Australian Journal of Adult Learning
Critical thinking and research in the field of adult learning
Author/s: Karen B. Moni, Anne Jobling, Michelle Morgan and Jan Lloyd
Edition: Volume 51, Number 3, November 2011
Summary: Despite the importance of and advocacy for developing literacy skills for successful and rewarding participation in the community, there remains a common perception that becoming literate is not possible for people with intellectual disabilities. Continue reading “Promoting literacy for adults with intellectual disabilities in a community-based service organisation”
Author/s: Jenny McDougall and Wendy Davis
Edition: Volume 51, Number 3, November 2011
Summary: While much has been written about the transformative potential of adult education from the student perspective, little research has been done into the experiences of those who teach in such contexts. Continue reading “Role reversal: Educators in an enabling program embark on a journey of critical self-reflection”
Author/s: Craig Hammond
Edition: Volume 51, Number 2, July 2011
Summary: This paper describes a fathering program that has been operating for a number of years for Aboriginal men in the corrective system. Continue reading “Brothers Inside: Fathering workshops with Aboriginal prisoners”
Author/s: Megan Le Clus
Edition: Volume 51, Number 2, July 2011
Summary: In the last few decades, the workplace has been increasingly recognised as a legitimate environment for learning new skills and knowledge, which in turn enables workers to participate more effectively in ever-changing work environments. Continue reading “Informal learning in the workplace: A review of the literature”
Author/s: Joanna Crossman, Sarbari Bordia
Edition: Volume 51, Number 2, July 2011
Summary: Graduates need to be prepared for working in global organisations that increasingly rely on virtual, culturally diverse teams. Continue reading “Friendship and relationships in virtual and intercultural learning: Internationalising the business curriculum”
Author/s: Karin du Plessis, Kaarin J. Anstey, Arianne Schlumpp
Edition: Volume 51, Number 1, April 2011
Summary: Demographic trends indicate that older adults live longer and maintain active lifestyles. The majority are educated and many enjoy the stimulation that ongoing learning opportunities present. In order for these older adults to benefit from learning opportunities, circumstances specific to these individuals (e.g. age-related decline) need to be considered. The current paper reviews cognitive literature to establish older adults’ ability to learn. This is followed by a discussion of training programs as well as suggestions for course design specifically focused on older adults.
Keywords: Older, adults, learning, health, cognitive, training
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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 51_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.
Author/s: Oktay Akbas ̨
Edition: Volume 51, Number 1, April 2011
Summary: This study analysed how auto repairmen working in micro-enterprises undertake continuing vocational training in relation to cultural context. The study was conducted in Kırıkkale, a city in central Anatolia in Turkey. To this end, the descriptive research technique of structured interview was used. Interviews with 33 auto repairmen were recorded and analysed. The results revealed the means used by auto repairmen to receive vocational training. It was found that the auto repairmen who participated in this study mostly consulted their co-workers as a means of vocational training. In addition, almost all of the craftsmen and foremen seemed to receive help from their co-workers when they encountered a problem which they could not solve on their own. The second most common means included computers and the Internet.. On the other hand, face-to-face education and printed materials were the least commonly used means for vocational training. These findings show that, although they are literate, auto repairmen, who mostly do not take full advantage of formal education and grow up in traditional cultural environments, prefer to use oral communication instead of printed materials as their information sources. These results should be taken into consideration while developing vocational training programs for auto repairmen and other similar groups that are not born into a written culture.
Keywords: auto, VET, training programs, vocational, culture, formal
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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 51_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.
Author/s: Sandra Haukka
Edition: Volume 51, Number 1, April 2011
Summary: Current trends in workforce development indicate the movement of workers within and across occupations to be the norm. In 2009, only one in three vocational education and training (VET) graduates in Australia ended up working in an occupation for which they were trained. This implies that VET enhances the employability of its graduates by equipping them with the knowledge and competencies to work in different occupations and sectors. This paper presents findings from a government-funded study that examined the occupational mobility of selected associate professional and trades occupations within the Aged Care, Automotive and Civil Construction sectors in Queensland. The study surveyed enrolled nurses and related workers, motor mechanics and civil construction workers to analyse their patterns of occupational mobility, future work intentions, reasons for taking and leaving work, and the factors influencing them to leave or remain in their occupations.
Keywords: aged care, automotive, civil construction, occupational mobility, employability
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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 51_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.
Author/s: Ly Thi Tran, Chris Nyland
Edition: Volume 51, Number 1, April 2011
Summary: International VET students have divergent, shifting and in some cases multiple purposes for undertaking their VET courses. Students’ motives may be instrumental and/or intrinsic and can include obtaining permanent residency, accumulating skills that can secure good employment, gaining a foothold that leads to higher education, and/or personal transformation. Moreover, students’ study purposes and imagining of acquired values are neither fixed nor unitary. They can be shaped and reshaped by their families and personal aspirations and by the social world and the learning environment with which they interact. We argue that, whatever a student’s study purpose, s/he needs to engage in a learning practice and should be provided with a high quality education. Indeed, we insist this remains the case even if students enrol only in order to gain the qualifications needed to migrate. The paper details the association between migration and learning, and argues that the four variations emerging from the empirical data of this study that centre on migration and skills’ accumulation better explain this association than does the ‘international VET students simply want to migrate’ perspective. We conclude with a discussion of why the stereotype that holds VET international students are mere ‘PR hunters’ is unjust and constitutes a threat to the international VET sector.
Keywords: international students, VET, motives, migration, quality, education
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This article is part of AJAL, Volume 51_1. The entire volume is available in .pdf for purchase here.
Author/s: Peter Kearns
Edition: Volume 52, Number 2, July 2012
Summary: These notes and questions have been prepared to promote discussion of the ideas set out in the Clarifying paper, ‘Living and learning in EcCoWell cities’ to be found on the PASCAL International Exchanges (PIE) website. Continue reading “Living and learning in EcCoWell cities: Discussion paper”