Dear Voc Ed Onliners,

Thanks for the glowing intro Andrew. One little correction - flying trikes is not terrifying, but being an online guest is. Thanks also to Janine for her help, support and gentle persuasion to get me here.

I coordinate a Voc Ed Program at Tumut High School in the Riverina Highlands of NSW and am grappling with all the same issues, re the future of Voc Ed, as everyone else. I am working at grass roots level just like all the other Voc Ed Coordinators out there but have probably been doing it for longer than most (I am one of the 'burnt out' variety that the ASTF did a good job of rejuvenating last year). I also have an industry background (an African Violet Nursery that keeps me busy the rest of the time). This allows me to change hats regularly and look at issues from several different perspectives.

Firstly, a bit of background about our program. We first started looking at alternate pathways in 1989 to cater for the increasing number of students who were dropping out of school, with no real job prospects, because the school was not offering a suitable pathway for the majority of students who were not going on to university. This was before the words Voc Ed, dual accredited CEC's, Industry Studies etc. existed. So we talked to our local industry and we asked for their help. We took school and industry representatives to look at what was happening elsewhere. We wrote a course called 'Industry Practice'. Our local Industry developed a Generic Competency Log and Specific Logs in six different strands.

With the commitment of our Industry Group and the School we managed to get our first Voc Ed Program up and running by January 1992. This involved a discreet group of non-TER students who were considered 'At Risk' of not finishing their HSC. These students were confined to the bottom english, maths & science classes three days per week, went to TAFE one day per week and to work the other. The workplacement part of the program worked well but the lack of flexibility at school was a real problem and the students were branded as 'Vege Ed' students. But, an amazing thing happened. Students really enjoyed going to work and 'learning' in a workplace situation. They were achieving like they had never achieved before in a typical classroom situation. Their self esteem grew, their skills grew and at the end of the program they got jobs.

We learnt by our mistakes. We became more flexible. We opened the course up to all senior students. We introduced a four day week and a tutorial day in the senior school. Teachers liked the effect of raised self esteem in students and became more supportive. Industry developed more and more strands. Students got more and more jobs.

We now run dual accredited courses in Hospitality, Office, Retail, Building, Electronics and Forest Industries. We would like to offer Rural Studies but can't get a teacher trained. We now use the dreaded 'Work Studies' as the 'tool' to get our students out into 'other' industry areas such as fish farming, accountancy and computers and our students are still getting jobs despite the lack of dual accreditation.

I think that there are three essential ingredients that have contributed to the quality, success and sustainability of our Voc Ed Program to date. They are:-

ONE: a supportive Industry/Education Partnership that has taken on ownership and responsibility for Vocation Education in our community.

TWO: a committed and structured Voc Ed Faculty within the school, with defined responsibilities and good communication.

THREE: Combined delivery of generic and core competencies of all Voc Ed Courses.

I will address each of our essential ingredients in more detail over the next couple of days but I am sure it is like making a cake - the ingredients vary depending upon availability, taste preferences and the occasion. Looking forward to hearing about your essential ingredients too.

Until tomorrow

Anna Cutler
Voc Ed Coordinator
Tumut High School

To view all of the interaction with the online guest browse the voced-coord archives from August 10 - 31, 1998.

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First published September 10, 1998. Last modified June 15, 1999.