“I’m the meat in the sandwich” : exploring VET practitioners’ ways of working with private enterprises

In many countries, there are policy initiatives to promote more ‘industry-driven’ vocational education and training. An important corollary is greater press on industries to provide opportunities for training in the workplace and a re-claiming of the workplace as an authentic site for learning. VET practitioners are being increasingly encouraged to ‘get out into industry’, and a number of issues arise about how they work with and within enterprises. Practitioners are being asked to work in different ways and to undertake new roles and responsibilities substantially different in terms of focus, purpose and practice. This paper explores these issues, drawing on analyses of six case studies in Victoria and South Australia, each comprising a technical institute and an enterprise. In total, 34 interviews were held with four groups of participant – TAFE managers and practitioners, enterprise personnel and worker-learners – from different industries