The rush to short courses and use of micro-credentials prompted by responses to the pandemic has greatly accelerated a trend already underway. However, few studies have examined the impact of short courses or micro-credentials on skills or employment outcomes, and this hasty move draws attention to major problems in the ways in which higher…

This report is the support document accompanying "An analysis of 'micro-credentials' in VET," which examines subject-bundle enrolments in Australia's vocational education and training (VET) system in 2019. This support document is a technical discussion of how the raw data were extracted and transformed for analytical purposes and it…

Teacher performance assessments are positioned as a high stakes assessment that are aimed to ensure that preservice teachers are ready for professional practice in education contexts. The move to incorporate them in institutions has its origins in concerns that teacher education is a policy problem with varying standards of preparation across the…

This article offers a global overview of the burgeoning field of micro-credentials and their relationship to lifelong learning, employability and new models of digital education. Although there is no globally accepted definition of micro-credentials, the term indicates smaller units of study, which are usually shorter than traditional forms of…

This paper provides an overview of the contribution of Professor Geoffrey Sherington to the study of the history of Australian education and immigration. His academic and leadership roles are summarised and the main themes of his work are briefly discussed. These themes comprise: Australia as an immigrant nation, British colonial values and…

This article illuminates major features of high-quality leadership programmes across different education systems. We do so by focusing on capturing commonalities and variations in high-quality pre-service programmes from five differing societies, all of which are high-performing education systems. To this end, we first delineate key profiles of…

Health and physical education (PE) are low status, marginalised subjects in many schools internationally. However in New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere, they are concurrently credentialed and recognised senior high school options in which students can gain national qualifications. In New Zealand these subjects also tend to attract students who…

In Australia there is growing interest in a national curriculum to replace the variety of matriculation credentials managed by State Education departments, ostensibly to address increasing population mobility. Meanwhile, the International Baccalaureate (IB) is attracting increasing interest and enrolments in State and private schools in Australia,…

Nearly one out of five Canadian residents was born outside of Canada and approximately two-thirds of Canada's population growth results from net international migration. Only Australia, where immigrants represent 24% of the population, has a greater percentage of immigrants than Canada (18%). Immigration is a major factor in Canada's economic…

This paper provides an analysis into the global phenomenon known as credential/qualification fraud, a $US 1 billion dollar "cottage" industry which has tainted higher education in Australia, and does not appear to be abating. The study is developed through a conceptual framework of credentialism, degree creep and screening theory, which…

Counselling is an unregulated activity in Australia. As a developing profession in Australia counselling has two main general and many specialty counselling associations attempting to represent counselling to counsellors, clients, and government bodies. This has led to confusion about counselling credentialing efforts. A presentation was arranged…

Discusses the rise of the concept of improved skills recognition in Australian industry. Highlights include the role of industrial relations; the Australian vocational education and training system; recognition, industrial relations, and workplace change; career and training paths; credentials; and future prospects. (10 references) (LRW)

These proceedings contain 17 papers from plenary sessions, workshops, and other presentations at a conference to consider and clarify major issues in assessment and standards in vocational education and training, including identification of problems and suggested solutions. A summary of discussions follows most presentations. Plenary session…

Discussion of the Australian education system gives a brief overview of the entire system, then details key developments in higher education and in the vocational education sector, including aspects of funding, international cooperation, reform and expansion, quality assurance, delivery systems, apprenticeship programs, responsiveness to the labor…

The Certificates in General Education for Adults (CGEA) provide a range of educational opportunities for Australian adults who have not completed secondary education to improve their literacy, numeracy, and general education skills. The CGEA was first accredited in 1992 and is currently accredited for January 2002-December 2006. The CGEA is…