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dc.contributor.convenorProfessor Mike Osborne, Professor Jim Gallacher
dc.contributor.authorWheelahan, Leesa
dc.contributor.editorProfessor Mike Osborne, Professor Jim Gallacher
dc.date.accessioned2017-05-03T14:59:33Z
dc.date.available2017-05-03T14:59:33Z
dc.date.issued2007
dc.date.modified2011-04-28T07:06:34Z
dc.identifier.refurihttp://crll.gcal.ac.uk/conf4.php
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10072/18718
dc.description.abstractThis paper uses a Bernsteinian analysis to argue that vocational education and training (VET) qualifications in Australia deny students access to theoretical knowledge that underpins vocational practice. Australian VET qualifications are based on training packages, which are the equivalent of English National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). Training packages are developed for broad industry areas (such as community services) and consist of qualifications at different levels that comprise 'industry'-specified units of competency. In 2005, 69% of all publicly funded VET provision was based on training packages (NCVER 2006: Table 4). The introduction of training packages caused fierce debate within Australia, particularly around the extent to which they provide students with access to 'underpinning knowledge'. Supporters of training packages argue that they merely specify the outcomes of training and the criteria that are used to assess whether those outcomes have been achieved. In contrast, I argue that training packages do shape curriculum and have consequences for teaching and learning, and consequently for the extent to which students are able to navigate the transition between formal and informal knowledge and formal and informal contexts. This argument is illustrated through comparing the current Diploma of Community Services (Community Development) with the Associate Diploma of Social Sciences (Community Development), which was the qualification that existed prior to the introduction of the Community Services training package. The first section of this paper outlines a Bernsteinian analysis of the nature of disciplinary knowledge and its relationship to workplace knowledge and practice. The second section considers the extent to which training packages constitute curriculum, while the third compares and contrasts the two qualifications.
dc.description.peerreviewedYes
dc.description.publicationstatusYes
dc.format.extent31647 bytes
dc.format.extent74892 bytes
dc.format.mimetypetext/plain
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.languageEnglish
dc.language.isoeng
dc.publisherCentre for Research in Lifelong Learning
dc.publisher.placeUniversity of Stirling, Scotland
dc.publisher.urihttp://www.crll.org.uk/
dc.relation.ispartofstudentpublicationN
dc.relation.ispartofconferencename4th International Conference, Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning, ‘The Times they are a-changi
dc.relation.ispartofconferencetitle4th International Conference, Centre for Research in Lifelong Learning, ‘The Times they are a-changin – researching transitions in lifelong learning’
dc.relation.ispartofdatefrom2007-06-22
dc.relation.ispartofdateto2007-06-24
dc.relation.ispartoflocationUniversity of Stirling, Scotland
dc.rights.retentionY
dc.subject.fieldofresearchcode330103
dc.titleBeyond the contextual: the importance of theoretical knowledge in vocational qualifications & the implications for work’
dc.typeConference output
dc.type.descriptionE1 - Conferences
dc.type.codeE - Conference Publications
gro.facultyArts, Education & Law Group, School of Education and Professional Studies
gro.rights.copyright© The Author(s) 2007. The attached file is posted here with permission of the copyright owner for your personal use only. No further distribution permitted. For information about this conference please refer to the publisher's website or contact the author.
gro.date.issued2007
gro.hasfulltextFull Text
gro.griffith.authorWheelahan, Leesa M.


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