Ruth Wallace

Indigenous Dot Com: E-Learning in Australian Indigenous Workforce Development and Engagement

Improving the engagement and outcomes of Australian Indigenous people through training is underpinned by understanding the nature and experiences of learning for different people in a range of contexts. A number of Indigenous engagement projects that incorporated e-learning strategies were conducted between 2005 and 2007. These projects utilized a range of e-tools and strategies to embed e-learning into learning programmes that will improve the outcomes for Indigenous1 people, Australia-wide. This analysis explores the impact of e-learning-based pedagogy on the educational and employment outcomes of Indigenous people. In particular, the impact of incorporating e-learning into vocational education and training on Indigenous learners’ engagement, training and employment are considered. This chapter examines six case studies and reflects on the issues identified through this analysis. The theme identified centres around structures and processes. Structures include the use of technology in education and developing culturally appropriate training resources. The processes include professional development, integration of e-learning, partnerships and diverse representations of knowledge. The implication for investment in these processes and structures that enhances and supports learning and employment outcomes for Indigenous people is discussed. E-learning projects are aimed at addressing the skills and qualification gaps needed to gain successful employment outcomes. These projects had a particular focus on the involvement of Indigenous champions in the project and sustainability which are also discussed.

Managing Plant Biosecurity Across Borders

In the rugged highlands outside a very small village in Indonesia’s province of West Timor, a small-holder farmer and his family grow mixed crops, mainly citrus, to bring in their subsistence livelihood. The farmer is talking with us about a disease affecting his family’s citrus trees. The family farm is located only two hundred kilometres from Australia’s border, and a little over one hour’s flight to Darwin, the nearest Australian city, which is a mere 820 km away. Putting that into other contexts, the farm is much closer to Australia than Indonesia’s capital city, Jakarta, and the same distance as London is to Italy or Sydney is to Melbourne. The farmer is concerned about his failing citrus production. Each year, he explains, a particular disease takes its toll on the productivity of the crop, and each year his income falls as a result. The disease has a treatment supported by the authorities. Every year, the farmer treats his trees according to the authorized recommendations.

Introduction: Innovations in Theory and Practice

International changes in society, including changes in economic power and management, new technology, demands for sustainability and demographic changes have challenged those who work in vocational learning sectors to consider approaches that will support workforce development and adult education. Many years and resources have been put into the formal system of vocational learning, while less government resources have been expended on informal learning systems. Pertinent questions for the formal system sector include what could and should be done to better provide vocational learning for those presently likely to pursue learning via both the formal and informal sectors. The theoretical aspects of vocational learning that support the development and understanding of vocational learning processes and practices are set out in this chapter, and an overview is offered of the diverse range of international examples of innovative approaches to vocational education theory and practice presented in this book.

A strategy for managing biosecurity across borders

Chapter 12 integrates and analyzes the significant parts of all the preceding chapters. This process involves especially the contribution each chapter makes to the research on the areas of the matrix that have been its focus. The next section of the chapter sets out a way of looking at the complexities in an attempt to provide the beginnings of a holistic strategy for managing biosecurity. The intent in presenting such a proposed strategy is to provide a starting point – a ‘way in’ if you like – for all stakeholders in the biosecurity endeavor – policy personnel at all levels of governance, planners and regional developers, non-government organizations, community groups and individuals, to realistically plan localized strategies that ‘fit’ national constraints and ‘fit’ the way people live their lives. Lansing (2006) cautions about the limitations of a single analytic approach to solving complex problems where the entire social order is implicated in potential solutions. In putting forward a ‘strategy’, therefore, we must ensure that we consider the value of all disciplines and cultural perspectives on a problem that is fundamentally a multidisciplinary and global issue. At the same time, we are aware that such a strategy is always subject to local contextual factors and influences, and should therefore be regarded as a tool for use in planning processes, but not a ‘step-by-step, how-to’ manual.

Accessing local knowledge to achieve economic and social sustainability

Understanding the role and processes that operate in the transmission of local knowledge is central in the discussion of plant biosecurity and food security at a local community level, and at a national or international policy level. Changing social, cultural and economic priorities locally and globally has impacts on local food production processes that local people engage in, the local environment and potential biosecurity threats. The management of biosecurity and food security is linked to knowledge of ecological systems, land and plant management. Extensive ecological knowledge is embedded in local communities that have managed land for generations, changing land management practices and lifestyle choices has the potential to affect that local knowledge, its governance and representation. Changes in local people’s lifestyle may affect their habitat or environment. For example, such changes occur when local people change their diet from a staple local food to non-local or new introduced food sources.

Social Partnerships in Learning: Connecting to the Learner Identities of Disenfranchised Regional Learners

The ways people interpret, operate within or make decisions about their education is based on their identities and institutions’ identities, and the connections between them, or in other words, their perception of the underlying relationships between them and institutions. These relationships are informed by the perceptions of individuals, communities and institutions of their own and others’ identities. These learner identities impact on their engagement in learning activities. Understanding the key factors of learning engagement that impact on the different learner identities is dependent on understanding the aspects of the multiple identities on which individuals draw, and the efficacy of those identities in negotiating new learning experiences. These identities are situated and negotiated in each context, time and place. This chapter reflects on the key drivers of disenfranchised learners’ identities and the role of learning partnerships in developing learner identities that support the engagement of regional learners in formal education. The implications of considering the role of learner identities in the provision of adult education programmes and associated support services are discussed, in particular the implications for educators that meet the expectations of learners and educational institutions and recognize disenfranchised learner identities.

Vocational Learning Futures

Successful vocational learning outcomes depend on two factors. The first is the system itself and the way it is structured, how the system endorses and accredits skills, and the degree to which it includes and recognizes learner outcomes. The second, and perhaps the more important, is the quality and success of the learning that occurs during vocational learning experiences, whether those are formal or informal. Improving vocational learning outcomes requires us to develop an understanding of what research tells us about two aspects of the learning experience, namely what contributes to the nature and structure of the system, how well it caters to the needs of learners, industry and society, and what factors contribute to successful vocational learning. This chapter analyses the studies discussed in this book to illustrate the implications for practice and for theory. The analysis demonstrates that vocational learning is achieved by people who are enabled to access and use networks where information and skills are accessible. Formal TVET models that meet the challenges for future workforces will then recognize and connect to learners’ contexts and identities, while enabling them to develop, maintain and expand their vocational skills.

Engaging Biosecurity Workforces Through Mobile Learning and Technologies in Community Management of Biosecurity Research

In Indonesia, developing robust approaches to the community management of biosecurity includes making meaningful connections to small crop farmers across long distances. In the case of Australian Indigenous rangers, connections need to be made to tour guides whose places of work are spread across even greater distances. Clearly these connections are dependent on effective communication that values and links local knowledge, industry practice, scientific developments and policy directions. The rapid adoption of mobile technologies across urban, regional and remote communities worldwide has the potential to provide a communication network for previously isolated people around issues of common concern. This chapter discusses the use of mobile technologies and m-learning (mobile-learning) in a small farming community in West Timor, Indonesian and with Indigenous people in Northern Australia. The case studies examine the issues related to using mobile technologies and m-learning to engage community members and researchers in the community management of significant knowledge and its transfer between stakeholders. Finally, the potential of utilizing mobile technologies and m-learning in the community management of plant biosecurity is examined.

Social Partnerships in Learning: Engaging Local, Regional and National Partners in Plant Biosecurity Management

Community management of biosecurity in Northern Australia has long been the domain of generations of Indigenous peoples who are connected through culture and tradition to the land and sea. The management of biosecurity by national and regional governments and other agencies is more recent and intersects with the cultural and work practices of local communities to varying degrees. Approaches that develop effective responses to biosecurity threats, particularly across vast, sparsely populated areas, are essentially connected to respectful partnerships with local communities and their members. This chapter discusses the partnerships that bridge diverse knowledge systems and their underlying perspectives as they relate to the community management of plant biosecurity conducted with remote Indigenous people living and working in Northern Australia.