All over, red rover? The neglect and potential of Australian adult education in the community
- Authors: Golding, Barry , Foley, Annette
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Adult Learning Vol. 51, no. SPEC.ISS.1 (2011), p. 53-71
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- Description: Consistent with the 'looking back, moving forward' conference theme, in this paper we undertake a critical, research-based appraisal of the current, arguably neglected state of adult education in Australia in 2010, and proceed to paint a picture of how a different and potentially more positive future might be realised. Firstly, we emphasise situations (including states and territories) in Australia in which adult education is seen to be lacking or missing for particular groups of adults. Secondly we emphasise research evidence confirming the demonstrable value of learning for purposes other than those that are immediately vocational. We identify links between lifelong and life wide learning on one hand, and health and wellbeing on the other. Part of the paper involves international comparisons with other forms of adult learning that Australia might learn from, adapt or borrow. We make particular reference to research underpinning the recent Inquiry into the Future of Lifelong Learning by NIACE in the United Kingdom. Our first main conclusion has to do with equity. Adult and community education (ACE) in Australia is currently seen to be least available or accessible to those Australians with the most limited and most negative experiences of school education, but the most need to learn in non-vocational domains. These groups include older Australians, some men and women, people not in paid work, and rural, isolated and Indigenous people. Our second main conclusion is that, to realise adult learning's future potential, we need changes to government policies, research and practice that acknowledge and actively support the broader nature and value of learning for life across all age groups. To paraphrase research from Belgium by Sfard (2008), based around Beck's (1986) exploration of reflexive modernity, the adult education function of ACE is in dire straits, unless education is seen as being much more valuable than the sum of individual vocational competencies, and particularly unless it is also recognised, valued and supported as one of many valuable outcomes of social, lifelong and lifewide learning throughout the community.
Researching men's sheds in community contexts in Australia : What does it suggest about adult education for older men?
- Authors: Golding, Barry
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Adult and Continuing Education Vol. 14, no. 1 (2008), p. 17-33
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- Description: This paper reports on research into community-based men's sheds in Australia, focusing on how regular activity in these sheds impacts on the informal learning experiences of the mainly older men who use them. It leads to an exploration and reflection on how men's learning experiences in such sheds might inform adult and vocational education in community contexts for older men in other national and cultural contexts. Shed-based activity in community settings is found to provide a critically important, positive and therapeutic, male-positive context that satisfies a wide range of needs not currently available to older men in more formal education settings or in typical adult learning providers. Men's sheds in community contexts provide an important and voluntary social and community outlet for older retired men, particularly for workin- class men who are less likely than other men and particularly women to participate in adult and community education. The research identifies the likely fruitfulness of more closely examining the role of informal learning in enhancing wellbeing through voluntary participation in community settings in other cultural and national contexts.
Work–family balance : Perspectives from higher education
- Authors: Pillay, Soma , Abhayawansa, Subhash
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Higher Education Vol. 68, no. 5 (2014), p. 669-690
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- Description: The article examines different types of work–family pressures amongst people working within the Australian university sector. We were specifically interested in work–family experiences between domestic and migrant Australians. Among the major findings, domestic Australians experience greater levels of work–family imbalance across most of the measures used. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.
The development of employer training in Australia
- Authors: Smith, Andy
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Education and Training Vol. 48, no. 4 (2006), p. 252-261
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- Description: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the statistical evidence for the extent of employer training in Australia and analyse this information in the light of three major qualitative projects that have been undertaken into employer training since the mid-1990s.
- Description: 2003007198
School-based apprenticeships and traineeships in Australia
- Authors: Smith, Erica , Wilson, Lou
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Education + Training Vol. 46, no. 2 (2004), p. 64-74
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- Description: In Australia, as in many other countries, initiatives are constantly being developed which aim to assist school students’ transition into work. One such initiative, which was introduced towards the end of the 1990s, was the introduction of school-based apprenticeships and traineeships, often referred to by the umbrella term “school-based new apprenticeships” (SBNAs). Students taking part in these programs, normally in the final two years of schooling (Years 11 and 12), combine part-time work, study towards a vocational education and training (VET) qualification, and normal attendance at school. This paper reports on the first large-scale research study of school-based apprentices and trainees, which was carried out in late 2001 through a survey of students involved in the programs. The survey was carried out in the three Australian States with the highest numbers of school-based apprentices and trainees, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. The paper commences with a description of the nature of school-based apprenticeships and a description of their introduction and rapid growth. It then gives an overview of the young people’s jobs, their learning and training, and concludes by discussing four problematic areas.
- Description: 2003008056
The gendered shaping of University Leadership in Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom
- Authors: White, Kate , Bagilhole, Barbara , Riordan, Sarah
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Higher Education Quarterly Vol. 66, no. 3 (2012), p. 293-307
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- Description: This article analyses career trajectories into university management in Australia, South Africa and the United Kingdom (UK), skills required to operate effectively and the power of vice-chancellors (VCs) and their impact on the gendered shaping of university leadership. It is based on qualitative research with 56 male and female senior managers. The research found that the typical career path was modelled on male academic careers. Not surprisingly, in South Africa and the UK the perception of the top university leader was of a man but in Australia, where more women have been VCs, there was no such assumption. Characteristics valued in university leaders in Australia and South Africa were 'soft' leadership traits, but in the UK 'hard' aggressive and competitive leadership prevailed. VCs are enormously powerful and can shape the gender balance in management teams and thereby potentially broadening leadership styles beyond the predominant transactional model to include transformational leadership. © 2012 The Authors. Higher Education Quarterly © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.