'Strategic' leadership
30 September 2010, by Prof Sharon Bell
When Don Watson spoke at the 2009 Senior Strategic Leadership Program in Melbourne last November his opening shot, of many, was to question why the program was titled ‘strategic’ leadership rather than more accurately ‘the senior leaders program’. In posing this question Don was sending the first volley of the day in his much publicised crusade against ‘modern managerial language, newspeak, and linguistic political chicanery’ in which the education sector is a favourite, and from Don’s website it would appear well-deserved, target.
Bridging the tertiary divide
30 September 2010, by Pam Christie
Since the Bradley Review of Australian Higher Education, relationships between universities and TAFEs have come into sharp focus and discussions have flourished about how to achieve a better connected tertiary sector.
Some university leaders have argued that polytechnics should be established to bridge the gap between the vocational and higher education sectors. Undoubtedly, there is a need to build some bridges but surely more can be achieved by improving collaboration between existing institutions and recognising the important role of TAFE as a tertiary education provider.
Is higher education vocational?
30 September 2010, by Tom Karmel
Some years ago I wrote a paper titled 'Is VET vocational?' It looked at the match between the courses VET students undertook and their subsequent jobs. I concluded that apart from the traditional trades and a couple of other courses, the match was poor. I argued that much of VET needs to be thought of as general education, if with a vocational orientation. The recent, albeit short lived, announcement of the Gillard ministry, with the minister for post-school education having the title 'Jobs, skills and workplace relations' - and no mention of education- prompted me to pose the question of whether higher education is becoming more vocational.
Allocating funding in a growing VET sector
30 September 2010, by Robin Shreeve
When Skills Australia was developing its Australian Workforce Futures strategy, our modelling indicated that there would need to be a 3% growth per annum in tertiary education enrolments over the next 15 years if we were to supply the qualifications needed to ensure the nation achieved its desired levels of economic growth.The next decade and a half thus offers enormous potential opportunities for the tertiary sector. In economic terms, the emphasis should shift from worrying about the supply side to worrying about the demand side. We need to attract more individuals and enterprises into our training programs. So how do we allocate scarce resources to make sure this growth is achieved efficiently and effectively?