Australia
This professional development event on “Improving Delivery of Non-Accredited Training in the NSW ACE Program” took place at 2.00pm on Tuesday 10 August 2021.
You can access the presentation slides from this event here.
Download a copy of the final report by Dr Cloutman here.
This session is strictly for CCA member staff only.
Dr Jim Cloutman is the Director, Strategic Development at Riverina Community College, Wagga Wagga, NSW. He specialises in employability and in the design of employability-related training resources, with extensive experience in leadership of domestic and international organisations in vocational training and manpower consulting. He holds a PhD in Education from Charles Sturt University, a Master of Education from Southern Cross University, as well as qualifications from Kings College, London and the Institute of Education, University of London.
The session will be chaired by David Mackay, CCA Chair and CEO of TLK Community College.
“This timely report summarises research into non-accredited training delivered by New South Wales adult and community education (ACE) providers as part of the NSW ACE program. The report is extremely valuable because it documents in detail that, for a large number of NSW ACE students, non-accredited training programs provide a crucial lifeline into learning, social and community engagement, and employment. This report comes at an important moment, as it outlines the vital role that non-accredited training plays in the changing environment of COVID-19, particularly the need for vulnerable and disadvantaged students to remain resilient, resourceful and engaged. The report draws on an abundance of data to reach its conclusions: qualitative data in the form of extensive interviews with NSW ACE provider staff complements quantitative data from state and national sources. The report examines the additional social value that can accrue from NSW ACE programs. It provides important recommendations aimed at tackling the challenges presented by a rapidly changing world of work for our students.” – Dr Don Perlgut, CEO, Community Colleges Australia
“Education is often seen as involving tests, exams and assessments of some form. As this report shows, whether that approach is required or not depends, to some extent, on context. For those who have been marginalised by their experience at school or who lack the confidence to engage with training, perhaps after many years away from education, this report emphasises the important role that non-accredited training can have in capturing this type of learner’s imagination and attention. It also draws out the value of this type of training as a pre-cursor to more traditional VET education. Finding out about ‘employability’, soft skills and the vital role these are increasingly playing in the modern workplace, has also been a valuable component of this research. Non-accredited training may well emerge as an essential component in any approach to developing the types of employability attributes described here.” – Emeritus Professor Joy Higgs AM, Charles Sturt University