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Handbook of Vocational Education and Training pp 1–20Cite as

VET Practitioner Education in Australia: Issues and Approaches

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Abstract

Appropriate qualifications and professional development opportunities for vocational education and training (VET) teachers, trainers, and assessors are key to the future success of VET in meeting industry and individual needs. This chapter, based on qualitative analysis of research on the development of teacher capability and the authors’ lived professional experiences, examines the main issues and approaches in the training and development of VET practitioners in Australia. It describes the VET system in Australia and the nature of the VET teaching workforce, documents the history of VET teacher preparation and development, highlights key dilemmas confronting VET teacher education and professional development, draws conclusions, and provides potential ways forward.

The chapter contends that, while the Australian VET system is highly regarded, most of the issues relating to VET teacher development since the 1970s have been exacerbated by sectoral change and remain unresolved. Important and consistent messages from past reports continue to be ignored or not actioned. Yet the lesson learned is that “one size can’t fit all” and that, given the diversity and complexity of the VET sector, dual status of its practitioners, and nature of their employment, only a wide variety of well-supported preparation and ongoing development approaches can be the way forward.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Vocational and Educational Policy, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Hugh Guthrie

  2. University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Roger Harris

Authors
  1. Hugh Guthrie
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  2. Roger Harris
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hugh Guthrie .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, University of Nottingham School of Education, Nottingham, UK

    Simon McGrath

  2. Education and Competence Studies Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, Gelderland, The Netherlands

    Martin Mulder

  3. Faculty of Education, University of the Western Cape Faculty of Education, Bellville, South Africa

    Joy Papier

  4. School of Education, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

    Rebecca Suart

Section Editor information

  1. No affiliation provided

    Volker Wedekind

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© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

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Guthrie, H., Harris, R. (2019). VET Practitioner Education in Australia: Issues and Approaches. In: McGrath, S., Mulder, M., Papier, J., Suart, R. (eds) Handbook of Vocational Education and Training. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49789-1_40-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-49789-1_40-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-49789-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-49789-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education

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