NOTES FROM VET TEACHING CONFERENCE (Brisbane, May, 2010)
Kay Giles – No Two Days are the Same
Diversity leads to a degree ofgeneralisation – harder to be specific about what you do; goals of organizationbecome diffuse
“The illiterate of the 21st century will be those who can't learn,unlearn, and relearn” (Toffler)
quality is a cultural concept. In the UK =reputation; for French, Italian = luxury; Japanese = setting a standard andachieving it; US = size (joke)
Australia: fit for purpose;relationships/trust
(at this point a reference came through on Twitter on the neutral nature of quality by Christopher Alexander, architect, but I can't find it :)
Notion of agility a better word/concept toreplace ‘flexibility’?
VET has a lot of offerings that are nolonger suiting customer/client need (eg 3 wk blocks)
[usevis as intermission! - should have related point though]
Keynote 2 Day 2: Assessment forLearning - Revitalising the Link Beween Assessment and Learning (Rob Stowell)
build a picture of competency
ask open questions – link to self-assessment
scaffold feedback piecemeal over time
Stages of Presentation
Quality Assessment
Relationship between T and L and assessment
Practical ideas for improving assessment inVET
– he has been looking at qualityassessment
Quality Assessment:
1) benchmarks (standards)
2) validity, reliability,fairness, flexibility
3) assessment decision based onevidence
4) quality assured
5) assessment an integral part ofthe t and l process; not separate
6) quality judgements (not sure what this means)
7) should be informed by practicebased research (ie not uni research!)
LEARNING: Deep v Surface
we need people with grasp of principles thatcan link them together
What kind of assessment leads to deeplearning?
1) builds on what learners know?
2) Approach that helps people'make meaning'
3) active and social
future assessment: will assist learnersdevelop capacity to make judgements/problem solve
Assessmentfor Learning requires that students:
understand the competency to be achieved
where they are in relation to the competency
how they can achieve the desired level
KEYNOTE DAY 2 : BeckySaunders (Murdoch Uni)
Contemporary VET Learning – Strategies for now and thefuture
[check Joyce and Showers Skill Training Model]
“people are where they are for good reasons” (the questions ofvalues!)
Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM)
Talked about what seems to be a wonderful PD model that runsfor over a year (can be up to 4 yrs!); focused on Instructional Intelligence (IT) [check Barrie Bennett –
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto]
IT is about ‘how people learn’’ it has 2 aspects:
1) emotional
2) behavioural
it’s a career long journey!
It takes 3-5 yrs to embed systemic change, and this kind ofchange is messy and organic
Links with Appreciative Inquiry and Open Space Methodology
“who among you is willing to bell the cat?” ie challengeexisting structures and authority
TERRY O’HANLON (CEO of Australian Trade College – an independentnon-profit): International VET – Meeting Global Needs
TNE = Transnational engagement
- large increase in offshore VET students since2006
Philippines
Only 20% of HE students get jobs; 3000 people leave thePhilippines every day to work abroad
International VET programs mean people in developingcountries can do ‘Australian quality’ training for a fraction of the price; ieit’s affordable
All content for all their courses is online
AFTERNOON KEYNOTE DAY2 – TIGA BAYLES
“we’re hands –on people” (ie indigenous)
