Our final essential ingredient is a bit of an obsession with me (no, it's not chocolate) - the combined delivery of generic and core competencies. As an employer myself, and working with lots of other employers over the last 8 years, I am convinced that what employers want most are students who are skilled in generic or key competencies. They will happily teach students the specifics like how to use a knife or a hammer, but want our help in skilling students with the basics. Communication skills, OH&S, First Aid, Industrial Relations Issues, Teamwork etc. etc.

We now run the core components of all of our Voc Ed subjects in combined Off the Job Training Days. This has streamlined the delivery, reduced repetition within different courses and provided maximum flexibility and efficiency of resources. Voc Ed teachers take responsibility for delivering different parts of the core along with industry reps. For example, OH&S might be delivered jointly by the Forest Industry teacher (also the school OH&S rep) and the Safety Officer from CSR to all Voc Ed students. It is also interwoven into the induction process, industry visits and the workplacement component. Students have a common OH&S assignment that they relate to their individual workplace.

This system works extremely well for us but the present structure of Voc Ed Courses in NSW makes it inequitable for students. For example, students doing a dual accredited Voc Ed Course get National recognition for these core areas but a student doing a workplacement in say, fish farming (under the work studies banner), only receives recognition at a local level (a Certificate from our Industry Group). Even though both students are doing the same off the job training they are not getting the same recognition or credit transfer into further study. Interesting enough, both students are getting the jobs.

Finally, to the future. If we are to truly meet the individual needs of all students is the present system of CEC's and Industry Studies adequate? Even if we could overcome the enormous cost of teacher training there is still only a set number of courses that can be incorporated into a school timetable, depending on the size and flexibility of that school. Will the six industry frameworks currently being developed by the Board of Studies resolve this problem or will it mean we are still streaming students into set pathways? We are currently piloting a Forest Industry Course where students leave school with all the general and core modules and half the forest growing modules towards a Certificate II Traineeship in Forest Products Operations. We are working with the Rural Skills Council to get something similiar happening within the Horticulture and possibly other Rural areas. We are a comprehensive country High School trying to cater for the needs of ALL students. We can not keep adding courses. We need a common workplacement course.

Does there exist interstate, or is it possible to establish, a generic workplacement course that gives national recognition for core competencies, that can have specific industry modules attached and be individualized to meet the needs of every student? It's like looking for the holy grail! Dave Gray from Port Macquarie High (another Tumut export) thinks he might have found it. A course from Queensland called a Certificate 1 in Work Education. Hoping Dave will come on line and 'please explain'.

Looking forward to further discussion on this subject and apologies to interstaters for the NSW jargon.

Off to Adelaide we go..........

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 October 28, 1999.