Skilling for the workforce: a tertiary education response to enrich professional development

Tertiary educators are being directed by government policy: to develop a learning environment where participants become more than passive receivers of knowledge and to skill the workforce through technical skills and competency-based education. Professional development is needed for compliance, and to develop and maintain generic, productivity, and technical attributes relevant to the profession. Profession and career development, for continued employability and professional recognition, involves 'skilling for the workforce' through enriched self-directed and lifelong learning. The article examines what could be a tertiary education response on the part of universities. This is through developing a learning environment which addresses the various motivating policies and common educational drivers in professional practice. It further examines the suitability of Work-Integrated Learning (WIL), as a recognised integrative learning environment, to provide a foundation for effecting self-directed professional development