Teachers' Professional Learning under the Impact of Internationalisation in Vocational Education and Training

Author(s):

Ly Tran(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2015

Network:

01. Continuing Professional Development: Learning for Individuals, Leaders, and Organisations

Format:

Paper

Session Information

01 SES 05 C, Teachers' professional learning in school networks

Paper Session

Time:

2015-09-09

11:00-12:30

Room:

428.Oktatóterem [C]

Chair:

Birgitte Lund Nielsen

Contribution

This paper focuses on the professional development needs and practices of teachers in the Australian vocational education and training (VET) sector under the changed circumstances of internationalisation and trans-national workforce mobility. In light of the findings of the research, it draws useful implications for facilitating teachers’ professional learning in the context of growing internationalisation of tertiary education in Europe and English speaking countries. The paper draws on a three-year project funded by the Australian Research Council that includes interviews, observations of professional development (PD) meetings and workshops and fieldworks. It uses a sociological framework drawing on Bourdieu’s theory of social practice to examine the PD needs and nature of PD practices of VET teachers and the problems confronting them under changed circumstances.

International education is Australia’s largest service export, contributing over $15 billion to the national economy annually (Australian Government 2014). In Australia, the VET sector currently enrols 147,609 international students and ranks second after the HE sector in the volume of international student enrolments. Australian VET teachers are facing significant professional challenges to engage with pedagogical issues in teaching international students. However, there has been a lacuna in theory and empirical research on how teachers are equipped to effectively cater for international students and respond to the demand of internationalisation in VET through professional development. The gap in knowledge extends to private, public, off-shore and onshore VET. Teachers of international students either in Australian VET onshore or offshore, or educators managing offshore programs have to navigate challenging cross-cultural expectations and different educational practices (Tran 2013). Yet little is known about their professional development needs and practices. These situations pose significant conceptual and empirical problems for investigation. Also, there is a conflict between the Australian government’s skilled migration policy change which severely restricts the chance for international VET students to secure permanent residency and the VET sector’s competency-based approach which aims to prepare learners for Australian industry (Tran & Nyland 2013). This creates tensions for teachers and paradoxes in their professional learning. This paper aims to respond to these gaps and issues identified in the literature.

Both the VET and HE sectors are encountering the growing demand for internationalising the learning experience for domestic students. Various studies and national policy texts cite the development of global competencies for Australian domestic students as being crucial for national capacity building due to the rise of the knowledge economy and the increasing mobility of the workforce between national economies (Australian Government 2012; Cameron & O’Hanlon-Rose 2011; Singh 2005; Tran 2013; Tran& Nyland 2013). At the present, a growing number of Australians are participating in trans-national labour mobility with one million Australian citizens working overseas including a large number in European countries (DFAT 2013). But little is known whether and how VET institutes and teachers have been prepared to engage in this discourse and respond to the demand of internationalisation and trans-national workforce mobility. The research reported in this paper aims to analyse whether, how and for whom the internationalisation of vocational education and trans-national skills mobility affect the professional development needs and practices of VET teachers.

Method

Bourdieu’s theory of social practice is used as a framework to conceptualise this research. Central to Bourdieu’s theory of social practice is the concept of social field or space (Bourdieu 1986, 1998). Bourdieu (1986, 1998) conceptualises society as being constructed by different social fields defined by their own structures and characteristics. Drawing on Bourdieu’s notion of field, this research conceptualises teacher professional development in international VET as being anchored in the intersections of multiple fields including policy fields related to internationalisation in VET, skilled migration and workforce mobility, the government policy on Asian engagement and the VET culture. The instruments of this research are (1) semi-structured interviews (2) observations of teacher PD-related activities and meetings (3) study of public documentation of the sectoral and institutional policy and strategy on teacher PD and VET data on international students. Within each VET institutional case, interviews will be conducted with five groups: teachers who are involved in teaching international onshore or/and offshore students, program managers, staff in charge of PD provision, international program directors and VET directors. A sample of 40 teachers have been selected for the study. Teachers’ PD will be explored from a number of angles through interviews, participation in and observations of PD activities to tease out the complexities of these processes and construct a detailed picture of their PD practices. The main lines of inquiry for interviews and observations are as follows: (i) the formal, non-formal, collective and individual PD practices they are engaged in, whether they think their PD is adequate and the type of PD they think they need (ii) their perceptions on their own role and form of participation in PD practices (iii) whether/how they think their PD needs and practices may be affected by the background conditions (iv) whether and how their institutions facilitate their PD regarding internationalisation issues. Data has been categorised using NVivo software. As discussed above, Bourdieu’s (1998) theory will be used to offer a broader sociological framework to analyse teacher PD through his notions of social field (in this case the fields of VET, international education and government policies), the construction of particular habitus of teachers within those fields with regard to PD and the dispositions of different actors involved in VET teacher PD in terms of particular ways of viewing PD needs, nature and practice.

Expected Outcomes

This research shows that within the contemporary context of VET, teachers need to develop knowledge and capacities needed to respond effectively to the changing nature of their profession and of the context in which they engage. In particular, they need to be supported to develop skills and knowledge to work with the changing student profile, including international students whose learning characteristics and needs may be beyond the boundaries of traditional VET teaching and learning. Yet there is currently a lack of adequate and coherent professional development for VET teachers in relation to how to adapt pedagogy and work effectively with international learners. The research shows that the demands of competency-based training and the compliance culture tend to marginalise teachers’ professional practices likely to address the needs of international students. Competency-based training and training packages are mandated for Australian VET. As a result, international VET students are taught based on training packages which have been developed and driven by Australian industry. This practice tends to treat international students as potential migrants or workers who are trained and prepared for the participation in the Australian workforce. However, the Australian government’s changing skilled migration scheme has severely lowered the likelihood that international VET students can gain migration status in Australia. This paradox creates significant tensions for teachers who have to juggle between their professional responsibilities to respond to the need to prepare international students for effective participation in their home country’s workplaces and the pressure to demonstrate compliance.

References

AEI (2014). Monthly summary of international student enrolment data. https://internationaleducation.gov.au/research/International-Student-Data/Documents/Monthly%20summaries%20of%20international%20student%20enrolment%20data%202014/11_November_2014_MonthlySummary.pdf Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. G. Richardson (ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp. 241–258). New York: Greenwood Press. Bourdieu, P. (1998). Practical reason: On the theory of action. Stanford: Stanford University Press. Cameron, R. & O’Hanlon-Rose, T. (2011). Global skills and mobility challenges and possibilities for VET: A cross-border cross- sectoral case study. International Journal of Training Research, 9(1-2), 134-151. Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. (2013). Living and working overseas. Canberra. Green, W., & Whitsed, C. (2013). Reflections on an Alternative Approach to Continuing Professional Learning for Internationalization of the Curriculum across Disciplines. Journal of Studies in International Education. DOI: 10.1177/1028315312463825 Guthrie, H. (2010). Professional development in the vocational education and training workforce. Adelaide: NCVER Hardy, I. (2010). Critiquing teacher professional development: Teacher learning within the field of teachers’ work. Critical Studies in Education, 51 (1), 71-84. Hardy, I., Rönnerman, K., Moksnes Furu, E., Salo, P. & Forsman, L. (2010). Professional development policy and politics across international contexts: From mutuality to measurability? Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 18(1), 81-92. Harré, R. & van Langenhove, L. (1999). Positioning theory: The moral context of intentional actions. Great Britain: Blackwell. Harris, R., Clayton, B. & Chappell, C. (2007). Supporting vocational education and training providers in building capability for the future Adelaide: NCVER Hawke, G. (2008). Making decisions about workforce development in registered training organisations. Adelaide: NCVER. Hellesten, M. & Reid, M. (2008). Introduction: Researching International Pedagogies. In M. Hellsten & A. Reid (Eds.) Researching International Pedagogies (pp.1-6). Dordrecht: Springer. Holden, P. (2013). The PIE News. Leask, B. (2013). Internationalizing the Curriculum in Disciplines: Imagining New Possibilities. Journal of Studies in International Education. DOI: 10.1177/1028315312475090. Marginson, S. (2010). Higher education in the Asia-Pacific: Rise of the Confucian model. Evaluation in Higher Education, 4(2), 21-53. Productivity Commission. (2011). Vocational Education and Training Workforce. Research Report, Canberra. Sanderson, G. (2011). Internationalisation and teaching in higher education. Higher Education Research & Development, 30(5), 661-676. Tran, L. (2013). Internationalisation of Vocational Education and Training. Journal of Studies in International Education. DOI:10.1177/1028 Warhurst, R. (2008). “Cigars on the flight deck”: New lecturers’ participatory learning within workplace communities of practice. Studies in Higher Education, 33(4), 453-467.

Author Information

Ly Tran (presenting / submitting)

Deakin University, Australia

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