Time to build democracy capital – comment by CEO Craig Robertson

Talk of loss of faith in democracy, weakening of Australia’s traditions and waning community seems common these days. Thought of vocational education playing a role in any rebuild is rare but shouldn’t be.

The Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee is in the throes of its Inquiry into nationhood, national identity and democracy. I thank Dr Don Perlgut, CEO of Community Colleges Australia for drawing my attention to the inquiry through his excellent submission.

In an unusual turn for the political class the committee in its discussion paper said: “There is a wealth of evidence showing a worrying decline in the level of public trust. In 2007, 86 per cent of Australians were satisfied with how democracy works in Australia. That figure is now 41 per cent. Just 31 per cent of Australians say they trust the federal government, and the approval rating for politicians is at 21 per cent.[1] Evidence also suggests that those with the lowest incomes are least satisfied with democracy.”[2]

Don’s paper points to the role his members play in reaching out and taking vocational (and non-formal) education to those who, for whatever reason, are excluded from educational opportunity, and that is incredibly important. The other consideration is how VET is structured to meet this need.

Our neo-liberal tradition has ended up with a VET system focused on training for jobs. The public good is limited to landing a job. Any preparation for citizenship has been washed out. I want to extend Don’s proposition and call for a more general focus in vocational education.

In conservative economic terms there are good reasons because of the negative externalities from the current approach to VET. Firstly, a graduate expected only to acquire skills for a job is hardly exposed, even in introductory terms, to approaches and systems which make the world what it is. Economic and political systems impact their jobs and livelihood so the way they prepare themselves to navigate the world is important.

Secondly, a graduate whose training limits their preparation to Australian jobs in the Australian context (the training package approach) can hardly be expected to understand why global forces take his or her job, nor how they could have prepared differently to respond to unrelenting global forces.

Thirdly, with no extant policy that requires certified VET to impart ‘learning to learn’ it’s hardly surprising that graduates are poorly equipped to engage knowledgably in the political discourse as a voter. The discussion paper concludes ‘Democracy might be more likely to succeed where voters feel part of a shared civic community’.

The paper also says, ‘as developed economies move away from traditional industry, some workers may feel a loss of identity or that they are being left behind.’ I’m sure this resonates with those involved in the sector.

None of this works to any good if access is denied. Don’s submission refers to research in America that found that increases in education were strongly correlated to the proximity of (US) junior and community colleges and had a large effect on subsequent participation in voting. In Australia we do not have the community college model as founded in North America – the great exercise in bringing education to the masses. The thing that strikes me from my visits to these colleges is the breadth of their offerings. While many are 2+2 colleges – leading to bachelor level delivery – the more interesting is their extensive liberal arts offerings. I’m often amused when staff talk of diplomas in sociology, general arts and the like. I can’t even imagine how VET in Australia could get to that point.

Where does this lead us? I’m not advocating for compulsory civics education, but I am saying we need to open-up the horizon for the sector’s role in society beyond preparing people to complete tasks within a job. Reimagining vocational qualifications (see below) is a start but we have further to go.

I’ll leave the last word to the conclusion from the Group of Eight in their submission to the same inquiry: National identity should not come at the expense of pluralism, tolerance and respect, indeed, these are core features of our national identity. Universities are a key institution in democratic societies and provide space for the free exchange of ideas including on national identity and citizenship.

No qualms about the role of higher education but if it’s solely their domain how are those who do not pass through their hallowed grounds prepared for citizenship?

A genuine commitment of our governments to pluralism would have vocational education with the express purpose of preparing citizens as well as skilled individuals. Genuine vocational education prepares individuals to engage productively in civil society and gives them the knowledge, skills and confidence to participate in the mainstream economy rather than being its victim when it turns against them.

Building democracy capital in this way is the gift of education policy from our elected leaders, not unelected industry nor unelected providers. We can only trust that they take this course from the inquiry.
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[1] Gerry Stoker, Mark Evans and Max Halupka, Democracy 2025 Report No. 1: Trust and Democracy in Australia: Democratic decline and renewal, December 2018, p. 9.
[2] 2 Gerry Stoker, Mark Evans and Max Halupka, Democracy 2025 Report No. 1: Trust and Democracy in Australia: Democratic decline and renewal, December 2018, pp. 25–26