"Work-ready or Dumbing Down?" -The strategies that students have used to oppose the negative aspects of Training Packages

Victorian TAFE Students andApprentices Network

"Work-ready or DumbingDown?" -The strategiesthat students have usedto oppose the negativeaspects of TrainingPackagesBy Paul MillerNovember 2000with minor formatting amendments in January 2015.

Diploma of Community Services — CommunityDevelopment Student

Victoria University

St Albans Campus

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Acknowledgments

This research project has been a challenging but exciting process especially because it gave me a change to explore the development of policy related to curriculum development within the Vocational Education and Training sector.

There was a variety of people who helped me throughout this research project. FirstlyI would like to thank Maurice Sibelle and Andrea Maksimovic from the Victorian TAFEStudents and Apprentices Network (VTSAN) for helping me out with the developmentof much of the materials that went out to students.

I would also like to thank Bruce Lindsay from Victoria University Student Union for thedevelopment of a range of briefing papers on the issue of the introduction ofcompetency based training. Bruce also wrote the preamble for the motion that wentto meetings of Community Development students. Many thanks also go to MaryHutchison with whom I shared the load of sitting on the Community ServicesArticulation Project. Finally, I would like to thank all the Community Developmentstudents on a range of campuses for making enough of a ruckus on this issue toensure that their concerns could be addressed through a State Government process.

Executive Summary

This research project has been done by talking to the key activists on each campuswithin Community Services courses. This is because people who get active around anissue are more likely to be aware of the circumstances surrounding an issue.Activists will also have a broader knowledge of what other students have done ontheir campus as well as what could be done in the future because they will be morereflective on campaigns due to their participation in them.

This first stage of this research was undertaken through a participatory actionresearch model, and the second stage was undertaken using an action research model.The first stage was participatory because a research project will be closer to the'truth' the more people who are actually involved in an issue take part in itsdevelopment. Along with this, it was simply not possible for one person to get allaround the state to discuss with individual students their ideas on an issue. Thisresearch project is action research in that I have documented the campaign againstthe negative impact of the introduction of a training package to serve as a model forfuture campaigns.

A major part of this was students' reflections on the strengths and weaknesses of thecampaign. Finally, the second stage of this research was performed usingqualitative research because the aim of the second stage was to record theexperiences, difficulties and achievements of students in campaigning for change.It is hoped that the consultative and campaigning approaches that were used by VTSAN in this campaign will be used in the future.

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List of Acronyms

ACTU — Australian Council of Trade Unions

ANTA Australian National Training Authority

CBT — Competency Based Training

CSTP - Community Services Training Package

CSTP Articulation Project — the project set up by the government to establish a

statewide learning program for the Community Services Training Package

ITB — Industry Training Board

NTRA — National Training Reform Agenda

PETE — Office of Post Compulsory Education, Training, and Employment

TP — Training Package

VET — Vocational Education and Training

VTHC — Victorian Trades Hall Council

VTSAN — Victorian TAFE Students and Apprentices Network Incorporated

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Table of ContentsAcknowledgments .................................................................................................................................. 2

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................ 2

List of Acronyms ..................................................................................................................................... 3

Values Guiding the Researcher .............................................................................................................. 5

Introduction ........................................................................................................................................... 5

Research Aims ........................................................................................................................................ 6

Literature Review ................................................................................................................................... 6

Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 11

Findings ................................................................................................................................................ 12

Stage One ......................................................................................................................................... 12

Community Services Training Packages — Student Consultations ............................................... 12

Stage Two ..................................................................................................................................... 13

interview Questions and Typical Responses ................................................................................. 13

Discussion and Summary of Data ..................................................................................................... 16

Stage 1 ......................................................................................................................................... 16

Stage 2 ......................................................................................................................................... 16

Conclusions .......................................................................................................................................... 18

Student Activists' view of the role of VTSAN .................................................................................... 18

Campaign successes and what could have been done better .......................................................... 18

Recommendations ............................................................................................................................... 19

Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................... 20

Appendix 1 - Letter and form motion sent out to students to be voted on at student general meetings ............................................................................................................................................................. 21

Appendix 2 — Results of Student General Meetings ........................................................................... 25

Appendix 3 — Interview Questions ...................................................................................................... 26

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Values Guiding the Researcher

My name is Paul Miller and I am in my second year Diploma of Community Services - Community Development student. The purpose of Community Development is to educate the community about the structural basis of the issues that face them, and through this process provide mechanisms for the community to empower themselves.

Whilst my standpoint generally is Marxist, I have tried not to take a purely ideological stance in this research. I have tried instead to analyse generally the underlying premises of training packages and competency based training (CBT). Another important part of this research has been to document the campaign against the negative changes to the Community Development course that would have been implemented more or less unchallenged without the actions of students.

It is hoped that the model of organising developed through the campaign against certain changes to the Community Development curriculum will serve as a model forstudent resistance to other negative course changes at a broader than campus level.

Introduction

Since the early 1990's, there has been broad agreement between the Liberal Party, the Labor Party and large sections of the trade union movement over the need to convert education into being more and more competency based (Marginson, 1993b). Whilst there has been some opposition to the development and introduction of training packages, there has largely been uncritical support for them, particularly by trade unions and government.

Late last year the issue of competencies came up again because students at several campuses were concerned that their courses would be unrecognisableand possibly axed due to the introduction of a training package qualification. The Victorian TAFE Students and Apprentices Network (VTSAN) organised a committee for students to work out what action they wanted to take in relation to training packages, in order to preserve their course. This committee was called the Save Our Courses Collective.

The Save Our Courses Collective organised a rally outside parliament house. This rallycalled for a one year freeze on training packages, as well as the formation of a state government committee whose role was to implement the training package on a state-wide basis. The implementation committee would have both teacher and student representation. This was an important victory for students since this kind of process is in some ways a return to the values of the original Kangan Report that established TAFE. The Kangan Report gave a great emphasis to community controlover education, an emphasis that successive governments have moved away from ever since.

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Research Aims

To identify what the concerns of students are in relation to the introduction of the Community Services Training Package in Community Work (the old Community Development).

To determine how have students opposed the negative aspects of the introduction of training packages.

To determine which groups (if any) have given unconditional support to training packages.

To discover what the history to the introduction of training packages is.

To determine why the needs of these specific groups have not taken into consideration.

Literature Review

There is a range of literature available on the history and development of training packages both from the position of supporting the introduction of training packages as well as opposing them. From this broad range of material I have selected a number of texts which I believe most clearly summarise the debates and issues underlying training packages in particular and the issue of competency based training in general.

In a web page entitled "Vocational Education and Training — History and Organisation" (http://www.anta.gov.au/ABC/vetpast.htm) the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) put forward their view of the developments that led to the introduction of training packages. This web page argues that in the late '80s the government began to realise that the reason for Europe's ‘competitive advantage’ against Australia in trade was due to their Vocational Education system. The European VET system was competency based and very largely driven by industry. Therefore, there was a need to replicate that system here in order for Australia to remain competitive on the International market.

Furthermore, in another web page by ANTA (http://wvvw.anta.gov.au/ABC/NTF/Trainingpack.htm) the significance of this move is emphasised even more strongly. The idea behind training packages is that they are the assessment framework that underpin the curriculum. Curriculum however is viewed as separate to the competencies that are seen as readily transferable. As well as this, the only group within the community that is mentioned in relation to training packages is industry. Hence, the major theme within training packages is 'Developed by industry for industry' and the emphasis that the person being trained should become `work ready' and 'competent' in the shortest time possible. There seems to be no thought around issues such as the importance of underpinning knowledge to the performance of competencies.

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This is emphasised more clearly in the materials which have been developed by ANTA to be used to educate teachers or 'trainers', as is the preferred term. In the Seminar Notes contained in Seminar for Training Package Users — Participant's Kit (ANTA, 2000), competency outcomes are clearly counterposed to knowledge: "...qualifications to be awarded through the direct assessment of competencies rather than against the learning outcomes of the course..." (p 4)

This is one of the essential themes surrounding training packages and the whole Training Reform Agenda. This is something that Marginson (Ch. 7, p 143-171, 1993a) deals with in some depth. Marginson points out how historically there have been two major methods of education — classical liberal and vocational. Classical Liberal education concentrates on general knowledge whereas vocational education focuses on specific job skills. Likewise, liberal education has generally been seen as the province of the middle class, whereas vocational education has been viewed as the province of the working class. He goes further to point out how in the late '80s and early '90s a process began to bridge the divide between these two kinds of education but on vocational terms through the mechanism of competencies. Three reports of the then federal Labor government set the framework for this — the Finn Report, the Carmichael Report and finally the Mayer report. These three reports drew together what they considered commonalties to education, competencies.

It was argued that what underpins all education is preparation for work and therefore the entire education system should be geared towards this. 'Key competencies' are supposed to underpin all competencies developed and delivered within a training package. Nevertheless, as we shall see later, this is not the case at the moment due to the confusion that exists within the teaching profession as to what competencies are. The list of seven key competencies as adopted by the Mayer Committee are listed below:

Collecting, analysing and organizing information

Communicating ideas and information

Planning and organising activities

Working with others and in teams

Using mathematical ideas and techniques

Solving problems

Using technology

There are also three performance levels for every competency (which have no direct relationship with the eight levels of competency, which have been established within the Australian Qualifications Framework, ie: Certificate I, Certificate II, Diploma, etc.)These three levels are:

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Level 1 describes the competence needed to Carry out established processes Make judgements on quality using given criteria.

Level 2 describes the competence needed to: Manage processes; Select criteria to evaluate and process

Level 3 describes the competence needed to: Establish principles and processes; Evaluate and reshape processes; Establish criteria for the evaluation of a process.

However, these competencies are divorced from knowledge per se. It was argued that the competencies are completely transferable and interdisciplinary. In other words, this key group of competencies which are valid in one discipline are transferable to another discipline. Marginson arguesthat this is nonsense and I have to agree with him. This is one of the most important issues particularly with community services training packages. Competencies by their very nature claim to be independent of underpinning knowledge but by ignoring underpinning knowledge they ignore some very important aspects that contribute to a worker being able to do their job. Examples of this are knowledge of occupational health and safety, and an awareness of the social, economic and political dynamics within society.

It seems to me that an essential aspect of this change towards competency based training is the removal of a generalist education. One possible interpretation of this is that this is a process of the removal of liberal education

from the working class due to the important role education can play in empowerment. Liberal education can empower people to challenge what is going on in their society through deepening their understanding.

Another issue that was going on at the time was the pegging of skills to wagelevels. This was considered by the ACTU as the beginning of a truly egalitarian society in which there was no longer any need for industrial struggle and unions that embarked on industrial struggle would be out on their own. It is important to note that this new training agenda has had tripartisan support from all major political parties, industry and trade unions. However the trade union movement have largely argued for competency based training as a wayof levelling out education — so that workers can get recognition for the work they do on the job.

This underlined more strongly in the awards that have been struck since the early period of the National Training Reform Agenda. These awards have included within them clauses for recognition of skills developed and training to be critical in setting the classification of workers. For example in the Metal

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Industry Award 1984, Part I (M039) it states in section 6B (f) (3) (inserted by V109 ppc 19 Feb 1991) that (Wallace, 1993):

3)In the event that there is a claim for reclassification by an existingemployee to a higher level under the new structure on the ground that the employee possesses equivalent skill and knowledge gained through on-the-job experience or on any other ground the following principles apply;

A)The parties agree that the existing award disputes avoidance procedure shall be followed;

B)Agreed competency standards shall be established by 30 March 1991, by the parties in conjunction with TAFE for all levels in the new classification structure before any claims for reclassification are processed and shall be incorporated in the Implementation Manual as they become available;

C)The Implementation Manual lays down procedures for testing thevalidity of an employee's claim for reclassification. These procedures shallbe undertaken by an independent third party recognised by the NationalTraining Board, eg. TAFE;

Right from the time that the Carmichael Report was released, the Victorian TAFE Students and Apprentices Network (VTSAN) has been raising objections to the change towards CBT. For instance in the Implications of the Employment and Skills Formation Council Report on A New System of Entry Level Training (Pocock, 1992), a range of objections were raised to the Carmichael Report. VTSAN views that the Carmichael report formed part of destroying the most progressive parts of the then current TAFE system. These regressive reforms included greater control by industry of curriculum, assessment and delivery of courses. As well as this there would be an increase in unpaid training in the workplace, reduced access to courses being delivered in public institutions due to the emphasis on workplace training. There is also the prospect that people without the competencies may be discriminated against, and the removal from the education system of the concepts of people studying what they want to learn rather than what is dictated by industry. The removal of equity from the TAFE system - no thought was given to how those who cannot access the TAFEsystem should be empowered to do so. Another major critique that VTSAN had was of the ACTU's approach to training reform. The ACTU has tended to test out its schemes in the metal trades industry and then apply what it has learnt from this to other industries. The problem with this is that a great deal is specific to the metal trades industry. Few industries have as broad career options as the metal trades. Likewise, many industries have a greater requirement of underpinning knowledge than does the metal trades. A good example of this is the community services industry, in which there is far greater stress on underpinning knowledge. This is because part of the role of community development workers is to educate people about the structural causes of their oppression.

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The implementation of the National Training Reform Agenda (NTRA) has been has certainly not been progressing smoothly, as I found out when I attended an Australian Education Union Forum on training packages. What was very clear from the forum is that teachers are as confused about training packages as students are. This is particularly concerning since teachers are the ones that have to develop the curriculum that sits on top of the training packages. There was also a great deal of confusion in relation to 'nominal hours' within a training package, and very little knowledge, let alone understanding of how the key competencies relate to training packages. This shows that students' concerns are well founded in that unless students agitate around this issue, the universality underlying the curriculumof the course 'Diploma of Community Services —Community Development' will be completely undermined.

From the foregoing it is clear that there are many holes in the NationalTraining reform agenda. Annely Aeuckens at the Centre for the Economics ofEducation and Training Conference, 2000, delivered an important critique.One important idea that is raised is that the NTRA is that it was simply grafted onto an old system rather than completely creating a new system. This has resulted in many of the problems of the old system remaining — such as the underfunding of educational institutions and the low status of VET.This is not surprising considering that the NTRA was completely economically driven. Pedagogy had to take a back seat to turning TAFEs into factories to produce workers rather than as education which prepared people for life as well as work. The Ministers of the day were — and Still are — decidedly anti-educationalist. This is a key underlying problem that is resulting in a continual driving down of the standards and is a key reason why curriculum is seen as secondary in training packages.

Although the whole focus of the NTRA is to create a VET system that is developed for industry by industry, there has been continual resistance to industry contributing to the VET system. For example, when the Training Guarantee Levy (a compulsory levy of all employers, which was to pay for on the job training,) was abandoned in 1994 this was due to severe pressure from industry. This was later replaced by a system of subsidies or 'incentives' that simply mean that industry has to pay even less for training than they ever have before.

There is a more fundamental critique of training packages, which raises concerns asto the entire focus on competencies and the damage this is doing to both human potential and even the effectiveness of corporations in dealing with new situations. John Stephenson, in Corporate Capability: Implications for the style and Direction of Work-based Learning (1999) counterposes the concept of competency with the concept of ̀ capability'. What is most definitive about competencies is that they tend to define people's abilities based upon past performance. However, this tends to limit work performance. Many people in their work, particularly in a coordination or managerial role, will need to deal with situations that they have not come across before. This requires an ability that is something other than competency — it is capability. However, capability, whilst it hasbeen an educational concept which has been discussed for as long as

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competencies, is not taken up by Education and Training systems around the world due to the complexities of measurement. As stated elsewhere in educational material produced by ANTA on the issue of training packages, '(Each Training Package assesses according to) ... verifiable workplace outcomes. (ANTA, 2000, p 9)

Thus the introduction of training packages has ended up with a bit of a mess that people out in the community and in particular students and teachers, will have to dealwith for quite a while. And, due to the assumptions underlying the introduction of training packages and the entire NTRA this will only be possible with a stronger resistance being built in the community to Economic Rationalism which the NTRA is a subset of.

Methodology

There are several stages in this research project as detailed below: 1. Coordinate general meetings of Community Services students oncampuses. This includes the need to develop contacts on campuses so thatcoordination happens at the local as well as the statewide level.

2. Collation of the material that has come from the CommunityServices general meetings on campus. This data needs to be processedso that it is useable both for my research as well as for the studentrepresentative on the government committee which is advising thegovernment on the implementation of the community services trainingpackage.

3. Interview a student studying community services on each campusthat took part in the Community Services student meetings. These willthen be collated to summarisesearch.

In the first stage I will be very dependent on the amount of student activity on a campus in order to get the information from student general meetings oncampus back to me in order for me to collate the information.

When I first set out on this research project, I intended to also interview teachers about their resistance to the negative impact of training packages.

Unfortunately, due to the time it took to get in the information from students, it was not possible to interview teachers as well.

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Findings

Stage One

Community Services Training Packages — Student Consultations

I coordinated consultations with groups of student on campus within the Community Services area on what the concerns of students are in relation to the introduction of training packages in May-June 2000.

The following was what students across Victoria unanimously agreed on:

Articulation to university must be safeguarded

There needs to be a greater amount of funding allocated to implement the training packages than was originally proposed

There should be no cut to hours currently funded.

Community Development should remain a generalist diploma. This is an especially important issue for rural students.

Theory based subjects are an integral component of the Community Development diploma which provides a framework from which to work in the field. Therefore these subjects, such as politics and sociology are therefore an essential part of any training package in our area.

Current Community Development students must be able to complete the course they enrolled in.

Part time students must have the subjects they have completed directly recognisable within the new training package.

There needs to be open communication about the progress of the training packages and the implications for education.

Electives need to remain part of the Diploma as they provide insight into various areas of employment in the sector.

The Diploma needs to retain the name Community Development, as Community Work does not imply the social change component of the worker's role.

There were student meetings held at 8 TAFE Institutes/Universities with TAFE divisions and the amount of students who have voted for these positions was 179. There were 3 abstentions and no one voted against this motion.

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The following issues were also raised at particular campuses:

The state government needs to acknowledge the differing needs of students and the factors that influence people accessing education at TAFE rather than in the Higher Education sector, such as the prohibitive cost of HECS, their family commitments and the restrictive, elitist nature of Higher Education entrance requirements. Students should not be penalised for this in a decline in the standard of course offered at TAFE.

The Welfare Studies course must be safeguarded at Kangan. (This is because many students study double diplomas, and classes between the different courses are very often mixed).

International students to continue the course and be recognised within the new training package.

Stage Two

In stage two of the research project, I interviewed eight Community Development students between September and October 2000. Below are firstly listed what common concerns and experiences students had across Victoria followed by the some specific concerns which were raised which have broader implications for the survival of education and training within the area of Community Development.

interview Questions and Typical Responses

What have the concerns been of students on your campus around the issues of the introduction of training packages to replace the previous course?

The main concerns have been around:

Articulation to university as well as cross-articulation between Community Services diplomas.

lack of underpinning theory within the training packages,

Uncertainties concerning what training packages and competencies are and whether they will be regarded highly or lowly in the community services industry.

There has also been a lack of concise information or in fact information of any kind when inquiring about the new training packages or when first enrolling in the training package.

We may lose some of the subjects that have important underlying knowledge and social theory such as Political Economy, Human Rights and Advocacy, Sociology, Political Economy, etc.

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The Course may become too generalist — a specific concern of rural students. If there are no electives, speciality within a generalist course will not exist. Likewise, training packages seem to be signalling the end of the generalist diploma. This would mean that regional centres would not be able to employ the skill base needed to deal with their issues.

Due to low course numbers, courses may be closed or the training package may be used as an excuse to close the course — particularly in rural areas. This has happened at Bendigo.

We felt that the curriculum changes proposed under the training package were being used by different vested interests as a political football to score points rather than looking at what would be the best possible outcome forstudents.

All part-time and full-time students need to be able to complete their course.

What approaches have students used on your campus to put forward their views on these changes?

Some students have participated in the few state-sponsored information sessions around Training Packages.

Participation in the VTSAN student consultations held on campuses up by save our courses collective

Participation in protest outside parliament house in 1999.

Petition against the changes that were to come in with the new course in 1999

Consciousness raising (via student paper, personal approach) to both students and teachers

Do you think this approach has been effective?

lt was quite difficult to get much movement in regard to fighting for a decent Community Work Training Package from students on a whole.

If earlier and better info had been provided by governments and state bodies such as the ITBs then this would have allowed a greater airing of concerns. — Greater democratic process, however, I believe that we did all we could in a very short time frame.

Students were happy to sign petition, but were unwilling to lobby.

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There was a lack of interest in attending the city rally on the issue

Consciousness raising worked to a certain extent. We had little time to reach students before the rally.

Some students were not able to make it to the events we organised

What consultations have you been involved in with at a broader level? Do you think that these broader bodies have listened to you? How effective do you think the results of these broader consultations have been?

VTSAN met with Steven Herbert, at the time a senior advisor to Lynne Kosky. I believe it went quite well and as a result an articulation project was set up. It also allowed us to breathe a bit, in the sense that the introduction of the community work Diploma was frozen for a year at most training organisations (Public & private)

Because we have had representation on the articulation project, we were listened to but I am not quite sure how much has been taken on board.

We felt listened to by VTSAN but not necessarily by the government

We felt that these broader bodies have listened to VTSAN and that the local students' issues have received attention at the statewide level because ofthis.

A consultation process with VTSAN was one of the major contacts we had on this issue beyond our own campus.

Case studies used as evidence in the campaign at the state-wide level both by VTSAN and by some student organisations directly with the Minister

What are the possible approaches that broader bodies might make in the future to ensure that the concerns of students are addressed?

Ensure students are part of the design making processes, there should be students on all national and State ITBs ANTA's board. And any other organisation that makes decisions about student related policy Educational or otherwise.

This also applies to teachers having access/participation in relation to course changes and policy's of restructuring the training system

Closer approach with the Minister

Constant lobbying & consciousness raising of the profile of VTSAN as well as CD students and therefore Community Development itself

Collecting of student stories & case studies in preparation for meeting and collaboration with others.

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This research itself needs to be given a profile when completed.

Writing to heads of departments of courses concerned — form a coalition against the changes

Run a campaign 'tour' — as a way of highlighting the issue and creating greater unity.

Discussion and Summary of Data

Stage 1

The data gathered, in stage one, through student general meetings at a range of campuses showed that the previous forums and campaign committee (which organised the student rally outside parliament house in 1999) had come to a position which represented the views of Community Development students reasonably accurately. Nevertheless there were two main issues raised by students in this stage that had not come up in the campaign before - cross articulation with theWelfare Studies course was an issue raised at Kangan Batman Institute of TAFE, andthe issue of reduction of status of the Community Development course in TAFE is an attack on education for working class people.

Stage 2

Interview Questions and Summary of Answers

Question 1: What have been the concerns of students on your campus around the introduction of the training package to replace the previous course?

One thing that is clear from the answers to this question is that the issues that VTSAN raised through the student general meetings clearly reflected the feelings of studenton campus. However, despite this, there were several important issues raised, which were not part of the original motions sent out to campuses. One particular issue of concern was how well or lowly the Community Work diploma would be regarded in the industry.

Other concerns were that that the training package was used as a political football by a range of vested interests, including it being used as an excuse to close down the course at Bendigo.

Question 2: What approaches have students on your campus used to put forward their views on these changes?

What is quite important in the responses to this question is that students on campus were largely dependent on the processes set up by VTSAN for their voice on this issue. Nevertheless, there are some other activities that students took part in. Some students took part in the State Government sponsored information sessions on training packages - regardless of poor advertising and only running these forums on two campuses. Most campuses also printed articles on the changes in their student papers.

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Do you think these approaches were effective?

A common theme on this question was that students found it hard to get students activated on the issue other than signing a petition. A consistent comment was that if there had been earlier and more consistent information provided on the progress around the training package then it would have been easier to activate students. It was also raised that it was extremely difficult to get country students to be willing to attend a city rally. The most successful activity on all campuses was consciousness-raising around the issue in student newspapers.

Question 3: What consultations have you been involved with at a broader level? Do you think that these broader bodies have listened to you? How effective do you think the results of these broader consultations have been?

Students met with the Minister's chief advisor in 1999 as part of the action to push fora twelve month freeze for the implementation of the training package. This was successful and the Articulation Project was established, with student, teacher and industry representation. Students who were active around the issue felt listened to by VTSAN but less so by the government. Whilst some students took part in the badly publicised state-sponsored information sessions on training packages, the majority of contact that students had on this issue beyond their campus was with VTSAN.

There were several successes to come out of this campaign. The Health and Community Services Industry Training Board seemed to be enlightened a little and recognised that the training package needs a great deal of work to ensure the new course is at least as good as the previous course. Funding was provided to developdraft learning programs. The Training package will be better than it would have been without the work of students and teachers.

Question 4: What are the possible approaches that broader bodies might take inthe future to ensure that the concerns of students are addressed?

A key suggestion that came out of the research was that a change that needs to happen is that students and teachers need to be brought into the decision making process at the statewide level and nationally. There is also a need to develop formal links with the Minister, both State and Federal. There also needs to be constantly lobbying and campaigning to build the profile of VTSAN. VTSAN needs to take a leading role in building alliances to prevent negative change within the education system.

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Conclusions

There are three major themes which have arisen from this report which shall be detailed below, student activists' view of the role of VTSAN in the campaign, campaign successes and what could have been done better.

Student Activists' view of the role of VTSAN

What is very clear from the student interviews as well as other feedback is that the campaign to defend what is good in the current Community Development diploma simply would not have been possible without VTSAN.From the beginning VTSAN coordinated the work to challenge the negative changes in the course as well as facilitating the work of activists on this issue on a statewide level. Indeed, there is a strong argument to say that the student work coordinated through VTSAN gave a much stronger airing to teachers' concerns over the many problems within the Community Services Training Package.

Campaign successes and what could have been done better

The decisions, which were made through the CSTP Articulation Project, achieved many of the demands put forward by students. Whilst there has been a loss in the total hours of the course and there have been some new subjects added in (Community Law and First Aid), the Community Work Diploma will remain a generalist diploma. The diploma has also retained the theory based subjects, albeit under different names than previously. The diploma is no longer called Community Development, however, so long as institutions teach the draft learning program, articulation standards will be maintained with Deakin and Victoria Universities.

Despite all of this, there has been a great lack of proper communication with students about what was actually happening with the changes in their course. Student activists involved in the campaign felt informed about what was going on. However, students outside of these circles knew quite a bit less about what VTSAN was doing, let alone what was happening in the Articulation Project.

Alongside the specific curricular wins, there were other, political wins, such as:

There seemed to be some headway made with the H&CS ITB in that they seemed to realise that the Community Work diploma as it currently standswill have to be given a great deal of work in order for it to stay relevant to the industry.

Funding was provided to develop the draft learning program. This would not have happened without the actions of students and teachers aroundthis issue.

It is clear that the new Community Work diploma, if delivered according to the draft learning program, is a vast improvement on what could have existed if students and teachers had not worked together.

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Recommendations

The form of intervention developed through coordination of the campaign to defend Community Development within the Community Work Diploma needs to be used as a model. When a similar opportunity arises to intervenein curriculum policy - perhaps in Welfare Studies and other courses where there tends to be some tradition of students agitating for what they want, VTSAN needs to coordinate similar campaigns.

That VTSAN focus on developing more effective communication channels than exist at present. This can only be developed through running of campaigns around issues and educating students involved in VTSAN about its importance — an understanding of good communication only develops only through practice.

On the question of CBT and the positives and negatives within it, there is a need to use the links developing between VTSAN and Trades Hall on VET issues. These links should be used not just to raise the issues about CBT itself, but also of the governance process by which training packages and other decisions have been made within the bureaucracy.

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Bibliography

Aeuckens, Annely, The National Training Reform Agenda, 1987 — 1996, Points of difficulty in a partial transformation, October 2000.

Anderson, D, The History of TAFE, 1998, a paper delivered at the Victorian TAFE Students and Apprentices Camp.

Australian National Training Authority, ABC of VET —Training Packages, http://www.anta.gov.au/abc/ntf/trainingpack.htm, last accessed 15/06/2000.

Australian National Training Authority, Vocational Education and Training — History and Organisation, http://www.anta.gov.au/ABC/vetpast.htm, last accessed 15/06/2000.

Australian National Training Authority, Seminar for Training Package Users — Participant's Kit, ANTA, 2000.

Marginson, S, Education and Public Policy in Australia, Cambridge University Press, 1993a.

Marginson, S, "Generic Skills" and the needs of employment, Sydney, Adult Literacy andBasic Skills Action Coalition, 1993b.

Pocock, J, et al, Implications of the Employment and Skills Formation Council report ona new system of entry level training, Victorian TAFE Students and Apprentices Network, 1992.

Stephenson, J, Corporate Capability: Implications for the style and Direction of Work-based Learning, International Centre for Learner Managed Learning, MiddlesexUniversity, July 1999.

Wallace, Laurie, The Metal and Engineering Industry and the National Training ReformAgenda, ACTRAC (Australian Committee for Training Curriculum), 1993

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Appendix 1 - Letter and form motion sent out to students to be voted on at student general meetings

TO: TAFE STUDENT ORGANISATIONS WITH COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT STUDENTS

DATE: Wednesday May 10, 2000.

Dear Friend,

Subject: Community Development Training Package Student Meetings Hello everyone

Late last year VTSAN established the Save Our Courses Collective in order to give a voice to the concerns that Community Development students had raised around the impending introduction of the training package. An important demand of this campaign was for a consultative committee to be set up centrally to implement the training package in Victoria in order for transference of the course from institute to institute to be maintained.

The campaign culminated in a rally outside parliament house and a follow-up meetingwith the Minister. The Minister then later announced the creation of a committee toimplement the training package in Victoria.

At previous meetings of the Save Our Courses Collective the issue was raised as to how students should ensure that their issues could be aired adequately. This resultedin the idea to have student general meetings of Community Development students on campus.

Attached is a proposed motion for you to put to students on your campus. Students can support, amend or reject the motion or any part of it. What we really want is for students to express their opinions in these meetings in order for the student representative on the state government committee to actually represent the views of students.

We are trying to get as many meetings as possible done prior to the next meeting ofthe implementation committee on May 25. Can people please organise meetings on their campus and forward the results to VTSAN as soon as possible. VTSAN's e-mail address is [email protected].

In solidarity

Paul Miller

VTSAN Save Our Courses Collective

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Save Our Courses Motion

Background

Currently, a review is taking place of the Training Package that is to be implemented in Community Services throughout Victoria. The Community Services Training Package is intended to replace the curriculum that presently exists in a range of Community Services courses with competency standards, learning strategies, and so on. A previous attempt was mad to introduce a Training Package into this discipline, which was resisted on a number of fronts, including by students in Welfare Studies and Community Development streams. Student opposition, coordinated by the Save Our Courses Collective, was largely focused on elements such as the removal of generalist subjects from courses (eg sociology and politics) and the effective downgrading of courses from professionalist to more "service delivery" functions.

These changes were successfully resisted, and the new State Government announced a project be established with all "stakeholders" to review the future training package and curriculum framework. This process will take place throughout 2000. It includes student representatives from the Victorian TAFE Students' and Apprentices' Network (VTSAN). It also includes representatives of TAFE administrations, teachers'networks, industry organisations, etc. It is crucial that students' opinions and voicesbe firmly put on the agenda - not least because students are the largest "users" of any future curriculum. The issue is crucial to the direction of your future studies, to the meaning of your qualification and no doubt to the direction of work within a number of Community Services fields.

The Save Our Courses Collective decided at its last meeting to conduct broad consultation with students studying Community Development, in order to inform and gain the opinion of students. The idea is for students in Community Development tohold general meetings to discuss the motion below, and amend it as they see fit. The results of these discussions will then form the guidelines for our representative on the state government consultation committee on the Community Services Training Packages.

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Motion to be put to student meetings of CD students on campus:

That Community Development students at______________ campus consider the following to be essential elements of any future training package that replaces the current curriculum framework:

Articulation to university must be safeguarded

There needs to be a greater amount of funding allocated to implement the training package than was originally proposed.

There should be no cuts to the hours currently funded

Community Development should remain a generalist diploma. This is an especially important issue for rural students.

Theory based subjects are an integral component of the Community Development Diploma which provides a framework from which to work in the field. Therefore these subjects, such as politics, economics and sociology are therefore an essential part of any training package in our area.

Current Community Development students must be able to complete the course they enrolled in.

Part-time students must have the subjects they have completed directly recognisable within the new training package.

There needs to be open communication about the progress of the training packages and the implications for their education.

Electives need to remain part of the Diploma as they provide insight into various areas of employment in the sector.

The Diploma needs to retain the name Community Development, as Community Work does not imply the social change component of the worker's role.

PLEASE RECORD THE FOLLOWING DETAILS:

Date of the Student Meeting:______________________

No of Students attending:____________

Other attendance:_______________

Number for the resolution:

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Number against the resolution:

Institution:

Course:

Amendments:

Fax this back to VTSAN on 9639 6448 or e-mail results to [email protected] by 23 May 2000.

Thanks

Paul Miller

On Behalf of the Save Our Courses Collective

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Appendix 2 — Results of Student General Meetings

Community Services Training Packages ® Student Consultations (These were tabled ata CSTP Articulation Project meeting to underline what students' concerns are)

The Victorian TAFE Students and Apprentices Network has been conducting consultations with groups of students on campus within the Community Services area on what the concerns of students are in relation to the introduction of training packages.

The following have been the comments to come out of these consultations: Articulation to university must be safeguarded

There needs to be a greater amount of funding allocated to implement the training packages than was originally proposed

There should be no cut to contact hours currently funded

Community Development should remain a generalist diploma. This is an especially important issue for rural students

Theory based subjects are an integral component of the Community Development Diploma which provide a framework from which to work in the field. These subjects, such as politics, economics and sociology are therefore an essential part of any training package in our area

Current Community Development students must be able to complete the course they enrolled in

Part time students must have the subjects they have completed directly recognisable within the new training package

There needs to be open communication about the progress of the training packages and the implications for education

Electives need to remain part of the Diploma as they provide insight into various areas of employment in the sector.

The Diploma needs to retain the name Community Development as Community Work does not imply the social change component of a worker's role

Results have come in from 8 TAFE Institutes/Universities and the amount of students for the motion has been: 179

There have been 3 abstentions

There were no votes against the motion

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Appendix 3 — Interview Questions

The following questions were asked of all students who participated in interviews in thesecond stage of the research project:

1. What have the concerns been of students on your campus around the issues of the introduction of training packages to replace the previous course?

2. What approaches have students used on your campus to put forward their views on these changes?

3. 3.Do you think this approach has been effective? Looking back, what would have been other strategies that might have worked better?

4. 4.What consultations have you been involved in with at a broader level? Do you think that you have been listened to by these broader bodies? How effective do you think the results of these broader consultations have been?

5. 5.What are the possible approaches that broader bodies might make in the future to ensure that the concerns of students are addressed?

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