Doing it well, doing it better: practitioners, pedagogy and training packages

This paper reports on a scoping study conducted for the Australian National Training Authority in 2003 into teaching and learning. The research was designed to identify key issues and themes that VET practitioners identified as being challenging in the translation of training packages into teaching, learning and assessment strategies. Recent research had provided evidence that practitioners were still coming to grips with the changes to pedagogical practice in a training package environment and it was considered strategically important to support the development of professionalism within the VET system and re-emphasise the importance of pedagogy. The study verified an observation commonly made in the extensive literature on teaching and learning in VET: that VET practitioners are delivering in a range of contexts, using broad ranging strategies and various tools and technologies to meet the needs of diverse learners. It also found clear evidence that a considerable amount of effective and innovative teaching and learning was taking place. However, what some teachers and trainers were doing well continued to challenge some other practitioners. A good deal of the research literature had previously pointed to the skills and knowledge gaps that many practitioners have when working in a training package environment. This study provided further evidence that a number of pedagogical issues need to be addressed and VET practitioners supported to build their capabilities to take on the current and future challenges in VET deliver