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The extent of employer-supported education and training in Australia was examined by analyzing data from the Training Expenditure Surveys (TES), which gathered information from firms, and the Surveys of Education and Training Experience (SETE), which gathered information from workers. The TES showed an approximately 10% decline in the hours of external training provided by employers from 1993 to 1996, whereas the SETE showed a more than 80% increase in the hours of employer-supported external training received by workers over a similar period. The different results yielded by the two surveys were attributed to the different definitions of external training in the two surveys and the different behavior of the components of external education and training. The SETE showed a substantial expansion of external training but a decline in the level of employer support for education. However, because the apparent expansion in external training has occurred through an increase in employer support for fees and materials rather than through provision of paid study leave, participation in employer-supported external training may well have increased while the hours of training for which employees are paid by employers has declined. Thus, the findings of TES and SETE do not negate one another. (MN)

This study examines the impact of visa category on the English language skills of recent immigrants to Australia, focusing on the extent to which immigration selection criteria have an impact on language skills and noting the extent to which this impact is over and above that attributable to age, skills, and behavioral factors. The study followed a cohort of recent arrivals to Australia, examining both visa category and variables derived. Immigrants were interviewed three times between 1993-95. Overall, immigrants' English speaking, reading, and writing skills varied across the visa categories, and they were considerably higher among skill-based immigrants shortly after immigration, followed by family-based visa recipients. Refugees had the lowest language proficiency. These differences disappeared 3.5 years after immigration for speaking skills, but they persisted for reading and writing skills. The variables generated from the model of destination language proficiency were in part predictions of visa category and were important statistically for explaining proficiency. The effects of some variables on language skills increased with duration, in particular, the efficacy variable, age, and gender, which may be reflecting differences in labor market attachment. (Contains 25 references.) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education) (SM)

This study investigated the dominant language skill development of spouses within migrating units in Australia. It analyzed the English proficiency of a sample of principal applicant (PA) immigrants (immigrants upon whom the approval to immigrate is based) and their spouses, referred to as migrating unit spouses (MUSs). The study assessed whether the observed factors that influenced dominant language acquisition, such as educational attainment and age at migration, would be the same for PAs and MUSs. It also examined the role that correlation among unobserved factors for both spouses played in the development of spouses' language skills. Data came from administrative records on visa categories and from wave one of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Australia. Data analysis indicated that family mattered in the acquisition of dominant language skills. There was a high degree of correlation in the English speaking skills of partners in migrating units among recent immigrants to Australia. Children had a negative effect on their mothers' language proficiency but no effect on their fathers' language proficiency. (Contains 28 references.) (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse for ESL Literacy Education) (SM)

The contribution of higher education institutions to regional development is a theme that has attracted growing attention in recent years. Knowledge institutions are increasingly expected not only to conduct education and research, but also to play an active role in the economic, social and cultural development of their regions. The extent to which higher education institutions are able to play this role depends on a number of circumstances: the characteristics of the institutions, the regions in which they are located and the policy frameworks are all significant. At the same time, there are signs of more fundamental conceptual and strategic confusion. The discussions in this domain are frequently characterised by slogans and popular metaphors. This literature review was prepared to support the OECD project entitled 'Supporting the Contribution of Higher Education Institutions to Regional Development', which was conducted by the OECD Programme on Institutional Management in Higher Education (IMHE) in collaboration with the Directorate of Public Governance and Territorial Development. Drawing mainly from a selection of European and North American publications, the report takes an overall view on the development of higher education institutions in the regional context. It focuses on the evolution and discourses of higher education and research, the regional aspects of higher education policies, the various functions and roles that the institutions play, measures taken to link the universities with their regional partners, and the conditions which favour or hamper stronger regional engagement. (A bibliography is included. Contains 9 figures.)

This document is a "methodological annex" to volume I of the Women in Science and Technology in Australia (WISTA) final research report. The 10 discussion papers that make up this document deal with the 10 core factors of influence that formed one main axis of the study's theoretical framework for inquiry. A diagram illustrates this framework. The discussion papers were used to focus and encourage feedback from academic staff in the leadership of the scientific and technological disciplines surveyed in the WISTA project. The project tested knowledge and attitudes and sought informed opinions on needs and priorities by circulating a discussion paper for each of the 10 factors. The 10 core factors were then related to four concepts: (1) institutional ecology; (2) critical mass; (3) the perceived masculinity or femininity of disciplines; and (4) the constructed style and content of scientific and technological disciplines. The 10 factors and papers concern: (1) same sex role models as a positive factor of influence for women; (2) the mentor process, potentially negative or positive; (3) the image of different branches of science and technology (male, female, or sex neutral; socially responsible or systems and machine oriented); (4) male attitudes to females in nontraditional disciplines; female attitudes (self-esteem, or towards peers); (5) single-sex versus coeducation as positive or negative influences; (6) prerequisites and school patterns of curricular choices as critical filters; (7) mathematics as a negative critical filter; (8) careers education and vocational counseling as positive or negative influences; (9) women's support networks as positive influences; and (10) affirmative action projects in science and technology as positive influences. (DK)

Data from an Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry survey of approximately 350 employers were reanalyzed to determine the effects of organization size and geographic location on the implementation of User Choice, which provides public funds to training providers chosen by apprentices and trainees. Among the respondents, 41.1% were small and 38.9% medium-sized firms; 36% of small and 34.7% of medium firms were in regional or rural areas. User choice was not employed in 31.5% of small, 25% of medium-sized, 28.7% of metropolitan, 20.5% of regional, and 30% of rural firms. Lack of knowledge was cited by more than one-third of nonusing small and 66.7% of nonusing regional organizations. Nearly 90% of all firms of any size, including 90% of metropolitan and regional and 100% of rural did not use online User Choice information. Large firms and those in regional/rural locations were more likely to use New Apprenticeship Centres as information sources. Regardless of size or location, most agreed that User Choice enhanced customization of training through choice of provider, location, and content. However, there was less agreement that clear and accurate information was available or that regional and rural firms had enough choice of training locations. (Contains 11 references, 26 tables, and the questionnaire.) (SK)

These papers on the role of residential adult education were first presented at a July 1991 conference at Somerville College, Oxford University, England. After an introduction (Field), the first paper, "Residential Adult Education: History, Concept, and Evaluation" (Bron), offers an historical perspective and recommends defining "residentiality" for both research and evaluation purposes. The second paper, "'Encouraging Citizenship': Adult Residential Education and Training for the 21st Century" (Lieven, Jackson), addresses the relationship between residential colleges and democracy. The third paper, "Residential Adult Education in a Hostile Environment" (Leighton), traces the influences of national and local governmental influences on adult education in Great Britain. The fourth paper, "Learning and Traveling in the Third Age" (Eyland), describes the Australian College for Seniors. The fifth paper, "Minds in Community: A Report and a Project" (Faithfull) describes residential adult education at Braziers Adult College at Ipsden (Oxfordshire, England) and suggests that such colleges should provide training courses in simpler living and redesigned patterns of human existence that consume and pollute less. It suggests that older people, with their experience of making the best of an aging body since about age 40, would be perfect as leaders of this movement of adaptation. (CML)

Three broad categories were identified among 340 occupations at the four-digit level of the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations: positively/opportunistically engaged in the global economy (conceptual/creative, conceptual/technical); vulnerable (manufacturing, white-collar clerical, blue-collar operative, manual low skill); and insulated (vocational trades and in-person professional, skilled, and low skill). Analysis of Australian Bureau of Statistics data from 1986-2000 using these classifications revealed the following: (1) the Australian work force is 21% positively engaged, 35% vulnerable, and 44% insulated; (2) 62% of males and 47% of females are exposed to global competition; (3) the proportion of insulated and positively engaged workers rose slightly and vulnerable workers fell from 39% to 35%; (4) workers with vocational qualifications were underrepresented among the positively engaged; (5) although part-time and contingent employment grew faster than full time, especially in insulated occupations, the most rapid growth was in full-time positively engaged; (6) strongest growth in positively engaged was among workers 35-54, whereas younger workers declined in this group; and (7) manufacturing occupations have stagnated, whereas some vocational trades experienced continual growth. These two potential paths were discerned: increasing preparation for conceptual/creative and conceptual/technical occupations and/or maximizing job creation in insulated occupations. (Contains 6 tables and 24 figures in the text; appendices include 10 figures of trends by employment group and the classification of 340 occupations.) (SK)

The conclusion of a 1999 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) report that wage gains for training are higher for workers with lower levels of education was revisited using data for males from the 1997 Australian Survey of Education and Training (SET). The study used methods similar to the OECD report (ordinary least squares and treatment effects model) with the following findings: (1) earnings effects for workers with Skilled and Basic Vocational Qualifications were slightly higher than for completers of Year 12; (2) years of occupational experience strongly affected earnings, though effect size declines with experience; and (3) structured training had a positive effect and unstructured training mixed effects. No evidence of a pattern of earnings effects consistent with the OECD results was found. A second study conducted further analyses of the 1997 SET data within the context of the OECD results. For Australia, the OECD had used 1995 Australian Workplace and Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS). SET results were compared with AWIRS and other results for Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Great Britain. The reanalysis highlighted limitations of the OECD report: focus on employer-sponsored formal training, incumbent employees aged 25-54, and cross-sectional rather than longitudinal data. With multivariate analyses to correct for selection biases, the second study did not support the conclusion of the OECD report. (Study 1 contains 10 references; study 2 contains 24 references.) (SK)

Australia introduced User Choice nationally in January 1998 to develop a national training system that is more responsive to clients' needs. User Choice is based on nine principles, including the following: (1) clients can negotiate their publicly funded training needs; (2) User Choice operates in a national training market not limited by state or territory boundaries; (3) pricing of training programs is based on clearly identified state/territory unit cost benchmarks; and (4) clients can negotiate and purchase training over and above what is essential to their qualification outcomes. The evaluations of User Choice have been broadly supportive. A comprehensive evaluation concluded that the overall policy framework is strong and progressing well. However, support for User Choice by employers has been stronger than support by public and private providers. Studies have credited User Choice with increasing the range of training options to satisfy client needs and increasing interaction between employers and providers, particularly in technical and further education. However, all the evaluations of User Choice have highlighted areas of concern and made recommendations for change, particularly in the areas of quality of training and implementation of the nine principles of User Choice in practice. A summary of user choice project approvals is appended. (Contains 20 references.) (MN)

The attitudes and experiences of 18 vocational education and training (VET) practitioners considered to be at the leading edge of online education in technical and further education (TAFE) in South Australia were examined to determine how leading-edge VET practitioners engaged in designing, developing, and facilitating online learning understand their changing roles and professional practice. The practitioners' responses reinforced the fact that online learning is a new frontier pedagogically, technologically, and organizationally. The new tasks of designing, developing, and facilitating online learning both required and stimulated new forms of work organization for VET practitioners. The practitioners generally considered this work a positive experience and credited it with increasing their job satisfaction. However, they also cited negative effects of the introduction of online instruction that call into question the long-term sustainability of online work as it is currently organized. It was concluded that the quality and extent of online education will inevitably be constrained unless the human resource management of training organizations addresses the organization of online work more explicitly. Issues that must be addressed include better job design to accommodate the working conditions associated with online work and institution of sophisticated strategies for building and sustaining work and knowledge networks. (Contains 24 references.) (MN)

The implementation of an educational reform and the subsequent reconfiguration of curricula in a competency format prompted research into the learning experiences of students within a newly reconfigured competency-based curriculum. The curriculum was the technical and further education (TAFE) New South Wales (NSW) Tertiary Preparation Certificate III, first implemented in 1983 as a transition course to further education for adults. Adoption of the particular research perspective for the practitioner researcher in this case was dependent on factors that included nature and purpose of the research; experiences of the researcher within their practice; practitioner's conceptualization of being in the world; and pragmatic considerations, such as time and access. Consideration of these factors led the practitioner researcher to adopt an eclectic Symbolic Interactionist theoretical framework along with its methodology of participant observation. A model of practitioner research was proposed as a way of conceptualizing the conflicting yet complementary roles of teacher and researcher. Key characteristics of the three roles of teacher, course coordinator, and researcher were established, and a graphic representation was developed of these characteristics and the types of interaction and skills involved in each. (Contains 31 references.) (YLB)

The question of the extent to which effective leadership in vocational education and training (VET) depends on the specific context in which it occurs was examined. Data were collected from the following sources: an intensive literature analysis; studies of purposive sample of 12 diverse VET sites across Australia; and individual interviews with 48 individuals and group interviews with approximately 60 individuals at the 12 sites. The data from the sites were assembled and subjected to preliminary analysis. Selected emerging results were reported. The following attributes were deemed important leadership characteristics: (1) envisages future trends and their impacts on current strategies; (2) demonstrates interpersonal skills by talking and listening to others and establishing rapport; and (3) works to understand the personalities, motivations, and other diverse qualities of people. The following different "takes" on effective VET leadership were identified: (1) leadership is initiated and carried by a single "leader" or manager; (2) leadership is encouragement of each employee; (3) leaders must see the big picture and translate it into each staff member's own contribution so they perform at their best; (4) people are essentially born leaders; and (5) leadership is about enabling people to develop and grow within an environment of increasing complexity and change. (Contains 33 references.) (MN)

The socioeconomic contributions of adult learning to community were examined from a social capital perspective. The concepts of human capital and social capital were differentiated, and the relationship between learning, human capital, and social capital was explored. The relevance of social capital in describing the wider benefits of adult learning was illustrated through the examples of a study of the impact of the adult and community education (ACE) sector on communities and society in Victoria, Australia, and a study of a group of African women refugees located in a suburb of a large Australian capital city. The studies documented wider benefits of ACE in the following areas: health; education and learning; employment and quality of working life; time and leisure; command over goods and services; physical environment; social environment; and personal safety. Social capital building was shown to be implicated in effective adult learning in the following ways: (1) social capital is involved in program design, management, and delivery whether it is explicitly recognized as such or not; (2) the processes of drawing on and building social capital are part and parcel of the learning process; and (3) social capital can be a direct or indirect benefit of learning. (Contains 27 references.) (MN)

Increasing the mobility of service providers, including professionals, via mutual recognition (of regulatory systems) agreements (MRAs) has become a significant issue worldwide. Despite increasing interest in MRAs, it may be argued that MRAs are but one of a larger range of major developments that have fueled current interest in occupational competence descriptors and professional practice. Other important developments are as follows: rapid and accelerating change; public dissatisfaction with the professions; the limited understanding of the nature of professional practice; the emergence of a knowledge society; globalization leading to a corporate model of service provision; and moves to alternative and flexible modes of service delivery. The claim that mutual recognition is but one issue among these major developments may be illustrated by the examples of the following accreditation schemes: (1) the Law Society of New South Wales Specialist Accreditation Scheme; (2) the regulatory model recently developed in the United States by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing; (3) the competence-based assessment strategy developed by the Dietitians Association of Australia; and (4) various practices being used to assess competence in 17 Australian professions. These examples demonstrate that the role of professional competence standards in MRAs and in professionals' mobility is far from clear. (Contains 25 references.) (MN)

This report examines the participation of Australia's vocational education and training sector in aid projects in Southeast Asia and the Pacific from 1980-1997. It begins with background information on training assistance to developing countries, and it outlines the economic and educational assumptions underlying Australia's aid program to six Southeast Asian and seven Pacific Island nations. Detailed background information and descriptions of aid projects in Indonesia, the Philippines, Western Samoa, the Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea are provided. The report notes that the countries are in various stages of transition from traditional to modern, wage-based economies, and Australia's approach has been pragmatic, attempting to offer best practices within the host country's existing structural and policy framework. Three recurring issues are identified: (1) problems with project design; (2) adequacies of equipment and skills related to learning technologies; and (3) differences in cultural values. The prospects for the sustainability and continued effectiveness of projects are addressed. The report contains 3 appendices that include documents examined, persons consulted, and program components by project year and cost. (Contains 56 references.) (SK)

The experiences of early school leavers in a New South Wales Central Coast community during the year after they left school were examined to identify ways of easing their transition into the community and the work force. Data were collected through interviews with community service providers, representatives of educational agencies, refuge workers, and local employers. Few schools had a system for providing early school leavers with information about their options. Unlike in Europe, the responsibility of schools to early leavers in the North Coast appeared to be minimal and did not embrace the idea that early school leavers should be followed up via some well-established community-based arrangements. Because many early leavers left school too suddenly for the school to intervene or left "under a cloud," they were unlikely to receive sympathetic farewells and relevant information, even though they are the students most in need of information and support. It was concluded that the reason early school leavers pose such a problem for policy is because Australia's vocational education and training system remains based on the historical dominance of the apprenticeship system. Greater integration of education and training arrangements with the local community and its employer networks and support services was recommended. (Contains 32 references.) (MN)

The research implications of the concepts of working knowledge and work-based learning were examined. A research agenda for work-based learning arising from the analysis of "working knowledge" was presented. The agenda listed questions pertaining to the following areas: (1) the conditions bringing about work-based learning; (2) the nature of working knowledge; (3) knowledge formation and learning at work; (4) academic institutions and their knowledge codes; (5) contemporary knowledge formation; and (6) working identity. The impact of the "embeddedness" of learning in the workplace on attempts to research how knowledge is produced in workplaces was discussed, focusing on the following items: (1) what employees deem to be learning practices and how they understand these practices by their various conceptions of learning; (2) the work relationships and social learning that occur among employees and their influence on formation and modification of worksites' learning practices; and (3) the organizational culture that provides a context for learning. The following factors conditioning a learning culture were explored in an analysis of the problem of researching how an organizational "learning culture" is produced in enterprises: environments pressing the organization to change; organizational systems promoting learning; and practices securing employee commitment. (Contains 18 references.) (MN)

The occupational pathways of a representative national sample of Australian school leavers were examined over a 7-year period after leaving school. The study was based on the initial vocational interests of male (n=1436) and female (n=1273) high school pupils and formed part of the longitudinal 1970 Youth in Transition study, a national probability sample of Australian youth. The interest inventory used was a 24-item questionnaire of the Holland typology of interests. In a followup over the 7-year period, the full-time occupation was classified in terms of realistic, investigative, artistic social, enterprising, or conventional interest categories. Results indicated a major disparity between initial vocational interests and occupational destinations at the commencement of a career. Sufficient evidence was found to argue that the vocational interests of youth were not always reflected by their initial occupational pathways. The results indicated greater congruence with the passage of time and pointed toward a period of career exploration followed by consistency. (Appendixes include 27 references, 1 figure, and 3 data tables.) (Author/YLB)

Australian employment patterns for 1986-2000 are depicted in this report using a framework of nine occupational categories classified in terms of level/nature of skills and degree/nature of exposure to globalization. The categories are as follows: symbolic analytical services (conceptual, technical), in-person services (professional, intermediate, elementary), and routine production services (advanced skill, white collar, blue collar, low skill). By category, 31 tables and 43 figures depict the following: (1) current employment patterns; (2) overall occupational change, 1986-2000; (3) occupational change by hours worked; (4) change by gender; (5) change by age; (6) change for 15-19 year-olds; and (7) change for 20-24 year-olds. Major findings summarized in the report are as follows: (1) substantial growth in symbolic analytical services (conceptual), which are most in demand in the knowledge economy; (2) low participation of young people in this category; (3) other areas of greatest growth in occupations that are most vulnerable to the global economy; (4) youth employment increasing in part-time, casual, low skilled occupations; and (5) stagnating growth in routine production services (advanced skill), a major area served by vocational education. Appendices contain the four-digit occupational codes from the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations for occupations in the nine categories. (SK)

The question of whether apprenticeships and traineeships can survive in Australia's emerging social and economic environment was explored through a review of two bodies of research. The first consisted of recent reviews of the quality of traineeships in Queensland and Tasmania and apprenticeships in Victoria. The second was a study on the future of work that was being conducted by the Research Centre for Vocational Education and Training and Australian Centre for Industrial Relations Research and Training. The recent success of Australia's New Apprenticeship system was considered in the context of the structure, content, and skill requirements of the jobs currently being created. The following problems were identified as affecting the long-term survival of apprenticeships and traineeships: increasing detachment from a centralized industrial relations system and industrial awards; increasing reliance on skill opportunities provided by the content and structure of work in individual enterprises rather than within an industry; high levels of employer influence and declining levels of employer investment in training; increasing dependence on a regime of public subsidy and training regulation; uncertainty about how to deal the competing trends of on-skilling and de-skilling; and reluctance to admit that not all workplaces are or even aspire to be learning organizations. (Contains 12 references.) (MN)

An approach is needed that recognizes a "system" of pathways results from an interaction between Australian pathway designs and reforms of policymakers on the one hand, and the decisions by young people and their families on the other. (Pathways are combinations of education, training, and employment activities that can be taken to acquire a certificate of type of employment.) Data from the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth for about 2,200 year 10 students from the late 1980s for 7 years identify hundreds of different patterns of activity in the transition from school. For the group that did not obtain tertiary qualifications, these eight pathways have been defined: (1) those who obtained a full-time job on leaving school and remained in full-time work; (2) those who gained an apprenticeship or traineeship followed by full-time work; (3) school leavers who participated in full-time further study before entering full-time employment; (4) youth who experienced a brief or extended period of unemployment, part-time work, or not in the labor force, but were in full-time work for the remainder of the time; (5) those who did the same for an extended period; (6) those who worked mainly part-time; (7) those who were unemployed for the majority of the time; and (8) those mainly not in the labor force. Other pathways were identified for those with tertiary qualifications. (YLB)

An analysis examined changes in participation in vocational education and training and in schooling and higher education in Australia. It drew principally on data from the Youth in Transitions study. Participation estimates were based on information from four cohorts of young people. Members of each cohort initially completed multiple-choice tests in reading comprehension and mathematics and then completed an annual mail questionnaire focused on participation in education and the labor market. Participation was compared when members of the cohorts were aged 19 in 1980, 1984, 1989, and 1994. Types of educational participation identified were year 12 completion, technical and further education (TAFE), apprenticeship, higher education, and post-school education and training. Results indicated substantial growth in most forms of post-compulsory education; a year 12 completion rate that more than doubled in the 14 years spanned by the cohorts; substantial increase in participation in TAFE programs; declining participation in apprenticeships; and nearly doubled participation in higher education. In a reversal, in the most recent cohort, young people from blue-collar families were more likely to participate in TAFE than those from other families. The wealth profile of apprentices declined marginally over time. In the mid-1990s, young people from the wealthiest quartile were somewhat less likely to enter apprenticeships. (YBL)

A study investigated the critical reasoning skills of a group of 111 Australian adult tertiary students who were practicing adult vocational and further education teachers and trainers, using the recently developed Critical Reasoning Test (CRT). It examined some variables that might be expected to affect critical reasoning scores. These tertiary teachers' mean CRT score was found to be only at or below the "average" levels of other professional, non-teacher normative samples. No significant between-group CRT mean differences were found for these students' year of course, graduate/non-graduate status, age, or gender. In conclusion, the effective teaching-learning of the skills and dispositions underlying critical reasoning does not appear to be progressing well in at least some areas of tertiary education. Such evidence suggested that more attention should be given to facilitating this important area of student learning in universities in the new millennium. (YLB)

Data on the work force in Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes in Victoria, Australia, for 1993-1998 reveal a number of structural changes. First, the number of women staff increased from 46% to 53%, although men still constitute 54% of the teaching staff. As full-time staff employment dropped an average of 1.1% annually, part-time employment increased 9.9%. Overall, full-time tenured males have been replaced with part-time males and females on fixed-term or sessional contracts. The proportion of teachers on TAFE staffs has declined 3 percentage points. Changes in the TAFE work force parallel those in the economy as a whole, such as a shift in industrial structure from manufacturing toward service and information technology. Just as in the general economy, a decreasing core of full-time tenured staff is surrounded by an increasing periphery of part-time sessional/short-term employees. Factors fueling this trend include industrial restructuring, an abundant labor supply in the peripheral market, and a decline in union membership. During the period of the study, TAFE institutes were amalgamated from 32 to 19 in order to create a competitive market. The changes in the TAFE work force have implications for professional development, workplace child care, and flexible working hours. The data indicate a wide variation in the way each institute has responded to changes. (Contains 17 references.) (SK)

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 1994-95 survey indicate that about one-fifth of the adult population volunteers. Estimated value of their work is 3% of the gross national product, $12.5 billion. However, volunteer training is neglected in the National Strategy for Vocational Education and Training (VET). A seminar was conducted to identify volunteer training issues in VET. Participants noted that, ideally, organizations would have a mix of volunteers and paid personnel and that volunteer experience would be a valuable indicator of employability. In organizations where specific competencies are required, such as fire fighting, volunteers need a high level of capability and thus more training. Better delivery of training would improve satisfaction. Constraints on volunteer training include cost, loss of investment when volunteers leave, tensions between paid and unpaid workers, and lack of capacity. Strong anecdotal support was found for volunteer work as a significant path to paid work. Ambiguities surround the attempt to interpret volunteer employment and training in accordance with market economy principles. Assessment is also an ambiguous issue: formal assessment may be perceived as a failure to respect the gift of volunteers' time, yet volunteers may resent training and assessment that favors paid employees. Participants demonstrated a high level of support for national Training Packages, if used selectively and sensitively. The choice of undergoing formal assessments involved in the Training Packages should be left to the volunteer. (Contains 20 references.) (SK)

Adult continuing education (ACE) can be a major force in human capital development and an integral part of lifelong learning. Although recognition of the importance of ACE in developed countries is increasing, the impact of ACE is not well understood in some middle-income countries (MICs), there is a lack of leadership, and the sector is somewhat underdeveloped. ACE must be viewed as a number of interrelated policies and delivery systems reflecting the needs of different clients and components of ACE. Successful governance of ACE depends on involving key stakeholders. Major issues that need to be addressed include equity, access, and support for career progression for adults. Although individuals and/or employers often bear the financial costs of ACE, there is recognition of the need for investment of some public funds to support ACE programs in literacy and foundation education and for some categories of clients to ensure access and promote equity objectives. MICs that are developing ACE as an integral part of lifelong learning must adopt policy and delivery models addressing learning objectives through a combination of short- and long-term programs to a broad range of clients in what are often nonconventional settings. (Contains 20 tables/figures/boxes and 26 references.) (MN)

The Career Interest Test (second edition) is a 63-item forced choice and individually administered assessment of 7 vocational interest categories: Outdoor, Practical, Scientific, Creative, Business, Office, and People Contact. The test is designed for use in educational and vocational contexts. The item content has been revised from the earlier 1989 edition developed by the author and others, and the Career Interest Test is now made freely available to registered psychologists. Descriptive data on some 900 Australian high school pupils and occupational data are provided, together with information relating to the concurrent validity of the 7 categories. The Career Interest Test is attached. (Contains 12 tables, 6 figures, and 16 references.) (Author/SLD)

A study examined the relationship between education and training and changes to farm management practices that improve profitability. Data were drawn from a National Australian survey of 2,500 farms and from an interview survey of 65 Tasmanian farms, 45 of which had participated in recent training. Findings indicate that farms that participated in training were more likely to make changes that improved profitability. Education and training impacted the farm business via managers' greater awareness of possible innovations, via improved decision making and allocation of resources, and via attitudes that encourage change. Most changes to practice were influenced by interaction with, and information from, multiple sources, including peers, experts, and training events. Family, staff, and other farmers were relatively more important in prompting change for farm managers with no postsecondary educational qualifications. Expert advisers, other farmers, and training events were major sources of awareness of subsequently implemented strategies and practices, as well as major sources of influence on the decision to change. Interaction with peers, family, and friends facilitated changes in values, attitudes, and beliefs, and may be necessary before change can occur. Education and training influences promoted change by delivering new knowledge and skills and by providing opportunities for interaction with experts and peers. Education and training programs designed to encourage interaction and sharing of knowledge and skills were most likely to facilitate changes in farm businesses, especially to complex practices such as financial and land management. (Contains 41 references.) (TD)

A case study exploring the relationship between local leadership and the school-community partnership was conducted in a small, isolated Australian mining town. Data were generated from written materials such as the local newspaper and interviews with 8 school staff members and 11 community members involved with the schools or representing business, industry, and state and local government interests in the town. The major school-based interactions with the community were fundraising activities, sporting activities, cultural activities, and informal and formal community involvement in school operations and management. The study identified indicators of the effectiveness of school-community partnerships: a strong commitment to the partnership from school and community leaders; a high level of cohesiveness within the schools; wide-ranging and ongoing involvement by community members in all aspects of the school's organization and management; wide-ranging and ongoing involvement of students and school staff in community activities; and a strong sense of ownership of the school by the community. Findings indicate that leadership that enhances the school-community partnership actively engages in relationship building; facilitates two-way communication; strongly supports the involvement of varied community members in ongoing activities, as well as planning and decision making; and supports both a philosophy and practice of shared leadership. (Contains 49 references.) (TD)

A survey was designed to assist in constructing a picture of new vocational education and training professionals working in organizational settings in Australia. They were practitioners whose positional titles included training and development (T&D), human resource development, or human resource practitioners who work within organizational settings or as consultants to organizations. The subscriber data base for "Managing T&D" was used as a research sample. Of 1,200 surveys circulated throughout Australia, 197 usable responses were received. Results indicated respondents perceived that training is increasingly being afforded a high priority in Australian workplaces; 80 percent worked in organizations that employed T&D staff; the naming or labeling of the profession as practiced in organizations is not consistent and could be seen as an indicator that this is still an evolving field of practice in organizations; the lack of requirement by organizations of a constant or specialist qualification of its practitioners could also be seen as supporting the claim the field is still evolving; there was considerable consistency in the nominated current skill requirements for practitioners and in perceptions about current areas of high importance to organizations and predictions about future areas that would be of high importance to organizations; and there was a relatively commonly held sense of the purpose of this field of professional practice. (YLB)

Indexes of socioeconomic status (SES) are widely used in school and higher education because of the known relationship of low educational participation and achievement by socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Because an index of SES can predict which areas and social groups need to be "targeted" to improve educational participation, this methodology assumes that disadvantage is concentrated in particular localities. Some analysis of "area" disadvantage is an essential step in determining what policies can be effective in countering the effects of socioeconomic disadvantage on post-school participation, especially vocational and technical (VET) education. However, SES is one among several useful dimensions, including the characteristics of "equity groups" and the particular strategies that are known to be effective in addressing VET needs. An approach can be taken where SEIFA indexes (Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas) are used to identify those localities in Australia where large areas of disadvantaged people live. The rationale for using such indexes springs not only from their widespread use in public policy but from the evident need to address the conceptual weakness of equity policy in the VET system. The SEIFA indexes predict areas with low achievement in education generally, but these areas are those with higher levels of VET participation and achievement. Economic factors may be more useful than educational and occupational measures to identify these potential VET clients. Further research will summarize an analysis of the application of SEIFA indexes to VET participation in disadvantaged urban regions. (Contains 15 references and 2 tables.) (KC)

Eighteen VET practitioners considered to be at the leading edge of online education in technical and further education in South Australia were interviewed to determine the extent of their knowledge about and experiences of online learning and teaching. Data were gathered through a survey, structured interviews, online research events, and two face-to-face workshops. Responses indicated that, despite a VET policy environment keen to accelerate the take-up of online learning, online teaching and learning remains a very new area of human endeavor and a new area for VET policy and practice. The practitioners were actively involved in constructing knowledge about online learning. However, they were not yet systematically or consciously reflecting on the inferences to be drawn from their individual and collective experiences. Although the practitioners were excited and challenged by their online activities, they were also frustrated and pressured by lack of time, infrastructure, and resources. The practitioners' four main sources of professional learning about online teaching and learning were as follows: learning by doing; learning through work colleagues and teamwork; learning through communities of practice; and learning through formal off-the-job professional development. Organizational culture, policies, and structures played a big role in the VET practitioners' adoption and implementation of online VET. (MN)