VET News

Apple for the Teacher

In recognition of those challenges, Velg Training again hosted the Qld Schools VET Conference.  A full conference room at the Hilton Hotel in Brisbane last Friday highlighted the fact that teachers needed and valued the professional development (PD) opportunity.

Attending as an observer, I knew that being a Velg Training event, the Conference was going to provide ample opportunity to brush up on topical industry issues and to hear from experts in the field.  Regardless, as I stepped outside of the lift and into the welcome foyer… BOOM!... colour, noise, activity.  The atmosphere was vibrant and filled with expectant energy from the delegates. 

All of the sponsor booths were set up and generating interest, and people milled about networking and enjoying the pre-start coffee/tea and pastry.  The full rooms were early testimony to how many people were there for the day, keen to learn, see and experience.  The rest of the day maintained that momentum, as after the plenary, delegates had the choice of three different streams to attend.

Messages delivered from speakers amplified some of the recent ones about VET: it’s value, profile and viability as an option for further education.  Putting that into the school context further highlighted the important role teachers and schools play in terms of supporting students and parents as the workforce for tomorrow cycles through secondary schooling.  Young people are faced with enormous challenge, possibility and opportunity and Jan Owen’s keynote explored some of this.  Whilst not surprising to know that some skills are becoming outdated almost as fast as they can be acquired (think technological implications), it was surprising to hear that Australia’s young people are entering an increasingly casualised workforce where the full working week is now classified as 35 hours, and people need to hold three or four jobs in order to make up those hours.  In fact, Australia’s 25-year-olds are the most educated generation we’ve seen, but also hold the dubious record of having the lowest ever full-time employment rates.

Fascinating comparisons were made by Matthew Trounce from iVET as he spoke about how changing societal perceptions influence the content required to deliver training to young people.  Once upon a time, hitchhiking was frowned on for all of its dangers, but now, young people are growing up in a society that thinks nothing of hitching a ride via UBER.  Similarly, the foundation skills associated with financial literacy are impacted by the changes in the way banking and commerce is done.  Do we continue to teach young people about cash, coins and over the counter deposits?  Or do we recognise the need for, and integrate into training, the digital literacies to enable online transactions?

Michelle Kennedy, representing the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training, spoke about the fact that Queensland has steadily been the national leader of VET in Schools with over 70% of school RTOs in Australia, in Queensland.  More than $1 million is invested in the Gateway to Industry Schools Program and although a sizable amount, is a drop in the bucket compared to the $770 million State Government investment plan for VET funding.

It is little wonder then, that the focus on VET in Schools is of paramount importance and is paralleled by the support to teachers offered by the Velg Training Qld Schools VET Conference.  Talks from industry, Government officials and the regulator balanced the PD opportunities on training and assessing, RTO management and compliance, and VET initiatives.

Unsolicited testimony from others at my table summed it up nicely:

• “I’ve travelled from Townsville for this”
• “I’m from Bundaberg”
• “We’re in Brisbane and we come each year”
• “Yes, we’ve been coming for ages, and we’ll be back next year too”
• “It’s good to brush up on what to do”

It was obvious that for those teachers, the Velg Training Qld Schools VET Conference was the apple of their PD eye.

- Michelle Charlton

Consultant, Write On Resources

Date posted Aug 16, 2018