1. Enhancing Training Advantage for Remote Learners Presented on behalf of the project team* by John Guenther
Janet Skewes
Sandra Wooltorton
Bob Boughton
Frances Williamson
Anna Dwyer
Melissa Marshall
Anne Stephens
Melodie Bat

2. Acknowledgements National Centre for Vocational Education Research
Project team and institutions involved
Ninti One Limited
Advisory Group
Traditional Owners, Elders past and present of the countries we worked on

3. The problem
Despite high participation rates in remote communities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders generally have lower rates of transition to employment: VET is not adequately addressing employability imperatives and attrition rates are very high.
Completion rates for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people undertaking VET courses, very remote Australia, very remote and major cities, 2015 (Source: VOCSTATS Total VET Activity data)

4. Remote contexts for this study

5. Research questions
RQ1: How can retention and completion in post-school training be improved (to improve employability) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders living in remote communities?
RQ2: What indicators of success other than completion, would be important for training in remote communities (to improve employability)?
While sometimes described as miles and miles of nothing, very remote Australia is often imagined as an unused mass of land ripe for development. Yet our research work has again highlighted that it is not nothing, but rather an environment interwoven with historical and contemporary human history, soaked with relationships and meaning.
It is rich in natural resources that can be extracted for economic returns, but it is also full of places that people belong to. It is rich in knowledge and experience, full of human life, love, humour and grief. It is not a landscape of nothing–rather it is one that is fundamentally known. As the Developing the North white paper states northern Australia is one of “untapped promise, abundant resources and talented people” (Australian Government, 2015a, p. 1).
The largest proportion of Northern Australia’s land mass is classified by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as ‘very remote’. Having a resident population of approximately 94 000 people (ABS, 2012b) the very remote north also provides significant income to those living in other areas, such as consultants, contractors, and fly-in fly-out workforces. Similarly, many Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people living in more populated regions have strong connections to people and places within very remote Australia. Of the 94 000 people permanently residing in very remote Australia, 68 per cent identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander with a significant proportion (64 per cent) of these individuals speaking distinct and diverse Indigenous languages.

6. Definitional considerations
Employability
The skills which enable people to gain, keep and progress in employment, including skills in the clusters of work readiness and work habits, interpersonal skills and learning, thinking and adaptability skills’ (Naidu, 2013).
Retention and completion and attrition
‘Completion’ is then simply satisfactory achievement of the full program of intended study.
But attrition is the real problem: those who drop out
VET, adult learning and literacy
Overlapping boundaries
AQF Continuum, but Foundation Skills as an added component

7. Methods Analysis of VOCSTATs data Case studies of ‘success’
Aboriginal Health Worker training, NT
Ranger training, WA
Indigenous Mental Health (IMH), QLD
Yes I can literacy campaign, NSW
Aged Care and Home Community Care training, SA
Trainees 10 11 3 6
Trainers/providers 5 1
Employers, Job Services, Community organisations and cultural advisors 2
 Total respondents 14 20 9

8. What did we find? Case study site Focus areas
Estimated completion rate for selected program(s)
NSW Yes I Can
Adult literacy campaign (non-accredited)
78%
QLD Cairns Aboriginal Training College
Cert III Addictions Management and Community Development (AMCD); Cert IV Indigenous Mental Health (Suicide Prevention)
53%
SA TAFE APY Lands aged care
Cert II/III Community Services, Aged Care, Home and Community Care
17%
WA Ranger training program
Cert II/III/IV Conservation and Land Management
Not possible to assess
NT Batchelor Health Worker training program
Cert IV Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care
15%

9. What is ‘success’ in VET?
Skills for work, productivity, wages, labour markets and industry demand (Bowman & McKenna, 2016)
Origins of this version of success has its origins in Human Capital Theory (Becker 1993)
Equity as an indicator of success, but mostly in the context of access to work and higher education (Considine, Watson, & Hall, 2005; Guenther, Falk, & Arnott, 2008; Wheelahan, 2009).
Very little focus on human capability development (Allais, 2012), and even in foundation skills the policy focus has been on Skills for Education and Employment (Department of Industry Innovation Climate Change Science Research and Tertiary Education, 2013)

10. Alternative constructs: Transformative and sustaining learning
Freire (1970): power to the oppressed
Schuller (2004): wider benefits of learning: health, crime, social, sustaining through identity and resilience
Mezirow (2012): transformative learning
Dudgeon & Walker (2015) Moreton-Robinson (2004): system failures due to impact of colonisation

11. Why do remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders participate in VET
Adult learning helps learners understand and succeed in ‘two worlds’ (Guenther, Davis, Foster, & Arnott, 2010; Guenther, Gurruwiwi, & Donohoe, 2010);
Adult learning engages learners in textual activities for family, religious and community reasons (Kral, 2012; Kral & Falk, 2004);
It shapes identities and builds confidence (Guenther, 2011; Kral, 2010; Kral & Schwab, 2012; Miller, 2005; R Wallace, 2008);
It helps learners network and build social capital (Sushames, McPadden, Whippy, & Thompson, 2011; Ruth Wallace, 2011); and
It contributes to capacity building for communities and individuals (Kral & Falk, 2004; Sushames, 2006).

12. Findings: case study completion rates
Case study site
Focus areas
Estimated completion rate for selected program(s)
NSW Yes I Can
Adult literacy campaign (non-accredited)
78%
QLD Cairns Aboriginal Training College
Cert III Addictions Management and Community Development (AMCD); Cert IV Indigenous Mental Health (Suicide Prevention)
53%
SA TAFE APY Lands
Cert II/III Community Services, Aged Care, Home and Community Care
17%
WA Ranger training program
Cert II Conservation and Land Management
Data not available yet
NT Batchelor Health Worker training program
Cert IV Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care
15%

13. What did our respondents say affects retention
Family, personal and cultural matters
Relationships with other students
Trainer factors
Training coordination and support
Community and family support

14. Alternative indicators of success?
Confidence and identity
Foundation skills
Funding security
Culture and local knowledge
Employment outcomes

15. Implications and conclusions
Each site was different
Delivery efficiency not dependent on employment outcomes
Few people talked about completion as a benefit; rather
Success was described often in all sites as self-confidence (e.g. assertiveness, pride, personal growth) and foundation skills (e.g. literacy, numeracy, public speaking, writing skills).
Some of our data suggests that cultural embeddedness of training is where benefit lies.
For many respondents, the importance of local ownership, social engagement and social transformation were important benefits of training.
System imperatives of quality, compliance and hours of delivery inhibits critical reflection
Little mention of QA requirements, funding models, philosophical assumptions, VET policies, adult learning policies, reporting requirements, Indigenous education rights or human rights.
While funding certainty was raised as a factor that contributes to training success, very few participants questioned funding models.

16. Where does advantage in remote training lie?
Generally not in retention or employability or qualification
Rather people talked about processes more than outcomes:
Relationships
Networks
Support and coordination
Confidence, social engagement and benefit for children

17. Contact details
John Guenther