VET Leaders in Times of Change
National Workshops, November 2009
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Workshops on new leadership
Policy support for a tertiary sector and a policy shift towards market-oriented funding regimes is galvanising a new leadership mindset in the vocational education and training (VET) sector. Amid this new policy landscape, an ageing VET workforce, a breakout of discredited providers and fluctuating enrolment patterns following the global financial crisis may have created a perfect storm of leadership challenges in the VET sector.
Now is the time to critically review how we go about developing VET leaders and managers during these times of change.
The LH Martin Institute, in collaboration with John Mitchell and Associates and the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) is hosting a series of workshops in November 2009 that will explore fresh evidence on the capabilities of effective VET leadership.
Dates and registration details
A new conceptual framework for VET leadership
There is an abundance of literature on the generic concept of ‘leadership’ and ‘management’, particularly as they relate to the business sector. However, the amount of empirically based leadership material situated in the unique operating context of VET in Australia is more limited.
It is critical for the future of Australian VET that we develop an intellectual framework of the capabilities that are central to effective change leadership in this unique context. This framework must be based on a sound and robust evidence-base that incorporates the particular tensions in the sector, particularly those impacting on entrepreneurialism and market pressures.
Anticipating the need for a more comprehensive VET leadership framework, the LH Martin Institute in collaboration with the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) conducted a comprehensive and national quantitative survey of VET leaders from August to October 2009. The research captures the ideas, attitudes and capabilities of VET leaders just as they were moving through this fundamental period of change.
This is the first national project to define, through a comprehensive national survey, the capabilities which make an educationally effective VET leader, and will produce resources to develop and monitor these leadership capabilities. The project builds on a recent project that has developed and validated a national leadership capability framework for higher education, providing an opportunity for the research to look across the entire tertiary education sector.
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Benefits of participating
This is your unique opportunity to help participate in this ground-breaking research and shape the agenda while learning about your role and your own conceptual understanding of leadership in the VET sector.
To help participants decipher the future attributes of VET leaders and managers, the workshop will be facilitated by the respected VET strategist, Dr John Mitchell. These workshops will enable you as a VET leader to better understand your own attitudes, roles and conceptual understandings of leadership in the VET sector by:
- drawing on compelling findings, presented for the first time, from a national and comprehensive leadership survey that captures the thinking of over 200 VET leaders from a diverse range of public and private RTOs amid a time of turbulent and significant change;
- taking the opportunity to network with and learn from other leaders in similar roles; and
- hearing about ideas for forthcoming professional development and management programs.
Participating in the workshop program will provide you with an important opportunity to help interpret the early findings and shape the emerging agenda. Outcomes will shape future training and management programs.
Completing the online survey beforehand
We would like all workshop participants to complete the online survey before attending. By completing the online survey beforehand, you will be able to answer questions and address issues that could help you to reconceptualise your role as a leader or manager. If you have not already completed the reflective survey, please access the survey by clicking http://ausse.acer.edu.au/51255.php?u=prio
Who should attend?
This symposium is for senior VET leaders and managers responsible for designing and managing change in their training organisation. As a guide, we define a senior manager as a manager to whom other managers or supervisors report. In practice, this means managers above a head teacher, principal lecturer or similar.
Each workshop is limited to a maximum of 50 people.
Workshop facilitator
Dr John Mitchell has published extensively on leadership in VET and has prepared papers on VET leadership for IBSA and the LH Martin Institute Higher Education Leadership and Management. His doctoral thesis at Deakin University (2004) focuses on VET senior managers and he facilitates the VET Women Leaders’ Forum.
John Mitchell will be joined by Dr Hamish Coates and Mr Justin Brown from the Australian Council for Educational Research, and by Professor Lynn Meek, Director of the LH Martin Institute. Dr Coates leads higher education research at ACER and in 2007 co-directed the related national project with university leaders.
Details and registration
Delivery mode: Each workshop runs for three hours plus a one-hour lunch.
Workshop fee: $155 (incl GST) by Thursday 12 November (includes coffee, morning or afternoon tea, and lunch)
WHEN APPLYING PLEASE NOTE: You must include on the registration form the date, city and session you wish to attend in the "Session Date" section.
Dates and location
- Sydney - Afternoon Session - Friday, 20 November 2009, 1pm to 4pm (with lunch from noon), UNSW CBD Campus
- Brisbane - Afternoon Session - Monday, 23 November 2009, 1pm to 4pm (with lunch from noon), Old Government House
Further information will be distributed in November.
LH Martin Institute, www.lhmartininstitute.edu.au
ACER, www.acer.edu.au
John Mitchell and Associates, www.jma.com.au
For more information please contact Anna Steer via email asteer@unimelb.edu.au.