Clayton, Berwyn, Harding, Regan, Harris, Mark and Toze, Melinda (2011) Upskilling VET Practitioners: Technical Currency or Professional Obsolescence? In: AVETRA’s 14th Annual Conference Research in VET: Janus – Reflecting Back, Projecting Forward, 28 April 2011-29 April 2011, Rendezvous Hotel Melbourne, VIC.

Abstract

Theme of Conference: "Research in VET: Janus- Reflecting Back, Projecting Forward". Under the Federal Government’s productivity agenda, there is a requirement for the VET sector to deliver up to 1.15 million VET course completions nationally over the next three years. A key factor in achieving this target is the capability of the VET workforce to deliver high quality teaching and learning. Keeping practitioner competencies current and avoiding professional obsolescence is therefore a key imperative for VET training providers and the industries they serve. Management of professional obsolescence, defined as the ‘degree to which professionals lack the up-to-date knowledge and skills necessary to maintain effective performance in either their current or future work role’, is the focus of this paper. The first of a three part NCVER-funded research project into the upskilling of VET practitioners and approaches to managing professional obsolescence, it investigates what professional obsolescence means in a VET context, the policy drivers and imperatives that make managing this important, current approaches and barriers to addressing the maintenance of vocational competency in the sector and the implications of this for policy and practice. Six case studies, or models, for addressing professional obsolescence in both knowledge-based organisations and professional associations across the fields of engineering, allied health and human resource management are also provided.

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