During 2008-2011, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) funded a programme to build Australian VET research capacity and rejuvenate what has been seen as the existing "greying" researcher pool. This paper is a reflective narrative about experiences of constructing the programme with a specific focus on the mentoring…

This work is based on the experience of the authors' involvement in the development of a Masters of Vocational Pedagogy program in Uganda and Southern Sudan between 2007 and 2011. This is also grounded in work with Vocational Education and Culture (VET) over many years. The terms VET and Culture are interdependent; both terms are highly contested…

The Federal government is seeking to increase the proportion of Australians with bachelor degrees and to increase the proportion of low SES students in higher education. This will focus attention on degree completion rates for all students, including non-traditional students who have previously been reported as having lower higher education…

Although there has been substantial research and reform in Vocational Education and Training (VET) over the past 30 years, it is argued that this has ostensibly had limited effectiveness on practices in TAFE colleges. Many policy changes during this period have not resulted in the requisite changed practices by TAFE teachers. This paper reports on…

This paper examines what is arguably the most important issue in qualitative research--access to willing participants--specifically in the context of companies. This is of considerable importance in vocational education and training (VET) as workplaces are the site of much VET activity. While research textbooks discuss many issues in research, few…

This paper explores the methodological and epistemological implications of the relationships between R&D, policy and practice. The proposals towards "evidence-based policy and practice" are analysed with respect to this triangle from three angles: (1) meaning; (2) production; and (3) use of evidence. A comprehensive model of the research cycle,…

This paper reviews, from 1990-2010, the place of different aspects of skill in the literature associated with the influential world conferences of Jomtien and Dakar. It then looks at the particular history of the treatment of skill within the series of global monitoring reports (GMRs) from 2002-2010. The GMR was one of the key mechanisms set up,…

The 21st century has been characterised by changes in the economy, the nature of society and situations in the ecological environment. Teaching and learning processes have never been the same since the demand for work-related competencies, the type of information available and the way that education and training systems must be implemented must…

Recent educational attainment targets set by Australian governments recognise education and training as pivotal to the economic and social well-being of Australians. The targets seek to close the gaps in attainment that socially and economically divide the population, and, in doing so, raise the levels of skills of the workforce and improve the…

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) report (2007) highlights that labour productivity, education and migration play important roles in shaping competitiveness, growth and development in Southeast Asia. The statistics also reveal interesting aspects of labour mobility. Thirteen and a half million migrants originate from countries in the…

This paper investigates teaching practices at the Australia-Pacific Technical College (APTC), which comprise a unique official development assistance (ODA) program funded by the Government of Australia (GoA) and managed through the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid) with the aim of training and equipping workers from the…

Since the opening up of private universities and colleges in the Kuwait education system in the late 1990s, there has been an explosion of tertiary institutions (both domestic and international) established in the country, with many of them offering vocational education and training. The move towards vocational and educational training forms part…

This study explores the present conditions and emerging issues about the future of vocational teacher education in Turkey. The paper discusses the background and historic legacies that have led to the restructuring of Faculties of Teacher Education in Turkey. The influence of the reforms from the foundation of the Turkish Republic are discussed as…

Victoria University, like many other educational institutions, has recently nominated workplace learning as an essential feature of all its courses. As a contribution to the framing of this shift in an educationally responsible way, this article explores the question: How can tertiary education organisations design on-campus work-based experience…

The paper picks up "matching problems" related to current European education policy moves by referring to the German, the French and the Austrian VET system respectively. As we here refer to "dual systems" or "school-based systems" respectively, the pre-conditions for transforming European policy into national policies are very different. One…