We need investment in capability building if we are to achieve quality – comment by CEO Jenny Dodd

For the last couple of years, as part of the vocational education and training (VET) reform agenda, there has been discussion about VET quality. This is now being pursued through the VET workforce blueprint which is looking at the critical skill shortage needs of our own industry.

Several immediate solutions are being proposed, but it is TDA’s view that short term solutions for such an important area are never going to hit the mark. Only with investment in vocational education and training pedagogy and funding for teachers and trainers to develop teaching and learning skills will quality be guaranteed.

Last Wednesday, TDA ran TAFE Opens Doors: A focused discussion on access and equity. Over 700 people registered to be part of TDA’s 2023 conference – our first foray into an online conference. We explored the important themes of access and equity. Why? Understanding access and equity informs the delivery of teaching and learning. It also informs the interactions TAFEs have internally with their people and students, and externally with their communities and industry partners. Wednesday’s conversation was an important opportunity to strengthen teaching and learning capability. Understanding how to tailor learning to ensure inclusion for all is fundamental to being a quality VET leader or practitioner.

In the keynote session on Indigenous Perspectives on TAFE, Leanne Bell from TAFE Queensland explored what we can do to create culturally safe learning and working environments. Leanne said, “Lots of our students are very shy and lack confidence … how do we embed First Nations perspectives into TAFE Queensland training … (TAFE Queensland) teachers often say they learn more from their ranger group than they teach … how can staff be aware of these perspectives?” This highlights the importance of anchoring the learning to individuals, so that it works for different cohorts. That is not easy – it requires high level capability.

In the many presentations that occurred last Wednesday afternoon most identified the importance of the influence of an individual for sparking student success. This is not new information, but it reminds us how much more important it is for students from diverse backgrounds to have those champions and those who can help them learn in ways that they need to learn. As Peter Radoll from Victoria University said in the keynote, “one person can change your life”. That person is often the key person at TAFE that students from diverse backgrounds engage with.

In one of Claire Field’s recent podcasts ‘What now, what next’ she interviews TAFE Adjunct Professor Robin Shreeve. Robin is known to many of us for the depth of his experience in TAFE NSW and UK Colleges. One of the many interesting things in Claire’s and Robin’s podcast was Robin’s reflection on the UK system. Robin stated that VET completions are higher in the UK because there is investment in the VET workforce in teaching and learning capability building.

Substantial investment in teaching and learning for VET has been long absent in our system. In the 2000s national funding was available for developing our workforce. As examples, there was funding in Framing the Future and the Australian Flexible Learning Framework that allowed individuals and teams to develop pedagogical skills to deepen their capabilities in teaching, learning and innovation.

TAFE Opens Doors explored the importance of bringing access and equity to the forefront so that all students receive the learning they need. If we are to be good at that, a long-term strategy that will develop the capability of our VET workforce is needed.