Beyond deficit models for integrating language, literacy and numeracy in Australian VET

Black, S; Yasukawa, K

Beyond deficit models for integrating language, literacy and numeracy in Australian VET

Black, S

Yasukawa, K

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Journal of Further and Higher Education, 2013, 37 (4), pp. 574 - 590
Issue Date:: 2013-07-08

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Black, S https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0825-0384	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Yasukawa, K https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4553-0289	en_US
dc.date.issued	2013-07-08	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Journal of Further and Higher Education, 2013, 37 (4), pp. 574 - 590	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0309-877X	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/27687
dc.description.abstract	In light of the perceived new significance to the Australian economy of adult language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) skills, this paper presents a broad picture of how LLN is being integrated in Australian vocational education and training (VET) and, through reference to selected programmes, indicates some future directions. Based on a national environmental scan of LLN providers and in-depth interviews with over 50 VET teachers and managers, we conclude that integrated LLN in Australian VET largely fits a deficit paradigm. In the main, students are assessed at the beginning of their course to identify the LLN skills they lack and then provided with assistance from a specialist LLN teacher, which may be in the form of individual support in a study centre, tuition in a separate LLN programme, or assistance within a team teaching structure in the vocational classroom. We focus mainly on the latter in this paper, explaining that often the LLN teacher assumes a secondary, 'hovering' role in the vocational classroom, helping primarily those students identified to be 'in need' of LLN support, while the vocational teacher delivers the vocational content. We provide examples of alternative models of integrated LLN which feature a shared or equal role for the LLN teacher, and we examine these using a theoretical framework developed from the work of Lea and Street (1998, 2006) on academic writing. Based on Lea and Street's work, we refer to these models as: 'study skills', 'vocational socialisation' and 'vocational literacies and numeracies'. © 2013 Copyright UCU.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Journal of Further and Higher Education	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1080/0309877X.2011.645469	en_US
dc.title	Beyond deficit models for integrating language, literacy and numeracy in Australian VET	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	4	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	37	en_US
utslib.for	1302 Curriculum and Pedagogy	en_US
utslib.for	1301 Education Systems	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/e-Press
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - STEM Education Futures
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	4	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	37	en_US

Abstract:

In light of the perceived new significance to the Australian economy of adult language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) skills, this paper presents a broad picture of how LLN is being integrated in Australian vocational education and training (VET) and, through reference to selected programmes, indicates some future directions. Based on a national environmental scan of LLN providers and in-depth interviews with over 50 VET teachers and managers, we conclude that integrated LLN in Australian VET largely fits a deficit paradigm. In the main, students are assessed at the beginning of their course to identify the LLN skills they lack and then provided with assistance from a specialist LLN teacher, which may be in the form of individual support in a study centre, tuition in a separate LLN programme, or assistance within a team teaching structure in the vocational classroom. We focus mainly on the latter in this paper, explaining that often the LLN teacher assumes a secondary, 'hovering' role in the vocational classroom, helping primarily those students identified to be 'in need' of LLN support, while the vocational teacher delivers the vocational content. We provide examples of alternative models of integrated LLN which feature a shared or equal role for the LLN teacher, and we examine these using a theoretical framework developed from the work of Lea and Street (1998, 2006) on academic writing. Based on Lea and Street's work, we refer to these models as: 'study skills', 'vocational socialisation' and 'vocational literacies and numeracies'. © 2013 Copyright UCU.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/27687