This paper was a keynote address at the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association (AVETRA) conference held in Canberra in April 2012. The author notes that industry is arguably the key stakeholder in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector, but is not a single actor nor a disinterested consumer of…

This paper is based on one prepared for South Australia's Training and Skills Commission. It comes at a time of strong interest in the quality and professionalism of the vocational education and training (VET) workforce. This interest is underpinned by research into what constitutes quality teaching, as well as initiatives such as the strategic…

Attracting and retaining effective education leaders and teaching staff for regional, rural and remote schools in Australia is a major sustainability and quality issue facing every State and Territory. It is also a major concern in pre-service teacher education, particularly for those universities which have a commitment to rural and regional…

This article examines shifts in educational and social governance taking place in Queensland, Australia, through Education Queensland's Industry School Engagement Strategy and Gateway Schools program. This significant educational initiative is set within the context of Queensland's social investment agenda first articulated in its education policy…

Much had been written over the past few years on the intersections of work and learning. This article suggests that the analysis of the intersections of work and learning can benefit greatly from understanding the ways in which governing workers as individuals and populations has changed in Western liberal democracies in the latter part of the…

In the context of aging populations, governments in Australia and in other Western nations fear that slower growth in the numbers of people of working age (15-64 years) will have a dampening effect on economic growth. They are thus considering how to encourage older workers to remain in the workforce beyond the point at which many currently…

Since the 1980s there has been significant growth in the engagement of higher education with workforce development, with among other things the emergence of a distinct if varied area of provision commonly referred to as work-based learning. Recent examination of practice and literature indicates a growing sophistication in the way that work-based…

Society is becoming increasingly aware of the need for education to play a key role in integrating knowledge and understanding about sustainability into practical, vocational skills which can be used in the workplace. Education for sustainability is now a widely accepted concept which seeks to promote and develop sustainability skills and…

Work-based learning (WBL) is one response of education and training institutions to criticisms they have failed to adapt to changing economic times and the changing nature of work. Formal educational institutions are challenged by the perception that they are inadequate to the task of preparing the present and future work force with the necessary…

This Working Paper contains three sections: the background to existing User Choice resourcing principles and their interrelationships as of March 2004; analysis of the existing arrangements, including their consistency with each other and with the User Choice principles agreed by Ministers; and concluding comments. The author found a considerable…

Australia's Frontline Management Initiative (FMI) marks a political move toward workplace learning and provides evidence concerning development of managing identities and management of such workplace learning. The FMI was examined as a technology of identity within the discourse of enterprise and an instrument of textualization of the workplace.…

This book contains 14 papers on adult education and the struggle for knowledge and power in society. The following papers are included: "At the Heart of Practice: The Struggle for Knowledge and Power" (Ronald M. Cervero, Arthur L. Wilson); "The Power of Economic Globalization: Deskilling Immigrant Women through Training"…