Rupert Maclean

Handbook of Technical and Vocational Education and Training Research

This chapter describes the genesis and development of research in vocational education and training (VET) in Australia over the last 30 years from the mid 1970s through to the mid 2000s, a period of significant and dynamic change in the vocational training landscape of this country. It traces the origins of research from the watershed Kangan Committee report of 1974 through to the present national program of research and evaluation. Finally there is a discussion on the future of VET research in Australia that identifies some challenges facing research in the system.This chapter describes the genesis and development of research in Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Australia over the last thirty years from the mid 1970s to the mid 2000s, a period of significant and dynamic change in the vocational training landscape of this country.

Secondary Education Reform in the Asia-Pacific Region

The reform, strengthening and upgrading of secondary education is one of increasing world-wide concern. This is particularly the case for least developed and developing countries, those going through a period of rapid transition and countries in a post-conflict situation. Nowhere is this concern greater than in the vast and diverse Asia-Pacific region which is home to approximately 60 per cent of the world’s population of six billion people, and 71 per cent of the world’s total number of illiterates.

Achieving Education for All in the Asia-Pacific Region

The Education for All movement has gained considerable momentum throughout the world over the past ten years, as countries work increasingly closely together to stamp out illiteracy and so empower individuals and their communities and help create a better quality of life for their citizens. This is to be expected, for as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has noted the attainment of basic literacy and numeracy skills has been identified repeatedly as the most significant factor in reducing poverty and increasing participation by individuals in the economic, political and cultural life of their societies (OECD/DAC, 1996). This realization is not new, and is not limited to organisations like the OECD. Many development agencies such as the Swedish International Development Co-operative Agency (SIDA, 2001), the World Bank (1997, 2000), the Department for International Development in the United Kingdom (DFID, 2000), and non-government organizations such as Oxfam (Watkins, 2000) strongly share this same view.

Equality of Opportunity in Education

The notion that there should be equality of opportunity in education, where everyone has fair and equal access to a good quality education regardless of social background, race, gender or religion, and where people achieve success in education according to their efforts and ability, free of any form of discrimination, is enshrined in several International Conventions. Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations, 1948) proclaims that “everyone has the right to education”, that “education shall be free, at least in the elementary or fundamental stages” and that “education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality...”.

Areas of TVET Research

The field of vocational schooling in social pedagogy as an off-the-job training has taken a special role both in the system of vocational training and in the teaching professions at university since its implementation in the seventies. This has clearly affected the development of vocational-scientific research. | Excerpt from publication.

A Case Study of Learning Achievement in South Asia

In this article the area of learning achievement in the primary cycle is examined, where the discussion is expansive and research findings are presented in greater detail than was the case in an earlier article in this Handbook (see Achieving Education for All in the Asia-Pacific Region). This emphasis upon learning achievement is presented on the grounds that by far the most concerning outcome of education for all and EFA 2000 Assessment in the Asia-Pacific region was the emerging evidence that in South Asia (UNESCO, 2000), with the exception of The Maldives, the often impressive gains in primary access and participation rates were accompanied by alarmingly low levels of learning achievement.