Differing realities: staff development in public and private providers of VET

One of the key by-products of training reform in Australia has been diversification in the types of organisations that offer vocational education and training (VET). The numbers of private providers registered on the National Training Information Service database has increased to over 3,000 across all states and territories. Another by-product of the reform process has been the gradual transformation of the roles of those persons charged with the delivery of VET. Teachers and trainers are now being called upon to take up an increasingly diverse range of tasks in environments that include schools, workplaces and virtual classrooms. The overall picture is of an increasingly diverse workforce, where shifts are occurring in terms of employment patterns (particularly in relation to the casualisation of the workforce) and the requirement for teachers and trainers to undertake initial and ongoing training for their roles. This paper is based on data collected as part of a NREC-funded study which examined the changing role of staff development for teachers and trainers in VET (Harris et al 2000). The paper takes as its particular focus the presentation of data relating to the nature and extent of staff development activities undertaken by teachers and trainers in public and private training organisations. Background literature Recognition of the changing role of VET teachers and trainers and their importance in the development of a quality VET system was noted as far back as the early 1970s. Kangan (Australian Committee on Technical and Further Education 1974) asserted the importance of intensifying teacher development as a key to improving the overall quality of education in the technical and further education (TAFE) system. A sequence of studies examining the role of the TAFE teacher pointed to an increasingly diversified role for teachers which extended well beyond thei