SOUTHERN CROSS CONNECTION
Report from Carmel Thompson;
One of our members, Carmel Thompson, was recently sponsored by UNESCO to attend a Forum in Taijin (third largest city in China). China has come to realize that fuelling its economic development will require a skilled workforce, and they are looking to the world to assist them in addressing their skills shortages through vocational training.
INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON VOCATIONAL-TECHNICAL EDUCATION
TIANJIN, CHINA
The International Forum on Vocational Technical Education co-sponsored by the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO, UNESCO International Vocational-Technical Education Center (UNEVOC), UNESCO Asia Pacific Network for International Education and Values Education (UNESCO-APNIEVE) and Tianjin Municipal Educational Commission China was held in Tianjin, China on 11-13th September, 2007.
IVETA was represented at the forum by the Vice-President for East Asia, Ms Carmel Thompson.
The Central Theme was “Policy Framework, Joint Innovations and International Networking in the Context of Globalization and Market-Driven Economies”. All areas were considered important in assisting China to develop policy to support an industry led, demand driven and competency based vocational technical education.
The format of the forum consisted of numerous plenary sessions from speakers from Cambodia, Mongolia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Korea, Germany, Netherlands, Italy and Australia. There were also four round table committees and a site visit to VTE Schools in Tianjin.
I was involved in Round Table 2 where we focused on the challenges of VTE for Sustainable Rural Development in China and were asked to come up with some recommendations to be submitted to UNESCO for future funding.
Key issues:
An emphasis on economic production only will not fulfill development potential. This ignores social, environmental and cultural contexts. These also have economic benefits.
- Values based learning is critical in determining teaching content for sustainable development because it links to local contexts in people’s lives. It will relate also to possible choices or opportunities for employment.
- The rapid changes in the world of work means that learning must be continuous and that the work study link must be strengthened through entrepreneurship, enterprise and partnerships in order to be able to adapt to change.
Recommendations
- Innovative work-study programmes should be closely linked with highly relevant needs driven research (industry, community and/or academic involvement) on agricultural-rural employment to ensure relevance for the changing economy and workforce development needs of industry, particularly in countries in transition (often characterized by rapid urbanization).
- Production of quality curriculum content and pedagogy (with particular reference to competencies, standards and modular based training) to ensure that changes to that content are responsive to changing local needs (related to values as well as opportunity) of both the workforce, community and industry (and importantly small and medium enterprises).
- Production and revision of relevant courses materials and qualifications for industry partnership, entrepreneurship and self-employment and non-formal courses for improving skills (lifelong learning and mobilization of life skills). These must be accessible to the marginalized (illiterates, itinerant, migrants etc) rural poor, and provide pathways through adult and non-formal education (Education for All). This will assist in creating an enabling environment for community based leadership in TVET and expand the involvement of core stakeholders responsive to changing needs and priorities.
- Ensuring closer linkages that strengthen teacher training (Hangzhou Declaration) and ongoing professional development (through teacher education and competency standards), institutional platforms and administrative and policy devised through relevant Ministries (Human Resources, Labour, Education, Rural/Agricultural). These linkages will ensure harmony between local and national scales and encourage inter-sectoral cooperation between key stakeholders. This is critical to ensure that TVET remains firmly centred with holistic educational reform.
- International Cooperation needs to focus on issues that support these recommendations including supporting innovation in teaching through
- standards and competencies,
- research,
- international technical exchange and funding，
- industry partnerships,
- community based projects,
- regional qualification frameworks and
- equivalency.
The Forum brought together over 100 hard working and passionate VTE practitioners who gave generously of their knowledge and time. Their willingness to share their experiences produced a very successful outcome with recommendations that UNESCO can take forward to assist China to further develop its vocational education sector.
Carmel Thompson |
Health Schools Australia 
Australian Correspondence Schools