Understanding the nature of school partnerships with business in delivery of vocational programmes in schools in Australia

Abstract

This article seeks to provide a school perspective on the nature and quality of the partnerships which schools form with businesses in order to deliver work placements and workplace learning in Australia. It found that the ability of schools to engage with external partners depended on the ability of school leaders to define and communicate the role of VET within the school and its broader community. This dependence on individuals and leadership is vulnerable to changes in key personnel and the informality of some of the processes and relationships can lead to problems in monitoring, evaluating and replicating programs. Our study shows that a balance is required between carefully documented processes and the flexibility required to operate programs successfully. The study also noted the tension between the perceived needs of the school and those of industry. A successful partnership 1 Corresponding author necessarily requires school flexibility-in the decisions as to what programs should be offered and how work placements and timetabling should be organised.

Industry-school projects as an aim to foster secondary school students’ interest in technology and engineering careers

“…Furthermore, it is important to observe whether the schools are able to maintain cooperative relationships with local industry. Polesel et al (2017) describe this as posing challenges for the schools. There is, for instance, difficulty in adapting school structures to build effective partnerships.…”

Gestión directiva en establecimientos de educación media técnico profesional: desafíos para el liderazgo

“…Por el contrario, los sistemas donde predomina una lógica educativa, el vínculo con los empleadores es más tenue y tienden a tener menos diferencias con el sistema de educación general (Raffe, 2007). Los sistemas de educación técnico profesional de Alemania, Dinamarca y los Países Bajos han sido tradicionalmente de lógica de empleo, en cambio en países como Australia e Inglaterra ha predominado la lógica educativa (Polesel, Klatt, Blake & Starr, 2017).…”

“…El desarrollo de este modelo sugiere la existencia de un tipo de liderazgo institucional que favorece procesos de innovación en la educación técnico profesional y formas de organización interna que operan como un círculo virtuoso, evitando que la oferta técnica profesional aparezca como una alternativa de segundo nivel, y relevando los aprendizajes y las disposiciones para la vida laboral de sus estudiantes. Tal como lo expresan Polesel et al (2017), este tipo de establecimientos puede estrechar lazos con la industria local o con redes de actores del mundo productivo que observan en estos centros una realidad distintiva para la colaboración. El rol directivo se sustenta en una fuerte colaboración y coordinación institucional y, para posibilitar la tarea de vinculación con el medio, se requiere el ejercicio de un liderazgo distribuido con los participantes de su equipo técnico directivo.…”

Improving work-based learning in schools

“…Given the benefits of student part-time work, there are some concerns about its decline In 2017, in the United States 29% of 16-19 year olds enrolled in full-time educational programmes had a part-time job, and 35%, a summer job, down from 43% and 52% respectively in 2000 (Pew Research Centre, 2018 [50]). Decline has followed a similar pattern in the United Kingdom: in 1997, 42% of 16-17 year-olds enrolled in full-time education were also working part-time, compared to 18% of the same age group in 2014 (UKCES, 2015 [51]).…”