Realities of private VET practice through VET teachers’ lenses: learning contexts for international students in private VET in Australia

Since the introduction of the competitive vocational education and training market model in the Australia in the 1990s, the growth and participation of international students and private providers has led to sustained debates about training standards in commercial-for-profit, private registered training organisations. Much of this debate has been negative and critical, focusing on providers seen as ‘dodgy’ and international students’ permanent residence ‘PR’ reasons for participating in the Australian Vocational Education and Training sector (Smith, 2010; Tran & Nyland, 2013). This article argues that this focus has limited critical debates on other contextual factors, particularly the influence of teacher perceptions on learning experiences and the way vocational education and training is understood and practised

Looking into "A BLACK BOX" - vocational education and training for international students in private registered training organisations in Melbourne, Australia

© 2014 Dr. Rinos PasuraThis study investigated and analysed situated realities influencing international students’ outcomes in seven commercial for profit private Vocational Education and Training (VET) providers in Melbourne, Australia. It draws from the notions of social structure – a system of human relations – as its theoretical and analytical lens to explore how the restructuring of the VET system using the competitive training market model in Australia reorganised the way it is understood and practised. The study shows that commercial for profit private VET providers operating in a competitive VET market mostly emphasise profit imperatives and education-migration policy frameworks to conceptualise and define international students’ characteristics, expectations, learning and educational outcomes. The study used a mixed methodology consisting of both quantitative and qualitative techniques to gather data in seven research sites in Melbourne. It used a longitudinal survey of international students; in-depth interviews of training managers and quality assurance auditors; and a survey of vocational teachers to gather the research data. General systems theory and interpretive approaches were used to analyse these data. The findings were triangulated to form core themes and sub themes comprising the contexts of delivery and assessments, international students’ characteristics and outcomes, and teacher pedagogic practices and perceptions. The study offers a basis for understanding how the intertwined, complex and situated mechanisms in a market model for VET combine to influence international students’ outcomes and skills training in general. It shows that when international VET students’ purposes for undertaking VET in Australia are divergent and shifting, the competitive training market model policy dimensions, which frame their participation, are mostly neither aligned nor congruent with the students’ expectations and aspirations for participating. Most international students’ educational and employment aspirations were not met; their prior employment and educational experiences were not emphasised; they were narrowly represented, conceptualised and defined in migration terms; and most of them were working in jobs unrelated to their training. It further shows that the situated factors influencing international students’ outcomes in commercial for profit private VET RTOs in the study are interconnected with the market model for VET, policy imperatives, international students’ characteristics and aspirations and the market-based environmental demands. Hence these factors, particularly the way international students and their providers are represented in the education-migration discourses and the way courses are delivered, cannot be understood in isolation. By implication, the construction of educational policy frameworks, which enable the naming of values inherent in the training packages model, must include international students’ learning contexts, expectations and purposes for studying in commercial for profit private VET providers. But, this cannot be achieved in a training environment where perceptions about the skills, knowledge and work-readiness of the graduates from this sector are viewed to be inconsistent with what their qualifications claim they have. Hence, policy makers and educators must reconstruct the purposes of VET outside the education-migration framework to include the internationalised VET cohorts’ educational and employment expectations and aspirations. Overall, the study shows that policy imperatives (interpretation and reinterpretation of policy), training packages implementation, teacher pedagogic choices and teaching and learning resources in a business environment influenced commercial for profit private VET provider contexts in the study, particularly international students’ aspirations, experiences and outcomes. Whilst some international students used VET as a pathway into higher education, to get a job in their field of training, to build and broaden their knowledge and skills and to improve their credentials with the hope to gain a better future, most of them made these choices at a severe cost to their aspirations and goals. By implication, the competitive VET market system elements may not be congruent with the other components of the education system and that the other components of the system do not support each other. Hence the study argues that international students and commercial for profit private VET providers’ contribution can only be more clearly understood and more substantially recognised if their characteristics, relationships in the delivery contexts and the discourses informing their participation are comprehensively mapped and analysed

International education and migration nexus : Experiences and outcomes of international students in private vocational education and training providers in Melbourne, Australia

The redesign of the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector in the early 1990s changed the way the sector has been traditionally structured, organised and most importantly financed and delivered. This VET policy change led to a market model of education and a subsequent increase in the participation of private VET providers and international students in the sector. This article draws on the study of situated realities influencing international students in private VET providers in Melbourne Australia, to show through students’ narratives, the consequences for international students’ participation and how their outcomes were influenced. It also draws on the notion of social structure as systems of human relations amongst social positions to show that while international students’ educational outcomes are complex, the market model of education constitutes the mechanisms, resources, powers and constraints that motivate them to act in the way they do

Neoliberal economic markets in vocational education and training : Shifts in perceptions and practices in private vocational education and training in Melbourne, Australia

This article argues that the adoption of the competitive Vocational Education and Training (VET) markets in Australia resulted in shifts in institutional perceptions and practices. Using situated experiences and perspectives from quality assurance auditors, training managers, international students and VET teachers from seven commercial for-profit private VET institutions in Melbourne, Australia, the article suggests that there are emerging patterns of institutionalised market-based relationships, which can have long-term implications for pedagogy, learning and international students' outcomes in VET

International students in the private VET sector in Melbourne, Australia: rethinking their characteristics and aspirations outside the deficit model

The reconstruction of the Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) sector into a competitive training market, which led to the participation of international students and commercial for-profit private VET providers, has untilrecently focused on the importance of international students to the national economy whilst ignoring the students ’important educational characteristics and the other benefits that accrue to Australia. Drawing on views and perspectives of students, teachers, training managers and quality assurance auditors, this article presents an analysis of the VET provider-level processes, which have contributed tolimited discursive constructions of the identities of international students in private VET providers in Melbourne. It argues that there is an urgent need for a rethinking of the way international students are conceptualised and represented in the competitive training market environment

The nature of teacher professional development in Australian international vocational education

Together with Canada, the UK and the US, Australia is one of the most active countries in promoting education export and recruiting international students with international education as the country’s biggest and most successful services export ‘industry’. However, staff capacity building in international education has not been adequately invested. In research, while the teaching and learning of international students is a topic of growing popularity, the professional development (PD) and capacity building for teachers, who play a crucial role in the internationalisation of education and in particular, in supporting the learning of international students, has been left largely unexplored. This article responds to this critical gap in the literature by examining the nature of teacher professional development practices in international education The findings of the research shows that, at the individual and institutional levels, teacher self-positioning of their PD needs and other positioning of the institutional PD provision seem to reveal the internal contradictions and tensions within institutions that work against the principles of responsive learning and teaching relative to international students’ needs and expectations. The article calls for more support and investment in teacher professional development tailored to their needs to operate, teach and learn effectively in a context of increased internationalisation

Professional development for teachers working with international students

The commercialisation of education and the massive recruitment of international students across different vocational education and training (VET) systems including the US, UK, Canada and Australia have led to significant changes in the VET teaching and learning landscape. This situation compels the VET sector to design and develop new professional development programs to support the immediate and changing needs of teachers working with the diverse international student cohort. However, to date, teacher professional development in response to the growing population of international students has not been an explicit focus of empirical study and theoretical conceptualisation in VET research. This study responds to this paucity. It draws on a broader three-year research project funded by the Australian Research Council (2014–2017) that involves fieldwork, participation in and observation of staff professional development activities and interviews with 102 VET staff in Australia. It uses positioning theory as a conceptual framework to examine how VET teachers position themselves and their professional development needs in response to international students. The results call for a critical need to re-examine the focus of the current professional development programs offered for VET teachers. The current context requires teacher professional development in international VET to focus on developing teachers’ capabilities to re-examine their pedagogical beliefs and practices and to understand international students’ various needs and cultural backgrounds. The study also stresses the importance of ongoing professional learning to equip teachers with the skills and knowledge to appropriate their pedagogical practices in response to the critical need to prepare all students for the intercultural labour market and to use students’ diversity as a resource for teaching and learning

Teacher interactive and reflexive positionings in accommodating international students : Implications for teacher professional development

Despite the rapid flow of international students to Anglo-Saxon countries, especially the US, UK, Canada and Australia, the professional development needs and practices of teachers working with international students are still under-researched. According to the OECD, around the globe, over five million students are pursuing tertiary education in another country other than their own. Australia, in particular, is hosting more than 600,000 international students. Australian teachers are facing significant professional challenges to engage with pedagogical issues in teaching international students. This paper responds to a critical gap in the literature by exploring teacher interactive and reflexive positionings with regards to their professional development in international education. It draws on a research project that includes observation, field work, and 102 semi-structured interviews with staff working with international students. The findings indicate the need for professional development focusing on supporting teachers to develop the capabilities to not only deal with the challenges in teaching an increasingly diverse student population but importantly, build productive interactive relationships with their international students. In this regard, interactive relationships are centred around recognising cultural differences and positioning international students as partners on a more equal basis in the construction of transnational knowledge, skills and competencies