Sustaining the supply of hospitality teachers: Some issues

Abstract

Students undertaking Vocational Education and Training (VET) while still attending school now comprise an important and rapidly growing component of Australia's VET system, with numbers reaching in excess of 100,000 by the Year 2000, representing around 8 percent of Australia's vocational students. In Queensland in 2000, a record number of over 21,000 students representing more than 55 per cent of Year 12 students studied at least one VET module across their senior years. Of the VET subjects studied in Queensland, hospitality is the most popular subject choice with around 16 percent of Year 12 students studying a hospitality subject. However, with this popularity come problems of sustainability of the supply of suitable teachers. It has been argued that the maintenance of the supply of vocational teachers for school- based VET is one of the key problems facing the field today. In the case of hospitality teachers, many of these teachers were initially trained as home economics teachers, potentially setting up a competitive situation regarding teaching preferences. This paper provides some insights into findings from a survey administered to hospitality teachers who were initially trained as home economics teachers in Queensland. The survey set out to characterise the nature of their work and their preference for teaching in either field. One hundred and seventeen surveys are analysed. Four key themes are presented in the results section: demographic information; hospitality teaching experience; knowledge, skills and experiences teachers have for teaching hospitality; and attitudes towards teaching hospitality. The discussion, which follows, raises questions about sustainability of the supply of hospitality teachers