SPEAKERS

Locating professional qualifications in vocational FET Colleges - A Case Study of FET-HE articulation

Seamus Needham

This paper aims to understand ways in which institutional articulation between education and training sectors in South Africa can occur in the absence of enabling legislation. Using a case study of an existing articulation process between FET Colleges and a University, the paper draws on theoretical perspectives and historical contexts to emphasize difficulties of such an articulation. A key argument used in the paper is that whilst education and training policy is still emerging at a national qualifications framework level, resulting in curricula redesign and revision at a sectoral level, institutional articulation is possible. The paper details key learnings identified through the application of an articulation process between FET Colleges and a university in order to demonstrate ways in which institutional articulation can impact on both curricula realignment and articulation with a qualifications framework.
 
Seamus Needham is Research and Development Manager at the University of the Western Cape’s Further Education and Training Institute (UWC FETI).  He has been involved in adult education and training for over 15 years and has extensive experience of systemic change initiatives as part of the transformation of South Africa’s education and training system since 1994.  He is currently employed by the University of the Western Cape’s Further Education and Training Institute, whose primary focus is on capacity building and research within the FET College sector and the development of FET College educator qualifications. Further Education and Training Institute, University of the Western Cape, South Africa


A Revolution in Trade Training: Transforming Trade Training

Wayne Collyer, Swan TAFE, Western Australia

Transforming Trades Training is a groundbreaking project aimed at improving the relevance, convenience and flexibility of apprenticeships.

Learning in the workplace is formally recognised, meaning the time an apprentice takes to complete their qualification can be reduced.
Being able to select how much learning occurs in the workplace and how much occurs in the training organisation towards obtaining the trades qualification; being supported by the training organisation when learning occurs in the workplace by providing suggested learning paths, resources and sample assessments; assessing learning by gathering evidence of competence in the workplace together with attending the training organisation for assessment.

The new approach is designed to provide flexibility for the employer and apprentice.  An employer can opt to keep their apprentice in the current system, with all delivery and assessment occurring in the training organisation; while another employer can opt to have all the learning occur in the workplace, with their apprentice attending the training organisation for assessments only.

In short this new approach will have a number of benefits for the apprentice, employer and training organisation.

Wayne Collyer has been Managing Director of Swan TAFE in Perth, Western Australia (WA) since 2004.  Under Wayne’s direction the College has undergone immense changes.  A commitment to providing quality training has distinguished Swan TAFE as Weste Large Training Provider of the Year 2006 and a finalist for National Large Training Provider of the Year 2006.
 
Wayne was born in Brisbane and spent most of his early childhood in Cairns, North Queensland, Australia.  He has held various positions within TAFE Colleges over the years and in 1993 Wayne completed a Masters in Education Leadership.  Wayne had a particular interest in Employment Based Training which has formed the basis for his presentation today.

The Impact of Language in TVET

Dr Mitch O'Toole

Specialist knowledge and skills are produced by specialist communities, such as artists, scientists, electricians, carpenters and bookmakers. People in groups such as these tend to develop special styles of language for use among themselves. These styles can become characteristic of the way members write when they prepare technical manuals, safety alerts and incident reports. Failure to understand such documents can have consequences ranging from slowed development and spread of technical skills to increased occurrences of workplace injuries and death.

Technical and vocational education and training institutions exist to give young people, who are outside such specialist communities, access to the knowledge and skills which those communities produce. However, the style in which much specialist text is written can provide a real barrier to access for our young people.

This paper will explore some of the reasons for the development of such potentially alienating styles and suggest ways in which TVET teachers can help young people to comprehend, and hopefully make better use of, specialist knowledge and skills.

Mitch O'Toole is Convenor of Secondary Science Education Programmes in the School of Education at the University of Newcastle, Australia.  He has been working on student difficulty with specialist language style since the early 1980s. His experience with the difficulties that apparently straightforward science text caused for young people from backgrounds other than English sensitised him to the wider communication problems caused by specialist text.

Mitch has published materials for teachers, students and teachers in training. His research into the difficulties specific language features cause for particular groups of students continues to expose significant interactions between learner background, text characteristics and learning outcome.

Presenting a basket of choices to learners: The power of partnerships in providing Technical and Vocation Education and Training

Mabilo Masaka & Eliab Simpungwe

This paper discusses the benefits that arise from creating partnerships in providing diverse range of skills and capacity development to smallholder agricultural entrepreneurs. The Limpopo Department of Agriculture owns two Agricultural Training Centers in Limpopo Province which have been transformed from offering structured diploma certificate training to offering learner centered skills through the Limpopo Agribusiness Development Academy (LADA). This has been achieved through Public Private Partnerships which have enable the provision of a wide and varied range of training initiatives that meet the requirements of different categories of learners.

Mabilo Masaka is Programme Manager for Limpopo Agribusiness Development Academy.  He holds a B. Agricultural Management and an honours degree in Agricultural Economics as well as a Masters Degree in Development and Management   He joined Limpopo Department of Agriculture in 1997 and has held various positions at district and provincial level including Agricultural Economist, Assistant Director-Agribusiness Planning.

Eliab Simpungwe is Programme Coordinator of the Limpopo Agribusiness Development Academy responsible for planning and directing skills development programmes in the Limpopo Department of Agriculture.  He has extensive experience in rural development and has taught Agricultural Economics at tertiary level.  Eliab has a PhD in Environmental Sciences from Wageningen University, the Netherlands. as well as diploma in education.

Lessons for partnership between colleges, industry and government from a Swiss-South African perspective

Ken Duncan

The Swiss-South African Cooperation Initiative, a public-private partnership in development, has implemented several skills-training projects in collaboration with public FET colleges.  It is currently helping to align the new National Curriculum (Vocational) more closely with the needs of industry through a combination of workplace-based experience for learners and in-service professional development for college educators, in line with JIPSA's goals of promoting college-industry partnerships and developing FET colleges as centres of excellence.

This paper draws on SSACI's experience to formulate some key lessons about college-industry partnerships, problems inherent in such relationships and ways of maximising their effectiveness.

Ken Duncan is CEO of the Swiss-South African Cooperation Initiative and has managed SSACI since its inception in 2001, overseeing 50 projects that have trained and placed over 4,000 young people in skilled employment. Before establishing SSACI, Ken was a consultant to international and local development agencies, and government departments. From 1989 to 1996 he was Deputy Director of an educational NGO operating throughout Southern Africa, including Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Swaziland and RSA. Ken has a Masters degree from Rhodes University, specialising in the evaluation of educational projects, and a Higher Diploma in Education from the University of the Witwatersrand.

The Power of Partnership for Systemic Change

Ntsiki Gumbe & Barbara Dale-Jones

The implementation of the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) is already having a profound effect on the provision of education and training in South Africa. The challenges of the system are great, involving shifts in the mindset of leadership, practitioners and learners, as well as major changes in curriculum and instructional practices.

The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) has initiated a national programme, the NQF Support Link, which is aimed at strengthening and accelerating the implementation of the NQF. The presentation looks at the history, rationale, and the goal of this initiative as well as the challenges, risks and benefits of SAQA's partnership with eDegree in delivering a programme aimed at creating systemic change in education and training in this country.

Ntsiki Gumbe is the Deputy Director: Information Services at the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), a sub-directorate that is responsible for collecting, managing and disseminating information regarding the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) and SAQA. She is also the Project Manager of the NQF Support Link.  Ntsiki has been in the information management field for the past ten years. She worked at the Department of Education for two years and has been at SAQA for the last eight years. Ntsiki has a BA a diploma (advanced) in Information Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, as well as Honours degree in Information Studies from the Johannesburg University.

Barbara Dale-Jones is the General Manager of eDegree, a South African company specialising in partnering with both private and public institutions to ensure the dissemination of education in South Africa and throughout Africa. She has worked in education for 18 years. She previously lectured English at Rhodes University and later worked as an independent educational and e-learning consultant. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree and Master of Arts degree from the University of Rhodes.