplomas are the ‘transition’ qualification which VET students use as the basis for admission to higher education. The presentation argues that the diploma is the key qualification for equity policy in both VET and higher education. Rather than separate VET and higher education equity policies and separate sectoral policies that mean pathways are of some importance only ‘at the borders’, a tertiary education policy framework will be needed that considers equity outcomes and pathways within and between sectors and places these outcomes as key concerns of both sectors. The presentation first problematises the extent to which pathways are able to act as a mechanism to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds to access higher level studies. Second, reasons why we need to consider equity from a post-compulsory or tertiary education perspective are presented, and it argues that the diploma is the key qualification for pathways and thus for equity policy. This is followed by an analysis of the relative position of equity groups in VET. Finally, the presentation considers the implications for equity policy.
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ItemWhat kind of access does VET provide to higher education for low SES students?: not a lot(National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education, 2009)This paper addresses three questions: the first question explores the extent to which VET diplomas and advanced diplomas provide students with an educational ladder of opportunity. The second question explores the extent to which VET pathways provide students from low socio-economic backgrounds with access to higher education and thus provides a social ladder of opportunity. The third question explores the institutional destinations of VET students from low socio-economic backgrounds in higher education. The paper concludes by examining the implications for policy. Overall, the findings are that pathways from VET to higher education provide access to universities, but not to the elite universities. It also finds that VET pathways are not a mechanism for redressing socio-economic disadvantage in higher education more broadly, because the socio-economic profile of VET articulators is very similar to students already in higher education and within individual universities, with a few notable exceptions.
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ItemThe pedagogic device: the relevance of Bernstein's analysis for VET(Centre for Learning and Work Research, Faculty of Education, Griffith University: Australian Academic Press, 2005)This paper explores the relevance for VET of Basil Bernstein’s analysis of the structuring of knowledge and the framing of pedagogic practice. Bernstein argued that education was not a passive relay for external power relations. Pedagogic practice is an important structuring mechanism for power relations in the way in which knowledge is classified and framed. Towards the end of his life, Bernstein argued that the ‘official’ recontextualising principle in education was derived from ‘genericism’, itself based on new concepts of work and life. He says this is a socially empty concept, and results in identities constructed as market identities in which actors recognise themselves and others in the materialities of consumption. I apply Bernstein’s analysis to VET policy in Australia.
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ItemHow markets distort decisions to undertake education, vocational knowledge, provision and qualifications(University of Technology, Sydney, 2005)This paper argues that neo-liberal market-oriented reform to vocational education and training (and also other sectors of education) is much more than a tool for intensifying the work of VET teachers, through making them more 'responsive' and their institutions more 'effective and efficient'. The aim of these policies is the creation of the 'market citizen'. This leads to transformation of subjectivities and the way in which individuals develop and shape their sense of identity, their orientation to their vocation, their relationship to knowledge and practice, and the way in which they recognise themselves and others (Bernstein, 2000; Ball, 2003). The 'generic skills' sought by government and employers are market-oriented skills. This changes the focus of education and training from preparing students for a vocation to preparing them for markets. As a consequence, vocational knowledge is downplayed. Market reforms also distort the nature of provision, the structure and focus of qualifications, and the way in which employers decide to provide, and individuals to undertake, further education and training. This paper presents an alternative model, which argues that learning for work needs to go beyond work, that learning needs to be oriented to a vocation, and that learning needs to occur over a variety of contexts (and not just learning at work).
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ItemBetwixt and between: higher education teachers in TAFE(Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA), 2009)This paper reports on the views of 20 teachers who were involved in designing and delivering higher education programs in TAFE institutes.
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ItemExcellent measures precede measures of excellence(Australian Universities Quality Agency, 2006)This paper identifies quantifiable indicators that might enhance the national evaluation of learning and teaching in Australian higher education. It begins by setting out a framework suitable for guiding the identification and selection of indicators. After a brief critical review of current indicator possibilities, it defines a number of possible indicators that might be developed. The paper works from the premise that as greater significance is placed on the outcomes of measurement, we need to place greater significance on measurement itself. It is imperative that appropriate and contemporary analytical methods are used, and that evaluations are developed in ways that ensure that the basic availability of data does not dictate the approach.
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ItemWhat's the difference?: models for assessing quality and value added in higher education(Australian Universities Quality Agency, 2008)This paper outlines two approaches being piloted by Australian universities in 2008 for assessing the quality and outcomes of higher education. The approaches offer alternative and complementary means of estimating the value that has been added by university education. They also provide a means of assuring the quality of the routine student assessment processes and results which may be used to underpin quality considerations. The paper concludes that the application of these approaches in Australian universities is important, for it flags innovative ways of thinking about how educational institutions measure and verify the quality of student learning.