Dusting off the shelves: Getting the most value out of vocational education and training equity resources

This report identifies the key factors which enable or provide barriers to the use of equity resources in the vocational education and training (VET) sector. These resources, which come in a variety of online or print formats, are an important means of helping teachers, trainers and others who deliver VET to provide extra help for those with special support needs.

• Although good-quality learning resources are available via websites and pamphlets, their existence is not enough to ensure that they will actually be used. To ensure that VET equity resources are used requires the establishment of new processes before and after their development. This will provide a better return for the considerable public and professional investment into equity learning resource development in vocational education and training.

• The report generated a number of strategies to encourage the use of equity resources:
  • developing longer-term funding models which would allow developers to build in consultation, trialling and marketing of the resources, as well as post-production tracking of their use and usefulness
  • integrating professional development with VET practitioners into the resource development stage, so that these practitioners will not only be already familiar with the resources, but can also develop the ability to customise them to meet students' needs
  • linking use of the equity resources to external strategic drivers, such as regulatory compliance or the implementation of training packages
  • standardising the annotation of specific resources in databases or catalogues to include information about the resources so that potential users can make informed decisions about their value
  • lodging the resources on agreed selected websites and creating links between the various websites to promote their wider use
  • using targeted marketing strategies to promote the resources through a range of industry and professional networks
  • promoting the resources as accessible for all learners, rather than only those with 'special needs', thereby encouraging their usefulness within the entire VET sector.

Overview and purpose of study

Over the last two decades, the importance of valuing and managing diversity in vocational education and training (VET) has been increasingly reflected in both policy and practice. During this period, policies have aimed to create an inclusive, equitable and flexible VET system which takes into account barriers arising from gender, culture, language and literacy, disability, isolation and multiple disadvantage. Australian Quality Training Framework standards (ANTA 2005), to which VET providers adhere, have built in regulatory requirements that acknowledge the diversity of all VET clients. Special policies for identified equity target groups have also been developed through specific national strategies.

Using federal, state, industry and community funds, developers such as teachers, trainers and consultants have created a wide range of high-quality equity learning resources so that national policy in this area results in changed practices at all levels. Equity resources are those which are specifically designed to enhance the ability of learners with identified needs to engage successfully with vocational education and training. The aim of these resources is to assist teachers, trainers and other personnel delivering vocational education and training to learners with identified support needs.

This project set out to identify key factors which enable or provide barriers to the use and implementation of equity resources in the VET sector. It sought to document success factors, as well as lessons that could be learnt from less successful experiences. Consultations were held with over 120 representatives from different parts of the VET sector. These include federal and state funding bodies, industry skills councils, teaching and learning resource development managers within public and private training providers, training managers and coordinators, practitioners, and industry organisations.

Summary of findings

We found that many of the equity learning resources that exist have either been under-used or have had limited impact. As a result, there has been a low return on the considerable public and professional investment in resource development.

The research strongly suggests that the quality of VET equity resources is not perceived as a major issue in whether or not they are used. Where they are known about, resources are generally highly valued for the appropriateness of their content and design and their user-friendliness for the intended audience. The major issues regarding their uptake and implementation are concerned with both the pre-product and the post-development stages. Key limitations and enablers of the uptake and implementation of VET equity resources were grouped into four distinct but interrelated areas: funding models and policies; accessibility and pricing; resource development; and organisational support and professional development issues.

Funding models and policies

A number of pre- and post-development activities are crucial to the uptake and implementation of high-quality equity learning resources in the VET sector; some of these issues also need to be addressed in the production stages. These include adequate scoping of a particular area for conducting an environmental scan; confirming the need for the resource; establishing collaborative partnerships between potential resource developers; developing realistic time frames; ensuring adequate budgets for marketing; and disseminating, tracking and evaluating resources once they have been developed.

The limited duration of current funding cycles (currently 12 months) encourages a focus on volume and turnover rather than on actual usage. Respondents suggested a longer-term funding cycle, or a staged funding process, which means that the product has a lifespan of up to five years. This enables the establishment of processes to ensure that the resource is widely promoted, used and evaluated with a view to updating and modification where necessary. Linking resources to existing major cycles such as the five-yearly training package reviews was suggested by a number of respondents as a strategic way of promoting uptake, ensuring appropriate levels of evaluation, and minimising wastage of high-quality resources.

Factors contributing to ongoing duplication of resources include the large number of funding and distribution bodies involved in resource development (which appear to have few links with similar bodies); ineffective dissemination and marketing; and the lack of understanding of copyright clearances.

While a number of quality assurance mechanisms have been integrated into the development stages as part of funding policies and guidelines, there is currently very little systematic evaluation of the resources produced. The lack of evaluative criteria and mechanisms and resources for undertaking evaluation means that there are few objective measures currently available to gauge the effectiveness of VET equity learning products in achieving their aims.

Accessibility and pricing

Most respondents interviewed were not aware of or familiar with learning resources and databases highly relevant to their work. Many reported feeling overwhelmed by the number and variety of existing databases and frustrated by the time-consuming and difficult task of locating the most useful sites and relevant information. While many welcomed the prospect of a 'one-stop shop' for accessing resources, a number of concerns were raised in relation to the potential complexity of such a huge site. The concerns included the possibility of equity resources being 'swamped' by other VET resources on the site, the loss of specialist equity expertise and ownership, and increased cost. A number of suggestions were made for multiple access points in databases where users could discover the resources; these would be linked to centralised distribution points.

Respondents did not consider the way resource developers used websites and specialist databases as the main dissemination and distribution strategy for equity resources to be effective. In order to be useful, online databases require ongoing maintenance and adequate resourcing, and in many instances this does not occur. Consistent descriptors and annotations attached to resources, along with samples and short peer reviews, are necessary to help potential users to make an informed choice prior to purchase. The increasing collaborations and alliances between national and state distributors of VET resources, featuring actual viewing sites in a number of capital cities, are likely to enable easier access to a greater range of resources.

In general, however, websites and catalogues were seen as ineffective substitutes for ractitioner professional development in the use of resources, active promotion throughout industry, and targeted marketing strategies, all of which would enable practitioners to become familiar with the new resources and develop confidence and skills in their use.

Developers acknowledged the current 'hit and miss' nature of their dissemination strategies, which were often short-term and limited to the immediate post-production period, with knowledge of the resource mainly being passed by word of mouth after this period. However, they saw this as unavoidable, given their skills and resourcing levels.

The inconsistent and relatively high pricing of equity resources by some distributors was also considered by many respondents to the study to act as a disincentive to their use.

Resource development

Uptake and implementation of equity learning resources is enhanced by linking the resources to external factors such as regulatory compliance or quality assurance, or by directly aligning them to training packages. In the current climate of skill shortages, many respondents favoured linking equity and diversity management more closely to enhanced economic and business outcomes. Enabling all learners to become effective workers, including those who need support during the learning process, benefits the economy. Moreover, the packaging of equity VET resources as user-friendly, accessible resources for all learners-not just those who require support-would increase their profile and their perceived relevance, accessibility and use in the VET system. The possible exception to this seemed to be resources developed for Indigenous learners who required specific contextualisation to local cultural requirements.

The research indicated that the relevance and effectiveness of equity VET resources was significantly enhanced by the active involvement of industry and learner representatives; involvement confers 'ownership' of the resource and subsequent endorsement by industry. Respondents also noted that the effectiveness of VET resources was likely to be increased with the adoption of a multidisciplinary approach to their development within a quality assurance framework such as that conferred by National Training Information Service endorsement.

The uptake of resources designed for registered training organisation trainers and assessors was encouraged by practical, solution-based approaches that provided realistic models of good practice in 'bite-size chunks'.

Organisational support and professional development

Equity learning resource developers are often not in a position to influence the outcomes a resource is intended to deliver, and there is a lack of understanding of who is responsible for actively promoting a resource to its target users. The endorsement of resources by industry and senior registered training organisation management, as well as a supportive culture within the VET system, are critical factors in sustaining changed teaching, learning and assessment practices.

Professional development activities, designed to familiarise practitioners with new learning resources, can be usefully and systematically integrated as part of the resource development or implementation process. Resource developers commented on the different ways by which VET practitioners could be involved in the development process; for example, in the scoping and needs analysis stages, and in the trialling and evaluation of drafts.

Practitioners valued focused, practical professional development activities that enabled them to engage and develop confidence with the new resources and the associated improvements to teaching or technologies. In many instances, these activities promoted the formation of 'communities of practice' between various practitioners, which enable ongoing contact and support in areas of particular learning, training and assessment. Respondents reported that these communities of practice supported practitioners in the implementation of equity resources and therefore more inclusive teaching and assessment practices.

Implications

The research findings strongly suggest the need for policy-makers and funders to fundamentally reconceptualise the primary goal of equity resource development such that it becomes the uptake and use of resources. In this way individual and organisational equity outcomes rather than merely product completion will be achieved.