Training providers as brokers in continuing education and training

Abstract

As workplaces change in response to external and internal influences, the place of learning and training arguably becomes more significant in helping workers respond to those changes and prepare for future developments. In Australia, registered training organisations (RTOs) have been given the responsibility of undertaking, facilitating and assessing the outcomes of this learning and training. Yet, despite the apparently significant contribution providers make, little research has been reported on the nature of their role, particularly in regard to continuing education and training. In order to examine how such organisations manage teaching and learning in a complex training and industrial environment, semi- structured interviews were undertaken with eight highly experienced senior managers and practitioners employed by registered training organisations. The study found that education and training providers not only deliver and assess training, but also inevitably have a brokering role at the regulatory, enterprise and individual worker levels. The extent to which providers effectively carry out this complex brokering role is important not only in helping workers maintain and develop their vocational competence, but also in ensuring the integrity of the national training framework. The paper argues that there needs to be better acknowledgment of this broader role, which has implications not only for Australian workforce development, but for any national standardised system of vocational education and training.