A remarkable feature of the sociology of education is its proliferation under a broad gamut of research themes and topics. Understanding the relationship of education to social reproduction and social change are pivotal to the sociology of education, and have fruitfully informed research in fields such as gender and education, vocational education…

This paper considers the rate at which students are crossing the boundaries between Australian vocational and higher education. It finds that public universities admit a higher proportion of students on the basis of a vocational education qualification than do private colleges and that private colleges broadly do not admit a higher proportion of…

This paper presents research exploring teachers' experiences of using blended learning in vocational education. Teachers involved in designing and teaching using blended learning from a major Australian vocational education provider participated in the study. They received open-ended questionnaires asking to describe their conceptions of blended…

Promotion by governments of the provision of pathways for learners and the principle of seamlessness in post-compulsory education over the past decade may be perceived as both positive and problematic. Seamlessness can provide considerable choice and yet can readily lead to uncertainty and indecision. A number of studies have drawn attention to…

The field of Australian higher education has changed, is changing and is about to change, repositioned in relation to other "fields of power". It is a sector now well defined by its institutional groupings and by their relative claims to selectivity and exclusivity, with every suggestion of their differentiation growing. The potential of a…

Research studies of post-school education and training conducted in Australia and internationally have revealed a mosaic of students' education and employment experiences, with a multiplicity of nonlinear pathways. These tend to be more fragmentary for disadvantaged students, especially those of low socio-economic background, rural students, and…

This paper tracks the development of gender equity and schooling policy in Australia from the "National Policy on the Education of Girls in 1987", to current policy concerns with boys' educational underperformance. The paper's key focus is on the ways in which feminist informed equity policy has been undermined by broader imperatives of economic…

Epistemological beliefs (beliefs about knowing and knowledge) have provided interesting insights into effective teaching and learning in higher education over the last 30 years. However, to date, little research has taken place in regard to teaching and learning in the technical and further education (TAFE) context in Australia Seventeen 1st and…

This paper addresses the issue of Vocational Education and Training in Schools--an issue that has recently attracted significant political attention particularly in light of current national skills shortage in Australia. Specifically, it investigates secondary school students' perceptions of VET in Schools [VETiS]. It also explores the factors…

While vocational subjects have always been part of the school curriculum, formal vocational education and training (VET) in the last two years of secondary education has been a policy focus for the last decade. In the Australian context, "VET in schools" is defined as courses that lead to industry recognised qualifications under the Australian…

This paper examines theoretical issues arising from technical and further education and training reforms over the last few decades. It illustrates how these reforms have been dominated by particular knowledge concerns assumed to be central to specific areas of human activity. It then examines the reforms in terms of theoretical relationships among…

The human capital emphasis in recent economic planning is leading to new pressures on the post-compulsory education sector where work-readiness is emerging as a major focus. With concerns about the impact of demographic change as the population ages, there is a renewed emphasis on greater productivity from and less wastage of human capital. Hence…

This paper examines young workers' beginning engagement in learning through work, placing it in the context of Australian policy on entry-level training. Eleven young people were followed through their first year of full-time work and the significant adults involved in their working and learning lives were also interviewed. The study demonstrates…

Chapter 5 of DETYA's volume "The Impact of Educational Research" (Selby-Smith 2000) begins with an examination of the peculiarity of decision making in the VET sector, followed by an examination of the idiosyncratic consequences for the function of research in the sector. Having established the distinctiveness of VET in relation to these two key…