Standing Committee on Employment, Education
and Workplace Relations
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Submission 91
Submission by:
Ron Seidel
Executive Manager
Faculty of Engineering
Regency Institute
Days Road
REGENCY PARK SA 5010
8 January 1998
Summary
It is contended that Australia is a country with considerable geographic,
economic and cultural diversity, and requires a flexible approach to the
provision of education and training services. The basic task before educational
institutions is the same, though the basis on which they carry out this
task will vary between institutions and within institutions, largely affected
by historical development, current capabilities, local or regional needs
and available resources.
Universities and TAFE institutes are perceived to being on a multi parameter
continuum, and while there may be clear functional differences between
universities in general and TAFE Institutes in general, there will be
overlap in specific cases. This overlap should give little concern provided
that it is not dysfunctional to the effective provision of educational
services to the people of Australia. It is suggested that universities,
TAFE institutes and other providers be seen as a system of education and
training providers working together to meet the educational needs of all
Australians. This multi dimensional collaborative model should also provide
competitive advantage in the export of education and training services.
To impose a single model of a university and of a TAFE institute would
not recognise the diversity of Australia, and would not contribute to
the developmental needs of this country.
Introduction
Regency Institute of TAFE is a major provider of vocational education
and training in engineering, information technology, hospitality, community
services and business services in South Australia. The Faculty of Engineering
has approximately 200 teaching staff, offering courses from introductory
to Advanced Diploma, and collaborates with the three universities in South
Australia to offer a 5 year undergraduate M Eng (IT&T) and other programs.
It is expected that a three year degree in Engineering Technology will
be introduced in the near future. Award courses are conducted overseas
under franchise arrangements. Regency Institute a joint owner with the
three universities in South Australia of the Australian Information Technology
Engineering Centre.
The author holds a degree in engineering and post graduate qualifications
in computer science and education, and has had over 30 years experience
in teaching in TAFE and in educational management. The author has had
the opportunity to compare the development of vocational education and
training in Australia to that in a number of other countries and has presented
papers in the area.
This is an individual Submission and need not reflect the views of Regency
Institute or TAFE SA.
Submission
1. The task before all educational institutions is essentially the
same, namely:
- conduct learning programs that are
- educationally and technically (discipline wise) credible
- ethical
- to use the community’s resources efficiently and effectively.
2. Debate on roles
The role of schools and universities have been debated for centuries.
but this is not true for institutes of vocational education and training.
and in particular TAFE institutes. It will probably be some time before
the debate in Australia on the role and practices of TAFE institutes
can reach the level of the debate surrounding schools and universities.
There are organisations elsewhere which have an established capability
to research and debate issues relating to vocational education and training,
for example the Bundesunstitut fur Berufsbildung (BiBB) in Germany.
The debate about schools and universities has been
in both academic circles and the informed press, for example, the Economist
of October 4 1997 (Economist, Vol 345, no 8037, 4-10 October, insert)
had an interesting article summarising a number of issues regarding
the development and contemporary role of universities.
The roles of the various entities within education are constantly changing
in response to prevailing educational philosophy and practice, and to
social, political and economic influences. These influences are often
in conflict with each other.
With the internationalisation of commerce and education, Australia
needs to be adequately consistent with the educational structures and
practices of other countries so that it can easily share learning resources,
and academic debate and intellectual development.
3. Physical and functional traits
It is necessary to differentiate between the physical existence of
an educational Organisation and its functions.
An educational Organisation may be a 'university' in name but may offer
many programs that are not consistent with an accepted educational context
of a university and yet this may be in the best interests of the community.
Many universities around the world offer programs which in the Australian
context are clearly in the TAFE sector, for example universities in
the Scandinavian countries and in South East Asia. While TAFE institutes
are well established in Australia and their equivalent in some other
countries, a system of unique vocational education and training institutions
is not a feature of all countries.
4. Education and training
It has some times been claimed that universities are
concerned with education and TAFE institutes with training, or is has
been implied that education is of general nature and training is of
a specific (vocational) nature.
Probably a more useful concept is to see education and training as
complementary learning processes whereby information, gained through
any of a number of mechanisms, is internalised as knowledge with skills
being the outward manifestation of the knowledge. Education is a divergent
learning process whereby people maximise their individual differences
and the learning outcomes for different people in the same learning
environment will be quite different. Education can lead to innovation,
process improvement and a high level of problem solving capability because
it encourages the exploration of alternative ideas unconstrained by
current thinking. Training on the other hand is a convergent learning
process whereby the effect of individual differences is minimised and
learning constrained to essentially the same learning outcomes for all
students. Training will tend to lead to professionally and socially
accepted outcomes, but tends to entrench current practice. Education
and training are complementary learning processes. both are 'right'
and both are necessary. One might hope that a surgeon is properly trained
to carry out a complex operation but equally hope that the person has
been at the same time educated to perceive improved medical procedures.
It is noted that many universities are introducing work/industrial
experience. cooperative levitating and other learning environments to
provide students with some skills to ‘be able to do it’, essentially
training, while TAFE institutes are (or will need to) increase the level
of education in their course offerings to counter the rapidly changing
nature of work and jobs.
While universities in general may concentrate more on education than
training, and TAFE institutes more on training than education. the education-training
parameter is not all adequate differentiator between the functions of
universities and TAFE institutes.
5. Academic standards
Academic standards are indicated by the level routine processes and
repetition on the one hand and the level of hypothesis, analysis and
synthesis on the other. Study that requires a high level of hypothesis,
analysis and synthesis would be considered to be at a higher academic
level than study which involves well established knowledge routine processes
and repetition.
Some degree courses and even some post graduate courses offered by
universities have quite low demands for hypothesis, analysis and synthesis,
and are often comparable with or even below that expected in some courses
in TAFE institutes. While in general universities work at a higher academic
level than TAFE institutes this parameter alone is not a sufficient
differentiator of function and role.
6. Research
Universities are a major research agency in Australia and part of the
funding that they received is based on this function. The research traditionally
has tended to be leading edge though there have always been valuable
components of applied research. It is suspected that because of economic
pressures and sponsorship the ratio of leading edge to applied research
is changing. Universities around the world are often differentiated
by their research priorities and achievements. In many areas, but certainly
not all, teaching is based on research experiences and outcomes.
TAFE institutes have no tradition of research, either leading edge
or applied, even though there are good opportunities for research into
technology development and educational practice and which would contribute
to the intellectual capability of Australia. There are a number of factors
currently n-mitigating against the development of a research culture
in TAFE institutes, for example, misconceptions about the nature and
processes of research, senior management with no empathy for research,
the pressure for productivity and the constraints of national curriculum.
A research capability in TAFE institutes would enhance the learning
environment for students and provide professional diversity for staff,
and will become increasingly important given the rapid changes in technology
and the evolution of work practices. Teaching staff in TAFE institutes
need to be mentored in research processes. An example of such research
is the recent project completed by the Faculty of Engineering at Regency
Institute, A Cultural Context for the Development of Career Entry
Technical Training for Aboriginal People. The research findings
have been internationally recognised and have resulted in successful
pilot programs for Aboriginal people.
The role of research and its consequential effect on teaching is a
functional differentiator between universities and TAFE institutes.
7. Vocational education and training
Vocational education and training occurs in both universities and TAFE
institutes, and perhaps even to a similar extent.
In universities, courses in engineering, law, medicine and accountancy,
for example have very strong vocational components. and if anything
these vocational components are being strengthened as the competition
by graduates for jobs increases. It is probably the case that in TAFE
Institutes the vocational outcomes are more applicable in the short
term than in universities though it is suggested that the strengthening
of the vocational outcomes in university courses is in terms of immediately
applicable (short term) competencies.
Universities also offer courses that do not have such strong direct
vocational outcomes. for example in file humanities and the liberal
arts, and in no way is it suggested that such courses are not valuable
and do not contribute to the capability of the community. Graduates
of such courses may develop careers well removed from their field of
study and often bring all alternative and valuable perspective to the
work environment. There is no large scale equivalent in TAFE Institutes
in Australia at the present time, though the General National Vocational
Qualifications (GNVQs) in technical colleges in England are largely
general in nature; a general education film a vocational flavour but
not work place specific.
It is strongly suggested that there is a gap in education and training
provision in Australia. There is a large number of school leavers for
whom immediate employment is not likely and yet who do not have available
to them appropriate education services. Universities are not an option
for these young people because of their school achievement and TAFE
courses, through national curriculum developments, have become intrinsically
linked to the immediate workplace. There is an immediate need for suitable
study programs for the young otherwise unemployed and it is suggested
that such programs should have a strong educational component and be
less concerned about specific job training as has been common practice
in the past. The rapid adoption in less than 5 years of the GNVQs in
England which provide learning opportunities for this group of (usually)
young people should be carefully noted. It is of interest that some
50% of university entrants in England now come from the GNVQ stream
rather than from the school A level stream.
Both universities and TAFE institutes have (or should have) vocational
and general education components and the relative proportion of the
vocational and general components are likely to be of the same order.
The roles of universities and TAFE institutes probably cannot be adequately
differentiated on the general vocational parameter.
8. Community needs
There is an expectation that the educational needs of a community whether
it be in the central business district of a large city or in remote
Australia will be met as far as is possible. Economic constraints will
determine the range of educational services available, but whether these
services are provided by a university, a TAFE institute, a school, a
private provider, some community agency or some of these in collaboration
is not of primary importance. It is quite a realistic expectation that
students in a remote town, perhaps Ceduna in South Australia, should
be able to enrol for a university degree course, say Bachelor of Arts
or a Bachelor of Business, and be able to study some subjects locally,
perhaps organised and delivered through the local TAFE campus using
whatever technology is available. Obviously the study must be credible
but this does not mean that it has to be the same as that available
on-campus in some metropolitan university. There are many examples in
Australia of such collaborations to meet community needs and these initiatives
should be applauded and become an accepted process.
9. Collaboration
The collaboration between schools, TAFE institutes and universities
has been increasing in recent years in particular in regional Australia
and the smaller cities, in part in response to the decreasing number
of students and reducing resources. There appears to be a number of
conditions that need to be satisfied for successful collaboration, for
example:
- there needs to be a good, specific reason to collaborate
- the collaboration needs to be consistent with each partner's strategic
development
- the collaborating partners need to be easily identified
- the collaborating partners need to have established credibility
and status
- the collaborating partners need to have a relatively common educational
philosophy
- the collaboration needs to be sustainable
- resources are needed to maintain the collaboration
- the effect of competition between the partners needs to be recognised
and managed
Collaborations can be both informal and formal. Informal collaborations
may involve sharing ideas. joint activities such as Summer Schools and
school promotion. sharing (including cost recovery) intellectual properly
and physical resources. and in particular mutual respect and support.
Formal collaborations may be agreements and contracts.
It is suggested that specific purpose collaborations are likely to
be more productive than some form of general collaboration.
Obviously in the present environment collaborating partners need to
recognise and manage competition between them selves. It is contended
that if the environment is essentially competition driven then any collaboration
will be marginal. Educational organisations should appreciate that in
spite of increasing consultancy and other income generating activities,
that they essentially community resource based and that the community
expects that they will use those resources efficiently and effectively
to the benefit of the community.
It is suggested that examples of successful collaborations are those
between Regency Institute and the University of Adelaide on their Graduate
Entrepreneurial Initiative (an informal collaboration) and between Regency
Institute, the University of Adelaide, the University of South Australia
and the Flinders University on the Australian Information Technology
Engineering Centre.
10. Access
Just as universities have some unique roles, so do TAFE institutes
and one of these roles is the provision of flexible access programs
for those students who for what ever reason have limited educational
achievement or who are new to this country. Often these participants
have had negative learning experiences and low self esteem and this
can strongly influence their personal lives and their performance at
work. Many, with encouragement, mentoring and sensitive, realistic counselling
can achieve significant milestones, not just raising the option of higher
study but enhanced work opportunities and better family relationships.
This country cannot afford the luxury of not effectively developing
and using all the human resource potential available.
11. Culture
There are differences in the culture of universities and TAFE institutes.
Universities have a history back to the 12th century if not earlier
and are found in most countries of the world. TAFE institutes are a
relatively new development and while relatively well established in
Australia and the equivalent in some other countries, are by no means
universal.
The old well established universities, the newer universities (ex CAEs
etc), large metropolitan TAFE institutes and regional TAFE institutes
all have different profiles and culture brought about by traditions,
funding sources, administrative procedures, staff capabilities, facilities,
and community needs. There will generally be a clear difference in the
culture and role of the well established central business district universities
and regional TAFE institutes, but the differences will be much less
between the established universities and the newer universities, or
between the newer universities and the large metropolitan TAFE institutes.
Some institutions because of their specialisation may need to serve
the educational needs of a whole state or perhaps all of Australia,
whereas others might be more concerned to properly address the educational
needs of their geographic region. University A in geographic region
Y could well have some educational service the same as in TAFE institute
B in geographic region Z. However one would need to at least question
the efficiency of more than one institution in the same geographic region
offering comparable study programs.
It is not an issue that an institution with a particular profile is
preferred to another, or that one is better than another, but rather
that all are working together in some form of collaboration to efficiently
and effectively serve the educational needs of the country. Diversity
and flexibility in educational provision is necessary to serve diverse
Australia.
12. Conclusion
Australia is a diverse country with diverse education and training
needs. It is contended that the tasks of educational institutions whether
universities or TAFE institutes is the same; educational credibility
and effectiveness.
Universities and TAFE institutes share many common traits and few parameters
are exclusively the domain of a particular education sector. There is
no clear cut division between universities and TAFE institutes, nor
should there be as this would most likely. be dysfunctional to the provision
of educational services to all of Australia.
Universities have teaching that is more research based, more academically
demanding and less oriented to short term vocational outcomes than TAFE
institutes. TAFE institutes have teaching that accommodates diverse
student backgrounds and 'second chancers', are more flexible in educational
provision and more oriented to short term learning goals. Some study
programs are clearly the province of universities and some clearly the
province of TAFE institutes, and there are many that might be offered
by either, not on the basis of competition but for efficiency and regional
educational needs. Universities and TAFE institutes are complementary
and together must ensure that the educational needs of the community
are met.
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