In/Equality and Choice in Senior Secondary School Students’ Outcomes: Queensland’S Reforms of Vocational Education and Training in Schools

IN/EQUALITY AND CHOICE IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ OUTCOMES: QUEENSLAND’S REFORMS OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING IN SCHOOLS

Bingyi Li

Bachelor of Arts (English Education) Northeast Normal University, 1993 Master of Arts (Applied English Linguistics) Jilin University, 2006

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

20 March 2011

Centre for Educational Research School of Education College of Arts University of Western Sydney

Principal Supervisor: Professor Michael Singh

Associate Supervisor: A/Professor Bobby Harreveld

Acknowledgements

My thesis is the product of the efforts of many parties. First, I would like to thank the University of Western Sydney for providing me with an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship, which provided me with the great financial support I needed to concentrate on my study over the past three years.

Most importantly, I would like to thank my principal supervisor Professor Michael Singh for his contributions to the development of my research capabilities, especially his innovative approaches to research education and supervisory pedagogies. I acknowledge that his inspiration and encouragement nurtured the germ of my ideas that has resulted in my fulfilment of PhD thesis as well as conference papers. During these past three years, Professor Singh has guided me to undertake academic research with patience and scholarly insight. He offered many chances for me to attend useful and necessary research seminars, workshops and training courses which broadened my view of educational research. His profound knowledge ensured that I was not misled in exploring my research topic or reviewing the literature, developing the theoretical framework or planning the research process. By the end of my doctoral journey, I had presented five conference papers and one journal paper in addition to this thesis. These were all due to Professor Singh’s direction. Without his careful corrective feedback and theoretical guidance, I would not have made as much progress in my academic studies and research. His day-by-day feedback, comments and assessment encouraged me to learn more about educational research. I was especially impressed by his open-mindedness to non-western theoretical knowledge. In my thesis, I often found it would be easier to explain some points or develop my argument if I used cheng yu (Chinese metaphors). However, I avoided doing so because over the past three years I gained the impression that most Anglo-Australian academics support the idea of “when in Rome, do as Romans do”. However, Professor Singh always encouraged me to apply to my Chinese theoretical knowledge in any aspects of my research. He regards this as an important way of merging my bilingual capabilities and knowledge of Chinese conceptual tools into my research project so as to create a deep intellectual dialogue between Australia and China. He really goes beyond the concept of “tolerance to multi-culture” in his

supervision rather than keep it as a slogan. His scholarly spirit has won my deep respect.

I also acknowledge the tremendous support from my co-supervisor, Associate Professor Bobby Harreveld, who provided me with much help and many suggestions during these three years. She helped arrange for me to attend the 2008 VETiS Network Australia Conference, and there she introduced me to a range of scholars in the Senior Learning/VETiS field. I have had numerous face-to-face meetings with her to discuss my research; on these occasions she has provided me with valuable feedback on my research. In addition to that, she also gave me many valuable suggestions for my different stages of thesis writing, especially through a series of interactive videoconferences organised by Michael and Bobby. The most impressive feature of Bobby is her sunny smile which makes me feel at ease and encourages me to share many of my research problems with her. She is a very elegant scholar.

The sincere gratitude for my previous supervisor, Professor Shufan Liu cannot be expressed with words. She is such an important person in my life. Without her help, I would not have opportunity to apply for studying in Australia.

I would like to express my love and gratitude to my beloved parents and my brother and sister-in-law for their understanding and endless love. They sustained and greatly supported me through the duration of my study. I also thank for my ex-husband who encouraged my pursuing of dream. Especially, I express my gratitude for David’s company and help during the lonely exploring journey.

Finally I would like to thank Dr. Jinhe Han who supported me with spiritual encouragement. Thanks to Dr. Dacheng Zhao who helped me with scholarship application; Tracy Mill who helped me with issues of study registration and enrolment; thanks to Elien Weeks who provided me with a valuable internship opportunity; thanks to Glenn Holdstock who supervised my work on the finish Home-based Business (HBB) On-line Survey report for the Sutherland Shire Council.

Statement of Authentication

I declare that except where due acknowledgement has been made this research thesis is my own work and has not been submitted in any form for another degree at any university or other institute of tertiary education. Information derived from the published or unpublished work of others has been acknowledged in the text and a list of references is given.

………………..

Bingyi Li

20 March, 2011

Table of Contents

List of Tables ...... vi

List of Figures ...... viii

Abbreviations and Acronyms ...... x

Abstract ...... xii

Authors’ Bio-note ...... xv

Author’s Publications ...... xvii

CHAPTER ONE: THE GAINS YOUNG ADULTS ARE MAKING FROM THE REFORMS TO SENIOR LEARNING: CREATING LIFE CAPABILITIES AND CAREER FUNCTIONINGS ...... 3

1.0 Introduction ...... 3 1.1 Research problem...... 4 1.2 Background: overview of research literature ...... 5 1.3 Conceptual framework ...... 8 1.4 Research method ...... 10 1.5 Statement of thesis ...... 12 1.6 Overview of chapters ...... 12

CHAPTER TWO: YOUNG ADULTS AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR LEARNING AND TRAINING IN SENIOR LEARNING: A REVIEW OF THE RECENT RESEARCH LITERATURE ...... 19

2.0 Introduction ...... 19 2.1 Equal opportunity for learning and training in senior education ...... 20 2.2 Growth of VET in schools ...... 22 2.2.1 Positioning VETiS in senior education ...... 25 2.2.2 Focus VET in Schools ...... 27 2.2.3 Issues associated with VETiS development ...... 29 2.3 Factors influencing VETiS outcomes ...... 31 2.3.1 VETiS outcome in urban and rural areas ...... 32 2.3.2 School size and student outcomes ...... 33 2.3.3 Socio-economic status and VETiS outcomes ...... 37 2.3.4 Other factors influencing students’ school-to-work transition ...... 39 2.4 VETiS practice and students’ acquisition of competence...... 42 2.5 Influence of VETiS on Year 12 students’ post-school destinations ...... 44 2.6 Conclusion ...... 46

CHAPTER THREE: THEORISING EDUCATION, EQUALITY AND THE CAPABILITY APPROACH ...... 51

3.0 Introduction ...... 51 3.1 Equality of what ...... 53 3.1.1 In /equality diversity within focal variables ...... 54

3.1.1.1 Egalitarianism and Rawls’ theory ...... 55 3.1.1.2 Utilitarian in/equality ...... 57 3.1.1.3 Libertarian in/equality ...... 58 3.1.1.4 Poverty as an issue ...... 58 3.1.2 Human diversity ...... 60 3.1.3 Conceptualising freedom, achievement and choice ...... 61 3.2 Capability approach ...... 63 3.2.1 Capability and functionings ...... 64 3.2.2 Well-being and agency ...... 65 3.3 Social choice and democracy ...... 68 3.4 Factors for policy implementation ...... 71 3.4.1 Policy goals, targets and tools ...... 72 3.4.2 People—policy actors and beneficiaries ...... 73 3.4.3 Places—physical and social implementation ...... 74 3.4.4 Complexity of policy implementation ...... 74 3.4.5 Education policy implementation ...... 75 3.5 Operationalisation of Sen’s theory in education ...... 76 3.5.1 Feature 1— a broad variety of sources of information ...... 77 3.5.2 Feature 2— a novel set of categories to describe variety ...... 78 3.5.3 Feature 3— a stance concerning which levels have ethical priority ...... 80 3.5.4 Feature 4—choices which “people have reason to value” ...... 81 3.5.5 Feature 5— public procedures for prioritising and threshold-setting ...... 82 3.5.6 Feature 6—basic capabilities and threshold levels ...... 82 3.6 Conclusion ...... 83

CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...... 87

4.0 Introduction ...... 87 4.1 Philosophical perspectives on educational research ...... 87 4.1.1 Science and educational research ...... 88 4.1.1.1 What is the scientific method? ...... 88 4.1.1.2 Education research in a scientific view ...... 89 4.1.2 Truth Seeking in Educational Research ...... 91 4.2 Constructing educational research ...... 94 4.2.1 Ethical issues in research ...... 95 4.2.2 Stating the research problem ...... 97 4.2.3 Developing the research plan ...... 98 4.3 Data collection ...... 102 4.3.1 Using secondary data in educational research ...... 102 4.3.2 Gathering data and creating evidence ...... 105 4.4 Data analysis ...... 109 4.4.1 Quantitative or qualitative research ...... 109 4.4.2 Six models for mixed method data analysis ...... 112 4.4.3 Statistical analysis ...... 113 4.4.4 From open to focused coding ...... 115 4.4.5 Excerpt-commentary unit analysis ...... 117 4.4.5.1 Key elements in excerpt-commentary unit analysis ...... 118 4.4.5.2 Arrangement of excerpt-commentary units within a section ...... 119 4.5 Conclusion ...... 120

CHAPTER FIVE: A POLICY ANALYSIS ON SENIOR L/EARNING IN VETIS ...... 125

Overview ...... 125 5.0 Introduction ...... 126 5.1 Parties and their policies ...... 127 5.2 The focuses in educational policy ...... 131 5.2.1 Objectives in educational policies ...... 132 5.2.2 The situatedness of education policy in text discourse ...... 135 5.2.3 Equity in education policy ...... 136 5.3 Policy targets and expected effects ...... 138 5.3.1 Participation, outcomes and equity in VETiS ...... 138 5.3.2 Increasing opportunities for successful learning and working transition ...... 144 5.4 Contexts for implementation...... 147 5.4.1 Interactions with organisational functions ...... 148 5.4.2 Interactions with external conditions ...... 151 5.5 Discussion of research question one ...... 154 5.6 Conclusion ...... 156

CHAPTER SIX: YEAR 12 STUDENTS’ OUTCOMES IN VETIS IN AUSTRALIA AND IN QUEENSLAND ...... 157

6.0 Introduction ...... 157 6.1 Key features of the data ...... 158 6.2 Data analysis procedures...... 159 6.2.1 Conceptual tools for analysis ...... 159 6.2.2 Secondary statistical data analysis ...... 161 6.3 Data limitations ...... 162 6.4 Senior school students’ outcome in VETiS ...... 163 6.4.1 National profile of Year 12 students’ outcomes in VETiS ...... 163 6.4.2 Year 12 students’ outcomes in VETiS in Queensland ...... 167 6.4.3 VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion by industry in Australia and in Queensland ...... 167 6.4.4 VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion by student characteristics ...... 170 6.5 Discussion of research question two ...... 172 6.5.1 Equality versus inequality ...... 173 6.5.2 Individual choice vs. social choice ...... 176 6.5.3 Hard versus soft criteria ...... 178 6.6 Conclusion ...... 181

CHAPTER SEVEN: POST-SCHOOL DESTINATIONS OF YEAR 12 COMPLETERS IN QUEENSLAND ...... 183

7.0 Introduction ...... 183 7.1 Research method operated for collecting data from the Next Step surveys ...... 184 7.1.1 The case of “post-school destinations for Year 12 completers” ...... 184 7.1.2 From open to focused data analysis ...... 186 7.2 Findings of Destinations of Year 12 completers in Queensland (2006-09) ...... 189 7.2.1 Main destination of Queensland’s Year 12 completers ...... 189 7.2.2 Main destination of Year 12 completers by gender ...... 191

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7.2.3 Main destination of Year 12 completers by metro/non-metropolitan locations ...... 193 7.2.4 Main destination of Queensland’s Year 12 completers by Indigenous identity ...... 194 7.2.5 Main destination of Year 12 completers by SES ...... 197 7.2.6 Main destination of Year 12 completers for VET by gender, location, Indigenous identity and SES ...... 199 7.3 Discussion of research question three ...... 202 7.3.1 The “diversity” constructed in the Next Steps reports ...... 204 7.3.2 The freedom of young adults experiencing entrenched disadvantage to choose ...... 205 7.3.3 Providing valued post-school destinations for young adults experiencing entrenched disadvantage through Senior L/earning ...... 206 7.4 Conclusion ...... 207

CHAPTER EIGHT: STUDENTS’ OUTCOMES OF VETIS IN QUEENSLAND SCHOOLS ...... 209

8.0 Introduction ...... 209 8.1 Data collection method ...... 210 8.1.1 Identifying schools’ electorates at State and Federal levels ...... 210 8.1.2 Identifying schools’ Remoteness Area (RA) level ...... 211 8.2 Analysing data ...... 212 8.2.1 Normality check ...... 213 8.2.2 Dummy the variables ...... 217 8.3 Data analysis methods...... 218 8.3.1 Correlation of the variables ...... 218 8.3.2 Multiple regression analysis ...... 221 8.3.2.1 Multiple regression for single variables ...... 221 8.3.2.3 Multiple regression for single and combined variables ...... 224 8.4 Findings...... 227 8.5 Discussion of research question four ...... 230 8.5.1 Social privilege in access to education ...... 231 8.5.2 Resources allocation by RA levels ...... 232 8.5.3 School orientation for equal learning outcomes ...... 235 8.6 Conclusion ...... 237

CHAPTER NINE: SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY PERFORMANCE FOR VETIS IMPLEMENTATION IN SELECTED ELECTORATES IN QUEENSLAND ...... 239

9.0 Introduction ...... 239 9.1 Accountability in education ...... 240 9.2 Data collection method ...... 243 9.2.1 Identifying and choosing electorates for students’ VETiS outcome ...... 243 9.2.2 Collecting data from the senior schools in each of the chosen electorates ..... 245 9.2.3 Criteria for collection of evidence ...... 246 9.3 The public availability of VETiS information in school annual reports and curriculum ...... 248 9.4 Analysis of school public accountability in selected Queensland schools ...... 256 9.4.1 Analysis of annual reports ...... 257 9.4.2 Analysis of curriculum ...... 260 iv

9.5 Discussion of research question five ...... 262 9.6 Conclusion ...... 267

CHAPTER TEN: CONCLUSION ...... 271

10.0 Introduction ...... 271 10.1 Summary of this thesis ...... 272 10.2 Findings...... 275 10.2.1 The unequal VETiS outcomes in Queensland ...... 275 10.2.2 Social choice and individual behaviour ...... 277 10.2.3 Selective function of school ...... 278 10.2.4 Difficulties for the disadvantaged in obtaining equal opportunities for VETiS ...... 279 10.2.5 A “space” needed to evaluate VETiS outcomes ...... 280 10.2.6 A nuanced interpretation of education equality ...... 281 10.2.7 Accountability for the public availability of VETiS information ...... 283 10.2.8 Capability development in VETiS ...... 284 10.3 Delimitations and limitations of this study ...... 286 10.4 Implication—Operational mechanism in VETiS ...... 287 10.4.1 Yin di zhi yi at School level ...... 288 10.4.2 Yin di zhi yi at the organisational level ...... 290 10.5 Recommendations for further research ...... 291 10.6 Reflections ...... 292 10.6.1 Early career researcher’s originality ...... 293 10.6.2 Identities adopting in new communities as a bilingual, transnational worker ...... 295

REFERENCES ...... 299

Appendix I: Profile of 440 Schools in Queensland ...... 311

Appendix II: List of 61 schools’ Annual Report 2008 ...... 325

Appendix III: List of 61 schools’ Annual Report 2009 ...... 331

Appendix IV: Queensland State School Reporting Template ...... 338

Appendix V: Ethics approval letter from University of Western Sydney ...... 344

Appendix VI: Ethics approval letter from Queensland Government, the Department of Education, Training and the Arts ...... 346

List of Tables

Table 4.1 Connections between key elements of this case study ...... 108

Table 5.1 The frequency of use of key words related to Senior L/earning and disadvantaged education ...... 135

Table 6.1 VETiS courses enrolment, attainment and qualification by state/territory, 2007 ...... 166

Table 6.2 Comparison of VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion by industry categories between Australian average and Queensland State, 2006 ...... 170

Table 6.3 VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion by characteristics in Australia and Queensland State, 2007 and 2006 ...... 171

Table 7.1 Main destination of Year 12 completers, Queensland 06-09 ...... 190

Table 7.2 Main destinations of Queensland’s Year 12 completers by gender 06-09 ...... 192

Table 7.3 Main destinations of Queensland’s Year 12 completers by Indigenous status, Queensland 06-09 ...... 195

Table 7.4 Main destination of Queensland’s INDIGENOUS Year 12 completers by gender and location 06-09 ...... 197

Table 7.5 Main destination of Year 12 completers by socio-economic status, Queensland 06-09 ...... 198

Table 7.6 Main destination of Queensland’s Year 12 completers for VET, by gender, metro/non-metropolitan locations, Indigenous identity and SES 06-09 ...... 201

Table 8.1 Descriptive statistics of VET (N=440; N=424) ...... 215

Table 8.2 Pearson Correlations among different variables (N=424) ...... 220

Table 8.3 Coefficients summary of VET outcome with single variables ...... 223

Table 8.4 Multiple regression model summary ...... 225

Table 8.5 Coefficients summary of VET outcome with single and combined variables 226

Table 9.1 Profile of RA classification of eighty-one electorates in Queensland ...... 243

Table 9.2 State Electorates (N=16) by RA classification with largest and smallest voter enrolments ...... 244

Table 9.3 State Electorates (N=16) by RA classification and geographical distance ...... 244

Table 9.4 School distribution in selected electorates by RA level ...... 246

Table 9.5 Schools with and without publicly available VETiS information in annual report and curriculum by RA levels, 2008 and 2009 ...... 249

Table 9.6 Schools with VET qualification outcomes but without detailed VETiS curriculum, 2009 (N=19) ...... 254

Table 9.7 Schools with VET qualification outcomes but without detailed VETiS curriculum, 2010 (N=25) ...... 255

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List of Figures

Figure 3.1 Dimensions of diversity in in/equality ...... 55

Figure 3.2 Factors of the capability approach ...... 68

Figure 3.3 Operationalisation of the capability approach for data analysis ...... 84

Figure 4.1 Research Project Design ...... 100

Figure 6.1 All school students undertaking a Senior Secondary School Certificate and VETiS students by State/Territory (, 000), 2007 ...... 164

Figure 6.2 VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion by industry categories in Australia ...... 168

Figure 6.3 VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion by industry categories in Queensland ...... 169

Figure 7.1 Main destinations of Year 12 completers, Queensland 06-09 ...... 191

Figure 7.2 Main destinations of Year 12 completers by gender, Queensland 06-09 ...... 193

Figure 7.3 Main destinations of Year 12 completers by location, Queensland 06-09 ..... 194

Figure 7.4 Main destinations of Year 12 completers by Indigenous status, Queensland 06- 09...... 195

Figure 7.5 Main destinations of Year 12 completers by SES, Queensland 06-09 ...... 199

Figure 8.1 Normal distribution curve...... 213

Figure 8.2 Histogram of VETiS outcome (N=440) ...... 214

Figure 8.3 Histogram of VET outcome (N=424) ...... 216

Figure 8.4 Histogram of square root of VET (N=424) ...... 217

Figure 8.5 Relationships between square root of VET and school size...... 222

Figure 8.6 Distribution of schools of different sizes by RA levels (N=424) ...... 228

Figure 8.7 Distribution of State schools of different sizes by RA levels (N=217) ...... 229

Figure 9.1 Comparison of school numbers with/without VETiS information in 2008 and 2009...... 249

Figure 9.2 Schools with VETiS information in both annual report and school curriculum ...... 251

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Figure 9.3 Schools with VETiS information only in annual report ...... 251

Figure 9.4 Schools with VETiS information only in school curriculum ...... 252

Figure 9.5 Schools VETiS information neither in annual report nor in curriculum ...... 253

Figure 10.1 The process of generating the findings ...... 275

Abbreviations and Acronyms

ACER Australian Council Educational Research

AEC Australian Electoral Commission

ALP Australian Labor Party

ANTA Australian National Training Authority

AQF Australian Qualification Framework

ARIA Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia

ASGC Australian Standard Geographical Classification

CA Capability Approach

COAG Council of Australian Governments

CoC Confirmation of Candidature

DET Department of Education and Training

ECQ Electoral Commission Queensland

ECR Early Career Researcher

ERIC Education Resources Information Center

GPA Grade Point Average HBB Home-based Business

LNP Liberal National Party

LP Liberal Party of Australia

LSAY Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth

MAT Metropolitan Achievement Test

MCEECDYA Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs

MCEETYA Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs

MCVTE Ministerial Council for Vocational and Technical Education

MDG Millennium Development Goal

MEA Maine Educational Assessment

NCVER National Centre for Vocational Education Research

NP National Party Nuffic Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education

OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development

OP Overall Position

OGS Office of the Government Statistician

PSFP Priority Schools Funding Program

QCE Queensland Certificate of Education

RA Remoteness Area

RTO Registered Training Organisation

RRIPA Rural and Remote Incentive Programs Assistance Service

SAT School-based Apprentice and Trainee

SEDL Southwest Educational Development Laboratory

SEIFA Socio-Economic indexes for Areas

SES Socio-economic Status

SS School Size

SSSC Senior Secondary School Certificate

SSK Sociology of Science and Knowledge

SWL Structured Work Learning

TIMSS Third International Mathematics and Science Survey

VCE Victorian Certificate of Education

VET Vocational Education and Training

VETiS Vocational Education and Training in Schools

Abstract

The extension of compulsory education to Year 11 and 12 has been implemented in Queensland since 2006. The research project reported in this thesis was designed to develop a detailed picture of young adult outcomes from the innovation in Queensland’s Senior Learning. It provides insight into the relationship between the expected benefits of these changes to senior education as promised in Government policies and evidence of actual outcomes students obtained through their learning and training. The focal research questions are:

Are young adults provided equal opportunity for learning and training through the Senior Learning policy and what factors affect their learning outcomes and post-school pathways?

The issues of how to improve the capacity of secondary schools to provide comprehensive vocational education and training programs for young people and how to offer effective pathways are the focus of much debate. A review of the research literature points to the need to better understand young people’s work/life trajectory made possible through reforms to schools in terms of in/equality education with respect Government education and training policy (Chapter 2).

Amartya Sen’s (1992, 1999) capability approach provides the overarching category for analysing young people’s outcomes from Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) policy in Australia using statistics as well as documents. The analysis of these data is intertwined to explore individual choice versus social choice, and equality versus inequality as expressions of the category of capability in education. In addition, democracy and accountability are considered through an analysis of the interrelationship among policy texts, policy actors and key sites of policy implementation with evidence from Queensland (Chapter 3 and 9).

Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis were used in this study, including the analysis of statistics (by Excel and SPSS) as well as texts. Document analysis provides the core means for examining where and how the idea of “education for equality” is expressed by VETiS policies and how these policies relate to VETiS

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outcomes, especially the transition from learning to work and/or further education and/or training. Young adult’s VETiS outcomes arising from Government sponsored innovations in Senior Learning are engaged by using data to explore at macro, meso and micro levels, and their interaction (Chapter 4 and 5).

At the macro level, the 2006 and 2007 VETiS School Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) provide data which focuses on Year 12 students’ VETiS outcomes nationally and for respective States and Territory. This data is analysed to examine students’ capabilities and freedom to choose in the context of social choice (Chapter 6). Following this is a longitudinal analysis of Year 12 students’ post-school destinations generated from the Queensland Government’s (2006, 2007, 2008b, 2009) Next Step reports (Chapter 7). The analysis at this macro level explores how the young adults are positioned with respect to their diversity in terms of gender, geographic location, Indigenous and socio- economic status.

At the meso level, the analysis concentrates on accounts of Year 12 outcomes 2008 (Queensland Government, 2009b) from all 440 Queensland secondary schools. Young adults’ VETiS outcomes are analysed in terms of different variables such as geographical dimensions (Remoteness Area), school size and representation by different political parties to explore how policy actors and regions (such as school location and size) influence the implementation of the senior learning reform as well as the young adults’ freedom of choice with respect to different pathways. It is shown that policy actors as well as regional influence are the driving force behind student achievement (Chapter 8).

At the micro level, sixty-one schools’ annual reports and curriculum are analysed to explore the question of how policy actors characterise VETiS implementation, and their accountability in relation to the effects of VETiS on students’ education and work life trajectories (Chapter 9).

Through analysing this range of evidence, this study found that students’ VETiS outcomes are unequal in relation to the level of Certificate qualification, the location they are living and their Indigenous identity. Young adults’ choices for VETiS courses and their post-school destinations show that socio-economic background and the location xiii

influencing the choices of young adults’ schooling and post-school pathways. Such social privilege makes it difficult for students from disadvantaged backgrounds to obtain as equal opportunities as their peers to access to VETiS. Besides that, the conflict between achieving VET qualification and academic qualifications such as QCE and OP reflect two differing perspectives on the role of senior learning experience. In one way, academic achievement remains the school’s primary concern of most secondary schools, with vocational education remaining a focus for curriculum reform. In another way, vocational training is seen as valuable learning experience for acquisition of specific vocational competence, at least by part of the school population. Therefore, students’ different VETiS outcomes and the factors that influence such outcomes require a new interpretation of equality in education. The analysis of students’ VETiS outcomes needs to focus on an issue of space rather than specific individuals. This may provide insights into education in/equality and possible interventions. Based on the foregoing theoretically informed and empirically grounded analysis, this thesis argues that the inadequate and inconsistent VETiS information publicly provided by these particular schools invites interrogation of their accountability for school performance. VETiS outcomes are not confined to the qualifications students obtain from school; much valuable informal or nonformal learning occurs in community and VETiS workplace settings (Chapter 10).

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Authors’ Bio-note

After graduation from Northeast Normal University in 1993, I became an English teacher in Jilin University and enjoyed a good reputation among the students. As an English teacher, I love teaching. Teaching offers something besides money: it offers love, not only the love of learning and of books and ideas, but also the love that a teacher feels for the students who walk into a teacher’s life. I am being present when they grow up.

During the time of being an English teacher, I was thirsty to know the latest research trend on English education so that I could apply the new theoretical knowledge to the teaching practice. The good feedback from the students stimulated me to work hard and reflect the better teaching methods. I set two major goals in my career:

1. To design constructive and student-centred learning environments to support inquiry and problem solving. 2. To concentrate on theoretically grounded research, both basic and applied, which will contribute to my understanding of how English learning performance may be enhanced.

The enthusiasm and sincere desire to accomplish these goals were the driving force of my career plan. I took some opportunities to cultivate myself step by step. In 2000, I applied and succeeded in gaining a Japanese Government scholarship to study education in Kobe University and Tottori University. Under Professor Adachi’s supervision, I gained extensive knowledge of second language acquisition research, theory and teaching practice. The valuable abroad studying experience made a great impact on my later working career.

When I came back to Jilin University in 2002, I was transferred to another branch to teach English for Non-English major graduate students and took on some new courses such as English course for Master of Public Administration, Business English etc. I began to reflect the meaning and effective results of English teaching when I taught the challenging courses. In the meanwhile, I was assigned to be the leader to work at making some long-distance courses for Distant Education College, Jilin University. We have made a series of 4 video courses on Tourism English by 2006. I often had to work late

night but I felt very energetic and had a sense of achievement because my knowledge on Multimedia Making and Teaching improved a great deal.

The busiest days lasted two years then I yearned for additional education in my chosen field. In 2004, I passed the National Entrance Examination for postgraduate students and was accepted in the Master’s Degree program in School of Foreign Language Education (SFLE), Jilin University. The major research was focused on applied linguistics and it was also a fruitful two and half year study. (I obtained the master degree half year ahead of schedule.) Based on the theoretical knowledge, I published some influential articles in English teaching field and got two academic research awards in Jilin University. It was in the same year that I was promoted as Associate Professor. At that time, I was the youngest Associate Professor in SFLE.

“No pain, no gain.” The relatively strong academic background won me another opportunity to study further abroad. In 2006, I applied and was awarded Huygens Grant by Nuffic (Netherlands Organization for International Cooperation in Higher Education). Working as a Visiting Fellow at Faculty of Arts, Vrije University in Holland, I studied on Applied Socio-linguistics. Such studying experience broadened my knowledge on academic research.

When I came back Jilin University in 2007, I met Professor Singh, an important person in my life. He worked there as visiting scholar and I attended all his lectures, which opened another educational research world to me. Luckily, I was awarded the UWS International Postgraduate Research Scholarship in 2008 and I had another valuable opportunity to study for education. During this study period, Professor Singh encouraged me to apply to my capabilities in any aspects. I applied for an internship and was successful to be involved in the Sutherland Council research project and got an “Outstanding Student Award” sponsored by UWS Careers and Cooperative Education in 2009.

Looking back to my struggles on the way to pursue knowledge, any of my academic achievements are inseparable from the opportunities offered by universities and supervisors. They offer a platform so that I can maintain or increase my advantage.

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Author’s Publications

Li, B. (in progress). School accountability performance for VETiS implementation: A case study of selected electorates in Queensland in P. Kell (Eds.), International Journal of Training Research. Li, B. (in progress). Strengthening language capability through internationalising education: Biographical study of identity-adjusting by a Chinese doctoral candidate in L. Lynne, D. Cahill, M. Singh, and R. Shanthi (Eds.), Journal of Local-Global: Identity, Security, Community. Li, B. & Holdstock, G. (2009). A Review and Analysis of Sutherland Shire’s Home-based Business Sector. Sutherland Shire Council. http://www.shirebusiness.com.au/businesseconomy/default.aspx?pageId=19 Li, B (2009). The capability approach in the creative competition. A paper presented at presents a symposium on Education up against globalisation, multiculturalism and cosmopolitanism held by Centre for Educational Research, UWS. Singh, M. & Li, B. (2009). Early career researcher originality: Engaging Richard Florida’s international competition for creative workers. (A paper for presentation at the Conference of the College of Arts, Sharing New Knowledge Bankstown Campus, University of Western Sydney, 2 and 3 November, 2009). Singh, M. & Li, B. (2009). The capability approach in the creative competition: A biographical study of identity-shaping process from a Chinese PhD student. (A paper presented at the symposium of the Centre for Educational Research, Education up against Globalisation, Multiculturism and Cosmopolitanism. Bankstown Campus, University of Western Sydney, Tuesday 24 November 2009). Singh, M. & Li, B. (2009). Amartya Sen’s capability framework and Year 12 students’ outcomes from in Australia’s VETiS policies. (A paper presented at Australian Association for Research in Education International Education Research Conference 2009 Creating Global Networks - A Capital Idea National Convention Centre, Constitution Avenue, Canberra City ACT, Australia). Singh, M. & Li, B. (2009). Sen’s capability approach and Year 12 completers’ post- school destinations: Implications for teacher education. (A paper presented at the Conference of the Australian Teacher Education Association Teacher education crossing borders: Cultures, contexts, communities and curriculum Albury Entertainment Centre, Albury Wodonga, NSW 28 June – 1 July 2009). Singh, M., Li, B. & Harreveld, B (2009). The post-school destinations of young low socio-economic status adults: The place of Vocational Education and Training in the lives of Queensland’s Year 12 completers. (A paper presented at the Australia Vocational Education, Training and Research Association 12th Annual Conference Aligning Participants, Policy and Pedagogy: Traction and Tensions in VET Research. Crowned Plaza, Coogee Beach, Sydney, 16-17 April, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.avetra.org.au/papers-2009/papers/66.00.pdf) Li, B. (2008). An exploration the relevance of Sen’s capability approach to educational research: Can we be free birds? (A paper presented at the Conference of the

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College of Arts, Research Matters – Making a Difference. Bankstown Campus, University of Western Sydney, Saturday 11 October 2008). Singh, M. & Li, B. (2008). Creative encounters with a stranger: An ‘other’ meets original research. (A paper presented at the Australia and New Zealand/ Aotearoa Postgraduate Conference, Contact: An Interdisciplinary Challenge in Cultural Studies. Parramatta Campus, University of Western Sydney, 25th-26th, September 2008).

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楔子 xie zi (means wedge, it refers to prologue in Yuan Drama) “楔子，止一二小令，非长套也” — 闵遇五,《西厢六幻》 The formal structure of Yuan Drama1 is composed of four related stories (si zhe) and one prologue (yi xie zi). The prologue is called “wedge” (xie zi) in Yuan Drama, which is used to introduce the background to the stories, or the relationships between the characters in the stories. The metaphorical concept of Yuan Drama serves to conceptualise this thesis as “si zhe yi xie zi” (four related stories and one prologue).

1 When people talk about Chinese literature, they often mention three literary forms and their three golden ages: Tang poetry, Song ci, and Yuan qu (Yuan Drama). Yuan Drama refers to two different types of writing: Sanqu and Zaju. Sanqu is different from but connected with zaju, which means drama. Sanqu can be read and sung, but cannot be acted. Zaju is completed with a plot, dialogues, songs and stage directions. Yuan Drama began in 13th century, about 300 years earlier than the time of Shakespeare and other English dramatists. It may be called the second of the three peaks in the history of drama in the world: ancient Greek and Roman drama, Yuan drama, and English drama of the age of Shakespeare.

CHAPTER ONE: THE GAINS YOUNG ADULTS ARE MAKING FROM THE REFORMS TO SENIOR LEARNING: CREATING LIFE CAPABILITIES AND CAREER FUNCTIONINGS

1.0 Introduction

The imperative to improve vocational education and training in schools (VETiS) is an area which is frequently regarded as relevant to international competitiveness within the global economy by public policy. VETiS delivers education and training to enhance employment related skills and qualifications across a wide range of occupations. It provides participants with the skills to enter the labour market or upgrade skills for an existing job. Recent education policies at Federal and State levels have focussed on broadening participation of students in vocationally-oriented education during their final years of schooling. For example, the extension of compulsory education to Year 11 and 12 has been implemented in Queensland since 2006. Australia’s attention to the reform of education and training in schools through Vocational Education and Training (VET) is illustrated by numerous analyses, reports and policy documents (Johns, Kilpatrick, & Loechel, 2004; Lamb, Rumberger, Jesson, & Teese, 2004; Marsh & Kleitman, 2005; Pitman, 2002; Riele, 2007; Singh & Sawyer, 2008; Vaughan, 2005).

The research focused on Year 12 student’s VETiS outcomes and their post-school destinations to assess policy directions evident in the practical responses. This thesis uses different datasets to report the findings of Queensland’s senior schools’ VETiS outcome in terms of issues that relate to the implementation of education policy. It identifies the effect of VETiS on students’ post-school options including tertiary entrance pathways, and how these policies’ setting affects students’ options.

This Chapter provides an overview of the research project. First, the research problem and research questions are stated in the next section. Following this the background of this research project is explained. The third and fourth sections of this Chapter provide an overview of the theoretical framework and research methods used in this

3 study. A statement of the thesis and its structure are provided in the final section of this Chapter. But first, let us overview the research problem.

1.1 Research problem

Recent Government policies that merge education and training in senior secondary schools pose deep level challenges. The central aims of these policies are to prepare students for flexible and adaptable work/life pathways, to participate in cohesive social communities, and to become active and contributing citizens in a globally competitive workforce (Benson & Stangroom, 2006; Cotton, 1996; Dumbrell, Montfort, & Finnegan, 2004; Feinstein & Peck, 2008; Gardner, 2002; Harreveld & Singh, 2007; Keating, 2009). Therefore, senior students’ outcomes are central to assessing senior school learning and schools’ performance with respect to the implementation of Government VETiS policies. This project was designed to develop a detailed picture of the outcomes gained by Queensland’s young adult from Government innovations in Senior Learning. It aims to provide a better understanding of the gap between ideal senior education as expressed in Government policies and the actual outcomes students obtained through their learning and training. Evidence of the multiple roles of Senior Learning explore whether young adults can equitably pursue education, training and/or work pathways after Senior Learning (Years 10, 11 and 12, or their equivalent). The main research question addressed in this thesis are:

Are young adults 2 provided equal opportunity for learning and training from Senior Learning education policy? What are the factors that affect their learning outcomes and post-school pathways?

In order to build a more comprehensive picture of the outcomes young adults secured from Government reforms to Senior Learning, this study explores five contributory research questions. These questions which were derived from and support the goals of the focal question focus on five particular aspects or facets of this project. Using different datasets, these questions are raised as follows:

2 Young adults here refers to the persons aged at 15-24 (Bowers, Sonnet, & Bardone, 1999). 4

1. Where and how is the idea of “education for equality” in VETiS policy built into Senior Learning practice, and how policy actors embrace this concept in VETiS skills acquired and transition from learning to earning? The evidence to answer this question is analysed in Chapter 5.

2. What do young adults gain in terms of outcomes and capabilities, and what are the social and economic factors that influence their choice for VETiS pathways? The evidence to answer this question is analysed in Chapter 6.

3. Do young adults have equal opportunity for realised valued and valuable pathways regardless of their social and economic diversity? What internal and external factors influence young adults’ post-school destinations? The evidence to answer this question is analysed in Chapter 7.

4. How do factors such as school location and school size influence the implementation of the Senior Learning reform as well as the freedom of choice for the different pathways? The evidence to answer this question is analysed in Chapter 8.

5. How do schools respond to providing publicly available information about VETiS as required by education policies? Do senior schools commit to their accountability for providing more optional information to help students choose their learning and post-school destinations? The evidence to answer this question is analysed in Chapter 9.

1.2 Background: overview of research literature

This section presented the overview of research literature in relation to recent VETiS policies, practice and programs, and the social factors influencing VETiS outcomes. Detailed discussion about these aspects was presented in Chapter 2.

Changes in the age of retention for students have been accompanied by changes in VET policy with associated programs by schools and how school delivery of VETiS has been transformed. VETiS policies do not simply appear. They are created following reviews of existing processes and procedures, drawing on some form of Australian and international research (Gardner, 2002; Pitman, 2002). Over the last 20 years, the Australian Government policies about VETiS have made significant progress in response to the diversity of students and making access to equity as a main target for education delivery (MCEETYA, 2008 a). Researchers (Bean, 2004; Dumbrell, et al., 2004; Parsons & Welsh, 2006) argue that a fair or socially just 5 approach to VETiS recognises the need for personal liberty, requires properly resourced and justly functioning public services that are equitably and inclusively available to all. However, it is questionable if “there are not several other groups included in the equity target groups” (Dumbrell, et al., 2004, p. 38). Specifically, it is suggested that regions should be examined in terms of VETiS performance with regard to rural and remote groups. Moreover, Knight (2004) argues that while the main purpose of vocational learning in schools is to prepare young people for the world of work, there is considerable potential for vocational learning in schools to function as an access and equity strategy.

Recent debates over vocational training in schools concern the advantages and disadvantages of implementing VETiS programs. E. Smith (2004) reviewed the benefits of VETiS in Australia both for students and schools. For students, VETiS provides them the chance to gain a VET qualification; positive employment outcomes after leaving school and the choice of more practical subjects. For schools, VETiS increases the retention rates and attractiveness to students entering Year 11, and it helps to establish beneficial relationships with local employers. Another attraction of VETiS programs is that it makes students who do not want to be at school easier to manage (Riele, 2007). But on the other side, research shows that working students may be less likely to take part in school-sponsored activities and after-school programs (Zierold, Garman, & Anderson, 2005). While VETiS may now play an important role in helping students’ transition from school to work, it is not a linear or “one-size-fits all” solution. VETiS provides a way to recognise success beyond traditional academic achievement. It presents an all-encompassing vision linking school and the world of work, with a subtext of diversity and choice.

Other research, however, has found that VETiS outcomes are related to students’ living location and school size (Coladarci, 2006; Cotton, 1996; Golding & Pattison, 2004; Johns, et al., 2004; Lee, 2000; Stevenson, 2006). It has been found that VETiS in rural areas helps students acquire specific, job-related skills, develop new ideas and use information technology as well as new technologies (Johns, et al., 2004). Most VETiS students gain jobs in the same broad industry area as the VETiS course they studied, so that they were likely to live and work in their home community in a rural area after they left school (Johns, et al., 2004). Research into the relationship 6 between school size and student outcomes is complicated due to the lack of agreement over the definition of “small” and “large” schools (Cotton, 1996; Stevenson, 2006). However, consideration of school size is associated with other factors including local conditions. Research about school size should be “seen with a balanced eye. Schools should be neither too large to inhibit a strong sense of community nor too small to offer a full curriculum and adequate instructional facilities” (Lee, 2000, p.332). Students’ outcomes are not solely related to school size. The relationship between school size and student achievement must be based on careful empirical investigation, and seen in relation to other variables. For example, introducing a set of social-relations variables into a regression analysis can be useful (Coladarci, 2006). This includes taking into account the different social backgrounds of students.

The review of research about VETiS outcomes indicates that social and economic factors make it difficult for some young people to obtain satisfactory VETiS qualifications and appropriate full-time work. Marsh and Kleitman (2005) found background variables such as gender, ethnicity and SES influence academic outcomes. Vaughan’s (2005) research in New Zealand also found that social and economic status affected young people’s priorities and identities. The NSW Department of Education and Training (NSW DET, 2005) reviewed the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY) on the question of whether socio-economic disadvantage was a problem, and reported that socio-economic status (SES) is “a key determinant of student’s educational achievement” (NSW DET, 2005, p. 1).

As for young adults’ activities in the years subsequent to leaving school, Vaughan (2005) points to the complex understandings of the imperatives in choosing careers when young people are faced with multiple choices in senior education system. In response to the need to help young people find a reliable and enjoyable career, he suggests supporting young people passing through apparent indecision and changes of heart or adapting to work place identity (Vaughan, 2005). Kuczera (2010) argues that career guidance which includes information on courses, occupations and career pathways is an effective support for young adults’ decision-making in their senior secondary learning and training and their post-school destinations. Kuczara (2010, p. 22) suggests career information should be “accurate, available and accessible” and be

7 provided in various formats to support career services “in schools and guidance through informal, out-of-school channels, such as students surfing the web in their free time”.

As seen in this section, VETiS policy, practice and outcomes are influenced by intertwining web of factors that make an effective pathway for young adults, regardless of their social and economic diversity. The review of the research-based knowledge of VETiS helped to narrow and focus on research questions addressed in this study. The extensive literature review inspires the research into combining the skills development of VETiS and the socio-economic factors that influence students’ success in transition to work in the context of educational reform. In the next section, conceptual framework to construct these socio-economic factors as well as individual diversity is discussed.

1.3 Conceptual framework

The addressed research question about students’ outcomes and post-school pathways was analysed under the Amartya Sen’s (1992, 1999) capability approach. The capability approach has been used as a conceptual framework for studying activities in many spheres of work—economic, political, social, legal and philosophical. Little use has been made of Sen’s (1992, 1999) theory in education in terms of VETiS within States, districts, individual schools and among individual educational participants, and not in any research on VETiS in Australia (Harreveld, 2007). There are variations which have the potential to affect the manifestation of this theory and serve to alter the perceptions of policy makers and educational participants towards senior learning innovation. Therefore, the capability approach in this thesis articulate the research goals towards which key concepts can be integrated with relevant collected data. The capability approach here is explained and theorised as conceptual framework to explore Queensland young adults’ VETiS outcomes in terms of education in/equality.

One proposition in the capability approach concerns the “space” in which in/equality is considered and determined. To better understanding the characteristics of in/equality, Sen (1992) examines in/equality based on the human diversity under

8 social conditions to answer the question of “why equality” and “equality of what”. He argues that assessment of individual equality should be concerned with the real opportunities open for him/her to choose and her/his actual achievements that s/he has reason to value. Sen (1992, p. 5) claims that “a person’s capability to achieve functionings that he or she has reason to value provides a general approach to the evaluation of social arrangements, and this yields a particular way of viewing the assessment of equality and inequality”. Some key concepts of the capability approach and their relationships are discussed in Chapter 3. The main concepts in this section include capability, functionings, well-being, agency and freedom, and combination of these: agency freedom, well-being freedom, well-being achievement and agency achievement. Furthermore, the relationship between capability and functionings, well-being and agency are explored to further clarify the capability approach. Based on these concepts, it is argued that young adults’ freedom of choice and actual achievement are influenced not only by individual choice but also strongly affected by social choice in democratic societies. This raises the questions about how policy responds to the need to expand young adults’ opportunities and capability development. Therefore, key factors such as people, place and policy text influencing education policy implementation are analysed as a complementary to examine how equal opportunity is distributed among young adults in their senior learning.

When it comes to the question of how the capability approach is operationalised in education in this thesis, five features of the capability approach were abstracted and reconstructed so that the above mentioned concepts could be adopted in an elastic specification with the specific collected data. Feature 1 focuses on information and resources availability as a means to freedom achievement. Feature 2 focuses on a set of capabilities achieved in VETiS. Feature 3 confines space for education equality. Feature 4 focuses on social or individual reasons to make effective transition from school to work. Feature 5 focuses on democratic procedures in policy implementation. With this conceptual framework, how to collect and analyse data within this framework is discussed in the next section.

1.4 Research method

This section briefly explains key aspects of the research methods used in this study relate to gathering of data and its conversion into evidence through analysis. Chapter 4 provides a detailed exploration and justification of the research method employed in the research project reported in this thesis.

Data were collected from a variety of sources so that their relationship to the research questions could provide evidence through careful analysis and establish sound arguments. Of the five data sources used in this study, two are documentary sources and three are statistical databases, each of which was selected to address one of five contributory research questions. Data collection involved a series of interrelated activities aiming at gathering good information to answer the particular research questions. I determined the type of purposeful data collection from an array of possibilities and developed a rationale for these methods. As explained in Chapter 4, much of the data for this study comes from secondary sources. Therefore, Chapter four identifies the advantages and disadvantages of working with secondary data and thus enabling me to review the literature again and gain an improved contextual understanding. Then I checked the secondary data and the procedures used for collecting it, and used to refine the research questions.

The data analysis methods used in this study were not decided in one day. These were constructed and revised as a result of engaging in the processes of conceptualising the collected data. In this thesis, a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods of data analysis provided a means of triangulating data sources. A “sequential exploratory model” of mixed method was employed—there was an initial phase of qualitative data collection and analysis, which was followed by a phase of quantitative data collection and analysis (Creswell, 2003, p. 217). The findings from these two phases were integrated during the interpretation phase. Following this model, Australian Government policies were collected first and analysed to explore the issue of young adults’ securing equality through VETiS. Then statistical data from different data sources were collected to examine the different variables influencing young adults’ VETiS outcomes. The third phase

10 involved collecting school documents such as school annual reports and curricula to analyse VETiS programs enacted in particular learning communities.

The statistical data analysis presented in this thesis used computer software such as Excel and SPSS. These tools were used to analyse VETiS outcomes of young adult and the factors influenced their school performance and post-school choices. The discipline of statistics includes two main branches: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (Antonius, 2003). Descriptive statistics were generated using Excel to simplify large amounts of data in a sensible way, including the use of graphics analysis. This method is used in Chapters 6 and 7 for analysis of the 2007 and 2006 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) and the Next Step surveys (Queensland Government, 2006, 2007, 2008b, 2009) respectively.

Inferential statistics were generated by correlation and multi-regression analysis using SPSS as a measure “taken on a small number of cases that have been observed, to a large set of cases that have not been observed” (Antonius, 2003, p. 9). This method is used in Chapter 8 for the analysis of Year 12 outcomes 2008 (Queensland Government, 2009b) to consider whether factors such as Remoteness Area (RA) level, school type, State and Federal electorates correlated with VETiS outcome.

Document analysis involved the coding and encoding of data to conceptualise and explore the key themes (see Chapters 5 and 9). Then excerpt-commentary unit analysis was used to analyse the data such as Governments education policies to assess the relationship between the theoretical perspective and what the information the data provides (see Chapter 5).

As the name “sequential exploratory model” (Creswell, 2003, p. 217) suggests, the focus of this method is the exploration of a phenomenon, rather than its explanation or transformation. The qualitative aspect of this element of the study was combined with quantitative data analysis to assist in the critical interpretation of the relationship between VETiS policy, students’ outcome and their location (Honig, 2006). Here, the analysis of Government policies makes it possible to examine where and how the idea of “education for equality” is expressed by VETiS policies and how policies relate to VETiS outcomes and transition from learning to work. Other data 11 analyses were used to explore and test the factors that affect students’ learning options and post-school pathways. Finally, the results of all of data analysis were integrated to establish whether young adults are provided equal opportunity for further learning, training or work as a result of VETiS policies. Therefore the statement of this thesis is generalised as following in next section.

1.5 Statement of thesis

This thesis argues that there is a gap between the ideal of senior education promised in Government policies and the actual outcomes students obtained in their learning and training.

1.6 Overview of chapters

This thesis or scholarly argument has been developed through the following structure. Chapter Two presents a review of the recent research literature, situating this study in relation to recent VETiS policies, growth in VETiS, students’ post- school destination and, as well as physical and social factors that influence VETiS outcomes.

Chapter Three provides the conceptual framework used in this study which is based on Sen’s (1992, 1999) key category of the capability approach. The concepts of capabilities, functionings, freedom to achieve and social choice in democratic societies are explained, foreshadowing subsequent use to interpret and explore the efficacy of policies governing VETiS. The relationships between equality and inequality and between individual choice and social choice are identified as important relational concepts that prove useful when assessing Year 12 students’ outcomes from the resources made available through official policies and programs.

Chapter Four provides an exploration of research philosophy as well as an explanation and justification of the research design, including details of sampling procedures. The data collection principles, procedures and instruments are explained and justified in relation to the data sources used in this study, which include National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) statistics, longitudinal Next Step surveys 2006-2009, Year 12 student outcomes in Queensland and curriculum

12 and annual reports of sixty-one senior schools. A rationale for data analysis principles and procedures is provided.

Chapters Five to Nine provide the evidentiary contents for this study, presenting the results of the data analyses. The research question addressed in Chapter Five concerns the projected benefits for young adults of current Australian education policy settings with respect to VETiS innovations in Years 10, 11 and 12. This analysis provides insights into how the education and training authorities respond to the needs of a range of young adults, including those from vulnerable groups. The policy analysis identifies how the idea of “education for equality” in VETiS policy is built into Senior Learning practice, and how policy actors embrace this concept in VETiS skills acquired and transition from learning to earning.

Chapter Six provides an analysis of 2006 and 2007 statistics on VETiS from NCVER to address the research question concerning what young adults gain in terms of their capabilities and functionings from VETiS. The analysis of statistics provides a focus on assessing Year 12 students’ VETiS outcomes in terms of the relationships between equality and inequality on the one hand, and individual choice and social choice on the other. This analysis opens up for further investigation of the success of policy implementation by considering factors such as policy actors and school characteristics. These issues are addressed in Chapter Eight.

In Chapter Seven, statistical data from the Queensland Government’s (2006, 2007, 2008b, 2009) Next Step reports are analysed for the years 2006 to 2009. These reports present the results of annual State-wide surveys of the destinations of students who completed Year 12 at the end of previous year. The longitudinal analysis of the Next Step surveys enabled comparisons to be made of Year 12 completers’ destinations such as entering VET, higher education, work or other activities by gender, geographic location, Indigenous identity and socio-economic status. This analysis made possible consideration of ways of redressing entrenched disadvantage among Year 12 completers. It may add to the body of knowledge and provide data that may improve educators’ knowledge of post-school destinations. Evidence relating to this issue is analysed in Chapter Nine.

Chapter Eight seeks to answer the question of how school characteristics (such as school location and size) influence the freedom of choice for young adults to choose different pathways. The VETiS information is generated from Year 12 students’ outcome in all Queensland schools. The young adults VETiS outcomes are regarded as the assessment and product of interaction between education policy actors, implementation and regions.

Chapter Nine presents an analysis of availability of VETiS information on annual reports and curriculum from selected schools to examine evidence of the public accountability of policy actors for achieving the stated purpose of Queensland’s VETiS policy. This chapter explores how schools respond to providing publicly available information about VETiS as required by education policies. Such an issue is related to the schools’ commitment to their accountability for providing more optional information to help students choose their learning and post-school destinations.

Chapter Ten provides a summary of the thesis and the key findings with respect to the analysis of evidence generated from different data sources. It discusses implications for policy implementation and school performance, and provides a statement of the study’s limitation and delimitation. Recommendations for further research and reflections about the research process are included.

Besides the traditional strategy used to complete this thesis, the researcher, as a bilingual speaker, also brings to this study an account of her experiential knowledge for her research capabilities development in these three years. This thesis provides an opening for thinking about how to make original contribution to knowledge that might shed light on the postgraduate research method for PhD candidates from China and Asia more generally. The theme developed throughout this thesis relates to my study and working experience in Australia. This may provide insights into an understanding of identity-shaping process in knowledge production in different intellectual communities (Li, 2011). Finally the researcher proposed maximisation and minimisation strategies for positive interaction with new academic and working context in the process of identity-shaping choice. Besides the above reflections from my three-year research process, attention now is drawn back to the review of 14 research literature on young adults and their equal opportunity for learning and training in Senior learning which is discussed in next chapter.

匍伏 pu fu (means to crawl, to creep) “膝行匍伏擎金樽” — 赵执信,《海鸥小谱·长句》 Pu fu refers to a person moving along the ground with his/her belly. This Chinese metaphor can be used to describe a person’s modest attitudes towards another person who is in higher hierarchy. The title of the first story in this thesis indicates that I indulged in the ocean of knowledge presented by other researchers with a humble attitude and learned as much as possible.

CHAPTER TWO: YOUNG ADULTS AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR LEARNING AND TRAINING IN SENIOR LEARNING: A REVIEW OF THE RECENT RESEARCH LITERATURE

2.0 Introduction

Student’s outcome in the context of Vocational Education and Training in School (VETiS) is the focus of this research. This chapter provides a review of the research literature dealing with issues concerning young adults and their equal opportunity for learning and training in senior secondary learning. Due to recent education policies, the options for high school students during Years 10-12 have been expanded over the past decade to include multiple pathways. The boundaries between school, further education and the workforce are merging. VETiS provides the opportunity for high school students to complete VETiS units or Certificate requirements, and to participate in a range of economic, social and community activities organised through, and accredited by schools. This chapter research on recent VETiS policies, VETiS practice and programs, and socio-economic factors influencing VETiS outcomes of young adults and their post-school destinations.

A dilemma in structuring this Chapter was which topic should be discussed first. Should I discuss the historical development of VETiS as might be expected or discuss education in/equality which constitute the focal issue for my research into senior secondary education reforms through VETiS. Finally, I decided to start with the issue of equal opportunity for learning and training in senior education because the issue of education in/equality is the main research question addressed by this thesis. Following this, the literature on development of VETiS in Australia in recent years is reviewed to provide an understanding of the position of VETiS in senior secondary education, its operational focus and issues associated with its development. Section three discusses the factors influencing VETiS outcomes such as students’ location, their SES background, school size and factors influencing students’ school- to-work transition. Section four provides a review of research about what students acquire from VETiS, and the last section discusses key factors influencing Year 12

19 students’ post-school destinations. But to begin, I turn to the literature on equality of opportunity.

2.1 Equal opportunity for learning and training in senior education

Social, economic and cultural diversity are an artefact of human life. Over the last 20 years, the Australian vocational education and training (VET) system has made significant progress in responding to the diversity of students and put access and equity as a main target for VET delivery. Researchers such as Dumbrell, Montfort and Finnegan (2004), Bean (2004), Parsons and Welsh (2006) argue that a fair system based on principles of social justice, including the recognition of the need for personal liberty, requires properly resourced and justly functioning public services that are equitably and inclusively available to all.

Dumbrell et al. (2004, p. 20) state that in 1998 the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) pointed to the importance of moving equity policy towards “managing diversity”. The equity groups designated in the national strategy for VET 1998–2003 included “women, Indigenous people, people from a non-English speaking background, people with a disability and people living in remote and rural Australia” (Dumbrell, et al., 2004, p. 20). Bowman (2004, p. 11) contends that one way of judging the Australian national VET system is

how well it meets the needs of the disadvantaged. Ensuring that the benefits of vocational education and training are available to all people is one of the enduring objectives of the national strategies for VET which have been developed by Australian governments.

While the terminology of equity and diversity is complex and contentious, Bean (2004, pp. 282-283) defines key terms as follows:

• equity: the principles and practices of fairness and impartiality in ensuring that all members of a community have appropriate and equitable access to and potentially equal outcomes from the opportunities, resources, goods and services provided by an enterprise. • diversity: all of the human and social differences within a population, particularly those differences that are significant in terms of access to goods and services and participation in the workplace and the community. • equity and diversity management: the continual organisational process of recognising the effects of social and human differences on the provision of

goods and services and workplace participation and incorporating that recognition into policy and practice to minimise the potential disadvantages of diversity, to optimise its benefits, to ensure social justice and ethical behaviour, and to promote and maintain inclusiveness and social cohesion.

Bean (2004) argues that the strongest driver for managing equity and diversity is a legal framework of equal opportunity, anti-discrimination, anti-harassment and occupational health and safety. This framework applies to public and private sector enterprises alike. Direct references to equity and diversity are included in the Australian Quality Training Framework standards for training organisations (Bean, 2004). They require compliance with all social justice legislation, including access and equity principles and procedures; assessments that are supposed to ensure equity for all persons, and taking account of cultural and linguistic needs. Dumbrell et al. (2004, p. 19) examined VET outcomes (1997-2001) for these equity target groups and found that

• Women’s participation in vocational education and training is in reasonable numbers, and achieve better results, such as good pass rates, but their employment outcomes achievement was poorer than men. • Indigenous people have a relatively high growth levels in enrolments, especially for males. Despite improved pass rates and employment outcomes, these are still well below those compared with non-Indigenous students. • Rural and remote people’s achievement was above average results in participation, pass rates and employment among these five target equity groups. However, this is not the case in some areas, suggesting that specific identification of disadvantaged geographical regions is warranted.

However, there is the question of whether several other groups should be included in these equity target groups. Specifically, it is suggested that “regions should be examined in terms of VET performance in any review of the rural and remote target group” (Dumbrell, et al., 2004, p. 38).

Parsons and Welsh (2006) investigated the impact of social and educational policies on disadvantaged groups. Based on a detailed analysis of secondary school popularity, performance and admissions practices, they argue that redefining citizens as “self-serving consumers reinforces the social and educational relegation of the needy” (Parsons & Welsh, 2006, p. 237). They found that those policy responses to social deprivation are dominated by the concepts of “mixed public/private service

21 provision” and “neo-liberal freedom of choice” (Parsons & Welsh, 2006, p. 243). The findings from this study show that

it is the market, rather than educational need, that determines policy, and competition becomes the basis for a complex set of social relations between consumers and providers. Theoretically, the consumers’ role in the market for school places is to exercise choice, while the education producers supply and manage provision (Parsons & Welsh, 2006, p. 249).

Equal opportunity for education and training has been core values of VET for many years. However, there has been little assessment of its impact in terms of VETiS for designated in disadvantaged groups. This thesis addresses the gap in research knowledge though studying recent development in Queensland. In the next section, research into recent development of VETiS is reviewed.

2.2 Growth of VET in schools

Australia’s response to the world-wide issue of producing a literate, knowledgeable and adaptable workforce oriented to future change is stressed in Government education and training policies (MCEETYA, 2008). Australia has developed vocational programs that reflect both the historical development of Australian education, and the tendency of meeting the increasing need for well-trained workers. From January 2010, New South Wales has implemented legislation to change the years of compulsory schooling in line with other states. So all the students in Australia are required to remain at school until the end of Year 10; and after completing Year 10, students are required to remain in some form of education, training or employment until they turn 173 (Lamb, 2010). Changes in the age of retention for students have been accompanied by changes in VET policy regulations for VET programs offered by schools.

The Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) was introduced on January 1995 along with a system of “national training packages” established and endorsed through this Framework (AQF, n.d.a). The Framework for vocational education in schools includes school-based apprenticeships and traineeships which were first introduced in 1998. Under nationally agreed arrangements, secondary school

3 Except that Australian Capital Territory where the minimum school leaving age at 16 years old (Aussie Educator, n.d.). 22 students undertaking school-based apprenticeships and traineeships are required to (AQF, n.d.a):

1. be enrolled as full-time students; 2. undertake the program as part of their broader study towards the senior secondary certificate; 3. enter into a formal training contract with an employer; 4. attend school for part of the time, be employed and attend work for part of the time, and attend a place of training for the off-the-job component; 5. be paid a pro-rata wage for the on-the-job component of the apprenticeship.

Students in Year 11 and 12 can actively participate in the paid workforce during and after school hours, and have the skills they learn recognised and valued through VETiS programs. It provides credit towards a nationally recognised VET qualification within the AQF, as part of a course of study to gain a senior secondary certificate. The training that students receive reflects specific industry competency standards delivered by a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) or by a school in partnership with an RTO. VETiS provides opportunities for students to participate in Structured Work Learning (SWL).

In 2000, the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) 4 reforms led to a more uniform commitment to adopting the VETiS guidelines by full implementation of the AQF. The Framework is built on eight key elements underpinning transition to further education, training and employment for all students. The Framework encompasses VET in schools including school-based New Apprenticeships arrangements and vocational learning for students below Years 11–12. Full implementation began in the year 2000. In 2001, MCEETYA endorsed the following definition of vocational learning:

participated in programs of vocational learning during the compulsory years and have had access to VET programs as part of their senior secondary studies[;] participated in programs and activities which foster

4 The Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA) was established on 1 July 2009 following agreement of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to a realignment of the roles and responsibilities of two previously existing councils—the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) and the Ministerial Council for Vocational and Technical Education (MCVTE). In this thesis, MCEETYA is kept to use because the citations from documents issued by MCEETYA were published before July, 2009. 23

and develop enterprise skills, including those skills which will allow them maximum flexibility and adaptability in the future (MCEETYA, n.d., p. 7).

The development of the AQF and changes to the senior secondary curriculum led to schools across the country offering learning that contributes to Year 12 Certificates and accredited VET Certificates, that is, vocational qualification at Certificate levels I-IV. Therefore, under these new arrangements, what is now known as “VET in Schools” (VETiS) became to be undertaken by students as part of their Year 12 Certificate. Studies also provided credits towards nationally recognised vocational qualifications within the AQF (Fullarton, 2001). A VETiS program or course is situated within a real or simulated workplace, providing supervised learning activities that contribute to an assessment of competency and achievement of outcomes relevant to the requirements of a particular Training Package as part of the Australian Qualifications Framework.

The development of national training packages through AQF has provided a broad framework for the delivery of VETiS. These provide clear specifications of the student outcomes as a result of developing and practising industry competencies in real or simulated workplace settings. Successful transitions for young people demand that

they will need to be capable and confident in applying what they learn in learning situations beyond the school[;] they should be provided with the foundation skills to continue learning and solving problems in a way that will sustain them through all the stages of life[;] education must become connected, drawing on the resources (human, financial, social, cultural and information) of the wider society to stimulate and develop young people (MCEETYA, n.d., p. 15).

VETiS allows students to combine vocational studies with their general education curriculum, as they continue to work towards their senior secondary certificate within the AQF system as well as Year 12 certificates. Students retain the option to pursue further full-time or part-time vocational training, or undertake tertiary studies. The educational purpose of VETiS, including school-based apprenticeships and traineeships is

[to] develop the resourcefulness of young people [and] contribute to general education and preparation for the world of work through learning

in real-life settings; [to] provide increased opportunities for young people to learn in workplace and community settings; [to] promote curriculum and organisational reforms by challenging schools to further develop and enhance partnerships with the wider community, including business (MCEETYA, n.d., p. 24).

Considerable work has been undertaken to enable greater recognition of VETiS programs for tertiary entrance purposes. There is also increasing acceptance by the labour market of qualifications gained through VETiS, as schools extend their use of training packages, and the delivery and assessment arrangements. The merging of vocational education to senior education challenges the former schooling pattern which focused on academic performance. The next section discusses the effect of VETiS in secondary senior education.

2.2.1 Positioning VETiS in senior education

One of recent debates is whether young adults leaving VETiS make more successful transitions to employment than leavers from academic upper-secondary education. Iannelli and Raffe (2007, p. 49) define the vocational effect as the “effect on the success of an individual’s education–work transitions of taking vocational programmes in upper-secondary education”. They compared the vocational effect among young adults who left senior education in European countries. It was found that vocational effect is more positive when the criterion is employment but it was less likely than academic senior education to lead to further education.

Another debate about VETiS concerns the advantages and disadvantages of implementing VETiS programs. Smith (2004) found some benefits of VETiS in Australia for both students and schools. For students, VETiS provides them the chance to gain a VET qualification; positive employment outcomes after leaving school and the choice of more practical subjects. For schools, VETiS increases the retention rates and attractiveness to students of entering Year 11, and it helps to establish beneficial relationships with local employers. Another attractive feature of VETiS programs is that it makes students who do not want to be at school easier to manage.

Entwisle, Alexander and Olson (2005) explored how employment affects the likelihood of “dropout” among high school students in Baltimore (USA), a high- poverty city with a high dropout rate. The research question centred on the conditions under which work is unrelated to, and not accredited as part of students’ schooling is helpful or harmful. They pointed that “the literature has little to say about how different types of employment for youth of different social backgrounds affect dropout” (Entwisle, et al., 2005, p. 5). They found that delaying adult work to age 16 and making a gradual transition into work probably helps keep students in school. Disadvantaged students who make a gradual and successful transition into work are less likely to drop out. They explained further that

although adolescent work may have a relatively minor influence on the life course patterns of middle-class students, it could play a substantial role in shaping the educational and later work careers of disadvantaged or minority youth (Entwisle, et al., 2005, p. 5).

Zierold, et al. (2005) reviewed studies of the effects of work on teenagers with both positive and negative results. Their study was designed to assess the effects of after- school employment on school performance and school behaviours among students aged 14-19 years. It was found that “students involved in extracurricular activities are less likely to drop out of school and less likely to be arrested for criminal charges than are those who do not participate” (Zierold, et al., 2005, p. 215). Moreover, young workers “have greater self-esteem than do nonworking students” and “paid employment promotes well-being” (Zierold, et al., 2005, p. 215). Other findings included that working helps to teach responsibility and eases a young person’s transition from school to full-time work. However, another finding was that working students may be less likely to take part in school-sponsored activities and after- school programs. This negative aspect is arguable outweighed by positive results in the research of Zierod, et al (2005). Time availability may be a likely factor precluding participation.

Both the positive and negative vocational effects reflect the diversity of vocational programs in relation to employment objectives and/or educational objectives respectively. For example the VETiS pathway has “close links with the labour market and weak links with higher education—except perhaps for higher education

26 in the same vocational area” (Iannelli & Raffe, 2007, p. 51). On the contrary, educational objectives have weak link with labour market and stronger links with tertiary education to prepare students for university, and then future employment. Therefore, the relationship between “academic and vocational tracks cannot be reduced to a simple hierarchy of status” (Iannelli & Raffe, 2007, p. 51). Australian reforms to senior education hope young people who did not fit the form of schooling that had been designed in another century were given a fresh start by participating in integrated system of education in which training and work are more aligned (Harreveld & Singh, 2007). The next section discusses literature concerning the transition function of VETiS from learning to work; accountability for VETiS implementation and competence-based assessment of VETiS outcomes.

2.2.2 Focus VET in Schools

The growth in student numbers and participation in Australian VET accelerated during the late 1990’s due to the introduction of the national VET system and the increased availability of Commonwealth funds (Fullarton, 2001). VETiS is now regarded as an effective transitional pathway from school to work is highlighted by many researchers (Feinstein & Peck, 2008; Polesel, et al., 2004; Porfeli, 2007, 2008; Vaughan, 2005). The idea of transition system refers to the relatively long-term features of “a country’s institutional and structural arrangements which shape young people’s transition” (Iannelli & Raffe, 2007, p.50). One of the purposes of Queensland’s Education and Training Reforms for the Future (ETRF) was to help “young people at risk of disengaging, staying at school or in training with improved engagement in l/earning ETRF” (Harreveld & Singh, 2007, p. 46). “L/earning” indicates the important two sides of Queensland’s education reform. The government put learning the skills and knowledge as an effective way for the students to earn (to work) after they leave senior secondary schools. As for pathways for students, Vaughan (2005, p. 174) explains:

no matter what your background and how successful or unsuccessful you were at school, there are options for you; there are pathways to a good career and future. There is an invocation of individual choice framed by a consumer culture.

It has to be acknowledged that the school-to-work transition remains complex. For instance, Marks (2005) contends that the teenage labour market is increasingly characterised by part-time and casual work. Much of this work is in low-skill occupations. Consequently, school-to-work transition remains problematic for a substantial proportion of young people (Marks, 2005). Feinstein and Peck (2008) explore different pathways through diverse education systems. Differences between individuals and/or groups reveal the unpredictable or unexpected pathways that students follow as they pass through these complex systems. They found that

how personal and contextual risks and opportunities interact to determine the quality of both individual lifepaths and the social context in which these lifepaths unfold [sic] (Feinstein & Peck, 2008, p.17).

The empirical evidence from this study shows that short-term interactive processes can have long-term developmental effects. Feinstein and Peck (2008) argue that policies should be designed to recognise, appreciate and respond to the heterogeneity and local-level complexity of the micro-systems in which they are designed to impact. They contend that the challenge in dealing with heterogeneity lies in finding a balance between recognising elements of individual variability that impact on a young person’s development, and making interventions work in practice with groups.

Policy has a role in empowering local services but cannot determine the exact practice to be followed in every given circumstance (Feinstein & Peck, 2008). Education policies are often created following reviews of existing processes and procedures, drawing on Australian and international research. The expansion of VETiS through reforming senior secondary education is based on the belief that

the possession of vocational skills would render school-leavers more attractive to employers. In addition, it was believed by some that the introduction of vocational curricula would be attractive to ‘non- academic’ students and encourage them to stay on to finish their schooling (Erica Smith & Wilson, 2004, p. 64).

Harreveld and Singh (2007) argue that key purpose of VETiS is to provide multiple pathways and flexible delivery for learning in the transition years from senior secondary education to employment, further education or training. They propose establishing a commitment to guarantee the successful transition between different

28 sectors and levels of education. However, the implementation of the national VETiS policy is in the hands of the States, which result in differences across the country (Honig, 2006). This has significantly affected by the local accountability for the vocational training systems. Individual States have implemented vocational programs differently in their respective school curricula, certificates and tertiary entrance systems (Malley, Ainley, & Robinson, 2001). Rich (2000) calls for Australia to implement a transparent system of accountability in education policy implementation and advocates the public sharing of information about students’ achievement. Underpinning this recommendation is the assertion that releasing comparative data to the public would encourage schools to improve the performance of students. Further, arguments favouring public disclosure of school achievement includes empowering the public who pay for government schools, informing parents, informing education debates, research and policy-making (Rich, 2000).

The role of VETiS for meeting the skills shortage market has added stress on secondary senior education. At the State and Territory level, VETiS systems is supposed to be oriented to support students obtaining VET qualifications to meet the labour market demand (Keating, 2009). All VET qualifications are now competency-based (Erica Smith, 2010). The competency-based training is assessed by the rules and procedures outlined within training packages which “consist of industry- or occupation-based collections of units of competency which are ‘packaged’ together into qualifications at different levels” (Erica Smith, 2010, p. 55). Training packages are developed and reviewed by the relevant national industry skills council. Erica Smith (2010, p. 60) indicates that the competency-focused VETiS benefits students “of lower educational achievement to attain a qualification because of the emphasis on ‘doing’ rather than ‘academic’ work” (Erica Smith, 2010, p. 60). The acquisition of competencies is discussed further below.

2.2.3 Issues associated with VETiS development

A number of issues associated with the development of VETiS have been identified by researchers (Barnett & Ryan, 2005; Johns, et al., 2004). Barnett and Ryan (2005) question the quality of the learning experiences both in schools and in job placements, having revealed mistrust and cultural differences between key parties, especially

29 between school educators and industry representatives. Some of this concern focuses on assessment practices, which are claimed to be superficial and mechanical (Barnett & Ryan, 2005). Delivering VET in Schools programs places unusual burdens on schools, their teachers and students, because it includes working in environments— learning workplace disciplines and expectations—which are far from the normal experience of schools (Barnett & Ryan, 2005). VETiS learning is not specified in traditional curriculum or subject outlines, but in terms of Training Packages, which specify industry relevant outcomes to be achieved. Schools face particular challenges relating to flexibility and responsiveness in delivering Training Packages. Other research (Johns, Kilpatrick, Mulford, & Falk, 2001) highlights the cost differences between VETiS and conventional curricula, noting problems of VETiS such as the shortage of adequately trained teachers; additional workloads associated with VET teaching – for example, increased paperwork, liaising with employers and TAFE; concerning about providing adequate facilities for delivering VET within schools; and the fees charged to students all act as barriers to participation (Polesel, et al., 2004). Anderson (2007) investigates issues of integration and found peculiarities concerning senior secondary education as a bridging context. He argues that the uncertainties regarding the “unpredictability and inevitability” of senior secondary education calls for consideration of the following factors (Anderson, 2007, p. 461):

1. identifiable shift to interactive and cognitive skills (fewer manual skills); 2. cultural skills that are valued in a diversifying workforce serving a multicultural client base; 3. trends towards team work, decentralisation of authority, knowledge sharing among employees, workers responsibility for outcomes, and reduction in occupational boundaries; 4. fractioning of the workforce – casualisation [sic]/ part time/ multiple shifts drive the need for skills of cooperation/ negotiation/ administration/ management.

However, all these issues mentioned above should not detract from the positive achievements of VETiS that include a range of benefits for students of a personal and vocational nature as well as a broader impact on their choices.

2.3 Factors influencing VETiS outcomes

There are many arguments over the factors influencing students’ VETiS outcomes. Alfonso, Bailey and Scott (2005) investigated the reasons for the gap in the appreciation and understanding the educational experiences and occupational outcomes of VET students. They propose three reasons for VET students being less likely to achieve their desired outcomes relative to academic students. One possibility is that VET students are “more poorly prepared than academic students” (Alfonso, et al., 2005, p. 199), resulting lower scores than their academic peers in high school. A second explanation is that VET students “come from lower socioeconomic backgrounds” (Alfonso, et al., 2005, p. 199). The third reason could be that VET students

are more likely to follow non-traditional paths—delayed enrollment, part-time intensity, work while enrolled, interruptions—which hurt their chances of completing degrees (Alfonso, et al., 2005, p. 199).

Zierold, et al. (2005) compared the school performance and behaviours of working and nonworking high school students in the U.S.A where school and work . Based on the results of this study they raised several concerns. The first was that “working students reportedly cut classes more often than do nonworking students” (Zierold, et al., 2005, p. 223). A second concern was that “working students were less likely to participate in school-sponsored extracurricular activities” (Zierold, et al., 2005, p. 223). They concluded that the effect of work on a student’s school performance is limited. The working students were slightly more likely to have higher Grade Point Average (GPAs) than were nonworking students.

Marsh and Kleitman (2005) investigated factors that enhance or interfere with students’ ability to perform their best while at high school in the U.S.A where school and work were separate, unrelated sphere. They found background variables such as gender, ethnicity and SES influence outcomes. Students in rural schools tended to work longer hours in Grade 8, but by Grade 12 students from urban and suburban schools worked more (Marsh & Kleitman, 2005). These results suggest that employment at school that is not accredited towards a qualification has negative effects on postsecondary outcomes. This was consistent across groups of students

31 differing in gender, ethnicity, ability, and SES. These studies reveal what types of social and economic factors influence students’ outcomes during the course of their high school years. In the following sections, literature on the factors which affect students’ VETiS outcomes are reviewed, these include location, their school size and their SES background.

2.3.1 VETiS outcome in urban and rural areas

Johns, et al. (2004, p. 57) investigated transition pathways for rural youth in Australia, assessing “the individual and community impacts of rural school VET programs in a preliminary investigation of the way in which such programs might help to address rural community decline”. They compared education and training, employment and community outcomes of VETiS and non-VETiS students in order to identify key features of effective rural VETiS programs. The key findings on rural VETiS were as follows (Johns, et al., 2004).

1. Most rural VETiS participants agreed that school helped them acquire specific, job-related skills; develop new ideas and use information technology as well as new forms of other technologies. They were more likely to go onto further vocational education and training than school non- VETiS students. 2. Students’ motivation to find local employment informed their selection of VETiS courses and influenced the outcomes they gained from these courses. 3. There were gender differences in the students’ choice of apprenticeships or traineeships and thus differences in employment outcomes by gender. 4. Most of VETiS students gained jobs in the same broad industry area as the VETiS course they studied. 5. Most of VETiS students were likely to live and work in their home community in a rural area after they left school.

Johns, et al. (2004) suggest that apprenticeships in rural communities may be more easily accessed through family connections and networks rather than as a result of VETiS study. This study also suggests that rural VETiS “is well positioned to assist in the transition from school to further education and training and careers for a wide range of rural students” (Johns, et al., 2004, p. 72).

Golding and Pattison (2004) investigated students’ VET outcomes in relation to locality. They generated data using the Rural, Remote and Metropolitan

32 classifications and found that students in remote and rural areas were participating and achieving equitable or better outcomes than students in capital cities and metropolitan areas. However, they question this result because “this classification does not deal with the issue of accessibility to services and remoteness from services or any other socio-economic indicators” (Golding & Pattison, 2004, p. 118). The Accessibility/ Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA) is proposed as an indicator of inequity in VETiS data collection to provide more refined location information than that provided by postcodes (Golding & Pattison, 2004). Golding and Pattison (2004) expected that more refined information about locality could be produced using ARIA. This could help distinguish between students who live remote to services as opposed to those in remote areas with no access to services. This may make it possible to identify, target and address inequity more clearly and effectively by location. Six year has passed since Golding and Pattison’s (2004) research. In Chapter 7, Queensland school Year 12 students’ VETiS outcomes are analysed based on locality. The data for schools’ RA levels was still derived from postcode or physical address because there is no other alternative to get more detailed geographical information through ARIA.

2.3.2 School size and student outcomes

Research into the relationship between school size and student outcomes is complicated. In part, this is because lack of agreement over the definition of “small” and “large” schools. In the U.S.A. Cotton (1996, p. 3) argues that “an effective size for an elementary school is in the range of 300-400 students and that 400-800 students is appropriate for a secondary school”. In another study, Howley (cited in Cobbold, 2006) suggests that small schools at the primary or elementary school level are those with less than 200 students and a small secondary school has less than 400 students. However, consideration about the size of a school is associated with factors other than the local situation. Research about school size is expected to balanced contending claims: “schools should be neither too large to inhibit a strong sense of community nor too small to offer a full curriculum and adequate instructional facilities” (Lee, 2000, p. 332). Stevenson (2006, p. 7) concludes that “finding the ‘ideal’ school size is at least elusive, and possibly so complex that an ‘absolute ideal’ does not exist”.

Students’ outcomes are not be solely related to school size. However, this factor should not be ignored because it is likely that data on the relationship between school size and student achievement may be insightful. Coladarci (2006, p. 16) points that “as an influence on student achievement, school size clearly is a proxy rather than a causal force in and of itself”. The relationship between school size and student achievement must be based on careful empirical investigation, and seen in relation to other variables. For example, introducing a set of social-relations variables into a regression analysis can be useful (Coladarci, 2006). This includes taking into account of the different social background of students.

Lee (2000) used multilevel methods to analyse data drawn from the American National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988. It was found that students learned more in reading and mathematics in middle-sized high schools (600-900 students) compared to smaller schools, and especially in relation to much larger schools (Lee, 2000). Further, although size effects were strongest in schools in the range of 600 to 900 students, the effects of school size on learning were strongest in schools enrolling more students from lower SES families and more minority students (Lee, 2000). Such results means that school size is an important factor in effecting learning in schools enrolling higher proportions of socially disadvantaged students.

Stevenson (2006) analysed the relationship between the size of South Carolina’s public high schools and students’ achievement in reading, mathematics, and written language as measured by the eleventh grade Metropolitan Achievement Test-Seventh Edition (MAT-7). It was found that smaller middle schools appear to produce better student outcomes. However, poverty had a dramatic effect on school outcomes, possible mitigating the influence of other variables such as school size (Stevenson, 2006).

Cobbold (2006) reviewed research on school size and students’ outcomes in reading and mathematics. The studies reviewed showed that the adverse consequences of poverty for school performance are tied to school size. Students from low SES backgrounds have higher achievement in smaller schools. As schools become larger, the negative effects of poverty on student achievement increase. Cobbold (2006) concluded that small school size is good for students from low SES backgrounds and 34 communities with relatively high levels of disadvantage. Students from low SES backgrounds achieve better results in smaller schools.

Coladarci (2006) researched reading and mathematics achievement among eighth- grade students in Maine (U.S.A.) public schools, using data from the Maine Educational Assessment (MEA) for the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 school years. By means of regression analysis this study shows a strong interaction effect on SES and school size clearly with respect to eighth-grade reading achievement (Coladarci, 2006). However, the poverty-school size interaction effect for mathematics achievement failed to reach statistical significance.

These various research studies on school size and students outcomes have produced mixed findings. Different data and data analysis support differing conclusions. Some found students’ superior achievement in small schools (Cobbold, 2006; Stevenson, 2006); while others found no significant difference between large and small schools (Coladarci, 2006). Still studies suggest achievement increases in middle-sized school (Lee, 2000). Further, some research suggests that smaller schools tend not only to produce better results, but also reduce the gaps in achievement associated with poverty (Stevenson, 2006).

However, not much research has focused on the relationship between school size and students’ outcome in Australian in the last ten years. Lamb, Rumberger, Jesson and Teese(2004) study school performance in Australia with three data sets. These include the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY)—the Third International Mathematics and Science Survey (TIMSS); primary school achievement data for the state of Victoria; and secondary school Year 12 data provided by the Victorian Curriculum and Accreditation Authority. They found that schools with a high SES enrolment are more often large schools whereas schools that serve students from low SES backgrounds are more often small to medium sized. For example, almost 70% of secondary schools with “a low SES intake enrol 600 or fewer students” (Lamb, et al., 2004, p. 12). At the same time, “over 60 per cent of schools with a high SES intake have enrolments exceeding 900 students” (Lamb, et al., 2004, p. 12). In their study school size was positively related to outcomes in Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) performance; larger schools obtained better 35 results than smaller schools, and larger schools were more likely to have higher concentrations of high SES students.

Lamb’s (2007) subsequent research indicates that the relationship between school size and student achievement has remained strong or even intensified. However, what changed was “that the majority of small schools increasingly were those serving low SES communities, thanks to the effects of market reforms” (Lamb, 2007, p. 2). In effect, school size “has become an attribute of SES and indistinguishable from it” (Lamb, 2007, p. 2). “Schools serving the most disadvantaged populations in Melbourne have become predominantly small schools” (Lamb, 2007, p. 29) and these small schools produce depressed levels of achievement for these students. Further, these small schools face particular difficulties such as less resource flexibility, a smaller range of programs and less efficiency due to higher per capita funding needs to deliver the same level of services (Lamb, 2007).

Jäppinen and Maunonen-Eskelinen (Jäppinen & Maunonen-Eskelinen, 2011) examine organisational challenges in the Finnish vocational education and training through the students’ transitions either within one school level or from one school level to another or to working life. They found that if the school size is “kept reasonable and sufficient teaching and other professionals are available, this helps the collaboration of the staff so as to take better care of the students’ needs” (Jäppinen & Maunonen-Eskelinen, 2011, p. 10).

The results show that school size is a very unpredictable factor for student outcomes. Most research regarding school size and students learning outcomes has focused on outcomes in reading and mathematics but few on VET. Further, all this research indicates that SES is a strong indicator of student outcomes empirically when combined with school size. However, none of this research has addressed students’ outcomes in terms of VET qualifications, even though there are now regarded as an effective pathway from school to work. Therefore, this research put school size as a factor which may influence student’s VET outcomes.

2.3.3 Socio-economic status and VETiS outcomes

SES, as an important factor of education equality, it opens up an enormous debate for assessment of policy implementation. In one way, education policy suggests eliminating SES disadvantage as a policy cornerstone. Individual teachers, schools and education systems have responsibility for ameliorating disadvantages which may arise from low SES. In another way, some research criticize that the policies do not go far enough (Blackmore & Kamp, 2009) and some even consider that current policies entrench disadvantage students (Bonner & Caro, 2007). This has been an important aspect of educational policy making in Australia for more than 40 years. The NSW Department of Education and Training (DET) reviewed the LSAY on the question of whether socio-economic disadvantage was a problem. It was found that SES is “a key determinant of student’s educational achievement” (NSW DET, 2005, p. 1).

The LSAY data explored student achievement scores on tests of reading comprehension and mathematics of 14 years old between 1975 and 1998. The results were reported by SES, language background, gender and location. Notable differences were found between students by SES, both at an individual level and between schools. The result showed that “throughout the 1975-1998 period, students whose parents were employed in professional and managerial occupations had the highest average scores and students whose parents were production workers or labourers had the lowest” (NSW DET, 2005, p. 2). It was also found that “the gap in scores widened between schools with higher concentrations of professional parents and all other schools” (NSW DET, 2005, p. 2).

NSW DET (2005) analysed the LSAY data in terms of the factors that impact on Equivalent Tertiary Entrance Ranks, that is a means of generating equivalent Year 12 results between Australian States. Socio-economic background, as measured by parental education, wealth and occupational status was one of the most important influences on tertiary entrance performance (NSW DET, 2005). The evidence points to clear and consistent trends for children from lower SES families to have low Tertiary Entrance scores (Year 12 results) (NSW DET, 2005).

The international assessment programs conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement both provided insights into the relationship between SES and educational outcomes in Australia and overseas (NSW DET, 2005). However, there are different ways in which “SES” is conceptualised and operationalised. One of the important international studies of SES and achievement is the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) first conducted in 1995 in over 40 countries. TIMSS measured SES in two ways: parents’ education level and family wealth. The TIMSS program demonstrated a significant positive relationship between learning mathematics and science, and socio-economic factors. It also provided insights into “relatively simple and unobtrusive measures of socio- economic status” by defining a scale from survey questions about possession in the home (e.g. number of books, computer, and video camera) (NSW DET, 2005, p. 4). Students from wealthier families were expected to have more of these items in their home. The 2002-2003 TIMSS study (NSW DET, 2005) confirmed that students who used a computer both at home and at school achieved a significantly higher science score than those who only used a computer at school. The data about family possessions provides a reliable way for ascertaining the family income of students. It was also used to measure family financial support for learning (NSW DET, 2005).

The NSW DET (2005, p. 8) review of research into socio-economic disadvantage in Australian and international contexts confirmed that “too often the education system reproduces socio-economic inequality, rather than challenging it [because] socio- economic inequality makes learning difficult [and] it requires schools to ‘help children climb up the down escalator’” (NSW DET, 2005, pp. 8, 9). In Britain, a report by the United Kingdom Government’s Social Exclusion Unit (2004) used the concept of social exclusion to include factors which transmit poverty and disadvantage from one generation to the next, defining social exclusion as more than income poverty. It was linked with problems such as “unemployment, discrimination, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime, bad health and family breakdown” (NSW DET, 2005, p. 9). Social exclusion is thus a broader notion of disadvantage than simply low income levels.

The RAND Corporation (cited in NSW DET, 2005) studied two separate samples of US students: a local, early childhood sample and a national, high school sample. It was found that important factors associated with the educational achievement are “not race, ethnicity, or immigrant status. Instead, the most critical factors appear to be socio-economic ones” (NSW DET, 2005, p. 9). These factors included “parental education levels, neighbourhood poverty, parental occupational status, and family income” (NSW DET, 2005, p. 9).

SES and schooling outcomes affect disadvantaged students’ life chances. The effects of concentrated disadvantage may be one or more of the following (NSW DET, 2005, p. 14):

1. Lack of positive role models—with respect of education outcomes, the absence of role models may lower attendance rates, increase dropout rates and decrease student achievement. 2. High concentration of non-traditional families—single-parent households may have less school involvement and parental supervision. 3. Lack of economic opportunities—the need to travel far from one’s community for employment results in increased commuting time and hence less school involvement and parental supervision. 4. Lack of empowerment—the high rate of joblessness and the weak connection to the labour force that characterise high poverty communities result in reduced feeling of empowerment or self-efficacy.

Based on this review of the research literature, the NSW DET (2005, p. 15) concluded that the current conceptualisation of socio-economic disadvantage used by the NSW Priority Schools Funding Program (PSFP) and the variables used to calculate the index of socio-economic disadvantage for schools remains basically valid.

Further, this research was taken as supporting the view “that the concentration of disadvantage rather than disadvantage per se is the significant driver of educational under-performance” (NSW DET, 2005, p. 15).

2.3.4 Other factors influencing students’ school-to-work transition

The research reviewed in previous sections suggests that social and economic factors are likely to make it difficult for some young people to obtain satisfactory VETiS

39 outcomes. In this section, the review of the literature focuses on other factors related to student characteristics and their school environments. Marks (2005, p. 364) identifies factors affecting VETiS outcomes including

declines in full-time employment, increases in part-time and casual employment, the change from a manufacturing to a service-based economy, the lack of adequate vocational training, and a secondary school system focusing mainly on academic pursuits.

Marsh and Kleitman’s (2005) research uses different variables such as background demographic variables; outcome variables; postsecondary outcomes and hours worked during high school to explore their influence on VETiS. Feinstein and Peck (2008, p. 2) reviewed a wide range articles to find the factors influenced VETiS outcomes based on “the person-in-context and the interactions among person factors and wider social system”. They divided all the articles into three sets. One set focused on how to explain the deviation from a prediction that one would have made on the basis of other information about the context, development, and institutional memberships of the individual. A second set focused on how features of particular social agencies such as families and schools are important in explaining unexpected turnings. The final set explored various complex multiplicities of factors that may be important in the formation of educational pathways. They centre their review on the person-context interactions, that is a series of mutual influences between

their own developing agency, capabilities, and self-concepts and the material and social supports provided by their families, peers, neighborhoods, and schools (Feinstein & Peck, 2008, p. 2).

Feinstein and Peck (2008) form prediction models for dropping out of high school based on academic achievement and behaviour problems at ages 12 and 16. Research on unexpected pathways highlights “the importance of the home-learning environment, above and beyond the effects of SES” (Englund, Collins & Egeland, cited in Feinstein & Peck, 2008, p. 6). Feinstein and Vignoles (2008 cited in Feinstein & Peck, 2008) explore the heterogeneity of the background resources and childhood capabilities of the study participants and find that the effects of higher education may be different for individual depending on whether their participation is normative or non-normative. Peck, Roeser, Zarrett and Eccles (2008 cited in

Feinstein & Peck, 2008) employ a mixture of variable-and pattern-centred analysis to analyse the family contexts and personal capabilities of youth on educational pathways from approximately 14 years to ages 19 or 21. They find that the chances of following the normative pathway to college depend on life space configurations defined by “the intersections between profiles of family, peer, and school context factors and profiles of academic motivation and mental health factors” (cited in Feinstein & Peck, 2008, p. 7).

Students’ perspectives, motives, reasons, and rationale behind their work decisions tend to remain hidden. Besen-Cassino (2008) studied young people in labour as a normal, widespread activity and explored its effects on future employment, academic progress, emotional development and deviant behaviours. Besen-Cassino (2008) used a more subject-centred approach to study youth employment and the causes of youth employment from the real of economics and sociology. It was found that the factors such as socioeconomic status, gender, race, and income lead to the types of jobs youth obtain.

Hirschi (2010) investigated socio-demographic (gender, nationality, school-type), personality (openness, locus of control) and career development variables (career decidedness, career planning) in relation to career development among Swiss adolescents. The results showed that the majority of students reported a significant influence of chance events on their transition from compulsory school to vocational education or high school. The strong variables were “related to socio-demographics and personality but not career preparation” (Hirschi, 2010, p. 39). It implies that although chance events do affect career transitions for most students, “intentional career preparation is still an important developmental task” for their success in the school-to-work transition (Hirschi, 2010, p. 47). Hirschi’s (2010) study expands to the importance of chance and happenstance in school-to-work transition and implies that schools should make aware of unplanned events and assisted in developing favourable attitudes towards their occurrence.

The educational progress for each individual is influenced by different available schooling choices that are made as the result of educational policy decisions at the national level; economic and structural conditions such as labour markets and 41 international trade and competitiveness; along with cultural and social differences between countries in terms of values and norms.

2.4 VETiS practice and students’ acquisition of competence

In Australia, VETiS programs are undertaken mainly in three different ways (Erica Smith, 2004). First, students can study the entire VET qualification at school which is an accredited as a RTO. Second, students study at school which has a partnership with another RTO. Third, students study a VET course at a local TAFE or other RTO which means that the school “purchases” the training from another provider. Either way they get their VET qualification from the ANTA.

While VETiS may now play important role in helping students’ transition from school to work, it is not an “one-size-fits all” approach. VETiS provides a way to recognise success beyond traditional academic achievement. Debates on young adults’ acquisition from VETiS practices were various. Although Marsh and Kleitman (2005) argues that any lessons learned from low-pay, low-skill, dead-end jobs in the service sector may not be helpful in future employment and may even reduce the students’ aspirations. Anderson (2007) believes that high quality senior learning programs get students involved with learning, effectively prepare them for further study and provide the necessary survival skills for an essentially unknown and technology-driven future. He investigates the provision of enabling education by discussing three levels of “what works” in enabling education – namely, “current and successful engagement, transition and future participation, and managing uncertainties” (Anderson, 2007, p. 453). Anderson (2007, p. 462) indicates “what works” include:

1. high quality programs that engage students with learning; 2. high quality programs that act as effective pathways into further study and/or the workplace; 3. high quality programs that prepare students for the everyday life that will exist in a world where participation in and the management of technology- driven change is paramount.

Anderson (2007, p. 455) finds that “personal contact and friendly informative orientation to make the links for students between their personal aspirations and

42 program effects” are the first step towards retention, persistence and engagement. The effective teaching and learning environment which included “a positive and friendly ‘climate’, productive and early use of formative assessment and recognition of the social elements of the learning environment” was an important aspect of developing students’ acquisition (Anderson, 2007, p. 458). Billett (2004) reported that the purpose of vocational education is subject to different values and perspectives which directed the existing practice. There are values described as “utilitarian or technicist [sic]” which develop students’ capacity of engagement in socially ordained practices, such as particular kind of paid work (Billett, 2004, p. 22). There are other values which focus on education for participation in a democratic community. The current focus or goals for vocational education are cast in terms of securing job readiness. Vocational education and training can be positioned in terms of contrasting values:

vocational education can be seen as being either narrowly or broadly educative, and having a focus on individual needs or on the capacity to perform socially and culturally generated practices in sustaining communities (Billett, 2004, p. 23).

Instead, Taylor (2005) investigated employers’ views on what they were looking for when employing young people. The employers regarded attitudinal attributes as the important. Their list of desirable attributes and skills in young employees included “good basic hand skills, some basic knowledge of tools and respect for the expensive tools and equipment on site” (Taylor, 2005, p. 211). They thought that the most relevant learning occurred on-site and the learning of skills was best acquired on-the- job over time and under their supervision. In terms of industry-related interests, Taylor (2005) claims that contemporary moral concerns associated with youth attitudes to employment are linked to popular perceptions about a work ethic among them. He proposed that for young people VETiS should focus on an understanding of employers’ requirements and expectations.

Likewise, Porfeli (2008) researched work-related value system and proposed that work values play a critical role in career choices and career development processes alongside interests, needs, and the self-concept. He defines standard-oriented work values as the preference to engage with immediate work opportunities and demands, and goal-oriented work values as the preference to engage with “career-oriented 43 behaviors and choices directed toward long-term career outcomes” (Porfeli, 2007, p. 43). Porfeli (2007) argues that the work value system changes and develops through transactions between a young person and the work environment, such that these transactions variably reinforce or suppress particular values. Thus, work values shape work experience, and work experiences serve to modify the salience of work values over time.

2.5 Influence of VETiS on Year 12 students’ post-school destinations

Year 12 students’ post-school destinations involve young adults’ in a choice-making process. Social and economic factors have a bearing on the choices they made and not made, opinions on the importance (or not) for them to set goals, the pleasures and/or challenges of being their particular age, and hopes for their future (Vaughan, 2005).

Marks (2005) analysed data from the LSAY to investigate young adults’ activities in the years subsequent to leaving school. The main activities was divided into five groups: full-time study; full-time work; part-time work; looking for work (unemployed) and “other” which comprised young adults not in the labour force and not in full-time education. The analysis focused on the issues of whether postsecondary non-university full-time study improves employment outcomes, and the impact of part-time work on subsequent activity. Marks (2005) concluded that the main activities of the young people in the four years after leaving school saw the proportion in full-time work strongly increased. The evidence from this study shows that “in each of the first four years after leaving school about 75 percent were fully engaged, that is either working or studying full-time, and 25 percent were in marginal activities” (Marks, 2005, pp. 368-369). The indication is indicated that nearly half of the young people judged themselves to be working in a career-type job with their prospects after leaving school that their occupational status increased since they left school. Marks (2005, p. 381) points that

there is very high year-to-year stability of full-time work, and considerable movement to full-time work from full-time study, part-time work, unemployment and ‘other’ activities.

These findings show that the school-to-work transitions are less problematic when there is considerably lower rate of unemployment. It also suggests that under these conditions part-time work is not a “dead-end” activity and it is not as disadvantageous to future full-time work as unemployment or withdrawal from the labour market (Marks, 2005, p. 382).

Creed, Patton and Prideaux (2007) hold that self-efficacy and early work experiences play important roles in career planning or exploration for high school students. These are associated with maintaining a career focus for the individual. They suggest that enhancing career or occupational self-efficacy among adolescents produces changes in their career focus and behaviours later on, by increasing carer-based motivation. However, they suggest that “less able students may require more assistance to engage in career development activities and different strategies to increase their level of career engagement” (Creed, et al., 2007, p. 389).

Despite the young adults’ transition pathways are not smoothly all the time. A study by Vaughan (2005) points to the complex understandings of the imperatives in choosing careers when young people face multiple choices in senior education system. In response to the need to help young people find a reliable and enjoyable career, he explores a convergence of the wider international labour market and societal trends for specific reforms in senior education. It means supporting young people pass through apparent indecision and changes of heart or adopting to work place identity (Vaughan 2005).

Kuczera (2010) argues that career guidance is an effective support for young adults’ decision-making in their senior secondary schooling, training and their post-school destinations. Career guidance includes complementary practices to assist students in making educational, training and occupational choices available through various channels. Kuczara (2010, p. 22) suggests career information contain “accurate, available and accessible” information on “courses, occupations and career pathways”. Career information can be provided in various formats, increasingly web-based to support career services “in schools and guidance through informal, out-of-school channels, such as students surfing the web in their free time” (Kuczera, 2010, p. 22).

Kuczera’s (2010) research suggests that career-related skills such as self-awareness and understanding of career opportunities are associated with student performance and their post-school destinations. The boundaries between upper secondary tracks are clear and reflected in differentiated educational content. Higher achievers are readier to seek advice and information, and have clearer ideas about their progression. Students opting for VET tracks have fewer career-related skills than those in more academic tracks, so potential VET students might be particularly dependent on the career guidance they receive. More variety in career guidance provision would help students make decisions. Students have different needs, but with a wide range of options they are more likely to find one that fits them best (Kuczera, 2010).

2.6 Conclusion

The research literature reviewed in this chapter was collected and updated during the three years of this study. It broadened the knowledge of VETiS and helped to narrow and focus on research questions. During the first stage of this research project (year 1), articles were collected and reviewed one by one. For each article, I noted its research question, its methodology and findings. Furthermore, I considered the justification of its findings and explored the gaps in the existing knowledge in relation to the project I was conducting. During this stage, I established an in-depth knowledge of the research field and different issues being researched and debated by other scholars. This literature review broadened my views on the research questions. However, I also felt vulnerable to continue the research because more and more issues were generated through more and more reading. Therefore, during the second stage, I learnt ways to delimit my research problem, namely:

1. The problem must be able to be researched; 2. The research must be able to gain access to the sample, materials and other sources needed; 3. The problem when solved should have spin-offs for developing theory and /or application to real-life educational contexts (Burns, 2000, p. 30).

During the second stage (year 2), the detailed literature review provided insights into the approaches, measures, subjects and the methods used by other researchers. This helped me to narrow the research problems related to my data analysis. For example, a number of papers discussing VETiS outcomes in urban and rural areas were

46 reviewed based on the analysis of National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) data for students’ outcomes (Golding & Pattison, 2004; Johns, et al., 2004; Johns, et al., 2001). Because socioeconomic status (SES) influence students’ learning outcomes, research into transition pathways after school was reviewed based on analysis of Queensland’s “Next Step” (Queensland Government, 2006, 2007, 2008b, 2009) surveys. Further, research concerning VETiS outcomes relating to school size and location were examined as a result of the analysis of the students’ outcomes in 2008 across all Queensland schools. However, during this stage, I found that there was a lack of organised sources of information so that it was quite a challenge to put the reviewed literature together.

Then during the third stage (year 3), a search was made for the latest papers that focused the data analysed during the second stage. Besides “Google Scholar”, searches were made of other database including ERIC5, VOCED6 and the ACER library database7. These were employed to find related research papers. Together with my knowledge acquired in conceptual framework and methodology, I developed some themes and focused the literatures on the following questions:

1. How is VETiS positioned as a transitional pathway in recent education policies? 2. What is the relationship between VETiS outcomes and school characteristics such as location and size? 3. What social factors influence VETiS outcomes, especially for young adults from “disadvantaged” backgrounds? 4. How is VETiS practiced in schools?

5 ERIC is the U.S. national bibliographic database covering the literature in the field of education. The database consists of two files: the Resources in Education (RIE) is a file of document citations and the Current Index to Journals in Education (CIJE) is a file of journal article citations from over 750 professional journals. In addition, ERIC now contains over 850 ERIC Digest records that feature the full text of the original document. Coverage: 1982 - current. (http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/resources/html/collection/about_collection.html) 6 VOCED is a free research database for technical and vocational education and training. It is international in scope and contains over 41,000 English language records, many with links to full text documents. (http://www.voced.edu.au/about/whatis.html)

7 The ACER database (Australian Council Educational Research) provides comprehensive and up to date collection of educational research documents in Australia including books, journals, educational reports and conference papers. (http://www.acer.edu.au/library/find-information) 47

5. What are the relationships between VETiS and students’ post-school destinations?

By doing so, VETiS policy, VETiS practice and outcome, factors influenced on VETiS are intertwined into webs of how to make an effective pathway for young adults regardless their social and economic diversity. The detailed literature review on relationship between students’ outcomes and other factors made me notice some important variables such as school locations, school size and concepts such as availability of public information and school accountability for investigating students’ VETiS outcomes in this thesis. For example, it is arguable what proper school size is for students’ learning outcome, however, not much research has been conducted on the school size and students’ VETiS outcomes. In this thesis, a preliminary research will be done to explore the relationship between school size and VETiS outcome based on Queensland schools’ data. In the next chapter, I will introduce the development of conceptual framework used in this thesis.

惊蛰 jing zhe (means the waking of insects) “则雷惊蛰，音比林钟” — 刘安,《淮南子》 Jin zhe is the third of the 24 solar terms, which created by ancient Chinese to reflect the changes of weather, climate and natural phenomena. During the time of Jin zhe, the hibernating insects begin to wake up gradually with the spring coming. Jing zhe was used as the title of the second story (including Chapters 3 and 4) in this thesis. Metaphorically, it indicates that I began to have the awareness of how to do educational research by constructing the theoretical framework and research methods for the research questions addressed in this thesis.

CHAPTER THREE: THEORISING EDUCATION, EQUALITY AND THE CAPABILITY APPROACH

3.0 Introduction

To address the research questions posed by this study (Chapter 1.1), to was necessary to identify innovative reasons for theorising the relationship between education and equality. To develop the conceptual tools needed for the analysis of evidence, it was necessary to establish a strong and appropriate theoretical base. Amartya Sen’s (1992, 1999) capability approach has been used as a conceptual framework for studies in many field—economy, politics, sociology, law and philosophy. Little use has been made of Sen’s (1992, 1999) theoretical tools in studying senior secondary education reforms through Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS). Particularly in Australia, research by Harreveld and Singh (2008) is a notable exception. This theory has the potential to alter the perceptions of policy makers and educational participants towards innovations in senior learning through VETiS. The capability approach is used in this thesis to address the research goals through the analysis of relevant collected data. Here the capability approach is explained as the basis of the conceptual framework used to analyse evidence of Queensland young adults’ VETiS outcomes in terms of education in/equality.

One proposition in the capability approach concerns the space in which in/equality is considered and determined. Sen (1992) recognises different arguments over in/equality. The first section of this chapter starts with a number of arguments (such as Rawl’s (1971) fairness, welfare egalitarianism, utilitarianism, libertarianism) justifying different versions of equality. So by considering these arguments it is possible to decide what version of equality can be defended. Among these arguments, Sen (1992) examines in/equality based on the human diversity, attempting to answer the question of “why equality” and “equality of what” for better understanding the characteristics of in/equality. He argues that assessment of individual equality should be concerned with the real opportunities open for him/her to choose and the actual achievements that s/he has reason to value. Sen (1992, pp. 4-5) claims that

a person’s capability to achieve functionings that he or she has reason to value provides a general approach to the evaluation of social arrangements, and this yields a particular way of viewing the assessment of equality and inequality.

In the second section, key concepts of the capability approach and their relationships are discussed. These concepts include capability, functionings, well-being, agency, freedom, agency freedom, well-being freedom, well-being achievement and agency achievement. Furthermore, the relationship between capability and functionings as well as well-being and agency are explored.

The normative basis of the capability approach is that social arrangements should aim to expand people’s capabilities—their freedom to promote or achieve what they value doing and being. This proposition is fundamental to the objective of education of the public and democracy. In this respect, the capability approach plays a fundamental role in public debates and democratic decision-making in matters that affect a young person’s own life and the life of fellow-human beings. Therefore, in the third section of this chapter, it is argued that people’s freedom of choice and actual achievement are not only influenced by their individual choices but strongly affected by social choice and democratic community.

Sen (1992, 1999) makes use of capability as an indicator for interrogating in/equality in a democratic society. It raises questions about how education policies respond to the need to expand individual’s opportunities and capability development. In section four, key factors influencing education policy implementation are identified as complementary to examining how equal opportunity is distributed among young adults in their senior learning.

When it comes to the question of how the capability approach is operationalised, the focus is confined to the research area—innovation in the education and training system. In section five, a range of literature about the application of the capability approach in education is reviewed and six features of the capability approach are abstracted as an applicable framework for analysing the evidence collected for this study. Finally, the limitations of this analytical framework are reviewed and a revised

52 operational framework of the capability approach was presented for data analysis in the evidentiary chapters of this thesis.

3.1 Equality of what

This section addresses questions about what and why of equality. In/equality is related to one’s self and other people. To do so, it is useful to consider various theories of equality as expressed in different social environments. Sen (1992, p. 19) contends that

the justification for inequality in some features is made to rest on the equality of some of other feature, taken to be more basic in that ethical system. Equality in what is seen as the ‘base’ is invoked for a reasoned defence [sic] of the resulting inequalities in the far-flung ‘peripheries’.

Sen’s (1992, p. 1) analysis of equality distinguish between two types of diversities, one is the multiplicity of variables in terms of which equality can be judged and the other is the heterogeneity of human beings (see Figure 3.1). Before the question of what would be the ideal environment for equality, it is useful to consider the question of “equality of what”. Equality is studied in a variety of economic and social environments and different theories of equality arise within different spaces:

Inequality in different ‘space’ (e.g. incomes, primary good, liberties, utilities, other achievements, other freedoms) can be very different from each other depending on interpersonal variations in the relations between these distinct—but interconnected—variables. (Sen, 1992, p. 27)

The characteristics of inequality in different “spaces” tend to diverge. According to different normative theories, equality defined in terms of one variable may not complied with equality in terms of another definition. Sen (1992) argues income- egalitarians demand equal incomes; welfare-egalitarians demand equal welfare level; utilitarians place weight on the utilities for the most, and libertarians demand equality of rights and liberties. In the following section, these respective conceptual or theories of in/equality are compared. The question of “equality of what” suggests that different schools of thought demand equality in terms of one variable may be “non- egalitarian with respect to another variable, since the two perspectives can, quite possibly, conflict” (Sen, 1992, p. ix).

3.1.1 In /equality diversity within focal variables

The study reported in this thesis aims to better understand the relationship between Queensland’s education and training reforms, and the outcomes secured by the young adults who are among its key beneficiaries. There is a paradox inherent in the question of analysing and assessing equality: “wanting equality in what is taken to be the ‘central’ social exercise goes with accepting inequality in the remoter ‘peripheries’” (Sen, 1992, p. x). Every ethical theory of social arrangements demands equality in some “space”, requiring “equal treatment of individuals in some significant respect—in terms of some variable that is important in that particular theory” (Sen, 1992, p. 130). Therefore, the judgement and measurement of equality is determined by the choice of variables. Sen (1992, p. 2) calls the variable as “focal variable—the variable on which the analysis focuses, in comparing different people”. For example, “economic egalitarians” argue for “equal incomes or wealths” [sic]; utilitarians insist on equal weight on everyone’s utilities in a mental satisfaction; libertarians are concerned with equal liberty (Sen, 1992, p. 130). The demands for equality take various forms and a certain amount of plurality of concerns is needed in evaluation of equality itself. Sen (1992, p. 88) argues that “the evaluation of inequality has to take note of both the plurality of spaces in which inequality can be assessed, and the diversity of individuals”. The question of inequality assessment turns on the selection of the “space” in which equality is to be assessed. In this section, egalitarian, utilitarian and libertarian equality theories are compared before discussing Sen’s capability approach to equality (see Figure 3.1).

In/equality

Diversity between & within focal Human diversity variables/space heterogeneity

Rawls’ Welfare Utilitarians Libertarians Internal External Fairness egalitarians personal circumstances characteristic

Equal Equal Equal Equality of e.g. age, e.g. assets, social (class), primary income weight to rights and gender, background, goods all utilities liberties abilities, environment, illness predicaments

e.g. pleasure, happiness, desire

Figure 3.1 Dimensions of diversity in in/equality Source: based on concepts derived from Sen, 1992

3.1.1.1 Egalitarianism and Rawls’ theory

John Rawls’ (1971) theory of justice is centrally concerned with equity. Rawls’s “justice as fairness” is used to analyse social justice and evaluate inequality to determine the basic structure of the society, and especially the framework of political and social ethics. Rawls (1971) concentrates on access to primary goods or resources such as rights, liberties, opportunities, income and wealth. These are the social bases of self-respect and a means of its achievement. Rawls’ (1971, italics added) concept of ‘justice as fairness’ includes two key principles: 1. Each person has an equal right to a fully adequate scheme of equal basic liberties which is compatible with a similar scheme of liberties for all.

2. Social and economic inequalities are to satisfy two conditions. First, they must be attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity; and second, they must be to the great benefit of the least advantaged members of society.

Rawls’ (1971) first principle involves a concern for strengthening the condition of liberty. The second principle focuses on producing increased benefits for the least advantaged, increasing their advantage by access to primary goods such as education, training and full-time employment. As Sen (1992, pp. 80-81) argues the problem here is that “primary goods are not constitutive of freedom as such, but are best seen as means to freedom”. A freedom-oriented assessment of justice concentrates on the means to increase freedom, rather than on the extent of the freedom that a person actually has:

since the conversion of these primary goods and resources into freedom of choice over alternative combinations of functionings and other achievements may vary from person to person, equality of holdings of primary goods or of resources can go hand in hand with serious inequalities in actual freedoms enjoyed by different persons. The central question, in the present context, is whether such inequalities of freedom are compatible with fulfilling the underlying idea of the political conception of justice (Sen, 1992, p. 81).

The relationship between primary goods (including incomes)8 and well-being may vary because of “personal diversity in the possibility of converting primary goods (including incomes) into achievements of well-being” (Sen, 1992, p. 27). The individual’s ability to pursue his/her objectives depends not only on his/her access to primary goods but also on the personal characteristics that govern the conversion of primary goods into ability to promote a person’s ends. Sen (1992, p. 33) addresses the importance of conversion ability from different persons as

…equalizing ownership of resources or holdings of primary goods need not equalize the substantive freedoms enjoyed by different persons, since there can be significant variations in the conversion of resources and primary goods into freedoms (Sen, 1992, p. 33).

Moreover, even with the same conversion rates, different ends from different person require different amounts of primary goods for their achievement. Besides the individual variations such as abilities, predispositions, physical differences, there are also systematic contrast between groups. Sen (1992, p. 87) further argues that

8 “Incomes, wealths” are used in this chapter as Sen (1992) uses plural form of these words. 56

equality of freedom to pursue our ends cannot be generated by equality in the distribution of primary goods. We have to examine interpersonal variations in the transformation of primary goods (and resources, more generally) into respective capabilities to pursue our ends and objectives.

The relationship between primary goods, freedom and well-being may vary due to interpersonal and intergroup variations of specific characteristics. Consequently, we should focus not on solely goods but also on the functionings the person is able to achieve.

Atkinson’s (1970) index9 of inequality operates on incomes, and measures the social loss involved in unequal income distribution in terms of shortfalls of equivalent incomes. It has been widely used in welfare economics and in public-policy analysis for the assessment of the implications of income inequality. However, Sen (1992, p. 100) points that it is “useful within a fairly limited format in which individual diversities are left out of account”. The Atkinson index of inequality makes no room for substantial interpersonal variations in the conversion of individual income into personal well-beings, nor does it accommodate the importance of freedom as a constitutive element of a good society. Sen (1992, p. 93) contends that welfare- economic theory of inequality has “overlooked human diversities and has tended to take everyone as being exactly similar”. If educational outcomes are regarded as a function of individual well-being, then variations in the conversion of education and training into past-school destination must be taken into account. There is need for attention to be paid to the variable relationship between the education and training young adults receive on the one hand, and the functionings and capabilities evident in their post-school destinations on the other.

3.1.1.2 Utilitarian in/equality

Utilitarianism is another approach to the evaluation of in/equality (Sen, 1992). The utilitarian notion of value is invoked explicitly or by implication from welfare economics. Utilitarian value in individual utility is defined in terms of mental

9 The distinguishing feature of the Atkinson index is its ability to gauge movements in different segments of the income distribution. The Atkinson index becomes more sensitive to changes at the lower end of the income distribution. Conversely, as the level of inequality aversion falls, the Atkinson index becomes more sensitive to changes in the upper end of the income distribution (Atkinson, 1970). 57 conditions such as pleasure, happiness and desire. The utilitarian approach to in/equality is characterised by “(1) confining interpersonal comparisons for social assessment to achievements only, and (2) identifying achievements with the utilities achieved” (Sen, 1992, p. 32). The two together yield the utilitarian informational “focus on interpersonally compared individual utilities for personal and social assessment” (Sen, 1992, p. 32). However, utilitarianism ignores freedom and concentrates only on achievements. It also ignores a range of achievements other than those which are limited to achieving mental metrics. For example, if a young adult is socio-economically deprived, of Indigenous background or living in a remote area, they might be confined to a reduced trajectory for full-time work, education or further training even though s/he may not appear to be so bad in terms of the mental metric of desire and its fulfilment. The utilitarian approach provides a rather limited accounting of young people’s well-being and it pays no direct attention to the freedom to pursue well-being or any other objective.

3.1.1.3 Libertarian in/equality

Libertarians give priority to extensive liberties equally guaranteed to each person (Sen, 1992). The questions immediately raised regarding liberty are who will distribute equality and how. Thus, the issue of libertarian equality is a supplement to claims for the importance of liberty. The libertarian proposal stresses on the distribution of rights among the people involved. However, it is impossible to keep absolute insistence on equality immune from interference by others. The demands for equal liberty cannot be conflict with other social arrangements devised to promote equality of liberties that people have or warrant. In this way, it is argued that the implementation of equal liberty may be dependent on other variables such as income, wealth, well-being of young people and their families. However, Sen (1992, p. 22) argues that “it is neither accurate nor helpful to think of the difference in either case in terms of ‘liberty versus equality’”.

3.1.1.4 Poverty as an issue

The mainstream approach is to identify poverty with a pre-specified a cut-off point called the “poverty line”, which is defined as the level of income below which people

58 are diagnosed as poor (Sen, 1992, p.102). This takes poverty to be a matter of inadequate income instead of a lack of capabilities. Sen (2000, p. 12) points that

this objection overlooks both the motivation underpinning of poverty analysis and the close correspondence between capability failure and income inadequacy when the latter is defined taking note of parametric variations in income-capability relations.

Let us consider the possibility that poverty means a young person has minimal adequate capabilities. It would then be important to pay attention to the interpersonal and inter-social variations in the relation between incomes and capabilities, that is where the distinctive contribution of the capability approach to poverty analysis lies. Sen (2000, p. 12) proposes that

once it is recognized that the relation between income and capabilities varies between communities and between people in the same community, the minimally adequate income level for reaching the same minimally acceptable capability levels will be seen as variable-depending on personal and social characteristics.

Sen (1992, p. 109) constructs the problem of “poverty as the failure of basic capabilities to reach certain minimally acceptable levels”. The functionings relevant to this analysis can vary from physical ones such as a young person being well- nourished to complex social achievements such as taking part in community life. This capability-based approach to poverty can be contrasted with construction of the problem of poverty as low utility or seeing poverty in terms of low income, based on the link between deprivation and economic problems. Sen (1992, p. 110) stresses that “the adequacy of the economic means cannot be judged independently of the actual possibilities of ‘converting’ incomes and resources into capability to function”. Income adequacy to escape poverty varies parametrically with young people’s personal characteristics and circumstances. Therefore, identification of the problem of “poverty” in terms of financial deprivation leads to certain types of policy solutions. Sen (1992) proposes that agreement on certain basis general functionings and the corresponding capabilities may lessen the poverty rather than the existence of social variations.

Having examined in/equality from different theories, Sen (1992, p. 112) argues that even resources are important for freedom, and income is crucial for avoiding poverty but if our concern is ultimately with freedom, we cannot—given human diversity— treat resources as the same thing as freedom. Similarly, if our concern is with the failure of certain minimal capabilities because of lack of economic means, we cannot identify poverty simply as low income, dissociated from the interpersonally variable connection between income and capability.

Addressing the questions of “why equality” and “equality of what” shows that it is necessary to consider the multiplicity of variables such as incomes, wealth, utilities, liberties, primary goods, capabilities and functionings. However, it is also necessary to recognise that young adults differ from each other in personal characteristics as well as external circumstances. The relationships between the diversity factors of young adults and of in/equality is discussed in next section.

3.1.2 Human diversity

This thesis takes different forms of diversity among young adults as an important issue for analysing their outcomes of Queensland education and training reforms. Sen (1992, p. 117) reckons that “the distinction between seeking equality in different spaces relates ultimately to the nature of human diversity [because] we are so deeply diverse, that equality in one space frequently leads to inequality in other spaces”. There are diversities of many different kinds (see Figure 3.1). For example, there is the diversities of internal young adults such as age, gender, physical and mental abilities, and propensity for illness. There is also the diversity in their external circumstances such as ownership of assets, social-economic backgrounds and environmental predicaments. To minimise empirical confusion it is not possible to take note of all the diversities, which limits any research analysis.

Therefore, the question for researchers is that what significant diversities need to be analysed in a particular context. In the literature on inequality, the classification traditionally has focused on economic class—either defined in terms of ownership of means of production and occupation, or in terms of income groups or wealth categories (K. Kumar, 2010). In analysing the relations between economic opportunity and freedoms, classification based on Marxian class analysis can be

60 inadequate. Marx only saw human beings as workers, neglecting to see them as anything else (Sen, 1992). Equality of incomes, primary goods or resources, “can fail to yield equal satisfaction of needs, when needs vary interpersonally and so does the transformation of resources into need-fulfilment” (Sen, 1992, p. 121). There are other diversities among young adults, so an approach to equality related to the fulfilment of needs or to ensuring their freedoms has to go beyond purely class-based analysis.

Sen (1992, p. 117) claims the demands of research mean in practice “that we disregard some diversities while concentrating on the more important ones”. Acknowledging such limitation to the research reported in this thesis and taking on board the widespread relevance of the diversity of class, ownership, and occupation, it is necessary to pay attention to other diversities that influence the lives that young adults lead and the freedoms they can enjoy. The inequality in the physical and mental abilities of young adults needs to be considered in relation to the social and economic bases of their well-being and freedom.

Sen’s (1992, p. xi) capability approach rejects treating the diversity among young adults as a “secondary complication (to be ignored, or to be introduced ‘later on’)”; instead it is regarded as a fundamental aspect of our interest in equality. The key focus of the capability approach is the capability of young adults “to achieve valuable functionings that make up [their] lives, and more generally, [their] freedom to promote objectives [they] have reasons to value” (Sen, 1992, p. xi). The capability to achieve functionings that a young person has reason to value provides an approach to the evaluation of Queensland’s reforms to Senior Learning through VETiS. This yields a particular way to viewing the assessment of equality and inequality of young adults’ outcomes.

3.1.3 Conceptualising freedom, achievement and choice

Different concepts of freedom have been developed throughout human history, and today, freedom is still one of the most disputed concepts in political philosophy and beyond (Norman, 1987). The intrinsic value of freedom is popularly recognised with its emphasis on empowering young adults to help themselves, or focusing on people being born equal and they then can make their own development. Of course, freedom

61 is a complex subject in and of itself. Sen (1992) defines freedom in terms of the opportunities that are open to a person. Freedom is linked to well-being, possible achievement and actual achievement. Rather than focusing on income and wealth, or on mental satisfaction (as do utilitarians) or processes (as do libertarians), Sen (1992, p. 4) distinguishes between “achievement and the freedom to achieve”. A young person’s position in relation to securing promised outcomes from Queensland’s education and training reforms may be judged according to two different perspectives, his/her “actual achievement” which is related to what a young person manages to accomplish in terms of socially desired goals, and “freedom to achieve” which relates to real opportunities that young people have to actually fulfil what they and /or others value (Sen, 1992, p. 31).

However, do young adults have equal power to fulfil their achievement? Freedom of choice can indeed be of direct importance for a young person’s quality of life and well-being. Sen (1992, p. 37) points out that “freedom has to be distinguished not merely from achievement, but also from resources and means to freedom”. Raising the issue of “the means of achievement”, attention should be shifted “from the commodity space to the space of what a person can … do or be, … the source of interpersonal variations in conversion can be numerous and powerful” (Sen, 1992, p. 37).

Two ways of analysing young people’s education, training and work opportunities are the “selection view” and “options view” (Sen, 1992, p. 34). The selection view focuses on the comparison of the nature of the bundles of choices when a young person is faced with “a particular bundle of commodities” from which to choose (Sen, 1992, p. 34). The focus here is on “the goodness of commodity bundles (nothing else is involved)” (Sen, 1992, p. 36). The option view provides an interactive comparison between the commodities themselves and “revealed- preference” of a young person—or groups of them—who choose(s) a particular set of commodities (Sen, 1992, p. 36). This dynamic model of choice sees that the decision made by a young person not only depends on the structure of preferences associated with the commodity itself, but also on the individual’s comparison with other substantive options. Sen (1992, p. 35) emphasises the options a young person has for comparing “the goodness of the selected bundles directly”. By weighing up 62 the potentiality among different options, the individual accomplishes the freedom to choose. However, Sen (1992, p. 35) argues that “the opportunities of choice have been seen only as means to acquiring preferred bundles of commodities”.

We should note that there are many factors influencing the means and extent of freedom to choose. Sen (1992, p. 36) indicates that “resources tell us about the set of commodity bundles from which we can choose”. An individual’s advantage may be judged by the young person’s command over resources in his/her social environment. It is an important indictor to compare individual advantage concerning the issue of freedom. However, interpersonal differences in personal and social characteristics can make the conversion of resources and primary goods into the freedom to achieve very different. Therefore, a focus on the analysis of freedom of choice should focus on the choices young adults do have but not the resources he or she commands.

Analysing the ideas of freedom, achievements, resources and choice shows that the diversity among young people affects the capacity for development of individual assets and inevitably influences the degree of inequality. Inequality and freedom of choice are analytical concepts that are closely linked, and this connection depends on the capability and functionings of young people.

3.2 Capability approach

This section indicates the analytical value of using the capability approach and its associated concepts for addressing the research questions. Sen (1992, p. 1) argues that “the heterogeneity of people leads to divergences in the assessment of equality in terms of different variables”. The egalitarian rhetoric of “equality of man” or “all men are born equal” ignores interpersonal variations, and ignores the issue that “equal consideration for all may demand very unequal treatment in favour of the disadvantaged” (Sen, 1992, p. 1). In terms of equality and freedom, the capability approach concentrates on “capacity to achieve valuable functionings that make up our lives, and more generally, our freedom to promote objectives we have reasons to value” (Sen, 1992, p. xi).

The capability approach is a normative framework for the evaluation and assessment of young people’s well-being and policy arrangements governing their education and training. It provides theoretical tools for modelling of innovations meant to secure young people’s development. In this study, the core characteristic of the capability approach is its focus on what young people are effectively able to do and to be in terms of freedom to choose, that is, their capability. Sen (1992, pp. 4-5) indicates the nature of capability as:

A person’s capability to achieve functionings [doing or being] that he or she has reason to value provides a general approach to the evaluation of social arrangements, and this yields a particular way of viewing the assessment of equality and inequality.

This proposition is fundamental to the capability approach as it describes the objective of public policy action. The capability approach to a young person’s advantage is “concerned with evaluating it in terms of his or her own ability to achieve various valuable functionings as a part of living” (Sen, 2000, p. 3). The capabilities needed to function are important in making normative evaluations policies claiming to address young people’s equality and well being. Sen (1992, p. 81) explains that

in the capability-based assessment of justice, individual claims are not to be assessed in terms of the resources or primary goods the persons respectively hold, but by the freedoms they actually enjoy to choose the lives that they have reason to value.

Following Sen (1992), a young person’s capability may be defined as an act bring about change, and whose achievements can be judged in terms of her/his own values and objectives. However, a young person’s achievement is not caused only by her/his own agency. Circumstances beyond his/her own control also aid or hinder her/him to function as an achiever of well-being. This reflects the constraints and opportunities affecting individual’s freedom.

3.2.1 Capability and functionings

Sen’s (1992, p. 39) capability perspective starts from the position that living may be seen as a set of interrelated functionings, consisting of the various things a person

64 may value “beings and doings”. Functionings (beings and doings) represents the state of a young person, especially the various things that he or she manages to do or to be in leading his/her life. The capability of a person reflects the alternative combinations of functionings the person can achieve, and from which he or she can choose. It creates a better conceptual space in which to assess Queensland’s education and training reforms than does a focus on utilitarian or primary goods.

A young person’s capability refers to the different collections (or n-tuples) of “beings” and “doings” (functionings) which make up the life projects from which s/he can choose, although these are socially constrained or enabled choices. These capabilities are difficult to measure thereby adding further limitation to the research reported in this thesis. However, what can be observed are those capabilities that a young person has chosen to act upon, or the capabilities that one has chosen to realise. The realised capabilities are called “achieved functionings” (Sen, 1992, p. 40), that is the beings and doings that a young person has chosen to realise. Relevant functionings include being well-nourished, being in good health, avoiding premature mortality, being happy, having self-respect, taking part in the life of the community and so on (Sen, 1992).

The difference between a capability and functioning is like those between an opportunity to achieve and the actual achievement, between potential and outcome. The capability approach offers a highly productive alternative informational basis for the evaluation of Government education and training policies. First, it is the identification of valuable functionings and second, asking which functionings a young person is able to achieve if s/he wants to do so. For example, a person may have the capability (opportunity) for mobility but whether she/he actually moves around (functioning or outcome) is another issue. Likewise, a person may have the capability (opportunity) to be literate but this can be compared to whether s/he actually reads (functioning or outcome).

3.2.2 Well-being and agency

The well-being of a young person can be seen in terms of the quality of the person’s being (Sen, 1992). Sen (2000, p. 8) explains that “a person’s well-being can not be

‘other-regarding’” because any concern about “one’s well-being has to operate through some features of the person’s own being”. In this way, functionings are “central to the nature of well-being, even though the sources of well-being could easily be external to the person” (Sen, 2000, p. 8). Agency means one’s ability to pursue goals which one values. Agency describes a young person’s capability to acts and brings about change, and whose achievements can be judged in terms of her/his own values and objectives (Sen, 1992).

A young person’s capability for well-being comes from two distinct but interrelated considerations. First, the capability to achieve functionings constitute the person’s freedom—the real opportunities—to have well-being. Second, achieved well-being itself depends on one’s capability: “choosing may itself be a valuable part of living, and a life of genuine choice with serious options may be seen to be—for that reason—richer” (Sen, 1992, p. 41). Sen (2000, p. 8) argues that “the well-being achievement of a person can be seen as an evaluation of ‘wellness’ of the person’s state of being”. He holds that the exercise of

assessing the constituent elements of the person’s being [is to be] seen from the perspective of her own personal welfare. The different functionings of the person will make up these constituent elements (Sen, 2000, p. 8).

A young person also need be guided only by her agency. A person’s agency achievement refers to the realisation of goals and values she/he has reasons to pursue, whether or not they are connected with her/his own well-being. The agency achievement refers to the young person’s success in the pursuit of the totality of her/his considered goals and objectives (Sen, 1992). Her agency achievement may involve evaluation of states of affairs in the light of those objects and not only in the light of the extent to which those achievements would contribute to her/his own well- being. Sen (1992, p. 57) distinguishes between agency objectives involving “the occurrence of those things that one values and one aims at achieving” and those involving “the occurrence of such things brought about by one’s own efforts”. The former refers to the realisation of one’s objectives, regardless of one’s own role in bringing about that realisation. The latter is a more specific notion of agency success, concentrating on one’s success specifically as an agent.

Corresponding to the distinction between agency achievement and well-being achievement, there is also a differentiation between an individual’s “agency freedom” and “well-being freedom” (Sen, 1992, p. 57). “Agency freedom” refers one’s freedom to bring about the achievements one values and which one attempts to produce, while “well-being freedom” refers one’s freedom to achieve those things that are constitutive of one’s well-being. It is the latter that is best reflected by a young person’s capability set. Agency and well-being are inter-dependent. The pursuit of well-being can be one of the important goals of the agent.

Measuring well-being freedom or well-being achievements does not coincide with an assessment of human agency or agency achievements. Agency is linked to the capacity someone has to act, and through her/his action to induce changes s/he values and seeks. Sen (1992, p. 58) states that “the idea of agency success is based on a straightforward comparison between the objectives … and the actual realization of those objectives”. Agency freedom includes well-being freedom as one element, if the agent aims at achieving well-being or values it. Yet, well-being freedom cannot be subsumed under the heading of agency freedom, because the two concepts measure different things—namely possible advantage and possible achievement of what one values respectively.

The relationship between capability and functioning is complicated because the “identification of value-objects and the specification of an evaluative space involve norms” and the nature of the norms must “depend on what the purpose of the evaluation is” (Sen, 2000, p. 7). Assessing well-being may lead researchers in one direction; judging achievement in term of the person’s overall goals may lead in a different direction since a person may have objectives besides the pursuit of his or her own well-being. Therefore, Sen (2000) makes a fourfold classification of points of evaluative interest in assessing human advantage based on two key distinctions (see Figure 3.2). One distinction is between the promotion of the person’s well-being and the pursuit of a person’s agency goals. The other distinction is between achievement and the freedom to achieve. This contrast can be applied both to the perspective of well-being and to that of agency as these relate to a person: well-being

67 achievement; agency achievement; well-being freedom and agency freedom. Sen (2000, p. 7) argues that

“the assessment of each of these four types of benefit involves an evaluative exercise, but they are not the same evaluative exercise. They can also have very disparate bearings on matters to which the evaluation and comparison of individual advantages are relevant”.

Well-being: the quality of the person’s Well-being being Well-being freedom: one’s freedom to achievement: depends achieve those things that on the functionings are constitutive of one’s achieved well-being

Achievement Freedom to achieve refer to real opportunity Freedom to that people can take to fulfil what they value achieve

Agency achievement: Agency freedom: one’s the realization of goals freedom to bring about and values she has the achievements one reasons to pursue, whether or not they are Agency: one’s ability values and which one connected with her well to pursue goals which attempts to produce being one has reason to value

Figure 3.2 Factors of the capability approach

“Agency achievement” can be distinguished from “agency freedom” in terms of the goals that people hold for “well-being achievement” and “well-being freedom” which concerns their own situation. The contents in each agency case have major overlaps with those of the corresponding well-being case because people’s objectives normally include most aspects of their own well-being (Sen, 1992).

3.3 Social choice and democracy

While the capability approach pays attention to the diversity among young people, research can not only focus on individual freedom and achievement. It is sensible under appropriate circumstances for individual preferences to be considered in relation to long-term and/or broad social distributions. A young person’s achievement is not caused only by her/his own agency. Circumstances beyond

68 his/her own control also aid or hinder her/him when s/he functions as an achiever of well-being. Given the variety of values young people hold, their capabilities and functionings can be achieved and realised in terms of social choices. The concept of “social choice” is the key to linking individual values and collective shaped choices. Sen (1999, p. 261) points that

Social values can play—and have played—an important part in the success of various forms of social organization, including the market mechanism, democratic politics, elementary civil and political rights, provision of basic public goods, and institutions for public action and protest.

Sen (1999) insists on the use of social choice procedures in order to determine what combination of freedom and constraint will prevail: the necessity of constraints is recognised in social activities and it is built through the effective participation and deliberation of all concerned people. The constraints of society as a whole can consistently be derived from the preferences of its members. The use of constraint can be and is legitimated under certain conditions. For example, it is accepted by the young people concerned or at the very least, that the design of the constraining measures relies on the consensual approval of those involved in. Alternatively, these may be accompanied by increasing opportunities where these are normally limited to a certain group of people. Different government policies construct various measures for young people’s education and training to help public decision making. The concept of social choice includes three key aspects.

First, to measure the success of government policies is necessary to the use “an adequate informational base for social judgments and decisions” Sen (1999, p. 279). An increasing amount of publicly available information about students’ outcomes is helpful to make a decision by comparing different categories. Then individual values can and are revised and formed through public discussion of such information. The point is that an individual’s preferences which bear on social choice may adapt to the conditions in which they live. Second, there is a need to anticipate the unintended but predictable consequences of government education and training reforms (Sen, 1999). It is important to try to anticipate all the likely consequences of alternative policies, which means “basing policy decisions on rational assessment of alternative

69 scenarios” (Sen, 1999, p. 261). Third, young people exercise their freedom using socially sensitive reasoning. Thus, social norms emerge through “communicative reasoning and by evolutionary selection of behavioral modes” (Sen, 1999, p. 261). If there is general agreement, the policy choices made by government may be uncontroversial but these need not be just. However, when opinions differ, the problem is to find methods for bringing together different opinions to make decisions that benefit the most disadvantaged young people.

Defining democracy as “government by discussion”, Sen (2009, p. xiii) sees it as “the capacity to enrich reasoned engagement through enhancing informational availability and the feasibility of interactive discussion”. Democracy is a key concept for analysing issues relating to individual achievements and social choice. The concept of democracy is relevant to exploring social equality. “Democracy” comes from two Greek words, being a compound of “demos” and “kratein”. The former means “people” and the latter means “authority”. Sen (1999, p.154) links democracy and agency, arguing that “political freedoms and liberties are permissive advantages, and their effectiveness would depend on how they are exercised”. Such examination is necessary if we make a sensible relationship between the individual behaviour and social choice.

Sen (1999, p.157) argues that democracy has three distinct virtues: “(1) its intrinsic importance, (2) its instrumental contributions and (3) its constructive role in the creation of values and norms”. The intrinsic virtue of democracy for young adults is “associated with basic capabilities (including that of political and social participation)” (Sen, 1999, p.148). The impact of democratic political freedoms on the lives and capabilities of young adults may be embodied in “helpful policies” which include “openness to competition, the use of international markets, a high level of literacy and school education” (Sen, 1999, p.150). It is presumed that these “helpful policies” ensure young adults develop their educational, training and employment capabilities which they value.

The instrumental dimension of democracy lies in “enhancing the hearing that people get in expressing and supporting their claims to political attention (including the claims of economic needs)” (Sen, 1999, p. 148). A number of instrumental 70 dimensions of democracy contribute, directly or indirectly, to the overall freedom young adults have to live in the way they would like to live. Specifically, there are five distinct types of freedom, namely “political freedoms, economic facilities, social opportunities, transparency guarantees and protective security” (Sen, 1999, p. 38). Part of instrumental role of democratic freedoms is related to “the political incentives” which operate “on governments and on the persons and groups that are in office” (Sen, 1999, p. 152). This instrumental role of democracy may be evident, for instance in “governmental response to the acute suffering of people” (Sen, 1999, p. 151) such as Queensland 2011 floods and cyclones. The rulers have an incentive to listen to “what people want if they have to face their criticism and seek their support in elections” (Sen, 1999, p. 152). In a democracy, government response depends on “the pressure that is put on the government, and this is where the exercise of political rights (voting, criticizing, protesting and so on) can make a real difference” (Sen, 1999, p. 151).

The constructive aspect of democracy lies in its “conceptualization—including comprehension” of needs and how government policy respond to these needs (Sen, 1999, p. 153). The conception of “needs” relates to ideas about “the preventable nature of some depravations, and to our understanding of what can be done about them” (Sen, 1999, p. 154). Democracy is connected with public discussion and interactive reasoning (Sen, 2005). Therefore, public discussions—debate and critique—play a crucial role in the formation of these understandings, beliefs and thus government policies. The guarantee of open discussion, argumentation and dissent—all of which research contributes to—are central to democratic “processes of generating informed and reflected choices” (Sen, 1999, p. 153). Political rights, including freedom of intellectual expression and scholarly disputation are not only pivotal to inducing government policy responses to the needs of citizens and non- citizens such as refugees, they are also central to the conceptualisation of needs themselves.

3.4 Factors for policy implementation

When Sen (1992) proposes the capability approach for an explanation of inequality, he claims that

inequality is measured for some purpose, and the choice of space as well as the selection of particular inequality measures in that space would have to be made in the light of that purpose (Sen, 1992, p. 88).

Knowing how disparate the level of well-being of different people from different classes or communities is, assessing inequalities of well-being (or of freedom) is relevant. Democracy has to be seen as “creating a set of opportunities, and the use of these opportunities calls for analysis of a different kind, dealing with the practice of democratic and political rights” (Sen, 1999, p. 155). There is need for “deeper analysis and more effective use of communication and political participation—in short, fuller practice of democracy” (Sen, 1999, p. 154). This thesis employs these ideas to collect and analyse publicly available information so as to ascertain and contribute to this democratic imperative governing social choice.

In the educational research field, policy implementation means people (the beneficiaries) and place (electorates). Honig (2006) links policy with people and place. She argues for a new generation of education policy research that focuses on “the various dimensions of and interactions among policies, people, and places that help explain variations in policy results” (Honig, 2006, p. 4, italics added). The meanings of each of these three interrelated concepts—policies, people and places— are elaborated upon below, providing concepts for analysing the phenomena and the case which provide the focus for this study. The dilemmas arising from the complexity of their interactions for the success of policy implementation are then highlighted.

3.4.1 Policy goals, targets and tools

Recent research into policy and its implementation has begun with a focus on three dimensions—“goals, targets and tools” (Honig, 2006, p. 14). The “goals” are the policy’s promise for engagement with a designated issue over a long or short-term. The “target” names or labels the people—the various groups who are to benefit from policy implementation. The identification of policy beneficiaries (rather than ‘targets’) sends signals about their “value in ways that significantly influence policy outcomes” (Honig, 2006 p. 15). The “tools” are strategies that policy makers attempt to use to anticipate and address some of the particularities of policy implementation.

These include supportive contextual conditions, the capacity of schools and the assistance of intermediary organisations. Tools exert “their own influence on implementation and have differential benefits depending on other implementation conditions” (Honig, 2006, p. 15).

3.4.2 People—policy actors and beneficiaries

In this study two categories of people are central to policy implementation, namely the policy actors and the policy beneficiaries. Much policy research during this decade has focused on policy actors. For instance, Spillane, Reiser and Gomez (2006, p. 49) consider the role of policy actors as a key factor in policy implementation because these

Individuals must use their prior knowledge and experience to notice, make sense of, interpret, and react to incoming stimuli—all the while, actively constructing meaning from their interactions with the environment of which policy is part.

Therefore, the policy actors’ prior knowledge and experiences influence how they interpret and enact the demands of the policies which they are expected to implement. Furthermore, local policy actors face a unique configuration of State, region, and school pressures which affect how policy texts are encoded, organised and processed during implementation. Here, the concept “policy actors” refers not only to formal professional affiliates, for example teachers and policy makers, but also extends to sub-groups whose practices are functional to policy implementation. For Honig (2006, p. 16) these policy actors include “a host of individuals both inside and outside the formal education system including parents, youth workers, health and human service providers, and comprehensive school reform designers to name a few”. Even so, current research in the USA highlights “school district central office administrators as key mediators of policy outcomes” (Honig, 2006, p. 16). Policy actors can foresee the circumstances that must be addressed through implementation decisions. Then they respond to and engage with different demands, opportunities, and constraints which affect implementation.

Although Honig (2006) does not mention the role of students in education policy implementation, other education policy researchers regard students as “beneficiaries” of policy innovation (Fullan, 2001, p. 151). Students’ learning outcomes are either the source or goals of policy design. Policy makers consider students as active participants in their own education with regard to the achievement results, skills, attitudes and jobs. Fullan (2001, p. 151) argues for enhancing “the role of students as members of the school as an organization”. Students’ performance and outcomes in school impose demands on the flexibility of policy implementation.

3.4.3 Places—physical and social implementation

“Places” are regarded as “fundamental to [policy] implementation outcomes” (Honig, 2006, p. 18). Places are where major education policy issues are played out. Policy implementation that focuses on places deals with physical and social infrastructure (Bradford, 2005). The physical infrastructure involves in “the powers and resources available to municipalities,” while social infrastructure includes “civic participation and inclusion networks” (Bradford, 2005, p. 3). In this study, the idea of place as a factor in policy implementation is meant to capture the integration of physical and social infrastructure in sites and locations of different sizes. For this to happen, Governments work to “coordinate their policies and tailor their programs to the conditions prevailing in particular places” (Bradford, 2005, p. 3) through Council of Australian Governments (COAG). The concept of “place” can apply to a school, a region or an electorate—in this study all three of these geographical spaces making an Australia’s Commonwealth State and Territory. These places are investigated in terms of the implementation of Australian and Queensland government education and training policies, the focus is on “particular geographic locations as a main concern” (Honig, 2006, p. 18). Comparing different places helps to answer the research questions about which policies and other conditions account for student learning outcomes with respect to the reforms in Queensland Senior Learning.

3.4.4 Complexity of policy implementation

The interactions between policy, people and place make policy implementation very complex. Policy implementation presents “complex files”, which means “many layered programs involving a variety of players who need to create links between

74 issues” (Smith & Torjman, cited in Bradford, 2005, p. 4). The complex interactions among policies, people and places affect the implementation and success of policies as well as creating dilemmas for policy actors and beneficiaries. However, much educational policy implementation as a field of research seems to amount to a national search for two types of policies, namely “‘implementable’ policies—those that in practice resemble policy designs—and ‘successful’ policies—those that produce demonstrable improvements in students’ school performance” (Honig, 2006, p. 1). While both “implementability” and “success” (Honig, 2006, p. 2) may be essential to policy outcomes, they are not inherent properties of any particular policy. This presents a dilemma for policy actors such as elected representatives, public sector managers, school principals and others. On the one hand, policy actors demand “clear, actionable, and reliable information that can guide their decisions especially in complex policy arenas” (Honig, 2006, p. 3). In other words, they want to limit complexity and to be provided with unambiguous action steps and chains of command. But on the other hand, if such information glosses over the complexities of day-to-day realities, they run the risk of “missing their mark and actually undermining progress” (Honig, 2006, p. 3). Therefore, education policy implementation cannot simply centre on what is implementable or on what works successfully. Accordingly, this thesis makes a small but nonetheless significant contribution to establishing under what conditions, Australian and Queensland Government education and training policies get implemented in Queensland system of Senior Learning and work for young adults.

3.4.5 Education policy implementation

Education is a contentious, interconnected, and multidimensional field. Moreover, the conditions of schools are various, given differences in their size and location. The complexity of these institutions comes from their increasing ethnic and racial diversity; a shrinking base of resources for education in many States, and new systems of negative sanctions for underperforming schools (Mani & Mukand, 2007). Honig (2006, p. 2) argues that “no one policy gets implemented or is successful everywhere all the time; on the bright side, some policies are implemented and successful some of the places some of the time”[sic].

Therefore, it is not enough to explore “what’s implementable and works”, but it is necessary to investigate “what is implementable and what works for whom, where, when, and why?” (Honig, 2006, p. 2, italics added). The complexity of policy implementation means educational leaders think about how to enact a program successfully with their own staff and students in their particular workplaces and communities. The study reported in this thesis investigated the implementation of reforms to Senior Learning through VETiS for the benefit of young adults, in Queensland schools, regions and electorates. Students outcomes in 2008 were used as a means for investigating policy implementation with respect to a given policy text, the policy actors responsible for its carriage, and the specific sites of policy implementation.

3.5 Operationalisation of Sen’s theory in education

Sen’s (1992) capability approach arose from dissatisfaction with the idea of command over resources as the key concept for measuring well-being or advantage, and has emerged as a leading economic framework for theorising poverty, inequality and human development. The capability approach “presents persons as reasoning agents with the right to make choices” (Gasper, 2007, p. 337). Therefore, it is not surprising that the capability approach has been broadened into an interdisciplinary framework for theoretically informed and empirically grounded research into issues concerning the education and training of young people. The capability approach is supported by four main considerations (Gasper, 2007, p. 337):

1. It captures the idea that people should be equal with respect to effective freedom and so has some initial plausibility. 2. Because it is attentive to the fact that preferences and values are sometimes adaptive, it compares favourably with views that focus on “subjective” achievements. 3. Because it is attentive to issues of responsibility and diversity of aims, it contrasts favourably with views that focus on achievements. 4. Because it is attentive to diversity in abilities to transform means into achievements, it is preferable to views that focus on equality of means.

However, the capability approach contains ambiguities and unclear boundaries, especially when defining the specific opportunities for freedom and the set of attainable alternative lives facing a young person. For instance, Lanzi (2007, p. 426)

76 indicates that the capability approach is a “fuzzy” entity. Sen (1992, p. 89) himself contends that “the argument for paying greater attention to functionings (or capabilities) in assessing inequalities of well-being (or of freedom) must not be seen as an all-purpose preference for those variables”. There is a need for the specification of the content of this approach which reflects its rationale so as to better guide its application, elaboration and evaluation (Gasper, 2007). To operationalise the capability approach, Gasper (2007, p. 340) abstracts six major features:

1. An orientation to use a broad variety of sources of information. 2. A language, with novel categories, to describe that variety. 3. A prioritisation amongst categories, notably the prioritisation of capability. In an extreme variant, only capability matters. 4. A principle that the prioritisation of capabilities for individuals is to be reasoned. 5. A principle that prioritisation for groups is to be by public debate and democratic decision-making. 6. The categories of basic capabilities and threshold levels are important.

In what follows, these six core elements for the application of capability approach are discussed and then the analytical framework is constructed for the following evidentiary data analysis.

3.5.1 Feature 1— a broad variety of sources of information

This feature means that many types of information are relevant to the assessment of opportunity for choice and quality of well-being. Sen (1992, p. 73) argues that

“the ‘informational basis of a judgement’ identifies the information on which the judgement is directly dependent and—no less importantly— asserts that the truth and falsehood of any other type of information cannot directly influence the correctness of the judgement”.

In this study, the capability approach is concerned with what young people actually achieved from a set of options, mindful that what is possible or is not possible “may turn crucially on what information is taken into effective account in making social decisions” (Sen, 1999, p. 253). Therefore, the informational basis of judgement

77 specifies the variables that are directly involved in assessing equality in a democratic society. This applies to policy-decision making as much as research.

In terms of information, literacy is a fundamental resource “enabling people and structuring the effective opportunities of people to live a life they have reason to choose and value” (Otto & Ziegler, 2006, p. 269). The capability approach characterises individual well-being in terms of what a person is actually able to do or to be. Therefore, literacy is important in the capability approach for both intrinsic and instrumental reasons. Being knowledgeable and having access to an education that allows a young person to flourish is arguably valuable capability.

Maddox (2008) examines the intrinsic value of literacy and its instrumental role in enhancing wider capabilities. His research is based on the ethnographic study of Kamrul (male) and Halima (female) from very poor families who attended literacy class over 12 months between 1997 and 1999. He tried to gain insights into “how literacy impacts on people’s vulnerabilities and access to institutional entitlements” (Maddox, 2008, p. 195). As a result of observing of their life changes and feedback from them about their developing literacy, this research indicates that “adult literacy learning can improve people’s ability to lead a good life, and expand their capabilities, even in contexts of chronic poverty” (Maddox, 2008, p. 201). Literacy enables young people to increase their agency and freedoms, and provides them a set of valued functionings. VETiS provides a direct way for young adults to gain valuable skills. In addition, it also provides indirect ways for improving their literacy and numeracy capabilities through achieving VET qualifications. For example, the requirement for Certificate II includes the performance that presume literacy such as knowing “routines and procedures and some accountability” in workplaces and “perform in a range of varied activities or knowledge applications” (AQF, n.d.b). However, while literacy is embedded in VETiS it is not the focus of this research reported in this thesis.

3.5.2 Feature 2— a novel set of categories to describe variety

The capability approach contains various components such as capability, functionings, agency and freedom. The capability to achieve valuable functionings means judging a person’s opportunity freedom according to the attainable

78 opportunities that the person has reason to value. An agent’s situation can be evaluated in a number of ways (Gasper, 2007, p. 341):

1. by her own valued functionings (well-being achievement), not merely her utility (satisfaction or preference fulfilment, actual or imputed); 2. by the outcomes in terms of her values, including for other people, beings and things (agency achievement); 3. by what she is able to achieve, both in terms of her own well-being (well- being freedom) and 4. by her actual values (agency freedom), including her values for other people, beings and things.

However, Sen (1992) does not specify the capabilities necessary for a person to realise freedom and achievement. In contrast, Gasper (2002, p. 446) argues that each person’s inheritance and situation (place) provides her/him with a distinctive set of capabilities, an opportunity set called “O-capability” which point to the necessity to combine individual agency (such as cognitive abilities or psychological factors) with social agency (such as legal provisions or social norms). There is a need for a plurality of skills and abilities, that is “S-capability” (S for skill) which is related to the particular socially, politically, economically and geographically constrained or enabled life-paths young people face (Gasper, 2002, p. 446).

Nussbaum (2000) proposed three types of capabilities as conceptual analytics. The basic capabilities such as seeing and hearing, love, gratitude are “the innate equipment of individuals that is the necessary basis for developing the more advanced capabilities and a ground of moral concern” (Nussbaum, 2000, p. 84). Nussbaum (2000, p. 84) interpreted internal capabilities as “developed states of the person herself that are, so far as the person herself is concerned, sufficient conditions for the exercise of requisite function … mature conditions of readiness”. She proposes the idea of combined capabilities known as “external capability” which is “internal capabilities combined with suitable external conditions for the exercise of the function” (Nussbaum, 2000, p. 85).

Walker (2006a) offers another approach with eight multi-dimensional capabilities, namely autonomy; knowledge; social relations; respect and recognition; aspiration; voice (participation in learning); bodily integrity and bodily health; and emotional

79 integrity and emotions. Lanzi (2007) illustrates the complex relationships between human capital and human capability with Nussbaum’s (2000) basic, internal and external capability methods, and Gasper’s (2002) S-capability and O-capability. Taking the elements such as “cooperation, coordination, decentralized organization, open governance and access, knowledge-sharing and partnership into consideration”, Lanzi (2007, p. 432) constructed network structures of capacity development with features from three aspects: “organizational specificities, economic peculiarities and social characteristics”. All of this novelty in categories not only describes seemingly endless variations but points to the unresolved debates within which this study was conducted, albeit without being able to resolve the issues at stake.

3.5.3 Feature 3— a stance concerning which levels have ethical priority

Because young people are different, equality in one “space” therefore reveals inequality in another. Sen (1992, p. 43) contends that “the capability approach differs from utilitarian evaluation … in making room for a variety of doings and beings as important in themselves”. Such an argument is important in debates about education and training for the development of young people. The capability approach does more than simply argue for a broader space in making normative evaluation.

Walker (2006b, p. 31) argues that “education is in itself a basic capability” and affects the development and expansion of other capabilities. Education fulfils an “instrumental social role” in that critical literacy for instance claims to foster public debate and dialogue about public policies governing social and economic arrangements. As a basic capability, literacy is said to have an instrumental role in expanding young people’s intellectual horizons; it has “empowering and distributive role” in facilitating the ability of “the disadvantaged, marginalised and excluded to organize politically” 10(Walker, 2006b, p. 31). Alkire (2005, p. 119) claims that a fully developed capability approach would track all significant changes in a person’s quality of life: “from knowledge to relationships to employment opportunities and inner peace, to self-confidence and the various valued activities made possible by the literacy classes”. Otto and Zigler (2006) focused their research on the structuring of

10 Two questions are raised here: Do you have to be literate to know you are disadvantaged, marginalised or excluded? Do you have to be literate to organise politically? 80 people’s lives with regards to formal, non-formal and informal educational dimensions and their related major educational fields. They suggest that educational processes can be evaluated from a capability perspective by a focus on “educational outcomes in terms of completion rates, or exam performance, or productivity” (Otto & Zigler, 2006, p. 280). Thus, in terms of the capability approach, educational outcomes themselves are the main focus of this study and judging young people’s freedom and advantage.

3.5.4 Feature 4—choices which “people have reason to value”

A young person’s agency is her/his ability to pursue the goals s/he has reason to value. The reasons why people choose for themselves, directly or most often indirectly may either be a “good reason” or be “well-reasoned” (Gasper, 2007, p. 343). A good reason is based on one’s own-choice according to what the individual values. But a well-reasoned choice may arise from a group of people in a specific community, and is labelled as social choice. People cannot exercise their freedom without socially sensitive reasoning. Sen (1999, p. 261) indicates that social norms emerge through “communicative reasoning and by evolutionary selection of behavioural modes”. These external circumstances “affect the inner lives of people: what they hope for, what they love, what they fear, as well as what they are able to do” (Nussbaum, cited in Walker, 2006a, p. 167). When they choose from a bundle of functionings, they also think about “family members, neighbors, fellow citizens and about other people in the world” (Sen, 1999, p. 262).

Robeyns (2005) identifies three categories of conversion factors which influence how well a person can convert capability inputs into functionings achievements. How a person can convert the characteristics, commodities and infrastructure into a functioning is influenced by (Robeyns, 2005, p. 99):

1. Personal conversion factors (such as physical condition, sex, literacy, intelligence); 2. Social conversion factors (such as public policy, social norms, gender roles, societal hierarchies, discriminating practises); 3. Environmental conversion factors (such as climate, geographical location, education distribution).

In this thesis the focus is on the following personal conversion factors such as gender, Indigenous identity and SES; social conversion factors such as Queensland and Australian Government policies; environmental conversion factors such as school size and location.

3.5.5 Feature 5— public procedures for prioritising and threshold-setting

Public discussion and decision procedures making are important for prioritising which and whose capabilities. However, it is not clear how these processes of public reasoning and democracy are going to take place. Democracy is supposed to fill in the “approach’s relatively empty box [because] the approach is quintessentially a public policy approach—for individuals are unlikely to decide against their own preferences” (Gasper, 2007, p. 344). This requires evidence-driven attention to the capabilities of democracy, not only wishful thinking.

Unterhalter (2005) calls for a range of studies to help understand how education links to other dimensions of wellbeing achievement, beyond acquiring certain levels of learning. She suggests how a three-way linkage among education, democracy and the dimensions of wellbeing achievement (Unterhalter, 2005, p. 117):

1. to explore the reason of access, retention and achievement in schooling up to a certain level; 2. to explore how decision-making regarding education is taken in households, schools, education ministers, or local authorities; 3. to explore the achievements that flow from education.

In doing so, educational organisations and institutions might take the agency and wellbeing freedoms of individuals into account, not just limited proxies for wellbeing and agency achievement, such as completed levels of schooling or quantities of resources. Due to inevitable constraints of the feasibility of doing this, this feature is not directly addressed in this study.

3.5.6 Feature 6—basic capabilities and threshold levels

Sen (1992) provides no list of specific capabilities. However, Gasper (2007) indicates that the notions of basic capabilities and required thresholds are necessary

82 for minimum attainment in practice of the capability approach. While being healthy and educated are basic capabilities, the education of all groups of the population has not always received democratic support. For example, Unterhalter (2005) researched on the policy openings provided by the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for gender equality in education. She considered gender equality in education in its widest social sense paying particular attention to the importance of dialogue between the mainstream and margins. Her analysis rested on an understanding that gender, like other social factors, shapes social structures and relations in education and many other spheres in ways that entail unequal access to resources and the undervaluing the views of certain groups. Unterhalter (2005, p. 120) argues that policy-makers should take account into factors such as “gender equality, how individuals participate in institutions and what kind of information is circulated”. She suggested that as part of a feminist project with regard to gender equity in education, the MDGs should focus on specified and unified outcome, and also “on how the resources the MDG brings can be used to confront the injustice of gender discrimination in education so as to transform this” (Unterhalter, 2005, p. 121). This research reported here I critically reflect on the concept of functionings and what categories of prioritises for those who have “entrenched disadvantages” (Queensland Government, 2008a, p. 5).

3.6 Conclusion

In this thesis, Sen’s (1992) capability approach is tested for its usefulness in giving added insight into in/equality in education based on a critical investigation into young adults’ senior school VETiS outcomes in Queensland. As Gasper (2007, p. 346) claims, the capability approach “would hardly deserve to be called an approach if it consisted of a single feature (feature 1), whether a catholic stance on types of information or a normative prioritization of just one type (feature 3)”. However, the approach does involve multiple, overlapping features which provide a metalanguage for exploring the relationships between Queensland education and training reforms, and the outcomes obtained by young adults. For instance, Feature 3 calls for space, whereas Features 5 and 6 also limit and structure this space within political democracy. Likewise Feature 6, focus on basic capabilities which are also mentioned in Feature 2. Therefore, Gasper’s (2007) applying Sen’s theory to education should

83 not be zhao ban zhao chao (copies without any change). I reconstructed these into five analytical features to further understanding of the collected data (see Figure 3.3).

Next Step surveys; School Annual report and Curriculum

Education policies; F 1: availability of Year 12 outcome 2008; information and NCVRE statistics; Annual report and resources Year 12 outcomes 2008 Curriculum

F5: democracy in F2: a set of policy capabilities implementation Capability approach for addressing research questions

F4: reasons to F3: confined Education policies; NCVER statistics; value space NCVER statistics; Next Step surveys; Next Step surveys Year 12 outcomes 2008

Figure 3.3 Operationalisation of the capability approach for data analysis

Feature 1—information and resources availability as a means to freedom achievement

A broad orientation in valuation of using more sources of information is a basic procedure for freedom or agency achievement. In Chapter 7, Year 12 students’ post- school destinations have been analysed using longitudinal data from the Queensland Next Step (Queensland Government, 2006, 2007, 2008b, 2009) surveys. In Chapter 9, the annual reports and curriculum of selected senior schools (n=61) in Queensland have been analysed. These data are interrogated to establish the range and types of information and resources officially reported as being provided to all the students. By doing so, they might effectively do and to be given what they value and is valued in their social, cultural and economic assets.

Feature 2 — a set of capabilities achieved in VETiS

Many arguments are made about a person’s capabilities such as “O” (opportunity) and “S” (skill) capabilities (Gasper, 2002); basic, internal and external capabilities

(Nussbaum, 2000); Walker’s (2006a) eight multi-dimensional capabilities. In Chapters 6 and 8, data generated from the 2006 and 2007 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) and the Year 12 outcomes 2008: All Queensland schools (Queensland Government, 2009b) have been analysed to examine what the gains young adults achieved in terms of their capabilities as a result of reforms to Senior Learning through VETiS.

Feature 3 — confined space for education equality

The capability approach is a way of assessing education policies. A policy is checked to see if people have equal opportunity to pursue what they have reason to value. In Chapter 5, recent VETiS policies issued in Australia have been analysed to establish where and how the idea of ‘education for equality’ is built into Queensland’s senior learning reform, and how policy actors embrace this concept in VETiS, especially with regard to transition from learning to earning.

Moreover, Sen (1992) insists on the space for capability to functionings and assessment of equality in all his works. The spaces which have been chosen and the levels which have been prioritised depend on the cases. For example, in Chapters 6, 7, 8, data from the 2006 and 2007 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009); the Next Step surveys (Queensland Government, 2006a, 2007, 2008a, 2009a) and the Year 12 outcomes 2008: All Queensland schools (Queensland Government, 2009b) were used. These were categorised according to students’ gender, location, identity and social economic status (SES) to test if VETiS policy is implemented equally for all students, especially to those who come from disadvantaged backgrounds identified in Government policies.

Feature 4 — reasons to make effective transition from school to work

Another criterion of the capability approach is freedom of choice. It calls for exploring reasons and values in terms of individual’s selecting and prioritising capabilities. How young people choose from the alternative n-tuples functionings not only depends on their own choice, but the social arrangements (social choice) that affect the extent of their freedom to pursue or achieve their goals. In Chapters 6 and 85

9, data collected from the 2006 and 2007 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) and the Next Step surveys (Queensland Government, 2006a, 2007, 2008a, 2009a) have been analysed. The analysis explores if young adults obtain equal opportunity in terms of outcomes and post-school destination regardless of their social and economic diversity, and what internal and external factors may have influenced these.

Feature 5 —democratic procedures in policy implementation

Sen (1999, p. 148) emphasises the importance of public discussion for informing policy decisions about which and whose capabilities are prioritised. However, Robenyns (cited in Gasper, 2007, p. 344) notes that

in Sen’s case, it is not at all clear how these processes of public reasoning and democracy are going to take place … at present not enough work seems to have been carried out on the kind of democratic institutions that the ‘capability approach in practice’ would require.

Therefore, Honig’s (2006) principle about policy implementation concerning people and place has been used for analysing educational equality of students’ outcomes. Evidence from education policies, annual reports and statistics about students’ outcomes from all schools in Queensland (n=440) have been analysed to examine how school location and size (place) influence the implementation of the senior learning reform as well as the freedom of choice for young adults’ post-school pathways (see Chapter 8).

This chapter has explored a series of important conceptual tools derived from Sen’s (1992, 1999) capability approach to establish the theoretical framework for the analysis of evidence. The next Chapter explains how the researcher carried out the project reported in this thesis though using quantitative and qualitative methods to collect and analyse the data.

CHAPTER FOUR: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

4.0 Introduction

The previous chapters have addressed the research problems, reviewed current literature and established the conceptual framework. To get a better understanding of the research questions, it was necessary to conduct research through collecting reliable and valid evidence. The process for doing so is explained and justified in this chapter. This helps the researcher consider all the aspects concerning this project. This chapter is composed of sections that range from the research philosophy; how to construct this project in terms of educational research; how to collect and analyse the data. This chapter begins by considering what might constitute a sound philosophical basis for doing educational research.

4.1 Philosophical perspectives on educational research

My initial image of science11 and thus educational research is that the researcher conducts experiments or observes educational phenomenon, then creates simulations of such phenomenon in order to learn more about certain phenomena. In a broad sense this is how educational research works. Another view is that an educational researcher aims to question and then to develop new concepts that may better explain education policies or programs. The educational research meant exploring the unknown and looking for the truth behind educational policies and/ or programs.

However, my understanding of educational research has developed by reading and studying about what knowledge, truth and originality are and what counts as educational research for professional communities. During the process of conducting this project for investigating research questions, my philosophy of educational research has been deepened and extended.

11 See explanation for the relationships between science and educational research on p. 87. 87

4.1.1 Science and educational research

Chalmers (1999) provides insights into the history of debates over science and scientific methods. It is difficult to provide simple or exact definitions of either “science” or “scientific methods” that satisfy every educational researcher. In the past, science was viewed as a body of knowledge based upon careful observation, logic and verified by means of experiment and additional observations. But not all researchers are completely satisfied with such a definition because it tends to narrow the role of educational research to fact-gathering. Further, this definition does not adequately express the drama of the research process, let alone the way in which actual research is undertaken to investigate researchable problems that were formerly considered outside the province of science. Before conducting the educational research project reported in this thesis, the issues of what is scientific research and what is educational research had to be considered and clarified.

4.1.1.1 What is the scientific method?

According to Ridley (2001) the most important point about the “scientific method” is that it depends on having an open mind. In accordance with this open minded disposition one has the right—the obligation—to question any accepted fact or taken for granted ideas. Thus, an educational researcher seeks for truth means that s/he has to learn to question deeply the things that are generally accepted as being “obviously true”. An advantage of seeing open mindedness as integral to the “scientific method” and educational research is unprejudiced (Ridley, 2001). One does not have to believe a given researcher; one can re-analyse the case study data or can redo the experiment to determine whether his/her results are open to question. A theory or thesis—or a research argument—is not accepted based on the prestige of the proponent, but on the results obtained through the quality of the data that is collected and analysed, on the reasons that are advanced using clearly defined concepts and categories. Such data may be collected from documents, through interviews, by observations and/or experiments. Typically, the results obtained using an open minded approach to educational research allows other investigators to make their own interpretation of the evidence or repeat the study. Ridley (2001) argues that there are methods for doing research which are designed to minimise the influence of

88 various sources of bias or prejudice in the researcher when testing a proposition or developing a theory.

Enriching this view, Chalmers (1999, pp. 131-140) argues that the “scientific method” can involve four elements. First, the generation of evidence by various means, including but not limited to the performance of experiments to test the predictions by independent researchers using properly performed research procedures. Second element is observation and description of a phenomenon or group of phenomena. Third is formulation of a proposition, thesis or hypothesis to interpret or explain the phenomena. Fourth one is to use a proposition, thesis or hypothesis to predict or explain the existence of other phenomena, or to predict the results of new observations. These methods provide broader varieties for a researcher to pursue an unprejudiced educational research.

4.1.1.2 Education research in a scientific view

It might be assumed that scientists generate a body of knowledge that is sure to be true. Some ideas, after all, are known with enough certainty that most of us take them for granted. For instance, the idea of heliocentricism has replaced that of geocentricism, and few educated people question this idea. So what does all this mean? It means that science does not presently and probably never can give statements of absolute eternal truth. Like natural science, educational research generates evidence to test or explore existing ideas and to develop new concepts, arguments and theories. We are told that science can only deal with “knowledge which is so objective, so testable, so repeatable and so especially public that it is meaningful to anyone engaged in the scientific method” (Ridley, 2001, p. 8).

Ridley (2001) argues that science is the concerted human effort to understand better the history of the natural world and how the natural world works. Observable physical evidence provides the basis for this understanding. This evidence is generated through the observation of natural phenomena or experiments that try to simulate natural processes under controlled conditions (Ridley, 2001). Customarily, science is divided into two categories, “hard and soft sciences” (Ridley, 2001, p. 52). Examples of “hard” sciences include physics and astronomy, while educational

89 sociology and psychology are often classified as “soft” sciences. The sociological, political, economic and psychological aspects of education need to be researched if we are to gain a comprehensive understanding of it. This issue is important to the philosophy of educational research which is concerned with the character of investigations and of the knowledge that results from such investigations. This raises questions such as: What methods can be used to justify the conclusions of an educational research project? What makes an investigation research? What are the general characteristics of explanations that count as educational research? What is an educational theory? Do these theories provide information otherwise unavailable to us? How do beliefs about educational research change over time?

In answering these questions, philosophers of educational research use concepts and techniques from logic, theories of knowledge and metaphysics (Chalmers, 1999). Certain forms of logic are relevant to understanding the process of reasoning in research. Theories of knowledge are important to understanding of the scope of the knowledge claims which result from this form of reasoning. Metaphysics informs debates concerning the import and implications of this knowledge. For these reasons, the debates in the philosophy of science are good ways of approaching these central questions concerning educational research. These debates provide an opportunity to see how these areas of philosophy can be engaged in arguments over educational research.

It is known that scientific and educational theories will continually be refined in the future. Some of them may even be discarded in favour of theories that make more sense in light of data generated by researchers as new concepts are developed and new evidence is generated. For instance, current educational research presents the best available explanations of the outcomes for young adults of the reforms for senior l/earning (Gasper, 2007; Harreveld & Singh, 2007; Kuczera, 2010). These claims and/or theories have been tested against a vast amount of statistical data and qualitative evidence.

4.1.2 Truth Seeking in Educational Research

What is truth? What is the nature of the truth that can be produced through educational research? With science and technology developing in modern times, the universally accepted educational theories are getting rarer (Benson & Stangroom, 2006). It is a common phenomenon in the field of education that two experts may hold different interpretations of events even based on the same data. Scientists have a similar dilemma. Experts in their area of research have to remain sceptical about the latest results even when they believe they have identified new findings or claims on truth. In the world of educational research, researchers accept the field’s contradictions as a necessary way of making improvement in education. As other researchers examine how the argument is constructed, they extend this scepticism.

Such a paradox has been explored by the philosopher David Stove (cited in Benson & Stangroom, 2006, p. 31) and is called the “Ishmael effect”, which refers to those occasions where philosophical arguments make exceptions of themselves. This is the crux of the philosophical dispute. “What should trump what [sic]. Should rational enquiry, sound evidence, norms of accuracy, logical inference trump human needs, desires, fears, hopes?” (Benson & Stangroom, 2006, p. 16) Before answering this question, let us review Descartes’ (cited in Benson & Stangroom, 2006, p. 27) famous maxim, “I think, therefore I am”. Descartes’ belief about the nature of the mind and body emphasised on the role of doubt in all inquiry, and this view formed the basis for Western science and educational research. Descartes’ argument left a valuable legacy to philosophy for debates. In one way, the Cartesian search for certainty and inviolable truth is antithetical to scientific scepticism. In another way, by dividing reality into the inner (i.e., the mind) and the outer (body) elements, where the job of the inner bit “represent” the outer bit, it created a crack in science (Benson & Stangroom, 2006, p. 28). This scepticism denies that man is able to know or to achieve any kind of certainty about reality and truth (Benson & Stangroom, 2006).

According to philosophical scepticism, although there may be sound logical and pragmatic reasons for assuming that there are things which are independent of us and

91 our beliefs, we should ask ourselves whether this constitutes solid grounds for actually believing that truth is objective. This is scientific scepticism. Benson and Stangroom (2006) argue that there are various forms of scepticism and relativism about truth and the possibility of knowledge. These include postmodernism, epistemic relativism, anti-realism, anti-foundationalism, neopragmatism, feminist epistemology, postcolonialism and the sociology of science and knowledge (SSK).

Now let us think about the question of what should trump what? Should rational enquiry, sound evidence, norms of accuracy, logical inference trump human needs, desires, fears, hopes? Among all these philosophical theories, I will restrict my discussion here to the theory of social constructivism, which apparently argues that scientific knowledge is not the rational or logical exploration of existing knowledge, but the product of various social, cultural and historical processes.

Social constructivism comes in many shapes and forms and it is much debated. SSK is a version of constructivism associated with the Edinburgh school, which is best understood in terms of Bloor’s Strong Program (Bloor, 1991). It was developed in the 1970s to offer pragmatically adequate descriptions of scientific practice. It argues that scientific practice and knowledge reflect not only the natural world but also social influences such as professional position, social class or gender. It is two factors taken together—natural and social factors that give research knowledge its shape. This insight has been explored in many contexts. The Strong Program offers social explanations for why all scientific beliefs are held—true ones and false ones, rational ones and irrational ones.

SSK has been an important branch of study opening up the path to the inner heart of scientific practice. It reveals what lay beneath the conventional philosophies of science. It has led to better understanding educational research in terms of science’s path through the economic and political environment. Benson and Stangroom (2006, p. 68) argues that

as is well known, theories are underdetermined by data. The fact that there are many different possible theories to explain the date, the fact that the data never force acceptance of any particular theory, means that there can

be (or should be, or must be) explanations other than data for why theories become accepted.

Thomas Kuhn (1970), supposedly a social constructivist in his book the Structure of Scientific Revolutions created the academic space for a novel way of thinking about social scientific knowledge. Especially, it was an important stimulus to SSK. The new ways involved turning attention away from the conditions necessary for science to work and towards the way scientists make knowledge within the context of particular “paradigms” (Kuhn, 1970). These “paradigms” serve to define what should be studied, what questions should be asked, how they should be asked, and what rules should be followed in interpreting the results obtained.

SSK developed methodologies for examining research with regard to various categories and classifications which are not in nature but created by humans in different intellectual cultures, whether they are Chinese or Western for example. Benson and Stangroom, (2006) also argue that scientific observation is always reported by words, writing, and tables, therefore, it is always served by social institutions. Thus, it reflects the importance of researcher’s reflection and understanding on the relationship between research and its reasoning process.

Constructivism and SSK in particular have implications for educational research. They suggest that research knowledge may be usefully understood as the hybrid effects of material, social, and conceptual performances. In these performances different elements are assembled together and act in certain ways to produce specific findings. Because truth is in part dependent on this or that intellectual culture, it changes over time as cultures do, and varies from one community to another. Truth is neither eternal nor universal. However, the research based quest for some form of truth and the making of an original contribution to knowledge will never stop. These basic views on social science inspired me to pursue the meaning of educational research.

4.2 Constructing educational research

In recent research, Hoy (2010, p. xi) provides a new term which becomes part of academic vocabulary in education: “scientifically based research”. The principles of sound empirical research in education propose by Hoy (2010, pp. xi-xii) are those:

1. It poses significant questions that can be studied empirically. 2. It links empirical research to relevant theory. 3. It uses methods that enable direct investigation of the research questions. 4. It provides a coherent, explicit, and logical chain of reasoning. 5. It can be replicated and generalised across studies. 6. It is transparent and is reported so as to encourage scrutiny and critique.

As for such scientific research principles, the notion of objectivity is the ideal to which researchers are committed: “objectivity is impartial judgement that rests outside an individual’s personal preference, biases, and wishes” (Hoy, 2010, p. 3). In educational research, objectivity is “the attempt by researchers to make their designs and procedures so clear and exact that others can replicate their studies to get the same or similar findings” (Hoy, 2010, p. 3). Hoy (2010, p.4) admits that “objectivity in the social sciences is more difficult; hence, educational research is less objective than in the physical sciences”. Although objectivity is more difficult to achieve in educational research, it is certainly not impossible. Scientific research methods are the bridge to objectivity (Hoy, 2010). Smart (2005) proposes a basic template for conducting an educational research for its objectivity. A suitable format for a thesis is “one-third introduction and literature review, one-third research procedures and findings, and one-third discussion and implications” (Smart, 2005, p. 462). These multiple sections require a diverse array of scholarly capabilities to conduct exemplary research.

First, it is important to establish the importance of the research topic and current knowledge based on prior research about the topics. The introductory and literature review chapters of this thesis provide this information. This was essential to establish the credibility of the research reported in this thesis. Then Smart (2005) suggests establishing the fundamental theoretical framework and methodological paradigms 94 for the research topics. Methodological guidance is provided in terms of data collection and analytical procedures, and may include measurement issues (Smart, 2005). During this process, Smart (2005, p. 470) points that we should not “ignore critical issues associated with the quality of the data we bring to bear on those issues” in “the rush to provide ‘evidence’ to advance knowledge and to respond to the needs of policy makers”. Therefore, a researcher should possess both theoretical insights and strong methodological skills to advance the credibility of their research and “in the eyes of scholars in more developed academic disciplines and policy makers who need assistance in addressing important policy issues” (Smart, 2005, p. 470). Finally, researchers discuss their findings and thesis implication for future research and/or for practice. The discussion and implication should involve the importance and fundamental nature of the topic being investigated as stated in the introductory and the review of state of knowledge in the literature (Smart, 2005). Following Smart (2005) and Hoy’s (2010) scrutiny on constructing educational research, the procedures of constructing this study were reported in the next three sections.

4.2.1 Ethical issues in research

I developed my awareness of research ethics from the beginning of my doctoral studies in Australia. Initially, I was quiet confused when my principal supervisor introduced issues of research ethics. “What? I needed to get ethics approval to conduct my research? I have no right to interview people without the approval of ethics? In China, I could interview any person without any official permission”. This was the first time I understood ethics defined as “norms for conduct that distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behaviour” (Resnik, 2007). At a research seminar, a professor introduced his research method for his project. He explained that he offered coffee and food to the poor people living on the street or in the parks as part of his charity work. Rather indirectly, he had conversations with them as a way of collecting data on issues of social inequality and social justice. I could not help but wonder if he obtained written consent from those people for such research- oriented conversations. Thus, I asked the professor about his strategy for the ethical principles and procedures he used to interview his research participants he met in the street or in parks. This proved to be an embarrassing moment in the seminar, and I was still unclear about what ethics meant for his project. After that, I began to think 95 more seriously how researchers deal with ethical problems that arise in the practice of their research.

For a long time during my research, I took it for granted that ethical issues in educational research were mainly concerned about people—how to conduct interviews in the right way. However, with the help of my principal supervisor, I broadened the knowledge of ethics beyond the confines of considering the human participants. Ethical values and principles vary among different institutions and professions. They have norms for behaviour “that suit their particular aims and goals. These norms also help members of the discipline to coordinate their actions or activities and to establish the public’s trust of the discipline” (Resnik, 2007, n.p.). Ethics is certainly “not confined to qualitative research or necessarily to research that involves humans” (Guillemin & Gillam, 2004, p. 262). Ethical issues are equally pertinent in quantitative research and to the use and abuse of data. The key step of ethics in education research does not lie in “‘procedural ethics’, which usually involves seeking approval from a relevant ethics committee to undertake research involving humans [but concerns] ethics in practice or the everyday ethical issues that arise in the doing of research” (Guillemin & Gillam, 2004, p. 263). The educational research reported in this thesis was informed by consideration of the following key ethical principles (Resnik, 2007, italics added):

1. Honesty: Strive for honesty in all scientific communications including honestly report data, results, methods and procedures, and publication status. Do not fabricate, falsify, or misrepresent data. Do not deceive colleagues, granting agencies, or the public. 2. Carefulness: Avoid careless errors and negligence; carefully and critically examine your own work and the work of your peers. Keep good records of research activities, such as data collection, research design, and correspondence with agencies or journals. 3. Respect for Intellectual Property: Honour patents, copyrights, and other forms of intellectual property. Do not use unpublished data, methods, or results without permission. Give credit where credit is due. Give proper acknowledgement or credit for all contributions to research. Never plagiarize.

Ethics is a key factor for testing researchers’ moral values in practice. The above principles offered me as a researcher guidance for conducting this research project, providing broad guidelines for dealing with the data I have used. I have analysed the

96 data carefully, checking and rechecking analytical procedures to ensure the minimisation of errors. I have only used publicly available data which I have rigorously and critically analysed.

4.2.2 Stating the research problem

Typically, educational research starts with the formulation of a research problem, or at least report of research may create that impression. However, it was necessary to review the research literature to formulate the research problem by thinking about issues that arose from doing this effort to identify gaps in current research knowledge. As often happened at this stage, the researcher did not know enough to do more than speculate about a variety of possible research problems12.

The identification of a research problem does not automatically fall into a researcher’s head, nor does it occur at the very beginning of a research project—it requires refinement. The specification of the research problem was further complicated by choosing appropriate methods to gather the needed data to explore the complexity of the research problem. Moreover, one did not know beforehand what data would lead to a breakthrough in knowledge or when this would occur. It was necessary to bring to the problem in an open minded disposition. A researcher’s way of thinking and attitudes are moulded over time through his or her participation in a research culture—its scholarship, conferences, seminars, research projects and team work. Changes in thinking about the conceptualisation of the research problem occur though it much slower than a novice researcher would like. Refining the research problem was one part of the research process for developing knowledge represented in this thesis (Ridley, 2001, p. 167). As a result of refinement, the final refined main research questions and contributory questions are addressed in Chapter one (see section 1.1). The following section is to discuss how the research plan developed during the past three years.

12 This could have been true for a philosopher of two thousand years ago who may have wondered about the relationship between moon and the earth. Is the earth the centre of the universe? Why did the moon change shape and repeat its changes about once a month? Such questions could not been answered satisfactorily at that time because knowledge of research methods and ways of theorising these relationships had not advanced to the point where data collection principles, procedures and instruments could be applied to analyse this kind of problem.

4.2.3 Developing the research plan

The framework for the research project reported in this thesis (see Figure 4.1) proceeded through three stages, a planning phase (pre-CoC proposal) and a data collection and analysis phase (post-CoC proposal) and the stage of producing findings to foreground its contribution to knowledge. During the first stage, research into Queensland’s educational reforms was reviewed, as well as the research into current developments in Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS). Likewise, the literature on research methods was studied including debates concerning qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods. In the meantime, a theoretical framework based on Sen’s (1992, 1999) capability approach was developed in anticipation of testing its robustness through an analytical examination of evidence generated through the next stage. Theoretically, this research project centres on testing the capability approach by researching the outcomes for young adults who have completed Senior L/earning in terms of their education, training and career trajectories.

The second stage in this research plan involved the strategies for data collection and data analysis. Initially, the focal research question was designed as:

What are young adults gaining from the Queensland’s reforms to Senior Learning? A related question is how this L/earning improve their capabilities and functionings in the changing global economy?

Policy text analysis was chosen for testing the gap between benefits claimed for young adults promised by Queensland State and Federal Governments policies, and their actual learning outcomes as result of Government reforms to Years 10, 11 and 12. In addition, statistics and interviews 13 were planned to explore the outcomes of VETiS that young adults are gaining in Queensland.

Queensland’s Next Step surveys (Queensland Government, 2006a, 2007, 2008a, 2009a); 2006 and 2007 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) were collected for analysis. These data provided information on students’ post-school destinations; VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion at both State and

13 Interview was not undertaken, see explanation on P. 99. 98 national level. The data were categorised according to students’ characteristics such as gender, Indigenous identity, and location. In the meantime, the ethics applications for conducting the proposed interviews were approved both by the University of Western Sydney and the Queensland Government, the Department of Education, Training and the Arts. This meant that I could conduct interviews in Queensland public schools.

Research focus

Methodological Theoretical Review of the Review of recent consideration by consideration research to gain literature on literature review by literature knowledge of VETiS

personal personal reflection reflection Frame conceptual and theoretical tools Research to guide data Refine the ethics research focus one Stage collection analysis

Revise main and contributory research questions while preparing

Final thesis and associated publications

Findings Discussions Implications Reflections

Stage two Qualitative data analysis Statistical data

Policy texts Interview Statistic data School (not undertaken)

Figure 4.1 Research Project Design

However, Creswell (2003, p. 12) argues that researchers need to look not just at the “what” and “how” of research but also “its intended consequences—where they want to go with it”. Educational researchers need to establish a purpose for the “mixing” or for triangulating of different methods of data collection and analysis of evidence. There is need for a rationale explaining why quantitative and qualitative data need to

100 be mixed in the first place. I reconsidered the research methods proposed at the initial stage. I found that the policy analysis offered evidence for the later on statistical analysis to explore where and how the idea of “education for equality” in VETiS policy was evident in outcomes from the reform to Senior Learning. The 2006 and 2007 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) were analysed to explore what the gains or outcomes young adults secured nationally in terms of their capabilities. It is also used to explore what these young adults were effectively able to do and to be given the social, cultural and economic assets promised by Government policy- driven reforms. The Queensland’s Next Step surveys (Queensland Government, 2006a, 2007, 2008a, 2009a) were used to examine whether young adults obtain equal opportunity for transitional pathways regardless of their social and economic diversity and what internal and external factors influenced young adults’ post-school destinations. The first available data led to study the research question from State and Federal levels.

At this point, I stopped to weigh up research design and procedures being used. Then I asked myself if it is necessary to interview post-school students for their comments about their VETiS experiences? Matteson and Lincoln (2009, p. 662) point the disadvantages of interviews “including the potential to introduce artificiality or bias because of the line of probing the interviewer chooses [or] sometimes students are reluctant or resist responding, may pursue off-track lines of thought, or feel pressured to respond in a specific way”. Inspiring by Hoy’s (2010) claims on objectivity and the notion that “scientific paradigm leads us to regard the world as made up of observable, measurable facts” (Glesne & Peshkin, 1992, p. 6), I decided to focus this research on statistical analysis and decided not to conduct any interviews. Therefore, the Year 12 outcomes 2008 (Queensland Government, 2009b) across all Queensland schools were used to probe how school factors (such as school location, school size) might give insight into implementation of education policy for the senior learning reform by affecting the freedom of choice young adults’ have for following different pathways.

After conducting macro and meso levels of VETiS statistical analysis, there was still a need to explore further VETiS policy effects. As a consequence, micro level data collection and analysis was undertaken focusing on the annual reports and 101 curriculum of selected Queensland schools. These documents were analysed to explore how these schools provide publicly available information about VETiS in terms of their accountability for school performance. Finally, the refined research questions addressed in this thesis are:

Are young adults provided equal opportunity for learning and training through the Senior Learning policy and what factors affect their learning outcomes and post-school pathways?

It took a long time to decide research methodology or methods. These have been constructed and revised as a result of engaging in the process of theoretical conceptualisation and data collection. In the next section, research strategies and principles used for data collection are explained and justified.

4.3 Data collection

Data collection involved a series of interrelated activities aiming at gathering good information to answer the research questions. The researcher determined the type of purposeful data collection from an array of possibilities and developed a rationale for these methods. Creswell (2003, p.15) argues that all research methods have limitations and that “biases inherent in any single method could neutralize or cancel the biases of other methods”. Triangulating data sources by using qualitative and quantitative methods involves mixing different types of data. For example, the data from one method can help develop or inform data collected by other methods, or one method can be nested within another method to provide insight into different levels or units of analysis (Creswell, 2003). As noted in the research plan, much of the data for this study comes from secondary sources. Thus, as the researcher I had to consider the nature of secondary data, how these could be obtained and analysed.

4.3.1 Using secondary data in educational research

Given the subtle differences in the definition and interpretation of secondary data and its analysis, the definition proposed by Hakim (1982 cited in Emma Smith, 2008, p. 4) is helpful.

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“[it] can be defined as any further analysis of an existing data set which presents interpretations, conclusions or knowledge additional to, or different from those presented in the first report on the enquiry as a whole and its main results”.

Emma Smith (2008) argues that no matter which definition one favours, secondary data analysis involves bringing original or novel research questions, multiple approaches and theoretical frameworks to deal with data that has already been gathered or compiled. The potential for secondary analysis of existing numeric data is huge. The ranges of numeric data that are suited to secondary analysis include (Emma Smith, 2008, p. 5):

• population census;

• government surveys;

• other large-scale surveys;

• cohort and other longitudinal studies;

• other regular or continuous surveys; and

• administrative records.

However, the choice of “primary or secondary data need not be an either/or question” (Boslaugh, 2007, p. 3). Boslaugh (2007, p. 3) contends that the selection of data depends on whether they “are appropriate to the research question being studied and the resources available to the researcher; the latter include time, money, and personal expertise”. Therefore, for the study in this thesis, the advantages and disadvantages of working with secondary, as opposed to primary data had to be identified. The first advantage of the secondary data is its economy. There is a “resource saving” in money, time and personnel and “circumvents data collection problems” which is a challenge (Kiecolt & Nathan, 2004, p. 133).

The second advantage of secondary data is the breadth of data available (Boslaugh, 2007). Few beginning researchers have the resources to collect data from a wide range of schools or young adults in every State in Australia or even in the State of Queensland. For example, the Next Step Surveys (Queensland Government, 2006, 2007, 2008b, 2009) provide student’s post-school destinations year by year. The 2006 and 2007 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) provides Year 12 students’ VETiS achievement at State and Federal levels. It would be impossible for

103 me as an individual researcher to collect such data for each state and every year. However, the State and/or Federal Governments can conduct numerous regular surveys on such a large scale.

The third advantage of secondary data is that “the data collection process is informed by expertise and professionalism that may not available to smaller research projects” (Boslaugh, 2007, p. 4). For instance, the 2006 and 2007VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) contained information derived from MCEETYA, which was “compiled under the Australian Vocational Education and Training Management Information Statistical Standard (AVETMISS)” (NCVER, 2009, p. 4). The Next Step Surveys were conducted by the Queensland Department of Education, Training and the Arts through the Office of the Government Statistician (OGS). The survey covers government, non-government schools and TAFE secondary colleges. Students’ responses were collected via computer-assisted telephone interview with paper-based surveys from a small number of students for whom telephone details were not available. Because this data collection for some Federal or State data sets were “performed by staff members who specialize in that task and who may have years of experience working on a particular survey” (Boslaugh, 2007, p. 4), the chances were that there would be a higher rate of survey responses. For example, in the Next Step surveys, the response rates were 77.5% in 2006; 81.1% in 2007; 80% in 2008 and 82.4% in 2009.

Another advantage of secondary data by developing in-depth familiarity with and use of such data encourage a beginning researcher can subsequently go further and deepen into the data. Kiecolt and Nathan (2004, p. 134) contend that “the better acquainted researchers become with existing databases, the greater the potential for creative new research”.

However, no research method is perfect, a secondary data analysis is no exception. One disadvantage of using the secondary data is inherent in its nature: “because the data were not collected to answer your specific research questions, particular information that you would like to have may not have been collected” (Boslaugh, 2007, p. 4). Researchers can only work with the data that exists, not what they wish had been collected. For this reason, the secondary data set had to be examined 104 carefully to confirm that it included the necessary data, so that it could be “defined and coded in a manner that allows for the desired analysis, and that the researcher will be allowed to access the data required” (Boslaugh, 2007, p. 5). This meant looking at “the variables contained in the data set and considering how you might combine them to create an interesting question” (Boslaugh, 2007, p. 7). The process can begin with a germ of an idea, which may reflect research question that has arisen from reviewing literature and in conceptualising of theoretical framework.

The reason for using secondary data analysis in this thesis was that it is the only feasible way of obtaining national and State statistics (Queensland) for VETiS. The secondary analysis of statistical data was informed by the preliminary reading of the research literature and development of theory. Then the secondary data and the collecting procedure were checked by the researcher to generalise a theoretical framework with the research questions. It involves the coding and encoding data to conceptualise the key themes for exploration. By encoding the data, the researcher considered carefully the conceptual framework to ensure a close relationship between theory and data. This required an understanding of “the meaning behind the categories [of data] used is likely to produce much better analyses than if no effort has been made to understand the way in which [data] are coded” (Dale, Arber, & Procter, 2004, p. 140). Afterwards, the existing secondary statistic data analysis was combined with documentary analysis to explore the research questions more thoroughly.

4.3.2 Gathering data and creating evidence

Data collection drew on a variety of sources so that their relationship to the research questions could provide evidence through careful analysis and establish a sound argument. Therefore, there is a link between the research questions, the theoretical framework and the types of data collected and analysed. The main research question refined and defined for this project focuses on whether young adults are engaged in Senior Learning have equal opportunities for post-school options and pathways. The five data sources used in this study included two documentary sources and three statistical databases which were selected for analysis addressing five contributory research questions (see Table 4.1).

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Data source one (text data): Four education policies produced by the Australian Government and Queensland Government were selected for analysis. The MCEETYA released a series of three policies in 2008 expressing its aspirations for young Australians for the next decade and beyond. The Joint MCEETYA/MCVTE Meeting, Melbourne (MCEETYA, 2008b) is the prelude of the milestone policy Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (MCEETYA, 2008). The MCEETYA Action Plan 2009–2012 (MCEETYA, 2008c) provides details of the implementation strategy that promised to ensure that when students leave school they have employment-related skills, an understanding of the work environment, career options and pathways to VET, further education, employment and lifelong learning. In addition to these, Queensland Government has framed its “2020 vision” in its policy Towards Q2 (Queensland Government, 2008a).

Data source two (statistical data): The 2006 and 2007VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) issued by the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) were used. These present data which enables the MCEETYA “to monitor Key Performance Measures (KPMs) and Program Measures (PMs) for VET in Schools activity in Australia” (NCVER, 2009, p. 6). This data present the performance of senior school students in terms of VETiS course enrolment, attainment 14 and completion. However, the 2006 report provides more detailed statistics on VETiS than does the 2007 report and includes the categories of VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion by industry. These latest available statistics made it possible to compare Queensland students’ performance and outcomes against the Australian average.

Data source three (statistical data): The Next Step surveys (Queensland Government, 2006, 2007, 2008b, 2009) report the results of annual State-wide surveys of the destinations of students who completed Year 12 at the end of previous year. These provide information about the transition of young adults from different

14 An AQF statement of attainment is a record of recognised learning which, although falling short of an AQF qualification, may contribute towards a qualification outcome, either as partial completion of a course leading to a qualification, attainment of competencies within a training package, or completion of nationally accredited short course which may accumulate towards a qualification through recognition of prior learning (RPL) processes (NCVER, 2008, p. 13).

106 backgrounds to gaining full-time, skilled jobs and/or a better future via further education and/or training. This made it possible to compare young adults’ immediate post-schools destination following their completion of Year 12 in terms of their gender, geographic location, Indigenous and socio-economic status.

Data source four (statistical data): The Year 12 outcomes 2008: All Queensland schools (Queensland Government, 2009b) reported by Queensland Government was used. It provides a snapshot of 440 schools outcomes for students who finished Year 12 in 2008. This data show that Queensland’s Year 12 students are graduating from high school with the skills and qualifications to follow a range of rewarding work, further education and training pathways.

Data source five (text data): The annual reports and curriculum of selected Queensland schools were obtained from their websites. These schools’ documentation indicates whether these schools offer, and how they conduct VETiS.

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Table 4.1 Connections between key elements of this case study

Data-analysed Main Research Question Data method Are young adults provided equal opportunity for learning and training from Senior Learning education policy? What are the factors that Two sets of documentation Three • Text analysis affect their learning options and post-school sets of database • Statistics analysis pathways? This question means it is necessary to investigate what factors affect their learning options and post-school pathways.

Contributory research questions

1. Where and how is the idea of “education for equality” in VETiS policy built into senior Four education policies from • Text analysis learning practice, and how policy actors MCEETYA and Queensland

embrace this concept in VETiS skills acquired Government and transition from learning to earning?

• Descriptive 2. What do young adults gain in terms of Statistic data 2006 and 2007VET statistics outcomes and capabilities, and what are the in Schools Statistics (NCVER, • Excel social, and economic factors that influence their 2008, 2009) choice for VETiS pathways?

3. Do young adults have equal opportunity for realised valued and valuable pathways • Descriptive Statistic data: Next Step surveys regardless of their social and economic statistics (Queensland Government, 2006a, diversity? What internal and external factors • Excel 2007, 2008a, 2009a) influence young adults’ post-school destinations?

4. How do factors such as school location and school size influence the implementation of the Statistic data: Year 12 outcomes senior learning reform as well as the freedom of 2008: All Queensland schools • Inferring statistics choice for the different pathway by analysing (Queensland Government, 2009b) • SPSS Year 12 students’ outcomes across all Queensland schools?

5. How do schools respond to providing publicly available information about VETiS as required by education policies? Do senior School annual reports and • Text analysis schools commit to their accountability for curricula from selected senior

providing more optional information to help high schools in Queensland students choose their learning and post-school destinations?

Chalmers (1999) holds that the organised gathering of data about a research problem is a critical step towards the development of evidence for research-based knowledge. When a new concept is proposed, no one will take it seriously until the research gathers and analyses the relevant data and produces evidence to verify the new idea. This illustrates a basic characteristic of educational research. Ideas are never accepted as being worthwhile just because someone claims that they are true. They must be checked and verified against reliable data and reasoned arguments before being accepted as research-based knowledge. The gathering of data and its

108 conversion into evidence through analysis were basic elements in the development of the research reported in this thesis; in addition, the intellectual reasoning for explaining and justifying the knowledge claims that are made.

However, evidence establishing and analysing do not arise in a vacuum. As social constructivism suggests they were based on previous research knowledge as well as the knowledge gained during the research process itself—these were part of the research culture in which I studied. The evidence analysed and presented explores a series of key propositions which are informed by key theoretical concepts. The critical thinking led me to speculate about different situations in which these propositions and their associated concepts might be applied, for instance, local government authorities. Of course, the challenge was to maintain an open mind about these propositions. Such open mindedness has proven challenging but necessary because of the need to produce new insights into familiar events and to open up new lines of empirical and/or conceptual investigation as the study proceeded (Chalmers, 1999). Gradually an interlocking structure of data, evidence, concepts and reasons were created slowly to build into the body of original research-based knowledge presented in this thesis.

4.4 Data analysis

This section explains and justifies the methods for managing and analysing the qualitative and quantitative data collected for this study. Part one explains that the mixed methods were used in this study based on a justification of quantitative and qualitative methods for data analysis. The second part provides an account of different models of mixed method, focusing on the model used in this research project. Following this is a discussion of the validity and reliability in data analysis. Then the specific methods for documentary and statistical analysis are presented.

4.4.1 Quantitative or qualitative research

It is sensible to explore the philosophical groundwork before selecting research methods. Creswell (2003, pp. 4, 5) suggests asking four questions before designing a research proposal:

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1. What epistemology—theory of knowledge embedded in the theoretical perspective—informs the research, for example, objectivism, subjectivism? 2. What theoretical perspective—philosophical stance—lies behind the methodology in questions, for example, positivism, constructivism? 3. What methodology—strategy or plan of action that links methods to outcomes—governs our choice and use of methods, for example, experimental research, survey research? 4. What methods—techniques and procedures—do we suppose to use, e.g. questionnaire, statistical databases, interviews?

These four questions show the interrelationship in the decisions to be made about the process of research. Moreover, these aspects inform many choices about the approach, ranging from the theoretical framework to the more decisions made about how to collect data and analyse evidence. The preliminary step was to identify various philosophical perspectives on knowledge.

Philosophical assumptions govern claims about what warrants or justifies reason- based knowledge claims (Creswell, 2003). There is much confusion about what is called “scientific method” or doing “science” research with a tendency to conflate “quantitative research, positivist/postpositivist research, empirical science, and postpositivism” (Creswell, 2003, pp. 6-7). The problems studied by researcher reflect a need to examine causes that influence outcomes. Postpositivism challenges the notion of the absolute truth of knowledge and recognise that we cannot be “positive” about the claims of knowledge when studying humans (Creswell, 2003, p. 7). The knowledge developed through a postpositivist lens is based on “careful observation and measurement of the objective reality” and “developing numeric measures” (Creswell, 2003, p. 7). An investigator may use postpositivist claims for justify producing knowledge and employ strategies of inquiry such as experiments and surveys, and then collects data using predetermined instruments that typically yield statistical data (Creswell, 2003).

Social constructivists make knowledge claims based on the argument that “individuals seek understanding of the world” by exploring people’s “meanings of their experiences” (Creswell, 2003, p. 8). These meanings are “varied and multiple” which lead researcher to “look for the complexity of views rather than narrowing

110 meanings into a few categories or ideas” (Creswell, 2003, p. 8). An inquirer who makes “knowledge claims based primarily on constructivist perspectives” uses strategies of inquiry such as narratives, phenomenology, ethnographies, or case studies to collect data (Creswell, 2003, p. 18).

Another position about claims on research-based knowledge comes from the pragmatists. They claim that some knowledge arises “out of actions, situations and consequence rather than antecedent conditions” (Creswell, 2003, p. 8). They are concerned with “applications—‘what works’—and solutions to problems” (Creswell, 2003, p. 8). Pragmatism uses a mixture of analytical procedures that inquirers draw liberally from both quantitative and qualitative assumptions. The researcher has a freedom to choose the methods, techniques and procedures of research to best meet the needs and purposes of education research. A mixed methods approach is one in which “the researcher tends to base knowledge claims on pragmatic grounds” (Creswell, 2003, p. 18). It employs strategies of inquiry that involve collecting data either simultaneously or sequentially to best understand research problems. Data collection involves gathering both numeric information as well as text information representing both quantitative and qualitative information.

What is the proper method for educational research? It has long been disputable that “quantitative methods are better than qualitative methods or vice-versa” (Connolly, 2007, p. 4). Hoy (2010, p. 1) claims that “quantitative research is scientific investigation that includes both experiments and other systematic methods that emphasize control and quantified measures of performance”. Moreover, the quantitative element involves the procedures and techniques used to analyse data numerically. In contrast, qualitative data analysis focuses on “in-depth understanding of social and human behaviour and the reasons behind such behaviour” (Hoy, 2010, p.1). Hoy (2010, p. xi) argues that both qualitative and quantitative data analysis can be “empirical and enlightening”. They are complementary to expand analytical procedures to test or develop models or theories. The point is that both methods are useful but for different research purposes.

In this thesis, a mixture of data analysis procedures are used, thereby triangulating these approaches. Quantitative data analysis is used not because statistical tables or 111 fancy charts and diagrams give the air of authority and objectivity, but because the numbers and figures have been used to enable the researcher “to recognize and assess the socially constructed nature of the quantitative data [s/he is] dealing with” (Connolly, 2007, p. 5). Together the quantitative and qualitative data analysis has been used to make a better understanding of the concepts and phenomenon which are the focuses of this study.

4.4.2 Six models for mixed method data analysis

A key question for the research reported in this thesis was “at what state in the research project will the quantitative and qualitative data and findings be integrated” (Creswell, 2003, p. 211). Creswell (2003) provides six “models” for researchers to consider when choosing to implement and integrate of quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Five models are introduced briefly as follows and then “sequential exploratory mode” chosen for this study was discussed in details.

1. “Sequential explanatory model” is characterised by the collection and analysis of quantitative data followed by the collection and analysis of qualitative data. The two methods are integrated during the interpretation phase of the study. 2. “Sequential transformative model” gives the priority to either the quantitative or the qualitative phase, or even to both if sufficient resources are available. The results of the two phases are integrated during the interpretation phase. However, “because little has been written to date on this approach, one weakness is that there is little guidance on how to use the transformative vision to guide the methods” (Creswell, 2003, p. 217). 3. “Concurrent triangulation model” is characterised by the collection quantitative and qualitative data concurrently. This model uses separate quantitative and qualitative methods as means to offset the weakness inherent within one method by using the strengths of the other method. The results of data analysis are usually integrated during the interpretation phase. 4. “Concurrent nested model” is identified by the use of one data collection phase, during which both quantitative and qualitative data are collected simultaneously. The two methods are mixed during the analysis phase of the project. 5. “Current transformative model” is guided by the researcher’s use of a specific theoretical perspective. It may take on the design features of either a triangulation or a nested approach. The integration of the different data most often occurs during the analysis phase, although integration during the interpretation phase is a possible variation.

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In this research project, “sequential exploratory model” is employed. There was an initial phase of qualitative data collection and analysis, which was followed by a phase of quantitative data collection and analysis. The findings of these two phases were integrated during the interpretation phase. Thus, Australian educational policies were collected first and analysed to explore the issue of young adults’ education equality in VETiS. During the second phase, statistical data from different data sources were collected to examine the different variables influencing young adults’ VETiS outcomes. The third phase involved school documents to analyse the VETiS policy implemented in selected senior schools in Queensland.

As the name suggests, the focus of the sequential exploratory model is the exploration of a phenomenon, rather than explanation or transformation. Priority was given to the qualitative aspect of the study with the quantitative data analysis being used to assist in the critical exploration of the relationship between VETiS policy, students’ outcome and their location (Honig, 2006). The main reason for selecting this model was “to determine the distribution of a phenomenon with a chosen population” (Creswell, 2003, p. 216). Here, educational policies analysis is the core for examining where and how the idea of “education for equality” is expressed by VETiS policies created for reforms and how policies are related to VETiS skills acquired and transition from learning to working. The other sequential data analyses were used to explore and test the factors that affect students’ learning options and post-school pathways. Finally, the result of data analysis were integrated to establish whether young adults are provided equal opportunity for further learning, training or work as a result of VETiS policies.

4.4.3 Statistical analysis

Statistical analysis is grounded in figures which is used in this study to explore educational phenomenon, being a “tool for description or hypothesis testing” (Williams & Monge, 2001, p. 3). The purpose of statistical analysis is “the numerical treatment of data that pertain to a large quantity of individuals or a large quantity of objects” (Antonius, 2003, p. 7). The term quantitative method refers to “methods and techniques of statistics which are applied to concrete problems” (Antonius, 2003, p. 7). Thus, the difference between statistics and quantitative method is that

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“the latter include practical concerns such as finding solutions to the problems arsing from the collection of real data, and interpreting the numerical results as they relate to concrete situations” (Antonius, 2003, p. 7).

For example, establishing the mean (or average) of a set of values with certain mathematical prosperities is a matter of statistics but deciding whether the mean is an appropriate measure to use in a given situation is a matter of quantitative methods15. However, the line between statistics and quantitative method “is fuzzy and the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably” (Antonius, 2003, p. 7). Educational researchers use statistics as one of the tools to test models and explain theories because it is assumed that these are “connections between empirical observation and mathematical expressions of relations” (Hoy, 2010, p.1). While statistics are important in educational research, there is a need to consider the relationship between what the researcher observes, assumes and reports about these observations (Williams & Monge, 2001).

When an education phenomenon is observed in a systematic way, the collected information is referred to as data. In other words, data is information that “is collected in a systematic way, and organized and recorded in such a way that it can be interpreted correctly” (Antonius, 2003, p. 2). Data is used by researchers to describe a phenomenon with some accuracy, to establish whether there are links between educational and social variables, and to possibly predict the evolution of the phenomenon. Statistics have been used as a source of evidence to analyse VETiS outcomes of young adults and the factors that influence their education choice. The main function of these statistics in this study is to “to confirm or contradict the conclusion that [I] have drawn on the basis of [my] understanding of analysed data” (R. Kumar, 1996, p. 10).

The discipline of statistics includes two main branches: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (Antonius, 2003, p. 8). Descriptive statistics are used to summarise “large quantities of data by a few numbers, in a way that highlights the most important numerical features of the data” (Antonius, 2003, p. 9). It helps to

15 The main distinguishing characteristic of quantitative research is that “measurement is used and various mathematical formulas and procedures, called statistics are used to assist in making generalizations or in testing hypotheses” (Williams & Monge, 2001, p. 9). 114 simplify large amounts of data in a sensible way, including the use of graphics analysis. They form the basis of virtually every quantitative analysis of data. This method is used in Chapters 6 and 7 for analysis of the 2006 and 2007 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) and the Next Step surveys (Queensland Government, 2006a, 2007, 2008a, 2009a) respectively.

Descriptive statistics differ from inferential statistics which aim at “generalising a measure taken on a small number of cases that have been observed, to a large set of cases that have not been observed” (Antonius, 2003, p. 9). Inferential statistics provide “a mathematical way to see if the results are likely a function of chance” (Hoy, 2010, p. 5). It helps to make judgments of the probability that an observed difference between groups is a dependable one versus one that might have happened by chance. This entails to making inferences from obtained data to more general conditions. This method is used in Chapter 8 for analysis of Year 12 outcomes 2008 (Queensland Government, 2009b) to consider whether the available factors such as RA level, school size and type, State and Federal electorates were correlated with VETiS outcomes. In this thesis, correlation analysis and multi-linear regression analysis were used for testing whether school factors (such as school location, school size) and electorate representatives influenced students’ outcomes as a result of the implementation of VETiS policy. Details of the methods of statistical analysis are discussed in Chapter 8 with the specific data sample collected based on Year 12 outcomes 2008: All Queensland schools (Queensland Government, 2009b). Besides the statistics analysis used in this thesis, text analysis was also used to explore the data from Government policies and schools’ documents. This is to be discussed in the next part.

4.4.4 From open to focused coding

The start point of text analysis is from coding. There are various meanings given to the idea of coding. Following M. Miles and Huberman (1994, p. 56) this project was informed by the view that “coding is analysis”. Thus, codes:

are tags or labels [i.e. concepts] for assigning units of meaning to the descriptive or inferential information compiled during a study. Codes usually are attached to ‘chunks’ [i.e. units of analysis] of varying

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size—words, phrases, sentences, or whole paragraphs, connected or unconnected to a specific setting (M. Miles & Huberman, 1994, p. 56).

For Charmaz (1995, p. 37), the work of analysis or coding is “the process of defining what the data are all about”. Coding or data analysis involves in studying and interacting with the data and asking questions of them. Inevitably, the data analysis process takes researchers “into unforeseen areas and research questions” (Charmaz, 1995, p. 37). Marvasti (2004) argues that coding is the process of working with the data while its analysis produces evidence. Creswell (2008) defines coding as the necessary work of transforming raw material, that is the data, into theoretically or conceptually informed evidentiary constructs that can be used to explore educational processes. In other words, coding is used to generate evidence that makes sense by classifying the data collected or otherwise generated. Data analysis or coding enables researchers to organise large amounts of data so as to identify patterns that are difficult to detect just by reading the data as initially collected. Coding is a fundamental link between collecting data and developing concepts to explore evidence that the analysis generates. The data analysis in this thesis also follows this model, integrating the data on the senior learning of young adults which focused on their transition from school to education, training and/or work.

The first stage in data analysis has been variously labelled as open coding, initial coding or inductive coding (Creswell, 2008; Marvasti, 2004; Strauss & Corbin, 2004). Open coding was performed during a first pass through the data that was collected, in this instance, VETiS policy. During a first attempt to condense and organise the mass of data the researcher identified themes and categorised them. This stage of data analysis involved “breaking down, examining, comparing, conceptualizing, and categorizing data” (Strauss & Corbin, 1990, p. 61), often, in terms of its properties and dimensions. The unit of analysis for this examination, fracturing and coding of data could have proceeded line by line, by sentence or by paragraph, or by a holistic analysis of an entire document (Charmaz, 1995). This open or initial coding also involved generating “an emergent set of categories and their properties which fit, work and are relevant for integrating into a theory” (Johnson & Christensen, 2008, p. 539). The categorises arising from coding the data might be thought of as “sensitising concepts” which were then revised or elaborated 116 to suit the changing nuances in the topic or themes (Marvasti, 2004, p. 86). Here the emphasis was on the importance of allowing codes and theoretical understanding to emerge from the data. Thus, initially data interpretation and category development were driven by conceptual concerns present in the data. In short, open coding brought themes to the forefront from inside the data, providing constructs which in this study provided a basis for developing an emergent theory for the research problem being investigated.

Like open coding, selective or focused coding has a variety of meanings. Focused coding was the second stage in analytical process, and refers to “taking earlier codes that continually reappear in your initial coding and using those codes to sift through large amounts of data” (Charmaz, 1995, p. 40). The advantage of focused coding is “more abstract, general, and, simultaneously, more incisive than the initial codes” (Marvasti, 2004, p. 87).

Focused coding involved the selection of key concepts from Sen’s (1992) theory on freedom equality and the capability approach. These key concepts were used to categorise the data with respect to individual diversity and social influences. For instance, initially policy texts were analysed by means of open coding. Then focused coding made it positive to account for most of the variation in the evidence through integrating these with Sen’s (1992) theoretical constructs. The focused coding involved the integration of selected conceptual categories developed in the theoretical framework from Sen’s (1992) work. This meant moving from a large number of initial theoretical concepts and coded data to a smaller, more manageable, refined, well-developed conceptual framework. During this process, those key concepts which were most closely linked to the evidentiary themes were chosen to guide the framing of this research. The researcher had to think systematically about the data and how it related to the theoretical concepts. In this way, theoretical understanding and development was assured of being based on the data.

4.4.5 Excerpt-commentary unit analysis

After obtaining the focused coding concepts based on theoretical framework, excerpt-commentary unit analysis was used for text analysis in this thesis. Here I 117 explained the key elements in excerpt-commentary unit analysis and how to arrange for excerpt-commentary units within a section.

4.4.5.1 Key elements in excerpt-commentary unit analysis

Emerson, Fretz and Shaw (1995, p. 182) suggest that “excerpt-commentary unit” is a basic component of educational research. They provide a way on how to discover meanings in the texts, how to combine the pieces of story as a coherent research work, how to maximise the interplay between analytic concept and evidentiary excerpt. The model of excerpt-commentary unit analysis focuses attention through

“an analytic point; illustrates and persuades through a descriptive excerpt introduced by relevant orienting information; and explores and develops ideas through commentary grounded in the details of the excerpt” (Emerson, et al., 1995, p. 182).

This analytical procedure keeps the researcher from going off the point from the text and helps make each point clear to the reader. But how do we create excerpt- commentary unit from documentation text? As Emerson, et al. (1995, pp. 182, 183) propose, this data analysis method is composed of four parts—“analytic point, orienting information, excerpt and analytic commentary”. The analytic point links back to the ideas in preceding paragraphs which contribute to the theme of the section and also instruct the reader as to the intended reading or interpretation of the excerpt. Orienting information is usually written in a short sentence to identify the major characters in the scene by name and their role, thereby acting “as a bridge to the excerpt” (Emerson, et al., 1995, pp. 182-183). By reconstructing the relevant excerpt, the researcher had to assess which portions of the VETiS policies were relevant to the issues and which were unrelated, along with consideration of criteria such as “length, relevance, readability, comprehensibility, and anonymity of informants” (Emerson, et al., 1995, p. 187). The final but not least important part is more extended analytic commentary which covers the discussion of the issue described in the excerpt and its relevance to the research question (Emerson, et al., 1995).

The analytic commentary is the key part of the excerpt-commentary unit because it tells readers what the researcher wants them to see in the policies. Emerson, et al.

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(1995, p. 184) suggest the researcher to consider the following questions when writing analytic commentaries.

1. What are the implications of the events or talk recounted in the excerpts? 2. What nuances can be teased out and explored? 3. What importance does this scene have for the analytic issues addressed in the thesis?

In writing an excerpt-commentary unit, I closely examined whether the idea and description strengthened each other. When I told the story using both excerpt and commentary, ideas and description had to be coherent and reinforce each other. In one way, “an excerpt should not only further a theme or concept; it should also convince the reader that the [researcher’s] specific interpretation and more general story are justified” (Emerson, et al, 1995, p. 184). In another way, the researcher had to ensure that “the analytic point highlights the details of the excerpt” (Emerson, et al., 1995, p. 184). The researcher considered how to make and angle the analytic points with the different excerpts. Each analytical unit has been designed to add small increments to the section theme, by presenting evidence from different angles so as to deepen reader’s understanding (Emerson, et al., 1995).

4.4.5.2 Arrangement of excerpt-commentary units within a section

When the text is analysed by model of excerpt-commentary unit, a section was built from a series of excerpt-commentary units with one theme or several subthemes. How did the researcher organise the units to develop a progression of ideas to a deeper understanding of the theme? Help came from Emerson, et al. (1995, p. 195) who suggested to “provide a clear transition that links the main idea of the current paragraph to those of preceding paragraphs”.

In addition to deciding on the rational order of units, the researcher also needed to write an introduction and conclusion to the section. The introduction provides “readers with the first means of orienting to the text [and] also provide clues to the [researcher’s] analytic and substantive concerns” (Emerson, et al., 1995, p. 197). The researcher orients readers by specifying the place, people, and background to provide a picture of the physical and social features of the setting. The commentary includes

119 reflections on, and elaborates on the theme addressed in the introduction, and illustrates support for the key points. Three ways of enriching the commentary were used as appropriate:

1. By extending or modifying the thesis in light of the materials examined; 2. By relating the thesis to some more general theory or current issue in the relevant literature; 3. By offering a meta-commentary on the thesis or on the methods or assumptions associated with it (Emerson, et al., 1995, p. 205).

4.5 Conclusion

Educational researchers who use mixed methods—or triangulate data sources and analysis share the belief that “they can provide a ‘deeper’ understanding of social phenomena than would be obtained from purely quantitative data [or qualitative data]” (Silverman, 2000, p. 8). However, it was an important step in mixed methods research to consider and check the validity and reliability of both the quantitative and qualitative data collection and their analysis. The concept of validity refers to “quality and can be applied to any aspect of the research process” (R. Kumar, 1996, p. 143). Workable approaches used in this thesis to establish validity of research include establishing a logical link between the objectives of a study, the research questions, the data collection and the analytical procedures used. R. Kumar (1996, p. 143) indicates that reliability refers to the “ability to produce consistent measurement each time”. The researcher needed to control the factors affecting reliability to make this study as accurate as possible.

This research project was designed to use multiple sources of evidence. Given that “both qualitative and quantitative approaches have their strengths and weakness, and advantages and disadvantages” (R. Kumar, 1996, p. 12), the use of combined data sources was appropriate to offset the weaknesses inherent with each method. In section 4.1, the research plan has been discussed in detail with the consideration of research questions, data collection and analysis methods (also see Figure 4.1). Further, in section 4.3.2, all the data sources were weighed out to ensure the validity of data for later analysis (also see Table 4.1). The qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis used in this study provide different evidentiary perspectives

120 from which to view each contributory research question, thereby making a distinctive contribution to answers and thus, making stronger claims possible.

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缘起 yuan qi (means the origin or explanatory facts ) “因缘生起” —《佛经 ∙ 维摩经》 Yuan qi is a Buddhist concept. All things and phenomena originate within interdependent relationships and conditions. Nothing can exist independently without interdependent relations or conditions with others. The third story (evidentiary chapters) in this thesis consists of the collected data intertwined with conceptual analysis which presented the arguments in relation to the research questions.

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CHAPTER FIVE: A POLICY ANALYSIS ON SENIOR L/EARNING IN VETIS

Overview

In the following evidentiary chapters, the data analysis focuses on the outcomes young adults have been able to achieve as a result of innovations in Senior Learning. In chapter 5, education policies are analysed in terms of their social, cultural, economic and political premises for determining the skills necessary for young adults to participate in contemporary work and civic society. For Queensland, to enable young adults to access to the benefits of the knowledge economy, its education and training system have been reformed to keep abreast of the changing economic, social and technological world into which students graduate. Thus, this thesis explores the place of equity for young adults in both Federal and State level education policies.

In Chapters 6, 7, 8 and 9, the outcomes for young adults arising from innovations in Senior Learning are analysed using data from macro, meso and micro levels. At the macro level, the data analysis focuses on Year 12 students’ outcomes especially outcomes in Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) nationally and in Queensland (Chapter 6). Following was the longitudinal survey analysis on Year 12 students’ post-school destinations in Queensland. Research at this level explored how learning relations were structured or arranged as well as how transitional pathways are produced and selected.

At the meso level, the research concentrated on accounts of students VETiS outcomes in all Queensland schools in terms of schools characteristics such as school size and location. It was supposed that Government policies as well as regional influences were the driving forces behind students’ achievement. The data analysis positioned student learning outcomes in relation to different Federal electorates based on their RA level 1-5 (Australian Government, n.d.) to explore the school characteristics such as location, school size, state or non-state school as factors in students’ VETiS outcome.

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At the micro level, the senior learning annual reports and curriculum related to VETiS outcomes were collected via websites from sixty-one selected schools in Queensland.

5.0 Introduction

Codd (2007, p. 168) argues that the purpose of education policies is to “provide an equitable means for the distribution of social goods among competing groups on the basis of their needs or deserts”. Perry (2009, p. 425) argues that education policies are more likely to “exhibit degrees of ‘democraticness,’ with the ultimate aim being to become as fully democratic as possible”. In this chapter, Sen’s (1992, 1999) capability approach is applied as framework for a critical analysis of policy action and implementation in education policies, aiming to provide policy-makers with information and data to assist them in the revision or formulation of actual policies.

The relevance of the capability approach to this study has been analysed in Chapter 3 as a framework for studying social justice and equality. Sen’s (1992, 1999) definition of capabilities requires the combination of both processes (where the individual is a genuine actor and not simply a passive recipient of benefits or an obedient subject complying with normative prescriptions) and opportunities (where the individual is offered a set of valuable opportunities). This is not just a matter of individual responsibility but a duty of the Government through the expected outcomes, in terms of individuals’ achievements and freedom to achieve. Theoretically, governments have the duty of restoring and enhancing capability sets, creating education policies that share a common ambition to enhance young adults’ possibilities and opportunities through education and training at school. The capability framework requires assessing the precise objectives and impact of these policies in terms of students’ equal opportunity in senior learning.

Methodologically, it is supposed that if a policy has been effective when there should be a visible ‘change’ in one or more relevant indicators or targets which are mentioned in these policies. These indicators or targets can be of any type which can be analysed in qualitative and/or quantitative research. They are open to inspection by the public which can ascertain whether the predicted claims for the success of the

126 policy have been realised. Ideally, policies express such criteria at their inception. However, if this is not the case, then such criteria can be deduced by analysis from the stated aims or claims made in education policies. A claim for the impact of a policy has to be laid out based on policy for public inspection in an objective and sceptical manner.

In this chapter, the policy analysis presented in this chapter focuses on the Melbourne Declaration (MCEETYA, 2008a) which contains three policy-related documents and Towards Q2 (Queensland Government, 2008b) and its Strategic plan 2010-2014 (Queensland Government, 2010). Melbourne Declaration Series includes Joint MCEETYA/MCVTE Meeting, Melbourne (MCEETYA, 2008b) which was the prelude to the milestone policy, the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (MCEETYA, 2008a). The Australian Governments’ Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (MCEETYA, 2008a) and the MCEETYA Action Plan 2009–2012 (MCEETYA, 2008c) are sister education policies which express their aspirations for young Australians for the next decade and beyond and include implementation strategies for ensuring policy outcomes. The policies promise that when students leave school they will have employment-related skills, an understanding of the work environment, career options and pathways to VET, further education, employment and lifelong learning.

This chapter explores where and how the idea of ‘education for equality’ is embraced in senior learning through VETiS policies by presenting a text analysis of the above mentioned education policies involving VWTiS. It starts with the educational problem recognised in these policies. It then outlines the policy targets and the expected effects of embracing VETiS. Finally, the implementation context—in terms of people and places—of these educational polices were analysed to investigate whether a policy intervention in education has been effective in the development of young adults work life opportunities.

5.1 Parties and their policies

I started the policy analysis on education from the platforms of different Australian Parties to examine their respective promises of education. It was found that all the

127 parties including the Australian Labor Party (ALP), National Party of Australia (NP) and Liberal Party of Australia (LP) share much in common with respect to their education policies. All parties consider vocational training to be vital part of education seeing it as an effective bridge to full-time employment.

The Queensland ALP released a policy for Anna Bligh’s election in 2009, “Protecting Jobs–Future Skills” (Queensland Labor, 2009). The ALP in Queensland took skills training as an efficient way to deal with global financial crisis which began in 2008. In this document, Bligh’s ALP indicated, that if elected one of the Queensland Government’s goals in education would be to “invest in skilling Queenslanders for the future [because] job seekers with a trade, training or tertiary qualifications can get better paying jobs easier than those who are unskilled or unqualified” (Queensland Labor, 2009, p. 2). The ALP plan set out the implementation details including “help[ping] disadvantaged job seekers re-engaged in work and society” (Queensland Labor, 2009, p. 3) and committed the government to ensuring that “three out of four Queenslanders holding a post-school trade, training or tertiary qualification by 2020” (Queensland Labor, 2009, p. 2). Of particular note, this policy stressed that a Bligh Labor Government would be committed to seeing “at least 75,000 more Queenslanders get a nationally recognised Certificate IV, Diploma and Advanced Diploma qualification” (Queensland Labor, 2009, p. 5).

As for how to implement this policy, a Bligh Labor Queensland Government would commit to keeping “a track record of success” and invest major funds for training Queenslanders in the working real progress (Queensland Labor, 2009, pp. 3-4). The ALP’s policy platform identified “where” the policy should be implemented, with training places “targeted at priority industries of importance to different regions across Queensland, and towards the skills shortages, occupations and jobs of the future” (Queensland Labor, 2009, p. 6). The ALP’s commitment to “Protecting Jobs –Future Skills” was not solely targeted at senior school students as it involved a wide range of Queenslanders including

1. registered with an Employment Service Provider; or 2. an income support recipient who is not currently required to meet activity test or participation requirements; or

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3. a participant in the Commonwealth’s Community Development Employment Projects Programme; or 4. not currently working and seeking or intending to seek paid employment or self employment after completing the qualification; or 5. a participant in the Commonwealth’s Access Program; or 6. not working and participating in volunteering activities (Queensland Labor, 2009, p. 7).

ALP’s policy platform promised to create a network of all Queenslanders who are seeking for or providing for skills training. Labor’s policy was to be implemented in different regions “to keep Queensland strong … [in order] to drive strong productive Queensland industries and enterprises that can compete on the global stage” (Queensland Labor, 2009, p. 2).

The ALP released its National Platform 2009 (Australian Labor Party, 2009) as its 45th National Conference in 2009. Labor’s National Platform sums up distinctive approach to governing in terms of its enduring values. Labor proposed an “education revolution for Australia’s future” stating that if elected to government it would “lift equity and access to a quality education at every level [including] “secondary years, vocational education and training” (Australian Labor Party, 2009, p. 53). Labor’s principles of equity and quality of education include:

1. Every Australian in every community should be able to access a free, secular, high quality government schooling and government policies should recognise this. Adequate public funding significantly contributes to the quality of public education and training. 2. Greater equity in educational outcomes is important for strengthening social inclusion and promoting opportunity. The achievement of this requires a socially representative public school of the highest quality in every community which offers every child an excellent education. 3. Education and training is fundamental to reducing Indigenous disadvantage and providing opportunities for Indigenous people. Labor is committed to working in partnership with Indigenous communities and families to develop and implement education and training access, attendance and outcomes in order to close this gap (Australian Labor Party, 2009, p. 54 italics added).

The ALP’s policy platforms indicate that this Party advocates redistribution to achieve equity of education and training in public schools regardless students’ social and geographical inequalities. In particular, Labor promises that if elected to

129 government it will distribute equal educational and training opportunities to disadvantaged students. Labor’s policy platform proposes that education and training have an important role to play in generating a recovery from the global financial crisis. The Party promises that if elected to government at Federal and/or State levels it will “do all they can to encourage young people to stay at school, to develop a range of learning pathways within and alongside schools” (Australian Labor Party, 2009, p. 58).

Like the ALP, LP also emphasises on “the fundamental importance of education and training at all levels … [and] the importance of education in supporting democratic institutions and a progressive society” (Liberal Party of Australia, n.d., p. 8). Liberals’ education policy proposes “strengthening a high quality and competitive education and training system” (Liberal Party of Australia, n.d., p. 14). They committed a Liberal government if elected to

1. ensure the widest possible freedom in choice in education, promoted by diversity of systems and schools; 2. ensure that all children have access to the best possible education, irrespective of sex, race, religion, socioeconomic background or place of residence; 3. help students overcome limitations and disadvantages by fostering choice in education, accommodating diversity in needs and aspirations, and encouraging excellence (Liberal Party of Australia, n.d., p. 15).

The LP proposes a commitment to strengthen a high quality and competitive education and training system, including apprenticeships. Liberal promote “the widest possible freedom of choice in education” by diversity of systems and schools, helping students overcome limitations and disadvantages by fostering choice in education (Liberal Party of Australia, n.d.). In the Liberal’s policy platform, the focus was on choice as a means of securing education equality for the diversity of students, having due consideration for their different social or residential background. The Liberals indicated that education should be extended to disadvantaged students, but emphasised choice over redistribution.

The National Party (NP) stresses “encouraging regional students to complete Year 12 … to enable people living in regional and remote areas to share that access”

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(National Party of Australia, 2009, p. 6). However, the relative weakness in VETiS outcomes in some electorates as represented by these different political parties reflects deficiencies in “politically engaged public reasoning and social pressure, not just inadequacies in the official thinking of the government” (Sen, 2009, p. 349).

Labor is committed to “improve the school-to-work transition for young Australians, to develop a range of learning pathways… to help individual Australians develop the skills they need to obtain secure, sustainable and satisfying employment” (Australian Labor Party, 2009, pp. 58, 59). With the election of the ALP to government in both Queensland and Federally, policies at both the state and national levels advocates the equity of education at all levels in the policies such as the Melbourne Declaration (MCEETYA, 2008a) and Towards Q2 (Queensland Government, 2008b).

5.2 The focuses in educational policy

Defining the educational policy focuses allows a better combination of substantial and implemental (situated, in-context) dimensions. According to the capability approach, the direction of substantial equal rights for education requires that every student of society be guaranteed access to the availability of various learning and training freely as they valued. The implemental dimension calls upon the situated public action, which encompasses the rule-setting action of all policy actors at all levels. Furthermore, Honig (2006) contends the success of implement ability of policy outcomes should combine with people and place. It means that specific policy should be put on the places or contexts that help shape what student can and will do. Therefore, it is required to look at the readdressed focuses in educational policy as stated at or before its implementation. There should be a plausible link between the intervention and its supposed impact. This link comes naturally when the intervention is done to show a beneficial impact on targeted group precisely.

As discussed in Chapter 3 (reference to 3.4.2), the policy actors’ ideology and interest influence how they design policies in a political environment. Policymakers may view some factors as more worthy of their attention than others, influence how they define the problems to be addressed and cause them to prefer some policy instruments over others. Policy actors can foresee the circumstances that must be

131 addressed through decisions made about what strategies have to be implemented. Then they respond to and engage with different demands, opportunities, and constraints which affect implementation. For example, ideology may prompt officials to define an educational policy problem such as Indigenous students’ access to equal education and then decide to provide additional services to such groups which are seen as inadequately served by existing forms of Senior Secondary Schooling. A different ideology might lead other policymakers to view gender problems as less important. In both cases, however, policy analysis involves an appraisal of current conditions, an assessment of why the policy is not working as it should be or the gap the policy identified are being readdressed. Therefore, it is useful to analysis education policies to present the potential solutions for the next step in progressing the policy trajectory.

Policy analysis in this chapter helped seek the political focus on Senior L/earning and VETiS. It helps to research how social problems arise. Honig (2006, p. 2) argues education policy research aims to “reveal the policies, people, and places that shape how interactions among them help to explain implementation outcomes”. The essential questions addressed in subsequent chapters of thesis focus on “what is implementable and what works for who, where, when and why” (Hongis, 2006, p. 2). Therefore, policy analysis makes an important contribution to knowledge by exploring and challenging official definitions of educational problem and solutions.

5.2.1 Objectives in educational policies

Both the Melbourne Declaration Series (MCEETYA, 2008 a,b,c) and Towards Q2 (Queensland Government, 2008b) were released in 2008, offered a vision for the development of education nationally and at the State level. These policies promised to offer equal opportunity of learning and training, promising help for disadvantaged students to offset social and economic difficulties they faced. On the one side, these policies call for high quality of learning and training, and on the other side they provide help for disadvantaged students to offset the economic straits.

The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 7) set two goals for the education of Australian youth.

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Goal 1: Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence. Goal 2: All young Australians become: successful learners; confident and creative individuals; active and informed citizens.

The strategy is presented in two parts: first, achieving excellence, investing in knowledge and opportunity and second, knowledge matters—skills and learning for Australians. The strategy recognises that the country must increase the supply of high qualified, skilled people which is the element the senior schools are interested in providing. To achieve these goals, the Australian Government committed to ensuring that “the learning outcomes of Indigenous students improve to match those of other students [and] socioeconomic disadvantage ceases to be a significant determinant of educational outcomes” (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 7). Australian Government expected that its interventions would mean that successful learners should be positioned “on a pathway towards continued success in further education, training or employment, and acquire the skills to make informed learning and employment decisions throughout their lives” (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 8). Australian government will use the education system to benefit Australians and to increase the supply of skilled people to build an innovative workforce.

Queensland Government has framed its “2020 vision” in its policy Towards Q2 (Queensland Government, 2008b). It focused on five ambitions, namely, strong, green, smart, healthy and fair as a way of addressing the current and future challenges concerning the connections of education with the economy as well as the environment, health, crime and community engagement (Queensland Government, 2008b). Towards Q2 (Queensland Government, 2008b, p. 5) identified “entrenched disadvantage” as necessitating “empower[ing] people with purpose and knowledge to make changes that create a better and brighter future”. The policy speaks to roots of inequality to be addressed through and committed the Queensland Government to ensuring that disadvantaged groups would not be left behind. The Queensland Government (2008b, p. 31) promised that “more young Queenslanders complete Year 12 or an equivalent level of achievement as an essential building block for post- school qualifications”.

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In addition, the governments of Australia acting together promised to readdress the significant position of education including VETiS across Australia. Evidentiary Excerpt 1 derives from the communiqué of the Joint MCEETYA/ MCVTE Meeting (MCEETYA, 2008b). The meeting is composed of the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs and the Ministerial Council for Vocational and Technical Education. It marked the start of a new era of collaboration between Commonwealth, State and territory Education and Training Ministers.

Document Evidentiary Excerpt-1 Key concept Joint Ministers have affirmed their shared goal of building a world-class 1. World-class MCEETYA/ education and training system in Australia and have today signed education and MCVTE up to an historic agreement on priorities and plan of action for early training system Meeting, childhood education, schooling and vocational education and 2. Priorities for Melbourne training (MCEETYA, 2008b, p. 1). schooling and VET

The Governments identified the importance of them taking priority and action to improve the efficiency of Senior L/earning and vocational education and training. This Excerpt shows their intention to build high-class education and training system in order to boost the State and regional economies for ensuring their competitiveness on the global market.

Adopting Sen’s (1992; 1999) perspective on “development as freedom”, the aim is to enhance young adults’ freedoms through and for public action. This is evident in Australian Federal and State Government educational policies which entitle all students to choose learning strategies they have reason to value and are socially and economically valued. In substantial terms, the priority of these policies is to ensure that “all young Australians” (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 7) can effectively achieve functionings (learning and training) that are conventionally recognised as valuable capabilities. The objective of these policies advocates a world-class education and training system, which implies that these Governments promise to provide adequate environment for the development of young adults’ capabilities and freedom of work/life choices.

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5.2.2 The situatedness of education policy in text discourse

What made these policies distinctive was their educational equality principles to increase the involvement of disadvantaged groups in the processes of education decision-making. First, the frequency of the key words in terms of Senior L/earning and disadvantaged groups education was checked. The frequency of some related key words were counted in each policy with the help of search engine (see Table 5.1). The relevant key words for Senior L/earning and VETiS includes schooling, vocational education, training, skills and employment; the relevant key words for disadvantaged education include rural /remote area, Indigenous and low SES. The frequency of use of these key words of Senior L/earning and disadvantaged education shed light on how much the national and local government attach importance on the link of education and employment transition, in particular to the group from disadvantaged background.

Table 5.1 The frequency of use of key words related to Senior L/earning and disadvantaged education

Policies Joint Melbourne MCEETYA Towards MCEETYA/MCVTE Declaration Action Plan Q2 Key words Meeting 2009 – 2012 schooling 21 33 16 0 Senior Vocational/ 6 3 0 2 L/earning education VETiS training 41 26 8 27 skills 56 18 2 41 employment 9 16 5 7 Indigenous 7 21 19 3 Disadvantaged low SES 7 9 6 0 education disadvantage 15 9 11 13

According to the policy consensus reached at the State and Commonwealth levels, VETiS in Senior L/earning is regarded as a key part of Australia’s social and economic development (MCEETYA 2008a). The frequency of use of key words concerning learning and work transition in the four policies suggest that “training” and “skills” are important drivers for promoting equal educational opportunities for young adults by ensuring they have the knowledge, skills and values for productive and rewarding education, training and employment. In addition, “schooling” is

135 viewed as an effective way to obtain skills for employment to secure the successful transition of young adults from school to the job market.

Table 5.1 shows that the “disadvantaged” is another frequently repeated word in these policies. Of specific policy concerns are “indigenous” students, and students of “low SES” background. The frequent use of these words suggest that if there was to be any substantial push towards economic, social and political equality, it would necessarily rest on making significant progress towards removing the disadvantages in education and training inequalities in Australia.

The capability set of a person depends on her/his entitlements and commodities (all goods and services that are available to her/him) and on her/his capability to convert them into valuable functionings (Sen, 1992). Thus, entitlements and commodities form the material basis of the capability set, even if they are not enough to guarantee the development of capabilities. The above analysis shows that all these policies focus on government commitment to offer equal educational opportunity for young adults especially from disadvantaged background, and to ensure them having the knowledge and skills predicted to being necessary for a productive and rewarding employment life in society. In terms of educational policy and socio-economic security, all these particular educational policies aim to provide various responsive and flexible pathways with the projected demands of higher education and the labour market.

5.2.3 Equity in education policy

The Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 7) set “equity and excellence” in school education as the number one national goal. Excerpt 2 is from the goals in the Melbourne Declaration and the MCEETYA Action Plan (MCEETYA, 2008c). The Educational Minsters from Australian Federal, State and Territory Governments identified the core task for education as improving educational equity in the outcomes for all young Australians as “the nation’s social and economic prosperity and will position young people to live fulfilling, productive and responsible lives” (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 3).

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Document Evidentiary Excerpst-2 Key concept Melbourne Goal 1 Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence 1. Goal of education Declaration Goal 2 All young Australians become for young – successful learners Australians – confident and creative individuals – active and informed citizens. (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 7)

MCEETYA Australian Education Ministers have committed to taking 1. Measures to Action Plan action to achieve these educational goals for all young achieve educational 2009 – 2012 Australians, and to doing so in partnership with all goals Australian governments, all school sectors, individual 2. Improve the schools, parents, children, young people, families, carers, learning outcome for communities and business. (MCEETYA, 2008c, p. 3) disadvantaged group

…… including sections on developing stronger partnerships, supporting quality teaching, strengthening early childhood education, supporting senior years of schooling and youth transitions, improving educational outcomes for Indigenous youth and disadvantaged young Australians... (MCEETYA, 2008c, p. 3)

The Melbourne Declaration is a programmatic policy for the educational development in the four years (2009-2012), proposing the key educational goals for all young Australians. The excerpts entail an understanding of who is to take actions and who will be the beneficial parties of this policy. In particular, two of the issues addressed include “supporting senior years of schooling and youth transitions, [and] improving educational outcomes for Indigenous youth and disadvantaged young Australians, especially those from low socioeconomic backgrounds” (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 10). These policies provide an impetus for deepening the reform of Senior L/earning.

“ALL young Australians” mentioned in the policy means that high-quality schooling should be free from discrimination based on gender, language, sexual orientation, culture, ethnicity, geographic location and socioeconomic background. “ALL Australian governments and ALL school sectors” are mentioned in the Excerpts, refer to those who should make the commitment to the improvement of educational outcomes for young adults. The involvement of governments, schools, communities and business sectors is needed to ensure the creation of a society-wide and cohesive system to realise equity and high-quality education for all the young adults including Indigenous, rural area or low SES grouping.

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5.3 Policy targets and expected effects

The selection of policy targets reflects the way policy actors view the incentive structures of those whose behaviour they are trying to influence. The various groups are “named or labelled in policy designs sends signals about the targets’ value in ways that significantly influence policy outcomes” (Honig, 2006, p. 15). Each policy instrument contains assumptions about the capacities and incentives of its target that responses to educational policy and the effectiveness of programs or reforms which are part of these policies. It is assumed that if the right incentives are offered, targets have the capacity to act in accordance with the policy’s expectation. In return, policy actors can obtain reliable and valid information about whether targets are performing in a way that is consistent with their expectations. The match between policy targets and expected effects may determine whether or not an education and training policy operates as intended.

5.3.1 Participation, outcomes and equity in VETiS

The major labour market barriers to the employability of disadvantaged groups need to be recognised: rapid economic change, discrimination, insufficient access to education and training, all of which compound the labour market disadvantages which accompany poverty. Education and training is presumed an effective way to help the disadvantaged group increase employment opportunities by offering equal training for young adults from disadvantaged background. Educational policies are designed to improve the living situation of disadvantaged groups. Increasing students’ participation and learning outcomes are important transitional way for them to be suitable for the high-demanding labour market.

Evidentiary Excerpt 3 is from the introduction of Towards Q2 (Queensland Government, 2008b). First, the policy identifies the issue of entrenched disadvantage. Then it promises to offer more opportunities to empower disadvantaged people with knowledge to help them create a better and brighter future.

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Document Evidentiary Excerpt-3 Key concept Towards Q2 Entrenched disadvantage: There remain pockets of entrenched 1. Entrenched disadvantage in our communities. Too many families are disadvantage struggling and the futures of too many children are being put at 2. provide risk. But with every challenge comes opportunity, opportunity to opportunity to empower people with purpose and knowledge to make changes empower people that create a better and brighter future. (Queensland Government, 2008b, p. 5)

We must provide the support unemployed families need to take the first steps towards creating a better and brighter future for themselves and their children. We must make the path to employment easier and less daunting for those who aren’t working. We must help everyone who is able to work get a job so they can contribute to and share in the state’s prosperity (Queensland Government, 2008b, p. 39).

Given that one of the Queensland Government’s ambitions is fair, the Government identifies and targets the vulnerable group as entrenched disadvantage to increase their enforcement. It is known that the level of education and training (and the corresponding level of qualifications) is very significant for a person’s place in society. Considering the importance of knowledge and a high level of competence, there is a real danger that low or unqualified persons will not be able to work in knowledge or skills based workplaces. Without targeted efforts to enhance their knowledge and skill, they are threatened with “entrenched” disadvantage—socially and economically. For example, employers react to economic crises and natural disasters by cutting staff /and not hiring new workers. At the same time, the demand for skill levels is rising. Therefore, training programs in Year 11 and 12 which provide some form of in-firm work experience can help to overcome negative attitudes towards young inexperienced workers and allow for essential on-the-job training opportunities.

Then let us come to the paradox of “entrenched” disadvantage. If the Government identifies some group of peoples such as those on low incomes or having disabilities as experiencing “entrenched” disadvantage, how can they get confidence and awareness to change their situation if it is considered that their situations are unchangeable? Therefore, we cannot but help question what is the purpose of a policy that uses the word “entrenched” and how and why did the Government allow disadvantage to become entrenched.

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Evidentiary Excerpt 4 comes from “Aspiration” part in “skills and workplace development”, appendix B of Joint MCEETYA/ MCVTE Meeting — “Productivity Agenda Working Group—Education, Skills, Training and Early Childhood Development Outcomes, Progress Measures and Policy Directions” which issued in March, 2008. It stresses that education at equity be distributed to every Australian citizen.

Document Evidentiary excerpt-4 Key concept Joint Individuals are assisted to overcome barriers to education, 1. Individual MCEETYA/M training and employment, and are motivated to acquire and utilise education equity CVTE new skills (MCEETYA, 2008b, p. 17). Meeting, Melbourne

The proposal for education equity seems to promise a just way for everyone to have equal opportunity for getting expected educational outcomes regardless of his or her circumstances such as gender, race, family background or economic status. However, it is a great demand for more specific policies oriented on disadvantaged groups to ensure the implementation of equal education for young adults to choose their post- school destination freely.

Evidentiary Excerpt 5 is also from appendix B of Joint MCEETYA/MCVTE Meeting (MCEETYA, 2008b). It is part of “indicative progress measures” in the “Proposed Policy Framework” on schooling. This item reiterates the policy theme that all young adults need to acquire the knowledge and skills to participate effectively in society and employment in a globalised economy.

Document Evidentiary Excerpt- 5 Key concept Joint • Proportion of the 19 year old population having attained at 1. Raise the MCEETYA/M least a Year 12 or equivalent or AQF Certificate II proportion of CVTE • Proportion of young people participating in post-school retention or its Meeting, education or training six months after school vocational Melbourne • Lift the Year 12 or equivalent attainment rate to 90 per cent by equivalent 2020 (MCEETYA, 2008b, p. 16).

Furthermore, this policy specifically directs the development of a form of secondary school education that provides either academic courses or equivalent training. One of the educational goals for secondary schooling is to increase “Year 12 or equivalent attainment rate to 90 per cent by 2020” (MCEETYA, 2008b, p. 16). The goal of

140 increasing students’ learning outcomes is expected to make new forms of schooling more attractive for those with more diverse needs and learning styles. The Australian Governments regard VETiS as an effective way to increase school retention through incorporating a range of non-school-based education and training opportunities. If VETiS achieves this goal of enhancing post-school transition and providing more varied pathways from school to work, it will bring about far-reaching changes in terms of successful post-school outcomes.

Evidentiary Excerpt 6 is from one of the key outcomes of Joint MCEETYA/ MCVTE Meeting—“Taking forward the COAG (the Council of Australian Governments) Agenda” (MCEETYA, 2008b). It highlighted the need for equitable chances for every young adult to get decent education and training. Creating equitable opportunities for education and training is seen as necessary to create economic growth and social cohesion.

Document Evidentiary Excerpt- 6 Key concept Joint …all Australians can be part of reducing individual 1. Equal MCEETYA/M disadvantage and lifting national wealth. The reform agenda education for CVTE aspires for every Australian to have a place in an equitable disadvantaged Meeting, society and a skilled workforce (MCEETYA, 2008b, p. 2). young adults Melbourne

The statement implies that all young adults should have access to high quality teaching, with capable and qualified staff who wants to teach in disadvantaged or remote areas. In doing so, education may produce equal substantial returns to individuals in terms of earnings and employability as well as contributing to positive effects in economic growth.

Evidentiary Excerpt 7 is from subsection of “Taking forward the COAG Agenda” and Appendix B on “schooling” (MCEETYA, 2008b), which focuses on reducing Indigenous educational disadvantage. It stresses on the importance to provide equal education to Indigenous people to ensure they will obtain equivalent outcome along with their peers.

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Document Evidentiary Excerpt- 7 Key concept Joint Improving educational outcomes is essential to overcoming 1. Shorten the gap MCEETYA/M Indigenous disadvantage. Ministers strongly endorsed the COAG between non- CVTE Indigenous education targets, including all remote Indigenous Indigenous Meeting, four year olds having access to a quality early childhood student and Melbourne education program; halving the gap for Indigenous students in Indigenous reading, writing and numeracy within a decade; and at least student halving the gap for Indigenous students in Year 12 or equivalent attainment rates by 2020 (MCEETYA, 2008b, p. 4).

Inequality attributable to socioeconomic factors remains too high, and Indigenous students continue to be more than two and a half years, on average, behind non-Indigenous students (MCEETYA, 2008b, p. 14).

It should be noted that Indigenous students are significant part of Australian education. The specific skills they obtain through VETiS may have lessened their disadvantaged situation. It is a helpful transition pathway for them to achieve valued and valuable post-school destination and improve their competitive capability in labour market. However, it is more challenging to deliver the necessary and effective knowledge and skills to them because some of them live in remote areas.

Evidentiary Excerpt 8 is from one of the eight educational action subcategories in each policy, which is aimed to improve educational outcomes for Indigenous, non- metropolitan and low SES young adults.

Document Evidentiary Excerpts-8 Key concept Melbourne … improve educational outcomes for Indigenous youth and 1. Improve Declaration disadvantaged young Australians and encourage them, their educational families and their communities to hold high expectations for outcomes for their education. Indigenous youth and disadvantaged Students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, those from young adults, remote areas, refugees, homeless young people, and students especially those with disabilities often experience educational disadvantage. from low SES Targeted support can help disadvantaged young Australians to achieve better educational outcomes. (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 15)

MCEETYA Australian governments commit to working with all school 1. Focus on Action Plan sectors to: Indigenous, remote 2009 – 2012 • “close the gap” for young Indigenous Australians area and low SES • provide targeted support to disadvantaged students grouping • focus on school improvement in low socioeconomic communities. (MCEETYA, 2008c, p. 11)

Australia’s Governments attach importance on the equitable distribution of education to everyone, especially to vulnerable groups such as Indigenous, non-metropolitan

142 and low SES groups. The policy identifies these disadvantaged groups as including those from “low socioeconomic backgrounds, those from remote areas, refugees, homeless young people, and students with disabilities” (MCEETYA, 2008a, p.15). However, what can be done to close gap and improve the outcomes for those disadvantaged group? It is assumed that VETiS is an effective way for those with lower academic ability and aspiration. Education policies to raise equal educational opportunities put a strong accent on teaching and learning by encouraging schools to adopt flexible and optional content to help students reach the new goals for senior secondary schooling. It is supposed that skill-oriented output is a key to assessing the post-school outcomes for young adults from the disadvantaged backgrounds.

Evidentiary Excerpt 9 comes from the five ambitions which Queensland Government set for the whole State and communities to be realised by 2020. It provides a program for the development of Queensland’s economy, education, health and well-being.

Document Evidentiary Excerpt- 9 Key concept Towards Q2 Smart: We want to deliver world-class education and training 1. Smart Fair: We want to support a safe and caring community government need Many important issues, such as Indigenous disadvantage and first-class education disability services, are already being addressed through reform 2. Fair opportunity agendas at both a state and national level. This work will to Indigenous and continue. (Queensland Government, 2008b, p. 7) other disadvantaged group

The Queensland Government continued to employ the logo of “Smart Government” when they set the 2020 educational target for the early, middle and senior phases of learning. The new policy extends the previous policy which stressed knowledge and skill as the key for State and individual development. Moreover, the policy indicates that education is expected to equip young adults with the skills necessary for changing requirements of the workplace and by doing so, this will be a virtual panacea for solving the social inequalities that exist in contemporary communities.

However, even though almost every policy repeats Government commitment to equal education opportunity, it is necessary to consider how to provide adjusted learning strategies for these disadvantaged groups in the context of Australian society. Education systems do not only have to guarantee the equal access to young

143 adults but they also have to design instructional processes in a way that even people with low SES, living in rural area, or Indigenous identity can acquire the necessary skills and competences. Therefore certain disadvantaged groups in society should be given special attention and support when designing national action programmes to be effective in their school communities.

5.3.2 Increasing opportunities for successful learning and working transition

Australian educational policies for young adults focus on providing a smooth transition from school to work and/or further study. Policy makers believe that VETiS has a particularly positive role to play in the transition to successful post- school activities for those who leave school after completing Year 12 or its equivalent.

Evidentiary Excerpt 10 is from subsection of “Taking forward the COAG Agenda” (MCEETYA, 2008b), which focuses on national partnership arrangements for low socio-economic school (SES) communities. Equal distribution of educational resources is one way to improve young adults’ performance and outcomes especially for those who come from low SES background.

Document Evidentiary Excerpt- 10 Key concept Joint Ministers noted that increasing investment in low SES school 1.Increase MCEETYA/M communities is an important step in giving all children the investment in low CVTE skills needed to participate in an increasingly global society. SES school Meeting, They welcomed the COAG agreement to develop a national communities Melbourne partnership agreement focused on the particular educational 2. Pay attention to needs of low SES school communities, as part of the national disengagement and education funding agreement to be introduced at the beginning low achievement of 2009.

Ministers noted that disengagement and low achievement at school are strong predictors of lifelong socio-economic disadvantage with students from low SES backgrounds tending to be concentrated in poorer performing schools. This has a cumulative impact on the educational attainment of these students with poor education performance tending to result in them leaving school at an earlier age and with poorer results. (MCEETYA, 2008b, p. 2).

One might expect this policy would imply increasing investment in education for young adults from low SES background to give them choices during and after leaving school. The policy suggests it will enable them to either choose to pursue

144 higher education or transition to labour market after gaining necessary skills in VETiS. The policy assumes that VETiS will be effective in enhancing the level of competence of students from low socioeconomic backgrounds.

Evidentiary Excerpt 11 comes from one of the eight educational action subcategories in each policy, which is “supporting senior year of schooling and youth transitions” (MCEETYA, 2008c). Australian Governments have committed themselves to cooperating with all school sectors to provide young adults with better links to industry, and more diverse pathways from school to work and further study. The policy promised to expand opportunities for senior secondary students by preparing young adults for the workplaces of the future.

Document Evidentiary Excerpts- 11 Key concept Melbourne The senior years of schooling should provide all students 1. Transition to Declaration with the high quality education … and make the transition to further education, further education, training or employment. Schooling should training or offer a range of pathways to meet the diverse needs and employment aspirations of all young Australians, encouraging them to 2. Pathways to meet pursue university or postsecondary vocational qualifications the diverse needs that increase their opportunities for rewarding and 3. More productive employment. (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 12) opportunities for employment MCEETYA Australian governments commit to working with all school 1. High quality Action Plan sectors to support the senior years of schooling and the pathways to 2009 – 2012 provision of high quality pathways to facilitate effective effective transitions transitions between further study, training and employment. 2. The actions to a range of actions including: ensure successful • increasing access to and participation in high quality, outcome and industry-recognised training at Certificate III level for transition secondary school students, including through Trades Training Centres; • partnerships with universities, registered training organisations and businesses, to broaden the horizons of students, support educators and provide students with links to further training, education and employment opportunities; • ensuring all students have access to quality information and advice on further education, training, careers and employment options development and implementation of the Australian Blueprint for Career Development, a national project to develop a framework for lifelong, active career management skills. (MCEETYA, 2008c, p. 9)

These policies promise much by ways of reforms to the senior years of schooling. First, they identify the key criteria of post-school outcome which is full-time engagement in work or further full-time learning, or part-time employment combined with part-time study. Second, they identify the ways for young adults to successful 145 transition from school to work or further education or training. These include a range of VETiS linkage between the education and training sector, business and industry. Also it provides multiple information sources about further education, training and employment, and extending opportunities of career options for young adults. Finally, it set out the requirement of high quality secondary schooling with emphasis on getting a Certificate III or equivalent level qualification and improving young adults’ capability to lifelong learning and career skills. Senior secondary schools are expected to meet more diverse needs and different learning styles for young adults as a result of these policies.

Evidentiary Excerpt 12 is another ambition of the Queensland Government, which aims to provide strategies to deliver world-class education and training. The Government raised the aspirations and challenge that “our skills will shape our future” (Queensland Government, 2008b, p. 27). The thrust of this innovation in senior secondary education focuses on cultivating skilled, talented, creative and motivated citizens.

Document Evidentiary Excerpt-12 Key concept Towards Q2 Workers with generic skills, in areas such as problem solving and 1. Necessary communication, will be in high demand because their skills are competences and not specific to one occupation. (Queensland Government, capabilities to 2008b, p. 27) young workers

The Queensland Government puts students’ capability achievement as a focus in Senior Learning. Sen (1999, p. 3) argued that “capability approach to a person’s advantage is concerned with evaluating it in terms of his or her own ability to achieve various valuable functionings as a part of living”. Sen (1992) insists on the importance of capabilities to function in making normative evaluations about equality and well being. As we discussed in Chapter Two, capabilities are defined as a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context. All of these factors influence whether, how and to which degree young adults can use their capabilities to convert their external and internal economic, social and cultural assets into particular personal functionings. The emphasis on “generic skills such as problem solving, communication” is the core element of reforms in Senior L/earning because the key capabilities are those which all individuals need for personal

146 fulfilment and development, active citizenship, social involvement and employment. By the end of senior education and training, young adults are expected to develop these key capabilities to a level that equips them for adult life, and moreover, these capabilities should be further developed, maintained and updated as part of lifelong learning.

5.4 Contexts for implementation

According to the spirit of the capability approach, policy intervention ought not to stop after the policy’s declaration, but should aim at providing a capability-friendly socio-economic context to help individuals to enjoy real freedom by converting the command over commodities into valuable beings and doings (Sen, 1992). Put simply, the key point of the capability approach is on the conversion of formal rights and freedoms as expected in education policies into capabilities. In addition, the capability approach also requires a struggle against obstructive factors such as the disadvantaged situation which hinder the appropriate conversion of any form of individual capital into capabilities. Therefore, the policy analysis was undertaken to assess government perspective of education and training outcomes associated with the heterogeneity factors which influence whether, how and to which degree young adults can use their capabilities to convert their external economic, social and cultural assets into particular personal functionings.

Educational policy implementation is regarded as the accomplishment of policy objectives through the planning and programming of operations so that agreed outcomes and desired effects are achieved. Honig (2006) suggests that it is necessary to understand the value and applicability of particular educational practices in specific educational contexts. People’s actions cannot be understood apart from the settings in which the actions are situated. Without detailed information about the conditions under which certain interventions work, policy makers will not know whether a particular education policy is successful or not. In addition, social and economic factors should be considered because these reveal the relations among the different social contexts in the policy chain. Analysis of education policy context may help to understand how policies are implemented in different organisational contexts and how they are or can be influenced by social, economic and

147 environmental conditions and what this means for better accomplishing the goals the policies set out to achieve.

5.4.1 Interactions with organisational functions

Government policies do not exist in a vacuum. They are not independent of other policies which can either reinforce or waken the expected effects. Australian Government policymakers have added successive layer to the latest educational policies over the years. Whether they have to take into account their precursors is open to question, let alone how any new policy might reinforce or constrain the intended effects of current or related policies. For example, Melbourne Declaration Series (MCEETYA, 2008 a,b,c) contains three documents which complement each other. Towards Q2 (Queensland Government, 2008b, p. 7) explicitly claims to be based on Queensland State Education 2010 (Queensland Government, 2000), a previous statement of policy that established strategic direction for public education in Queensland for the 10 years from 2000 to 2010.

In addition, every policy has to be implemented in a specific school context. Educational policy formulation cannot be separated from its organisational implementation. Different school organisations may be variously committed to a policy’s objectives in using available resources and decision rules for achieving implementation outcomes. Thus, policymakers may increase the likelihood that a policy will effectively match instrument, problem, and target by the school organisations where they choose to implement it. The organisation’s philosophy and staff experience will shape how policy goals are translated into program operations.

Evidentiary Excerpt 13 appears in various documents. It is found that the commitment in the Melbourne Declaration is supported by action in eight interrelated areas. The commitment in MCEETYA Action Plan 2009–2012 is specified under the eight educational goals and supported by a range of proposed actions. We may draw the conclusion that MCEETYA Action Plan 2009–2012 is consistent with the Melbourne Declaration providing more detailed specification about how to achieve the goals in the eight areas.

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Document Evidentiary Excerpts-13 Key concept Melbourne Together, all Australian governments commit to working 1. Develop stronger Declaration with all school sectors and the broader community partnership to achieve the educational goals for young Australians. (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 10) MCEETYA Australian governments commit to working with all school 1. Develop stronger Action Plan sectors to ensure that schools engage young Australians, partnership by 2009 – 2012 parents, carers, families, other education and training providing specified providers, business and the broader community to support instruction students’ progress through schooling, and to provide them with rich learning, personal development and citizenship opportunities. (MCEETYA, 2008c, p. 5)

Both of the policies put an emphasis on developing stronger partnerships as the first goal for educational reform. This implies that cultivating “confident and creative individuals” and “active and informed citizens” occur not only within schools but extend to different sectors (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 9). The policy specifies who will be involved in these educational activities and the role they will play in changing the education systems to respond to global economic and technologic advances. The policy endorses a broad role for education in providing opportunities to help young adults acquire work skills as well as personal and social outcomes. It also identified a new role for schools in building more diverse skills and capacities in all young adults by education providers offering vocational education and training programs.

Evidentiary Excerpt 14 is derived from the Consultation part of the MCEETYA Action Plan. It proposes the joint cooperation between schools and other educational partners and stakeholders for achieving the goals set out in the Melbourne Declaration.

Document Evidentiary excerpt-14 Key concept MCEETYA …to seek input from education partners and other 1. Call for the Action Plan stakeholders on the actions necessary to achieve the goals set involvement in 2009 – 2012 out in the Melbourne Declaration. education (including VET and VETiS) COAG agreements including the National Education 2. Improve the current Agreement and National Partnerships on low uneven educational socioeconomic status school communities and teacher quality distribution in rural have provided the framework for the majority and low SES of this action plan, including sections on developing stronger communities partnerships, supporting quality teaching, strengthening early 3. Improve learning- childhood education, supporting senior years of schooling to-work transition for and youth transitions, improving educational outcomes for disadvantaged group Indigenous youth and disadvantaged young Australians... (MCEETYA, 2008c, p. 3)

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The policy specifies the scope in which all the schools and educational partners or sectors are to productively engage. In this sense, schools, teachers and other educational partners are viewed not only as recipients or enactors of the policy but also as producers of the policy. This Excerpt raises questions about how to improve the low socioeconomic status school communities and teacher quality and how to support and strengthen transition and outcomes for disadvantaged youth. Every organisation and individual involved in education searches for creative answers, and thus translates the policy into their daily practices and makes positive and effective responses to the policy. It is helpful that the policy create the space for schools and other educational sectors to shape their own practices.

Evidentiary Excerpt 15 is from subsection of “Taking forward the COAG Agenda”, skills reform in Joint MCEETYA/MCVTE Meeting (MCEETYA, 2008b). The Ministers addressed the importance of VET and called for strengthening VETiS reforms to make VET easier access by all Australians including young adults.

Document Evidentiary Excerpt-15 Key concept Joint Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to progressing further 1.Further reform of MCEETYA/MC reform of the vocational education and training sector to the VET to enhance VTE Meeting, enhance its flexibility and responsiveness, improve access to its flexibility and Melbourne skills for all Australians and strengthen the performance of responsiveness the national training system. 2. Increase the proportion of the [Ministers] recognised the importance of increasing the workforce with the uptake of vocational qualifications for those Australians who capability at higher do not currently hold formally recognised skills and the need level skills to increase the proportion of the workforce with the capability qualifications at higher level skills qualifications. 3. National training system position to Ministers also acknowledged the vital importance of meet demand for the vocational education and training in providing the skills “losing” skills and needed for Australia’s economy. The national training system higher level needs to be positioned to meet the complex demand for skills vocational created by the loss of skills from those retiring or leaving the qualification workforce, and the growth in demand for higher level vocational qualifications (MCEETYA, 2008b, p. 4).

This Excerpt shows that a key requirement for VET and VETiS is for flexibility and responsiveness to individual learners. VETiS is required to extend widely for young adults with skill-based knowledge courses. This implies further systemic change to training in senior secondary school. The overall goal of senior school is now to ensure the young adults who participate in VETiS succeed in getting necessary

150 qualifications that attest to their knowledge and skills so as to increase their chances of being employed in a labour market that demands higher levels of competence.

Evidentiary Excerpt 16 is from appendix B of Joint MCEETYA/MCVTE Meeting (MCEETYA, 2008b). It was part of the Commonwealth Governments’ election commitments in its “Proposed Policy Framework” on “skills and workplace development”. The Excerpt shows the way to make successful VET outcomes for meeting the labour market.

Document Evidentiary Excerpt- 16 Key concept Joint Integration of Australian Technical Colleges into broader trade 1. Future MCEETYA/ training arrangements development for MCVTE - 450,000 additional training places over the next four years vocational training Meeting, - Over 90% at Certificate III or above education Melbourne - Establish Skills Australia to advise the Government - Greater involvement of Industry Skills Councils (MCEETYA, 2008b, p. 18).

This policy points to the direction for the development of VET in the near future. This includes reinforcing cooperation between training organisations, training providers, brokers of employment and government agencies. In return, the feedback from each source is expected to provide guidance to the teachers so they can provide expected skills, knowledge and attitudes for the young adults involved in VETiS.

The above mentioned policies focus on the role of institutions on individual’s possibilities of conversion of educational resources into capabilities. Paraphrasing Sen, capability for learning is the real freedom to choose education opportunity one has reason to value. In such a perspective, the implementation of educational policies is to guarantee real rights and freedom to choose a life course and to achieve functionings one has reason to value. In the case of educational policy, this implies that all actors are allowed to take part effectively in the designing and implementing processes of education opportunity delivery to all Australian young adults.

5.4.2 Interactions with external conditions

Equality in educational outcomes is a crucial determinant of the extent of equality of opportunity and intergenerational mobility achieved by Australian society and its

151 governments. It is argued that improved education and training levels should actually overcome the barriers of racial discrimination, geographic isolation and cultural alienation by producing equitable employment outcomes among any groups of students in Australia. To do so government education and training policy has been operationalised in a range of organisations and work places in addition to schools. These educational policies are expected to influence the practices of Senior L/earning through having them fit the socio-economic requirements including the demand for equal education opportunities for low SES, Indigenous grouping and young adults in rural areas.

Evidentiary Excerpt 17 is derived from Towards Q2 (Queensland Government, 2008b) which illustrates the measures the Government has taken and will take to realise its 2020 target for education.

Document Evidentiary Excerpt-17 Key concept Towards Q2 Launched an updated Queensland Skills Plan committing 1. Ensure $280 million over the next four years to: compulsory – modernise TAFE facilities across the state education to Year – deliver innovative training programs to meet skill shortages … 12 2. Repositioning The Queensland Government will play its part by: the importance of • ensuring more young Queenslanders complete Year 12 or an VET and VETiS equivalent level of achievement as an essential building block for post-school qualifications • funding and delivering flexible, high quality, post-school training, that works for employers and those seeking training • increasing the number of vocational education and training places available to Queenslanders. (Queensland Government, 2008b, p. 31)

With the measures mentioned in Excerpt 17, the Queensland Government promises to invest in innovation in VET by modernising facilities and changing training programs to redress the skill shortages in workplaces. The policy indicates that schools and other education providers need to view the transition to work that young adults are engaged in as being a part of their core educational business. That requires an ongoing engagement in understanding both educational and social conditions facing young people, along with the development of their skills and capabilities to support their participation should be fundamental to the learning provided for young people involved in education and/or training. It is suggested that more economic resources need to be made available by government to support learning, training and

152 career planning in order to improve outcomes for young people. Schools are encouraged to link with other education and training agencies to provide services within the school and beyond the school to ensure the quality of teaching and training be central to improving outcomes for young people.

Evidentiary Excerpt 18 is from the Queensland Government’s ambition — “strong”. In order to strengthen the State’s economic competitiveness, the Government turns to skill-oriented education as one way to support and strengthen the State’s economic development.

Document Evidentiary Excerpt- 18 Key concept Towards Q2 Skill shortages: Due to our powerhouse economy, Queensland is 1. Skill shortages experiencing a shortage of skilled labour in fields such as such as 2. Invest in skill- health and medicine, engineering and building and construction, oriented and in trades such as electrical and plumbing. Skill shortages have education the potential to restrict future economic growth.

The Queensland Government will play its part by: • investing in skills and creativity, to boost the productivity of our people • helping Queenslanders who are out of the workforce to participate, to supply the labour our economy will need (Queensland Government, 2008b, p. 17)

Towards Q2 (Queensland Government, 2008b) has set the goal of redressing the shortage of skilled labour by 2020 as a key target. It plans to invest in skills and creativity to meet growing economic demands. This policy shed lights on the reason for reforming senior secondary schooling through VETiS in Queensland State given that this State and the nation as a whole is faced with rapid economic globalisation and resulting in competitive pressures, governments need to invest in skills development and training of their workforce. The continuous pace of change in the demand for skills increases the emphasis on training and life-long learning to raise employability of workers and improve their access to changing forms of employment. Therefore, the training sector is expected to make renewed efforts to target the particular groups of future workers.

Sen’s (1992) perspective does not aim to guarantee policy outcomes, but to create the appropriate social and environmental conditions in order to develop the real freedom to choose the life one has reason to value and which is socially and

153 economically valued. From such a perspective, educational policies play a role in supporting all policy actors involved in its implementation to set up adequate conversion factors for young adults’ capability achievement.

5.5 Discussion of research question one

This chapter analysed recent four Federal and State education policies on VETiS (see 5.2.1) from a combination of substantial and implemental (situated, in-context) dimensions to explore the research question of Where and how could idea of “education for equality” in VETiS policy be built into senior learning practice, and how policy actors embrace this concept in VETiS skills acquired and transition from learning to earning?

According to the capability approach (Sen, 1992), the direction of substantial equal rights for education requires that every student of society be guaranteed access to the availability of various learning and training freely as they valued. The implemental dimension calls upon the situated public action, which encompasses the rule-setting action of all policy actors at all levels. Adopting Sen’s (1992, 1999) perspective on “development as freedom” for enhancing young adults’ freedoms through and for public action. Accordingly, these policies contain two main important parts. One is to deliver of diverse education and training to meet various demands from young adults such as further education, skill training or full-time work. The other is to highlight offering equal opportunity of learning and training for disadvantaged students from Indigenous, rural area or low SES background and call for effective strategies to delivery high quality of learning and training for them to offset the unequal straits. Therefore, the policies are targeted to improve the students’ participation and learning outcomes to secure multiple transitional ways for them to respond to the high-demanding labour market.

One of the significant features of these educational policies is the press for reforming skills training education. These policies raise the question whether senior secondary schools are being aligned so as to make the changes that accord with the demands of the knowledge economy. The policies prioritise skills training to “help build a national response to skills shortages and the productivity issues that flow from

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(States)” (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 5). It can be seen from these policies that one function of education is the monetary and non-monetary prosperity of individuals and nations. Education can increase potential rewards to individuals in terms of improving their earnings and employability; and can improve the nation’s economic competitiveness by producing more qualified workers. The non-monetary benefits for individuals include enhancing their life-long learning capability and autonomy. And for society the benefits include creating social cohesion and sustainable development.

The emphasis in these policies on improving skills for students to make the transition from learning to work provides a way for schools to change their VETiS programs (MCEETYA, 2008a). However, Woβmann (2008, p. 216) indicates that “tailoring vocational programs for market needs is hard to achieve because market needs … are changing fast and often different spatially”. Thus, a counter-argument against VETiS is that it may be more effective to enhance the general level capability of students to meet the requirements of the labour market. The transition from schooling to work represents a shift from an input-orientation into output orientation to promote young adults to produce more required capabilities to meet the labour market demands. There is a need for evidence to establish the importance of developing young adults’ capabilities and how they choose their career path.

These policies focus on integrating young adults and their education into the labour market, along with making sure that disadvantaged individuals such as those from low SES, Indigenous and non-metropolitan group get decent education and training. This chapter has provided evidence that VETiS policies have been designed with the aim of balancing key aspects of disadvantaged young adults to improve their educational achievement so they can access better quality education through Senior L/earning. It can be rationalised for reasons of both social justice and individual freedom to achieve a valued and valuable working life. Given that educational achievement is strongly tied to individual’s capabilities and freedom of choice, this is in line with the notion that educational policy interventions can enhance the life chances of individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds. The more education policy makers support their strategies of “equity” for the disadvantaged, the less they can

155 afford to ignore how learning shapes the labour market outcomes of disadvantaged young adults.

5.6 Conclusion

In sum, Melbourne Declaration Series (MCEETYA, 2008 a,b,c) and Towards Q2 (Queensland Government, 2008b) provide an idealised picture for the education reform in Australian senior secondary schooling. Together these education policies focus on offering equal opportunity for learning and training to all Australian young adults. These policies specify the expected means of participation, outcomes and therefore providing a successful transition from school to work and/or further study. In addition, these policies take socio-economic and geographical factors into consideration in the process of policy implementation. For example, the policies stress on the help of the disadvantaged students to offset social and economic difficulties and emphasis on the cooperation of different institutions to facilitate students’ learning outcomes.

However, can all these “sounds nice” educational objectives be implemented successfully in Australian, in particular in Queensland senior secondary schooling? Do these policies really promote the enhancement of the students’ (beneficiaries’) equal opportunity for capability development in their future life? To what extent does policy action rely on diverging informational bases regarding individual choice (material well-being) and social choices (social values attached to education)? Given the heterogeneities of people and the socio-economic diversities of places, do uniformly designed policies realise their promised target? In order to take into account the necessity to elaborate educational policies and to assess capabilities (or equality) in situation, the analysis in the following chapter concentrates specifically on students’ outcomes in VETiS. This provides a test of educational policy implementation in terms of Sen’s capability approach.

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CHAPTER SIX: YEAR 12 STUDENTS’ OUTCOMES IN VETIS IN AUSTRALIA AND IN QUEENSLAND

6.0 Introduction

The policy consensus at State and Commonwealth levels hold Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) to be a key part of Australia’s socio-economic development (MCEETYA 2008a). For the past decade VETiS policies governing Year 10-12 have focused on promoting opportunities for young adults to gain the knowledge, skills and values for further education, training and skilled employment (see Chapter 5). Thus, in this chapter, statistical data from the 2006 and 2007 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) were analysed to contribute knowledge about the outcomes young adults are gaining from Australia’s reforms focusing on the state of Queensland. The issues of what are the gains or outcomes for young adults in terms of their capabilities according to the statistics obtained from National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) were explored. Furthermore, the factors influenced young adults’ choice for VETiS pathways were discussed in relation to their social, cultural and economic background.

The descriptive analysis of the 2006 and 2007 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) presents Year 12 students VETiS outcomes according to VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion (qualifications obtained) in terms of their social and economic characteristics such as gender, study location and Indigenous identity. In addition, the top three popular VETiS subjects have been identified to explore the relationship between students’ individual choices and labour market choice. To assess Year 12 students’ outcomes from VETiS the results are explored in terms of the statistical analysis the relationships between equality and inequality, individual choice and social choice. The concept of “soft criteria” is proposed to shed light on outcomes of students who failed to obtain an Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) attainment and/or qualification through VETiS. This study opens up for further investigation ways of government policies for reforming VETiS to improve the freedom of young adults to secure valued knowledge and skills, and to realise valuable work/life project.

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6.1 Key features of the data

Chapter 5 analysed what current educational policies have promised in terms of developing the knowledge and skills of all young Australians over the next decade. They guarantee to offer equal opportunity of education and training to all Australian young adults for providing a successful transition from school to work and/or further study. The purpose of the descriptive analysis in this chapter was to ascertain if Government education policies do provide equal and diverse choice for the young adults to participate in VETiS and if VETiS policies are ensuring the successful transition from school to further education, training or skilled work. The 2006 and 2007 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) were selected for analysis because they are relevant to addressing these questions and bears some distinctive features.

First, the 2006/2007 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) are the most currently national documents available at the time of finalising this data analysis, providing sound information on VET undertaken by school students as part of their Senior Secondary School Certificate (SSSC). VETiS enables

students to combine vocational studies with their general education curriculum. Students participating in VET in schools continue to work towards their senior secondary school certificate, while the VET component of their studies gives them credit towards a nationally recognised VET qualification (NCVER, 2009, p. 13).

The SSSC is awarded to students in recognition of their “successful completion of secondary education and provides pathways to further study at university, technical and TAFE and to the world of work” (NCVER, 2009, p. 11). There are three ways students can gain an SSSC:

1. Usually gained through two years of full-time study following completion of Year 10; 2. Through recognition of prior learning in combination with an accredited course and on a part-time basis; 3. In conjunction with a TAFE or other workplace program and may incorporate units leading to the relevant Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) Certificate I-IV qualification (NCVER, 2009, p. 11).

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Second, this data presents the performance of senior school students in terms of their percentage of VETiS course enrolment, attainment16 and completion. However, the 2006 report provides more detailed statistics on VETiS than does the 2007 report and includes the categories of VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion by industry. These latest available statistics made it possible to compare Queensland students’ performance and outcomes against the Australian average.

6.2 Data analysis procedures

The data analysis presented the relations between young adults’ capabilities and their freedom to achieve valued and valuable outcomes. Two points relating to the research method used in this chapter are highlighted here, namely grounding the interpretation of the data in Sen’s (1992, 1999) theoretical insights of the capability approach and social choice; the other is the secondary statistical analysis procedures.

6.2.1 Conceptual tools for analysis

How can young adults from different socio-economic backgrounds choose, let alone identify valued and valuable capabilities and functionings necessary for securing their future well-being from the range of relevant possibilities? Amartya Sen’s (1992, 1999) concepts of capabilities, functionings, freedom to achieve and social choice are used to interpret this data and explore the efficacy of policies governing innovations in VETiS. The capability approach was used to evaluate young adults’ Year 12 outcomes because “the capability-based assessment of justice, individual claims are not to be assessed in terms of the resources or primary good the persons respectively hold, but by the freedoms they actually enjoy to choose the lives that they have reason to value” Sen (1992, p. 81). Various combinations of functionings that a young adult can achieve and choose from represent “a person’s freedom to lead one type of life or another” (Sen, 1992, p. 40). Therefore, young adult’s well-being is reflected by her /his freedom to choose from different possible functionings, that is a

16 An AQF statement of attainment is a record of recognised learning which, although falling short of an AQF qualification, may contribute towards a qualification outcome, either as partial completion of a course leading to a qualification, attainment of competencies within a training package, or completion of nationally accredited short course which may accumulate towards a qualification through recognition of prior learning (RPL) processes (NCVER, 2008, p. 13).

159 different way of being and different ways of doing what are valued and valuable projects that give meaning to her /his life.

The capability approach offers a choice for the analysis of government policies in terms of “how individual advantages are judged and interpersonal comparisons most sensibly made” (Sen, 1999, p. 81). Harreveld and Singh (2008, p. 212) argue that the capability approach provides a way of “understanding the place of education and training in capability deprivation and enhancement [including] issues pertinent to the field of education policy analysis”.

The young adult has direct choice over the doing and being components by controlling her/his feeling and physiology through how s/he chooses to act and think. However, M. Smith and Seward (2009, p. 214) argue that “conceptualizing and incorporating the social aspects of capabilities requires a basic understanding of how societies and individuals together constitute capabilities”. It should be noted that the outcomes Australia’s young adults achieve are influenced not only by their own decisions but also by other factors affecting their individual capabilities and achievement functioning. In many aspects their choices are socially influenced if not determined (Sen, 1992, 1999). There are always some choices about how to behave in a self-centred way but this does not mean that an individual has unlimited choice or that outside information is irrelevant to what s/he chooses how to do. The interpersonal differences in individual characteristics can make the conversion of resources and primary goods into the freedom to choose or to achieve very different (Sen, 1992, p. 38). However, an individual’s actions reflect values which have “social components that take us well beyond the narrow confines of purely selfish behaviour” (Sen, 1999, p. 261). Circumstances beyond his/her own control aid and/or hinder his/her functionings being directed at achieving well-being.

Sen’s (1999) concept of social choice provides a capacious frame to interpret various problems, judgments and decisions that affect the views and interests of the young adults who are among the projected beneficiaries of Australian Government VETiS policies. Given the variety of values young adult hold, their capability and functionings can be achieved and realised through social choice. They cannot exercise their freedom without socially and sensitive well-reasoned policies. Sen 160

(1999, p. 26) indicates that the emergence of social norms, such as expressed in public policies is “facilitated both by communicative reasoning and by evolutionary selection of behavioural modes”. These external circumstances affect the inner lives of young adults such as what they hope for, what they love, what they fear, as well as what they are able to do. When young adults choose academic and/or vocational learning, they also think about the comments of their school peers, family members, neighbors, and other people around them such as careers administrators.

6.2.2 Secondary statistical data analysis

The key reason of choosing the 2006 and 2007 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) for secondary analysis is that it is the only feasible way of obtaining national-wide statistics for VETiS. These statistics come from a reputable authentic institution, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER). Another advantage of analysing this secondary data arose from the familiarity with and use of relevant aspects of the pre-existing data which encouraged the undertaking of further analysis (Singh & Li, 2009; Singh & Sawyer, 2008).

The secondary analysis of these statistics requires an understanding of “the meaning behind the categories [of data] used” (Dale, et al., 2004, p. 140). The data analysed in this chapter provides information on Australian VETiS programs. In order to make meaningful interpretations of this data, these statistics were analysed by interacting with, and asking questions using “sensitising concepts” (Marvasti, 2004, p. 86) derived from the research literature. The data were analysed in terms of VETiS students’ course enrolments, attainment and completion by State/Territory, as well as students’ social and economical characteristics, specifically gender, Indigenous identity and location. Then the data were analysed using Sen’s (1992, 1999) capability approach to judge the students’ freedom of choice in developing their valued functionings in context of social choice. Dale, et al, (2004) contend that professionally collected data is more likely to recognise the shortcomings of the data. In the next section, the limitations of the NCVER data are specified, this helped in using this data sensitively and with validity.

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6.3 Data limitations

Four issues affecting the limitations of the data analysis presented in this Chapter need to be noted. First, Table 6.1 shows the number and percentage of VETiS students of all Year 12 STUDENTS, but all the other statistics are based on the number of COURSES and not the number of students. This is because NCVER was unable to obtain data in student number. Moreover, the statistics about the NT and ACT have been excluded from this analysis because their numbers were too small to be taken into account. The course enrolments and attainments for Diploma or Certificate IV are also excluded because less than fifty students completed these courses according to the 2006 VETiS Statistics (NCVER, 2008).

Second, it is important to note that Queensland data presented in [number of course completion in an AQF VET qualification] are for students awarded a senior certificate and do not represent a complete statement of all AQF VET qualifications/ statements of attainment achieved and therefore cannot be compared with the VET course enrolments for Year 11 and 12 presented elsewhere in [the NCVER] report (NCVER, 2009, p. 18).

This raised the challenge of making “incomparable” data “comparable”, an issue discussed in reference to Table 6.1. Additional data were searched about Queensland VETiS outcomes to find more reliable statistics. Data from the Year 12 School outcomes 2007 (Queensland Government, 2008b) have been used as complementary data given the limitations in the NCVER’s (2009) data on Queensland. These particular statistics provides Year-12 graduates outcomes by schools. The “number of VET qualification awarded” for every school in Queensland were analysed to supplement the statistics in Table 6.1 (Queensland Government 2008b, pp. 3-23).

Third, the category “regional characteristics” of students which is provided in the 2006 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008) has been revised to ensure consistency. Regional characteristics were divided into seven subcategories in the NCVER statistics. Here in this chapter, “Major cities” is relabelled as the category “Metropolitan”. “Inner regional, Outer regional, Remote and Very remote” were combined into the category “Non-metropolitan”, and “Outside Australia and Not known” were combined into the category “Other region”.

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Fourth, the 2007 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2009) are subject to some data quality problems about which researchers should be aware. The data cannot be easily compared because “the number of student records provided to NCVER is incomplete [or] the secondary data sources used are not sufficiently reliable or comparable” (NCVER 2009, p. 7). Due to incomplete or insufficient data about students in VETiS courses, the focus here is on course enrolment, attainment and completion as the main indicators instead of student numbers to make consistent comparisons. Furthermore, the statistics on VETiS course enrolments, attainment and completions by industry categories and by locations were unavailable in the 2007 VET in Schools Statistics. This made it necessary to turn to the 2006 VET in Schools Statistics to get the relevant data necessary to explore the research questions in this Chapter. The next section begins by analysing the national profile of all Australian students undertaking a SSSC, comparing students undertaking VETiS by State and Territories.

6.4 Senior school students’ outcome in VETiS

This data analysed VETiS course enrolments, attainment and qualification in Queensland to provide a State-level picture of outcomes of school students in VETiS. VETiS statistics by industry categories, by gender and Indigenous status are used to compare the Australian average with Queensland’s performance. This analysis is based on 2006 VETiS School Statistics (NCVER, 2008) due to the lack of relevant data in 2007 VETiS School Statistics (NCVER, 2009).

6.4.1 National profile of Year 12 students’ outcomes in VETiS

With respect to the Year 12 students’ participation in VETiS, Figure 6.1 shows that 159,80017 students undertook VETiS in 2007 across Australia, representing 31% of students undertaking SSSC. Among all Australian States, Tasmania had the highest percentage with 52% (n=2,600) and South Australia ranks the lowest percentage with 21% (n=11,300) of students undertaking VETiS. However, it should be noted that the highest participation rate in Tasmania occurred with a relatively small number of SSSC students (n=5,000). 42% (n=38,100) of students in Queensland took VETiS

17 VET in Schools students by state/territory in 2007 are 174.800 (NCVER, 2009, p. 16). Here student numbers of School-based apprentices and trainees, 15,000 are excluded. 163 course, which is 11% higher than the national percentage for VETiS. The participation rate for VETiS in Queensland is the second highest among all the States and Territories. Such results show that more students are involved in VETiS program in Queensland than those in other States and Territories.

600

500

400

300

200

100 students number students number (,000) 0 NSW Vic. Qld. SA WA Tas. Aust Student for a SSSC 148.6 157.4 89.8 53.9 53.8 5 522.9 VET Certificate 51.8 34.4 38.1 11.3 15.4 2.6 159.8 Percentage 35% 22% 42% 21% 29% 52% 31%

Figure 6.1 All school students undertaking a Senior Secondary School Certificate and VETiS students by State/Territory (, 00018), 2007

Source: The 2007 VETiS School Statistics (NCVER, 2009)

Table 6.1 shows the national picture of VETiS enrolment, attainment and completion for courses undertaken, rather than student numbers. In Australia, 56% 19 (n=156,500) of enrolments in VETiS subjects resulted in an AQF statement of attainment which means either the “partial completion of a course/ attainment of competencies with a training package, or completion of nationally accredited short course” (NCVER, 2009, p. 14). However, only 23% (n=65,500) of enrolments in VETiS subjects resulted in an AQF qualification across Australia. That is less than one quarter of those enrolled in VETiS successfully completing an AQF qualification.

18 The number is calculated with the unit of thousand. 19 Here the number of enrolment, attainment or attainment of Certificate III is based on the course enrolment number 280,300, instead of student numbers. Because it is the only available statistics provided by NCVER.

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According to data on the rate of VETiS enrolment, attainment and completion, it was found that VETiS courses for Certificate II were undertaken by most of students, accounting for 55% (n=154,300) of courses enrolment for levels of certificates. Accordingly, the attainment (55%, n=85,500) and completion rates (59%, n=38,700) are also relatively higher compared with courses undertaken for Certificate I and III. However, enrolment in Certificate III was only 11% (n=29,700) and the completion rate is only 8% (n=5,000). Comparing the enrolments for Certificate III (5,000) with the total VETiS enrolments (n=280,300), the course completion for Certificate III is just 1.8% of VETiS course enrolments across Australia. In MCEETYA Action Plan 2009–2012 (MCEETYA, 2008c, p. 9), it is stated that “increasing access to and participation in high quality, industry-recognised training at Certificate III level for secondary school students, including through Trades Training Centres”. Given that Certificate III training is the Government policy priority, schools are expected to deliver improved outcomes for achieving the goal of “90% at Certificate III or above” which is advocated in the Joint MCEETYA/MCVTE Meeting, Melbourne (MCEETYA, 2008b, p. 18).

When the number of VETiS courses in each State is compared, the highest rate of VETiS AQF attainment is in South Australia (93%, n=14,800) and the lowest rate is in Queensland (43%, n=40,800). The highest rate of VETiS AQF completion is in Tasmania (43%, n=1,500) and the lowest rate is in West Australia (23%, n=5,600).

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Table 6.1 VETiS courses enrolment, attainment and qualification by state/territory, 2007

NSW Vic. Qld. SA WA Tas. Aust20 Enrolment 70,300 54,800 94,000 15,900 24,000 3,500 280,300

Certificate III 3,400 12,800 9,500 1,100 1,700 100 29,700 5% 23% 10% 7% 7% 3% 11% Certificate II 47,400 36,300 43,500 6,700 10,000 1,800 154,300 67% 66% 46% 42% 42% 51% 55% Certificate I 12,400 4,200 37,800 6,800 11,600 1,600 82,400 18% 8% 40% 43% 48% 46% 29% AQF 39,000 34,900 40,800 14,800 14,100 1,600 156,500 attainment 55% 64% 43% 93% 59% 46% 56% Certificate III 2,100 9,300 5,800 1, 000 1,300 100 20,200 5% 27% 14% 7% 9% 6% 13% Certificate II 25,500 21,000 20,400 6,300 5,900 900 85,500 65% 60% 50% 43% 42% 56% 55% Certificate I 5,600 3,400 12,600 6,300 6,300 600 39,600 14% 10% 31% 43% 45% 38% 25% AQF 18,700 14,300 23,400/25,00021 NA 5,600 1,500 65,50022 completion 27% 26% 25%/27% 23% 43% 23% 23 Certificate III 900 2,200 1,500 NA 400 * 5,000 5% 15% 6% 7% 8% Certificate II 13,900 12,100 8,500 NA 2,700 700 38,700 74% 85% 36% 48% 47% 59% Certificate I 3,900 0 13,400 NA 2,500 700 21,700 21% 0% 57% 45% 47% 33%

Source: The 2007 VETiS School Statistics (NCVER, 2009)

20 The course enrolments and attainments for Diploma or Certificate IV are excluded because less than 50 students completed the enrolled courses in each State/Territory according to 2007 VETiS School Statistics (NCVER, 2009). 21 “25,000” and “27%” derives from another data source, Year 12 School outcomes 2007 (Queensland, 2008b). Refer to 6.3 for detailed explanation. 22 Statistics from SA were unavailable, creating an inconsistency in these figures. 23 Values fewer than 50 are represented by * in 2007 VETiS School Statistics.

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6.4.2 Year 12 students’ outcomes in VETiS in Queensland

Table 6.1 presents detailed information on VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion rates in Queensland. The VETiS outcomes for Queensland were compared with the results of other States and the national average. Table 6.1 shows that even though more Queensland students (n=38,100) involved in VETiS course, VETiS outcomes were not very optimistic. First, VETiS course attainment percentage of Queensland is 43% (n=40,800)24, 13% lower than the national average. The completion rate is 25% (n=23,400) (or 27%, n=25,000) only 2% higher than the national average. Second, VETiS course outcome for Certificate I in Queensland was much better than the national average, however, outcomes for Certificate II and III were lower than the national average.

Let us now look closer at Queensland’s performance. In Queensland (see Table 6.1), the rate of course enrolment for Certificate I (40%, n=37,800) was 11% higher than the national average, its attainment (31%, n=12,600) and completion (57%, n=13,400) rates were 6% and 24% higher than the national average. The rate of course enrolment for Certificate II is 46% (n=43,500), which was 9% lower than the national average. The attainment and completion rates for Certificate II were 50% (n=20,400) and 36% (n=8,500), which are 5% and 23% lower than the national average. As for Certificate III, the course enrolment rate is 10% (n=9,500), near to the national average rate (11%, n=29,700). The rate of attainment for Certificate III in Queensland was 14% (n=5,800) which is 1% higher than the national average but the rate of completion of Certificate III is 6% (n=1,500) which is 2% lower than the national average, ranking the second lowest among all the States and territories.

6.4.3 VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion by industry in Australia and in Queensland

Figures 6.2 and 6.3 present data on the popularity of VETiS subjects among students Australia-wide and in Queensland for the course attainment and completion rates. The top ten course enrolments were chosen because the numbers of the enrolments in other courses were relatively small. Across Australia, VETiS course enrolment in

24 It is course attainment number but not student number.

167 business and clerical studies made up of the greatest number of subject enrolments, followed by tourism and hospitality studies (see Figure 6.2). The other top three course enrolments are sales and personal service; art, entertainment, sport and recreation. The three highest rates of courses attainment in Australia were general education and training; sales and personal service; and arts, entertainment, sport and recreation (see Table 6.2). Across Australia the three courses with the highest completion rates are arts, entertainment, sport and recreation; tourism and hospitality; and sales and personal services.

1.9 Community services health & 4.9 education 8.8 2.2 5.9 Primary industry 10.1 1.7 5.4 Engineering & mining 11.1 1.8 5.1 Computing 11.2 1.4 8.6 General education & training 13.2 3.6 10.9 Building & construction 21.1 Arts, entertainment, sport 5.1 12.4 &recreation 21.5 6.6 18.3 Sales & personal service 29.7 13.4 28 Tourism & hospitality 57.6 13.6 33.1 Business & clerical 64.9

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 student number (,000) Completion Attainment Enrolment

Figure 6.2 VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion by industry categories in Australia

Source: The 2006 VETiS School Statistics (NCVER, 2008)

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Community services health & 0.3 0.8 education 2.1 0.5 Primary industry 0.9 2.4 0.8 Engineering & mining 2 5.9 1 Computing 1.7 6 1.2 General education & training 3 6.1 1.7 Building & construction 1.9 8.1 Arts, entertainment, sport 0.7 1.3 &recreation 3.3 0.9 Sales & personal service 1.63.5 2.5 Tourism & hospitality 7.9 21.3 4.9 Business & clerical 9.1 24.8

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 student number (,000) Completion Attainment Enrolment

Figure 6.3 VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion by industry categories in Queensland

Source: The 2006 VETiS School Statistics (NCVER, 2008)

In Queensland course enrolments also followed the national trend for the top two fields, business and clerical; tourism and hospitality studies (see Figure 6.3). Building and construction; general education and training, and computing were ranked the third, fourth and five in courses enrolment. Interestingly, courses attainment percentage also followed the national trend (see Table 6.2), namely general education and training; sales and personal service; and arts, entertainment, sport and recreation. The three courses with highest completion percentages in Queensland are sales and personal service; arts, entertainment, sport and recreation; and building and construction.

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Table 6.2 Comparison of VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion by industry categories between Australian average and Queensland State, 2006

Enrolment Attainment Completion Aust Qld Aust Qld Aust Qld Business & clerical 64,900 24,800 33,100 9,100 13,600 4,900 51% 37% 21% 20% Tourism & hospitality 57,600 21,300 28,000 7,900 13,400 2,500 49% 37% 23% 12% Sales & personal service 29,700 3,500 18,300 1,600 6,600 900 62% 46% 22.2% 26% Arts, entertainment, sport 21,500 3,300 12,400 1,300 5,100 700 &recreation 58% 39% 24% 21% Building & construction 21,100 8,100 10,900 1,900 3,600 1,700 52% 24% 17% 21% General education & training 13,200 6,100 8,600 3,000 1,400 1,200 65% 49% 11% 20% Computing 11,200 6,000 5,100 1,700 1,800 1,000 46% 28% 16% 17% Engineering & mining 11,100 5,900 5,400 2,000 1,700 800 49% 34% 15% 14% Primary industry 10,100 2,400 5,900 900 2,200 500 58% 38% 21.8% 21% Community services health & 8,800 2,100 4,900 800 1,900 300 education 56% 38% 21.6% 14%

Source: The 2006 VETiS School Statistics (NCVER, 2008)

6.4.4 VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion by student characteristics

Table 6.3 shows the VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion in terms of student characteristics across Australia and Queensland State. In this thesis, ideal factors for researching students’ characteristics include gender, Indigenous identity, living location and SES. However, only information on gender, Indigenous identity and uncompleted information on living location were collected from the data base.

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Across Australia in 2007 VETiS course enrolments by males comprised 52% (n= 145,100), a little higher than females (48%, n=135,200). The percentage of course enrolments by gender in Queensland was even (50%, n=47,200 / 50%, n=46,700). The rate of course attainment by males is 1% higher than females across Australia but 3% lower than females in Queensland. The course completion rate by females was higher than males across Australia (24%, n=32,900 / 22%, n=32,600) and in Queensland (16%, n=11,900 / 14%, n=11,800) (see Table 6.3). The course attainment rate by Indigenous students was approximately 10% lower than that of their non-Indigenous peers (n=60,800) across Australia. The rate of course completion by Indigenous students in Queensland was only 2% less than their non- Indigenous peers (n=22,100). This is an optimistic result given the lower enrolment rate for Indigenous students. The rate of course enrolment by metropolitan students (57.2%) is much higher than that by non-metropolitan students (41.9%). However, the attainment and completion information by location categories were not available from the 2007 VETiS School Statistics (NCVER, 2009).

Table 6.3 VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion by characteristics in Australia and Queensland State, 2007 and 2006

Enrolment Attainment Completion Aust Qld Aust Qld Aust Old Male 145,100 47,200 81,700 20,000 32,600 11,800 52% 50% 56% 42% 22% 14% Female 135,200 46,700 74,800 20,800 32,900 11,900 48% 50% 55% 45% 24% 16% Non-Indigenous 247,600 88,400 154,100 41,200 60,800 22,100 88% 94% 62% 47% 25% 25% Indigenous 10,000 3,000 5,600 1,100 1,600 700 4% 3% 56% 37% 16% 23% Not known ID 22,700 2,600 13,500 900 3,100 600 8% 3% 59% 35% 14% 23% Non-metro25 41.9% Metro 57.2% Other region 1.1%

25 Only the percentage (no numbers) of course enrolment in different regions was available from the 2006 VETiS School Statistics (NCVER, 2008) and statistics in other parts in this table was from the 2007 VETiS School Statistics (NCVER, 2009). 171

6.5 Discussion of research question two

According to the data analysis, it was found that

1. 159,800 students undertook VETiS in 2007 across Australia, representing 31% of students undertaking SSSC. 42% of students in Queensland took VETiS course, which ranks as the second highest among Australian States and Territories.

2. Across Australia, 56% of course enrolments in VETiS subjects resulted in an AQF statement of attainment. But less than one quarter of those enrolled (23%) in VETiS successfully completed an AQF qualification. Furthermore, enrolment in Certificate III was only 11% and the completion rate was only 8%.

3. In Queensland, VETiS course attainment percentage was 43% in 2007, 13% lower than the national average (56%). The completion rate is 25% (or 27%)26 only 2% higher than the national average (23%). While VETiS course outcome for Certificate I in Queensland was 31%, 8% higher than national average (25%), outcomes for Certificate II (50%) and III (14%) are lower than or level to the national average respectively.

4. Across Australia, the top three VETiS course enrolments in 2006 were business and clerical; tourism and hospitality; sales and personal service. However, the highest three rates of courses completion were arts, entertainment, sport and recreation; tourism and hospitality; sales and personal service. VETiS in Queensland followed this national trend.

5. VETiS course enrolments by males and females were almost even in Australia (52% / 48%) and in Queensland (50% / 50%). The course completion rate by females was higher than males across Australia (24% / 22%) and in Queensland (16% / 14%). The course attainment and completion

26 “27%” derives from another data source, Year 12 School Outcomes 2007 (Queensland Government, 2008c). Refer to 6.3 for detailed explanation.

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rate by Indigenous students was lower than that of their non-Indigenous peers across Australia and in Queensland.

VETiS course enrolments, attainments and completions are reflected in Year 12 students’ diverse outcomes. The analysis of Year 12 students’ VETiS outcomes shed light on the question of What do young adults gain in terms of outcomes and capabilities, and what are the social, and economic factors that influence their choice for VETiS pathways?

While the students’ achievements are in part related to the diversity of internal characteristics, their learning choices are also marked and shaped by external circumstances. The affect of these external circumstances on Year 12 completers can provide a way for evaluating Australian policy arrangements made for young adults confronting “entrenched disadvantage” (Queensland Government, 2008b, p. 7). The capability approach makes it possible to ascertain the capabilities young adults have gained through Australian Governments’ policy innovations in VETiS. It is questionable whether these were the only changes needed to enable these young adults to achieve functionings, that is ways of doing and being that they have reason to value and are socially valued. In the following section, the research question is discussed in terms of the relationships between equality and inequality, individual choice and social choice. The concept of “soft criteria” is proposed to shed light on outcomes of students who failed to obtain an AQF attainment and/or qualification through VETiS.

6.5.1 Equality versus inequality

The foregoing analysis of VETiS statistics reveals the uneven performance outcomes of different categories of students, especially Indigenous or non-metropolitan students. The course attainment by Indigenous students was 10% lower than that of their non-Indigenous peers (n=41,200) in Queensland. The completion rate by Indigenous students was 9% lower than non-Indigenous peers (n=60,800) across Australia. Such results make it possible to assess education policies in terms of equality and inequality, to consider individual and social choice. The Australian Governments’ (MCEETYA, 2008c, p. 9) VETiS policies promise to “support the

173 senior years of schooling and the provision of high quality pathways to facilitate effective transitions between further study, training and employment”. The foregoing analysis raises the question of whether equality in education is only a matter of “distributing resources or should [Government policies also] address [the] capability [of young adults] to choose and have good lives” (Walker, 2008a, p. 149).

The evaluation of policy in terms of equality must then take into account the freedom in students’ opportunities as much as their observed choices and outcomes. The outcomes of Government VETiS reforms promised to contribute to students’ well being and quality of life. If this is happening for some categories of students rather than others, then questions arise about the equality of desirable capabilities government policy promises to achieve. The VETiS course completion rate, which ranges from 43% (n=1,500 in Tasmania) to 23% (n=5,600 in West Australia) calls for attention to improving VETiS outcomes nationally so as to enhance young adults’ prospects for employment and/or further education and training. Given policy makers support strategies of “equity and excellence” for the disadvantaged (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 15) they cannot afford to ignore how learning shapes the labour market prospects of young adults from different social, economic and regional backgrounds. Policy makers know that “inequality attributable to socioeconomic factors remains too high, and Indigenous students continue to be more than two and a half years, on average, behind non-Indigenous students” (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 14). Here it should be noted that Sen (1992, p. 117) argues that “analyses of inequality must, in many cases, proceed in terms of groups—rather than specific individuals—and would tend to confine attention to intergroup variations”. In doing group analysis, Government policy-makers should choose between different ways of classifying young adults. However, incomplete information about Year 12 students’ location provided in the 2006 and 2007 VETiS statistics and a total absence of statistics about students’ social economic status (SES) despite these being foregrounded in government policy. The latter is an important vector for judging VETiS outcomes and Australian Government policies. The oversights with respect to grouping students by location and SES make it difficult to interrogate the success of Government policy and its implementation. The NCVER has selected and thus privileged particular groupings of students rather than others. Year 12 students’ freedom to choose and to achieve a valued and valuable work/life trajectory is affected by their social, economic, cultural 174 environmental assets, including government policy. Statistics on VETiS in terms of socioeconomic status and location need to be available to judge whether disadvantaged young adults are accessing to a better future as a result of government policy.

Towards Q2 (Queensland Government, 2008b, p. 7) raised the issue of “entrenched disadvantage” and the Queensland Government’s commitment to empowering “disadvantaged young adults with purpose and knowledge to make changes that create a better and brighter future”. However, the rate of AQF attainment and Certificate III completions in Queensland (43%, n=40,800 and 6%, n=1,500) are lower than the national average (56%, n=156,500 and 8%, n=5,000). Furthermore, the AQF attainment rates for Indigenous student in Queensland (37%, n=1,100) is also lower than both the State (43%, n=40,800) and national average (56%, n=156,500). This suggests that the resources available to Indigenous students, that is “the set of commodity bundles from which [they] can choose” (Sen, 1992, p. 36) are less than those available to their non-Indigenous peers. A young Indigenous adult’s subjective preferences and choices from schooling are “shaped and informed or deformed by society and public policy. Unequal social and political circumstances lead to “unequal chances and unequal capacities to choose” (Walker, 2006a, p. 167). Australian Government policies point to industries, technical colleges and universities as being the key “commodity bundles” from which young Indigenous adults need to select. Their freedom to achieve must be judged by the resources in their immediate social environment. Such results call for the exploration and implementation of efficiency of policy interventions that address the accessibility of premium resources to categories of students experiencing “entrenched disadvantage” (Queensland Government, 2008b, p. 5).

Using the capability approach it has been possible to evaluate educational dis/advantage because “individual functionings [are] inflected by a person’s relative advantages in society and enhanced by enabling public policies” (Walker, 2006a, p. 165). This freedom-focused approach addresses the need to remove obstacles which constrains young Indigenous adult learners’ opportunities to choose a valuable life in a modern democratic society such as Australia.

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6.5.2 Individual choice vs. social choice

Lubienski, Weitzel and Lubienski (2009 p. 165) argue that it is difficult to measure outcome because “influences on student achievement include not only the effects of a school’s academic program but also the school’s socio-economic mix and the students’ background and family influences”. All young adults in Queensland and across Australia are now required to stay at school until they complete Year 12. They have the choice of undertaking VETiS, including apprenticeships and traineeships as part of their Senior Secondary School Certificate. VETiS provides a range of choices from AQF Certificates I to IV. The capability approach offers “freedom-based approach” (Walker, 2008a, p. 149) to the problem of education in the formation of persons and the transformation of individuals and society. It allows us to recognise the different values of people situate on different lives and ways of living, and to figure out the social constraints on choices such that people might adapt to, and accept without questioning. Senior L/earning is meant to provide young adults with possibilities for widening their capability set by making choices from a range of options such as going to university or undertaking VETiS or working full-time.

Sen (1992, p. 34) offers two ways to evaluate the benefits of VETiS policy for Year 12 students in Australia, either by adopting a “selection view” or an “options view”. The selection view focuses on the comparison of the “goodness” of the bundles of choices a young adult faces. For instance, this bundle now includes SSSC, AQF Certificates I-IV, all of which are socially valued goods. The selection view presents all young adults everywhere across Australia as being able to equally choose from among these goods. It is assumed that all young adults across Australia are equally able to compare all these possible outcomes as equally realisable choices. However, Nussbaum (cited in Walker, 2006b, p. 40) argues that young adults adapt their preferences or choices “according to what they think is possible for them”, which means their choice are socially constrained. When faced with multiple choices of transformation pathways, young adults’ choices are better accounted by the option view.

The option view provides an interactive comparison between the commodities and the “revealed preference” (Sen, 1992, p. 34) of a given young adult who chooses a

176 particular set of commodities. Sen (1999, p. 253) argues that this means policies should not act only on “the basis of given individual preferences”, but also show sensitivity to social basis of decisions that informed “the development of individual preferences and norms”. Young adults chose different VETiS courses based on the structural comparisons they can make about substantive education, training and work options.

The top four occupational groups with the greatest vacancies in 2007 were “Factory and Machine Workers; Accounting, Finance and Management; Hospitality and Tourism; and Marketing and Sales Representatives” (Australian Government, 2007, p. 1). Across Australia and Queensland the greatest numbers of Year 12 student were enrolled in and completed courses in business and clerical; tourism and hospitality; and, sales and personal service. These students’ VETiS choices were in areas of labour market demand. But arts, entertainment, sport and recreation also dominated in course enrolments and completions, which was consistent with students’ interest but not resulted to areas of labour market demand.

With the 2008-09 global financial crisis, the Vacancy Report (Australian Government, 2009, p. 1) (Australian Government, 2009, p. 1) showed that the “business and finance” category had the largest fall in occupations in demand. In addition, tourism and hospitality and, sales and personal service were no longer the top jobs in demand. The dynamics of the labour market compound individual and social choices about education and training programs. VETiS is “an individual good but crucially it is also a collective good” (Deneulin cited in Walker, 2008a, p. 157); changes in the labour market mean VETiS can guarantee a one-to-one correspondence.

Sen (1999, p. xii) emphasises the “deep complementarity [sic] between individual agency and social arrangements … [and] the force of social influences on the extent and reach of individual freedom”. The weighing up of the potential among VETiS options differs according to personal, environmental and socio-economic factors which constraint the freedom some categories of young adults in achieving valued destinations. Sen (1999, p. 249) indicates that we “need institutions that work to promote our goals and valuational [sic] commitment, and furthermore we need 177 behavioural norms and reasoning that allow us to achieve what we try to achieve”. The connections between education and life chances mean that VETiS government policy may benefit from being geared to the multiple dimensions of entrenched disadvantage.

It is sensible under some circumstances for individual preferences to take into account long-term and broad social distributions of their consequences. Moreover, government VETiS policy outcomes may need to consider what is good for students and how this affects others and the communities with which they live and work.

6.5.3 Hard versus soft criteria

The 2007 VETiS statistics (NCVER, 2009) show that 56% (n=156,500) of enrolments resulted in an AQF statement of attainment but only 23% (n=65,500) of enrolments resulted in an AQF qualification. Thus, 44% (n= 123,800) of VETiS enrolment resulted in no results, and 77% (n=214,800) of VETiS enrolments did not lead to credited qualification. Can we draw the conclusion that they gain nothing from VETiS? Once again Sen’s (1992) capability approach can be tested for the answers it provides.

A capability refers to the potential or an opportunity to achieve, while functioning refers to the actual achievements or outcomes. This distinction between capability and functioning invites us to look beneath outcomes to consider what freedom a young adult has to choose and achieve valued functioning. It requires us to look beneath VETiS outcomes at the freedom or opportunities each student has to achieve what s/he values and hence “the self-determination of their ends and values in life to generate reflective, informed choices of ways of living that each person deems important and valuable for their well-being” (Walker, 2008b, p. 478).

Walker (2008a, p. 150) argues that education might generate lifelong failure “if social difference is converted into educational disadvantage [and] produce ineradicable exclusions”. One of important criteria for the quality of VETiS is students’ gaining recognised certificates but the potential failure is if schooling makes students understand the possible benefits afforded by the option of courses

178 choice. Gandjour (2008, p. 346) proposes that “some functionings are not only the result of capabilities, but also their prerequisite”. For example, a young adult may have the capability or potential to work but this has to be compared to whether she/he actually has the skills or knowledge (functioning). In addition, the capability to select a set of functionings in the current period depends on functionings achieved by the individual in the past. Functioning directs attention both to individuals and also to the education/training relations and socio-economic arrangements which enable or constrain their learning and participation. A focus only on outcomes may miss the freedom to realise such achievements.

Students’ outcomes from Senior L/earning may be judged by “hard criteria”, such as governments’ expectation regarding Certificate III being achieved by VETiS graduates (MCEETYA, 2008a) that accredits students’ learning performance. “Soft criteria” refer to the physical, psychological and mental achievements students acquire during their education and training. The learning process—whether it be an apprenticeship or a doctoral program—is seldom linear and instant; it is more often cyclical—iterative—with new learning building on existing knowledge, past experiences and student’s identities. Learning is then “a process of ‘becoming’ as well as ‘being’ over a life course, and through cycles of schooling” (Walker, 2006a, p. 177). Their VETiS program may be seen as providing a set of interrelated “functionings” consisting of beings and doings.

The evaluation of a capability set may be based on the assessment of the particular valuable capabilities chosen from that set. As mentioned in section 3.5.2, Walker (2006a, pp. 179, 180) argues for eight multi-dimensional capabilities as core education capabilities, namely “autonomy; knowledge; social relations; respect and recognition; aspiration; voice (participation in learning); bodily integrity and bodily health; and emotional integrity and emotions”. The list suggests that young adults may learn more valuable capabilities from VETiS than that be determined by the governments’ hard criteria. Therefore, Senior L/earning can provide capabilities students have reason to value and are valued as beings or doings. As young adults negotiate their perceptions of Senior L/earning, they make reasonable choices about what they pursue because they value it.

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With reference to employability skills framework, Taylor (2005) explained that the ANTA and the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) commissioned a report, Employability skills for the future (2002) undertaken by the Business Council of Australia and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In this report, it was identified generic skills and personal characteristics or attributes that are said to be needed in the workplace and are expected to lead to the success of an employee or self-employed worker. However, the employability skills framework in that report received a mixed reception from the VET sectors. It involves “concern with the term employability skill and the selection of the particular skills and attributes themselves, to the lack of consultation that had occurred with the VET sector” (Taylor, 2005, p. 206). Questions were asked about the way “in which the skills debate is being framed and the implications this has for schooling” (Taylor, 2005, p. 214).

Only less than one quarter of VETiS enrolment courses (23%, n=65,500) resulted in AQF qualification. This is perhaps not surprising since “things often do not go as we plan” (Sen, 1999, p. 254), but the capability approach acknowledges reasoned policy efforts to help young adults to gain better outcomes. Edwards et al. (cited in Walker, 2006b, p. 126) define learning as

the transformation of understanding, identity and agency … involving a developing awareness which results in growing understanding of customary practice, leading to reflexive social and self-questioning and the transformation of ‘habitus’… the capacity to develop and sustain reflexivity

It is proposed that students learn valued and valuable outcomes through VETiS such as negotiating social relations, valuing differences, developing compassion and friendship. Any valued functioning they achieve in this regard will help students identify these dimensions that enhance or change their capability sets. Everyone is born with some diverse talents, the Senior L/earning provides the possibility to develop individual’s varied capabilities and functionings by facilitating their adoption to flexible work environments. The purpose of Senior L/earning is not only focused on quantifiable input-output strategies, but also the development of students’ functional capabilities because the world needs them to have ways of being and

180 doing that they value and which are socially valuable. Making explicit meaning of “skill” in the school context might shed light on what the policy means for changing practice. Taylor (2005, p. 205) argues that “if attributes and skills such as those identified are to be ‘measured’, then a great deal more work is required to clarify not only what exactly is meant by each, but whose definition will prevail, and also under what circumstances someone might be judged competent.”

6.6 Conclusion

This chapter has tested the relevance of Sen’s (1992, 1999) capability approach for judging the policy outcomes Year 12 students across Australia and in Queensland have gained by undertaking VETiS courses. This analysis of the 2006 and 2007 VET in Schools Statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) may help senior schools, VETiS providers and policy makers better understand the limits of Government reforms in terms of the achievement of valuable functionings by Year 12 students. While these policy interventions in VETiS are important, there is a need to review the economic, social, cultural and environmental assets available to Indigenous and non- metropolitan students in their immediate communities. The Australian Governments’ policy interventions promise to improve the outcomes of Year 12 students but to do so they have to explicably address the social, economic, cultural and environmental assets immediately available to these specific categories of students. Policy interventions in VETiS need a stronger focus on the equitable allocation of capability inputs that take into regard of geographic location or Indigenous identity. This means paying more attention to enhancing the freedom of Years 10-12 students from Indigenous, non-metropolitan communities and low SES background to achieve valued work, education and training goals through VETiS.

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CHAPTER SEVEN: POST-SCHOOL DESTINATIONS OF YEAR 12 COMPLETERS IN QUEENSLAND

7.0 Introduction

Education and training are important drivers of economic and social success for individuals and nations. Vocational education and training in Senior L/earning are a key part of Australia’s social and economic development with policy consensus apparent at State and Commonwealth levels. Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) may offer a route whereby young adults might escape from entrenched disadvantage and climb the socio-economic ladder of education, training and skilled work. Individual capability and the freedom to achieve are important when analysing Year 12 completers’ post-school destinations. Focusing on gender, geographic location, Indigenous identity and socio-economic status, the purposes of the statistical data analyses presented in this Chapter are (i) to ascertain if the education and training provided by schools and training providers are implementing government policies and (ii) to find out whether Government VETiS policies are ensuring the successful transition of young adults from school to further education, training or skilled work. This Chapter extends the policy analysis presented so far with respect to the freedom Year 12 completers have to achieve the goals for education, training and skilled work they value and which are socially valued, using Sen’s (1992; 1999) key concepts.

The Queensland Government’s (2006, 2007, 2008a, 2009a) Next Step annual surveys are analysed in this Chapter to contribute knowledge that is not currently available about the outcomes of Senior L/earning reforms. While the Queensland Next Step surveys provide year by year analyses, this Chapter analyses the cumulative trends in post-school destinations from 2006 to 2009, the years for which data are currently available. The analysis identifies four main destinations for different groupings of Year 12 completers, namely, further study at university; further VET including apprenticeships or traineeships; full-time work, and other activities. Other activities include part-time work, unemployment or not being in the labor force. This analysis enables comparisons to be made of Year 12 completers’ destinations focusing on students’ gender, metropolitan and non-metropolitan locations, Indigenous

183 background and SES. Sen’s (1992, 1999) concepts of capabilities, functionings and freedom to achieve are used to inform the interpretation of this data. These concepts enable the analysis of whether young adults obtain equal opportunities for transitional pathways regardless of their social and economic diversity, and to consider what are the internal and external factors influenced young adults’ post- school destination. It should be noted that the immediate post-school outcomes of Australian young adults are influenced not only by their own decisions but also by factors affecting their individual capabilities and achievement functioning. In many aspects their choices are socially influenced but not absolutely determined by factors of gender, SES or location (Sen, 1992, 1999).

7.1 Research method operated for collecting data from the Next Step surveys

The Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 (Queensland Government, 2006b) was a milestone in innovation in Queensland Senior Learning being “the primary legislative instrument for education in Queensland”. Since then young adults in Queensland have been required to stay at school to participate in education or training for a further two years (Years 11 and 12), or “until they have gained the new Queensland Certificate of Education or Certificate III/IV vocational qualification, or until they turn 17” (Queensland Government, 2006b, p. 143). The Education (General Provisions) Act 2006 (Queensland Government, 2006b) provided “the first major shift in the delivery of education in Queensland in more than 40 years [and supplied] a legislative framework for the Senior Phase of Learning to ensure that Queensland’s young people are either ‘learning or earning’” (Harreveld & Singh, 2007, p. 28). Therefore, the focus of this Chapter is on the post-school destinations of Queensland’s Year 12 completers from 2006-2009. This Chapter presents key features of the relations between capabilities and the freedom to achieve by grounding Sen’s (1992, 1999) theoretical insights empirically. Two points relating to the research method used here are highlighted in this section, namely the delimitation of the case or unit of analysis and the data analysis process.

7.1.1 The case of “post-school destinations for Year 12 completers”

Harreveld and Singh (2009) found when they did their study that specific outcomes from Queensland’s reforms to Senior L/earning were difficult to capture and verify

184 from the available official statistics. However, the statistical data now available from the Next Step surveys (Queensland Government, 2006a, 2007, 2008a, 2009a), this study contributes to readdressing this concern. The Next Step surveys were conducted by the Queensland DET as part of the School Reporting initiative and to support the State Government’s education and training reforms. The survey results show the initial study and work destination of young people after completing school (Queensland Government, 2009a). The OGS conducted the survey approximately six months after the young adults left school each year. Responses were predominantly collected via computer-assisted telephone interviewing with a paper-based survey collected from a small number of students for whom telephone details were not available (Queensland Government, 2009a). The 2006-09 surveys targeted all students from Government funded schools and VET colleges in both the public and private sector who completed Year 12 in Queensland in the years 2005 to 2008.

It should be noted that the concept of “post-school destinations for Year 12 completers” does not include early school leavers. Singh and Sawyer (2008) report that in 2000, of the 58,100 school leavers in Queensland, 28 per cent (16,400) were “early school leavers,” of whom 76 per cent were not in education or training, and 29 per cent were unemployed. Earlier, Gardner (2002) recommended that the 5000 (11.5 %) of Queensland students who left school before Year 11 be targeted by policymakers for initiatives which reconnected them with education, training and/or skilled work. Given its focus, the Next Step statistics are unable to say anything about those who did not complete Year 12.

On the whole, the Next Step surveys provide parents and the wider public with state- wide Year 12 completers’ post-school destinations at the very least so they can know the achievement of students and the range of options available to them. This publicly available information made it possible for the public—as citizens and voters—to review policies for their affect on the transition of young adults from school to further study and employment. Since the Next Step surveys provided about 60 pages specific information each year, how to extract the useful data from them for this study is discussed in the next section.

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7.1.2 From open to focused data analysis

The Queensland Next Step surveys (Queensland Government, 2006a, 2007, 2008a, 2009a) provide statistical data on Year 12 completers’ immediate post-school destinations. In order to define “what the data are all about” (Charmaz, 1995, p. 37), these statistics have been analysed through a three-step process. First, the data were analysed by interacting with, and asking questions using “sensitising concepts” (Marvasti, 2004, p. 86) derived from research questions and theoretical framework. Thus, the data were analysed in terms of study at university; VET; full-time work, and other activities by young adults’ gender, geographic location, Indigenous identity and SES. According to the Next Step report (Queensland Government, 2006a, p. 36), the metropolitan area is defined as “schools in the Statistical Divisions of Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and West Moreton, while non-metropolitan encompass the remainder of Queensland”. Here Indigenous identity refers to young adults who self-identify as Aborigines or Torres Strait Islanders. “Socioeconomic status” is defined by students’ home address based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Socio-Economic indexes for Areas (SEIFA). However, Marks (2000, p. 5) argues that this measure of socioeconomic status is much debated because it cannot be “derived from a single measure or calculated from several variables”.

The second stage of analysis involved open coding, otherwise known as initial or inductive analysis (Strauss & Corbin 1990; Marvasti, 2004; Creswell, 2008). Open coding was performed to condense the mass of data into categories and key themes. This involved “breaking down, examining, comparing, conceptualizing, and categorizing” (Strauss & Corbin, 1990, p. 61) the Next Steps’ statistics in terms of the sensitising concepts noted above. While this examination or fracturing of data to generate codes can be proceeded “line by line, by sentence or paragraph” (Charmaz, 1995, p. 39), a holistic analysis of the Next Step statistics was undertaken to allow the categories and themes to emerge from this data. This was followed by focused coding (Charmaz, 1995; Marvasti, 2004). It involved the selection of a core category that accounted for most of the variation of the central concerns in the data and integrating them with theoretical concepts from Sen’s (1992, 1999) to explore useful analytical connections.

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In Chapter 3, it was explained that the capability approach developed by Amartya Sen (1992, 1999) providing a conceptual framework for the evaluation and assessment of individual well-being and their social arrangements. The capability approach is based on the notion that life is composed of various functionings which consist of “doings”, that is a person’s behaviour or action, as well as “beings”, that is a person’s status or social roles (Sen, 1992, p. 39). The quality of a life is assessed using the capability approach in terms of a person’s freedom to achieve possible ways of living or valuable functionings (Sen, 1992, p. 40). The capability approach offers an alternative informational basis for the evaluation of government policies to that of the human capital model. Queensland’s policies for re-forming Senior L/earning promise to help young adults from situations of entrenched disadvantage gain full-time, skilled jobs and/or a better future via higher education and/or training (MCEETYA, 2008a). However, it should be noted that the achievements young adults made are influenced not only by their own decisions or these Government policies but also by factors recognised in and supposedly addressed in these policies such as Indigenous identity, location, poverty—as well as the local/global economy. It does so, by the identification of valuable functionings and then by asking which functionings a person is able to achieve if s/he wants to do so.

Central to the realisation of functionings and capabilities is choice, whereby a person exercises her/his agency to make select from a range of alternatives (Sen, 1992). For Sen (1992, p. 56) agency is the ability a person has to realise “goals and values she has reasons to pursue” and well-being refers to “the quality of the person’s being” (Sen, 1992, p. 39). Agency and well-being are connected in one’s capability to pursue goals that one “values and has reason to value” (Sen, 1999, p. 18). The concept of agency advanced by Sen (1992, p. 58) relates to young adults’ capability to act and bring about change, the achievement of which can be judged in terms of her/his own values and objectives. However, he points out a person’s achievements are not caused solely by her/his own activities. Circumstances beyond his/her own control also aid – and/or hinder – his/her functionings directed at achieving well- being. Robeyns (2005, p. 99) points out that personal, social and environmental “conversion factors” influence how well a person can convert capability inputs such as Senior L/earning, into functioning achievements such as accessing to higher education, training or securing full-time, skilled employment. These conversion 187 factors are the “means of achievement” (Sen, 1992, p. 33) which influence, but do not decisively determine whether, how and to what degree young adults can use their capabilities to convert their economic, social and cultural assets into personal functionings. The young adults who are the focus of the policies of Australian Governments experience entrenched economic and social disadvantage, rely on Senior L/earning as a key source of cultural assets. They also compete in the education, training and labour markets against those who have greater cultural, social and economic assets.

Given this diversity, freedom to achieve can be understood as the real opportunity open to young adults that have to accomplish what they value and which are socially and economically valued (Sen, 1992). Sen’s (1992, p. 117) distinction between equality and human diversity is important because young adults “are so deeply diverse, that equality in one space frequently leads to inequality in other spaces”. However, the inequalities in an individual’s physical and mental abilities have to be considered in relation to the cultural, social and economic bases of young adults’ well-being and freedom. This means the focus is on “the underlying concerns and values, in terms of which some definable functionings may be important and others quite trivial and negligible” (Sen, 1992, p. 44).

There are many factors influencing the means and extent of young adults’ freedom to achieve. Sen (1992, p. 36) argues that “resources tell us about the set of commodity bundles from which we can choose”. A young adult’s freedom to achieve may be judged by his/her command over the resources in his/her immediate social environment. The VETiS policies of Australian Governments (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 12) point to industries, technical colleges and universities as being key “commodity bundles” from which young adults need to select post-school destinations. Further, Lanzi (2007, p. 426) argues that without immediate access to such “commodity bundles”, the individual faces shortfalls in “opportunities for functioning” needed to exercise legal rights, engage public policies or pursue social conditions to achieve what they value and have reason to value. The freedom to achieve through accessing immediately available commodity bundles is an important indicator to use by examining the immediate post-school destinations of Year 12 completers in the context of Government policies directed at reforming Senior L/earning through

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VETiS. Differences in social, geographic and economic characteristics can make the conversion of young adults’ resources or primary goods into the freedom to achieve variable. This conceptual framework enabled me to move from a large number of initial codes to a smaller, more manageable data set; to select and refine Sen’s (1992) key concepts and to organise the analysis around several core concepts. The following data analysis helped to clarify key concepts in the capability approach concerning young adults’ choices concerning their post-school destinations; their freedom to achieve these, and whether they are likely to achieve their well-being as a result of the cultural, social and economic assets available to them.

7.2 Findings of Destinations of Year 12 completers in Queensland (2006-09)

This section begins by providing a profile of the main destinations of Year 12 completers in Queensland for the 2006-09 time-span. It then disseminates this data and indicates the main destinations of Year 12 completers by gender, SES, metropolitan/non-metropolitan locations and Indigenous identity for the same period. Finally the data were analysed focusing on VET destinations which is a key consideration in this thesis.

7.2.1 Main destination of Queensland’s Year 12 completers

With respect to the post-school destinations for all Year 12 completers, Table 7.1 shows that trend for university destination was stable. University was the most likely choice ranging from 36.7% (n=11,378), 36.5% (n=12,022), 34.4% (n=11,546) and 35.1% (n=12,261) by young adults from 2006 to 2009 respectively. Trend for VET destination decreased. The choice of VET for young adults after Year 12 declined across these four years and accounted for a little more than one quarter of the total number of students (28.6%, n=8848 in 2006, 27.1%, n=8939 in 2007, 26.2%, n=8788 in 2008 and 24.5%, n=8549 in 2009). Number of Year 12 completers who entered full-time was varied. Full-time work increased from 2006 to 2008 by 3.9% but dropped from 17.4% (n=5383) to 12.3% (n=4286) in 2009. The destination for those young adults designated as “other” increased from 21.2% (n=6575) in 2006 to 28% (n=9606) in 2009.

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Table 7.1 Main destination of Year 12 completers, Queensland 06-0927

2006 2007 2008 2009 Trends

Number % Number % Number % Number %

University 11378 36.7 12022 36.5 11546 34.4 12261 35.1 stable VET 8848 28.6 8939 27.1 8788 26.2 8549 24.5 decrease

Full- 4188 13.5 5028 15.3 5838 17.4 4286 12.3 varied time 28 6575 21.2 6959 21.2 7396 22 9806 28 increase Other29

Total 30989 100 32948 10030 33568 100 34902 10031

Figure 7.1 shows that the VET destination rate dropped by 4.1% from 2006 to 2009. It may be presumed that the increasing employment rate was related to the short- lived economic boom in Queensland’s minerals and energy sector during this time. However, with the global financial crisis beginning in 2008, the rate of employment for young adults leading to full-time work declined in 2009 and is expected to last for some period of time following the disastrous state-wide flooding in 2010-2011. Higher education and VET enrolments may be expected to increase as Australia Governments retrain displaced workers. These challenges pose new questions for Governments, policy-makers, educators, employment brokers and young adults themselves. The Next Step data for the next few years might reflect these macro- economic and environmental crises. Despite Queensland’s reformist policies, these statistics suggest that there are still significant numbers of young adults who are not successful in making the transition from school to full-time learning or earning.

27 Source of Tables 7.1-7.6 are from the Next Step reports 2006-2009 (Queensland Government, 2006a, 2007; 2008a, 2009a). 28 Full-time means full time work destination in this chapter. 29 “Other” includes part-time work, unemployment or not being in the labour force (Queensland Government, 2006a). 30 The total percentage is 101%. 1% variance is occurred in adding “working part-time; seeking work; not studying/not in the labour force” as the “other” destination based on the Next Step report 2007. 31 The total percentage is 99%. 1% variance is occurred in adding “working part-time; seeking work; not studying/not in the labour force” as the “other” destination based on the Next Step report 2009.

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14000

12000

10000

8000

6000

student number 4000

2000

0 University % VET % Full-time % Other % 2006 11378 36.7 8848 28.6 4188 13.5 6575 21.2 2007 12022 36.5 8939 27.1 5028 15.3 6959 21.2 2008 11546 34.4 8788 26.2 5838 17.4 7396 22 2009 12261 35.1 8549 24.5 4286 12.3 9806 28

Figure 7.1 Main destinations of Year 12 completers, Queensland 06-0932

7.2.2 Main destination of Year 12 completers by gender

Gender differences were evident in the post-school destination of Queensland’s young adults (see Table 7.2). The tendency for university destination from 2006 to 2009 among males and females was stable. However, the tendency for VET destination declined for both males and females. The number of males and females who engaged in full-time work was varied, experiencing progressive increase from 2006 to 2008 and then decreased in 2009. The “other” activity group of males and females increased also from 2006 to 2009.

32 Source of Figures 7.1-7.5 are from the Next Step reports 2006-2009 (Queensland Government, 2006a, 2007, 2008a, 2009a).

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Table 7.2 Main destinations of Queensland’s Year 12 completers by gender 06- 09

2006 2007 2008 2009 Trends

Number % Number % Number % Number % University

Male 4716 31.9 4996 32 4949 30.8 5119 31.1 stable Female 6662 41.1 7026 40.5 6597 37.7 7142 38.7 stable VET Male 4905 33.2 5050 32.3 5038 31.4 4703 28.6 decline Female 3943 24.3 3889 22.4 3750 21.4 3846 20.9 decline Full-time Male 2124 14.4 2384 15.3 2747 17.1 2002 12.2 varied Female 2064 12.7 2644 15.3 3091 17.7 2284 12.4 varied Other Male 3042 20.6 3186 20.4 3325 20.7 4633 28.1 increase Female 3533 21.9 3773 21.8 4071 23.2 5173 28 increase

Figure 7.2 presents the different destinations by gender of Year 12 completers. This Figure shows that females are more likely to enter universities than males. The largest gap between females and males occurred in 2006 by 9.5% when 41.1% (n=6662) of females entered university as opposed to 31.9% of males (n=4716). The gap narrowed in the following years by 7.5% (2007), 6.9% (2008) and 7.6% (2009) respectively. The destination for VET among males and females was opposite to university destination. More males chose VET than females by 8.9% in 2006, 9.9% in 2007, 10% in 2008 and 7.7% in 2009. However, it should be noted that the tendency to choose VET declined across these four years for both male and female students. Such results also mirror the decline in VET destination noted in section 7.2.1. The rate for full-time work between males and females were similar in these years but there was a sharp drop in 2009 both for males (12.2%, n=2002) and females (12.4%, n=2284). With respect to the destination of “other activities” it was similar for both males and females but it increased by 7.4% for males and 4.8% for females in 2009.

192

45 40 35 30 25 20

percentage 15 10 5 0 M F M F M F M F University VET Full-time Other 2006 31.9 41.1 33.2 24.3 14.4 12.7 20.6 21.9 2007 32 40.5 32.3 22.4 15.3 15.3 20.4 21.8 2008 30.8 37.7 31.4 21.4 17.1 17.7 20.7 23.2 2009 31.1 38.7 28.6 20.9 12.2 12.4 28.1 28

Figure 7.2 Main destinations of Year 12 completers by gender, Queensland 06- 09

7.2.3 Main destination of Year 12 completers by metro/non-metropolitan locations

Figure 7.3 33 outlines the metropolitan/non-metropolitan differences in the main destinations of Year 12 graduates. The university destination rate in metropolitan regions was much higher than that in non-metropolitan regions, the gap ranging from 11.4% in 2006, 14.9% in 2007, 13.8% in 2008 and 16.5% in 2009. The VET destination rates in non-metropolitan Queensland were higher than that in the metropolitan areas, the gap ranging from being 5.5% in 2006, 7% in 2007, 4.6% in 2008 and 5.6% in 2009. However, the full-time work destination rates in non- metropolitan Queensland were higher than that of the metropolitan region by 4.7%, 7.8%, 6.4% and 7% over the four years. Such results suggest that a higher percentage of metropolitan students chose to attend university—and thus gain the prospects of better job. It also indicates that a higher percentage of non-metropolitan students

33 The original data from the Next Step surveys (06-08) compared regional difference in post-school destinations by metropolitan and non-metropolitan categories; the Next Step survey 2009 compared the regional difference in the categories labelled as “South-East Queensland” and “Regional Queensland”. However, the definition of these area is the same as “metropolitan area (the South-East Queensland area) is defined as schools in the Statistical Divisions of Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and West Moreton, while non-metropolitan (Regional Queensland) encompasses the remainder of Queensland” (Queensland Government, 2008a, p. 36; 2009a, p. 53). In this table, “metropolitan and non-metropolitan” are used to indicate different regions; and there is only percentage of Year 12 completers destinations provided in the original data.

193 chose VET or full-time work. As for the destination of “other”, rates of students in metropolitan and non-metropolitan were similar across these four years but there was an increase of 5.7% in the metropolitan area and 8.1% in non-metropolitan area from 2008 to 2009.

45 40 35 30 25 20

percentage 15 10 5 0 Metropol Non- Metropol Non- Metropol Non- Metropol Non- itan metro itan metro itan metro itan metro University % VET % Full-time % Others % 2006 40.4 29 26.9 32.4 12 16.7 20.9 21.9 2007 41.2 26.3 25.6 32.6 12.8 20.6 20.5 22.5 2008 38.7 24.9 24.8 29.4 15.4 21.8 21.2 22.7 2009 40.4 24.1 22.6 28.2 10 17 26.9 30.8

Figure 7.3 Main destinations of Year 12 completers by location, Queensland 06- 09

7.2.4 Main destination of Queensland’s Year 12 completers by Indigenous identity

According to the Next Step’s data (Queensland Government, 2006, 2007, 2008; 2009), Indigenous Year 12 completers made up 2% (n=601), 2.4% (n=770), 2.4% (n=805) and 2.7% (949) of the total cohorts across 2006 and 2009 (see Table 7.4). Table 7.3 and Figure 7.4 show that Indigenous Year 12 completers were as less than half as likely enter university when compared with their non-Indigenous peers. However, proportionally more Indigenous young adults choose VET destinations, being 7.7%, 6.2%, 5.9% and 6.3% more likely to do so than their non-indigenous peers during the period from 2006 to 2009. The rates for full-time work for these two groups were similar across these four years. However, there was a large gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Year 12 graduates in the “other” category. More Indigenous students were in the “other” category than their peers, the gap ranging from 13.9%, 18%, 15.8% and 16.4% across the period 2006 to 2009.

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Table 7.3 Main destinations of Queensland’s Year 12 completers by Indigenous status, Queensland 06-09

2006 2007 2008 2009 Trends Number % Number % Number % Number % University Indigenous 92 15.3 97 12.6 113 14 134 14 varied Non-Indige 11286 37.1 11925 37.1 11433 34.9 12127 35.7 stable VET Indigenous 217 36.1 256 33.2 257 31.9 289 30.5 decrease Non-Indige 8631 28.4 8683 27 8531 26 8260 24.3 decrease Full-time Indigenous 82 13.6 111 14.4 133 16.5 107 11.3 varied Non-Indige 4106 13.5 4917 15.3 5705 17.4 4179 12.3 varied

Others Indigenous 210 34.9 306 39.7 306 37.5 419 44.1 increase Non-Indige 6365 21 6653 20.7 7104 21.7 9387 27.7 increase Total Indigenous 601 2 770 2.4 805 2.4 949 2.7 Non-Indige 30388 98 32178 97.6 32763 97.6 33953 97.3

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 percentage 15 10 5 0 Non- Non- Non- Non- Indige Indige Indige Indige Indige Indige Indige Indige University VET Full-time Others 2006 15.3 37.1 36.1 28.4 13.6 13.5 34.9 21 2007 12.6 37.1 33.2 27 14.4 15.3 39.7 20.7 2008 14 34.9 31.9 26 16.5 17.4 37.5 21.7 2009 14 35.7 30.5 24.3 11.3 12.3 44.1 27.7

Figure 7.4 Main destinations of Year 12 completers by Indigenous status, Queensland 06-09

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Table 7.4 34 shows the large variation in destinations among Indigenous Year 12 graduates by gender and regions. Generally, the trend for university destination among Indigenous Year 12 students decreased but only percentage of male Indigenous students increased from 2006 to 2009. More female Indigenous graduates chose to enter university compared to their male Indigenous peers, being 11.9%, 7.8%, 6.8% and 5.3% higher from 2006 to 2009. The trend for VET destination decreased in general. However, the gender difference between males and females with respect to VET were obvious; 14.2%, 8.1%, 8.7% and 4.6% more Indigenous males than females chose to take VET programs across year 2006 to 2009, which indicates that the gap between Indigenous males and females for VET may be getting narrow. Further, there were substantial regional differences between the Indigenous Year 12 completers in metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. The Indigenous Year 12 graduates in the metropolitan area were more than twice as likely as those in non-metropolitan Queensland to enter university in 2007 and 2008. Likewise, the “other” destination was 8.6%, 13%, 9% and 6.4% higher for Indigenous Year 12 graduates from non-metropolitan Queensland than those from the metropolitan area across the years 2006 to 2009 respectively.

34 The original data only provided the percentage of main destinations of Indigenous Year 12 completers in Queensland. 196

Table 7.4 Main destination of Queensland’s INDIGENOUS Year 12 completers by gender and location 06-09

2006 2007 2008 2009 Trends University % Male 8.5 8.6 10.5 11.3 increase Female 20.4 16.4 17.3 16.6 decrease Metro 20.5 22.4 21.8 19.7 varied Non-metro 12.6 8 8.1 11.1 varied VET % Male 44.2 37.5 36.5 32.8 decrease Female 30 29.4 27.8 28.2 decrease Metro 37.5 33 29.6 31.2 decrease Non-metro 35.3 33.3 33.7 30.2 decrease Full-time % Male 15.9 16.1 17.7 11.6 decrease Female 12 12.8 15.4 11 varied Metro 12.7 14.3 16.3 9.1 varied Non-metro 14.1 14.5 16.7 12.4 varied Other % Male 31.4 37.8 35.4 44.3 increase Female 37.6 41.6 39.5 44 increase Metro 29.3 30.2 32.4 40 increase Non-metro 37.9 43.2 41.4 46.4 increase

7.2.5 Main destination of Year 12 completers by SES

Transition to post-school education and training appears to be strongly associated with SES (see Table 7.5). During the period 2006 to 2009, Year 12 completers from the highest SES grouping were twice as likely to enter university as those from the lowest SES grouping. The trend for VET destination among lowest SES group decreased. The trend for full-time work fluctuated among these two groups of students which may be influenced by 2008 economic crisis. The tendency for other activities of these two groups increased sharply in 2009 which may be related to 2008 economic crisis too.

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Table 7.5 Main destination of Year 12 completers by socio-economic status, Queensland 06-0935

2006 2007 2008 2009 Trends Number % Number % Number % Number % University Lowest SES 1971 25.6 2069 25.6 1928 23.3 2047 23.6 decrease Highest SES 3948 51.3 4185 51.8 4005 48.3 4355 50.3 varied VET Lowest SES 2484 32.3 2455 30.4 2367 28.6 2297 26.5 decrease Highest SES 1785 23.2 1748 21.6 1856 22.4 1736 20 varied Full-time Lowest SES 1227 15.9 1418 17.5 1629 19.7 1258 14.5 varied Highest SES 789 10.3 905 11.2 1121 13.5 865 10 varied Other Lowest SES 2012 26.2 2138 26.5 2356 28.5 3064 35.4 increase Highest SES 1172 15.2 1244 15.4 1302 15.7 2335 19.8 increase

Figure 7.5 shows the gap by percentage. 25.7%, 26.2%, 24% and 26.7% more of the highest SES grouping went to university than those from the lowest SES grouping from 2006 to 2009. The rates for entering university within each group fluctuated by 2% or 3% during these four years. More students from the lowest SES group chose VET as a post-Year 12 destination than the students from the highest SES group. However, among the lowest SES group the VET destination dropped approximately 4% from 32.3% (n=2484) in 2006 to 26.5% (n=2297) in 2009. Those in the highest SES quartile undertaking VET courses also followed this decline dropping from 23.2% (n=1785) in 2006 to 20% (n=1736) in 2009. Those Year 12 completers in the lowest SES grouping entered full-time work at an increasing rate in the first three years, rising by about 4%, but dropped to its lowest percentage, 14.5% (n=1258) in 2009. In terms of “other” destinations, 10% more young adults from the lowest SES quartile fell into this category than those from the highest SES quartile. The rate of young adults from lowest SES quartile in the “other” destination increased by 9.2%

35 The original data for main destinations of Year 12 completers by SES were classified by four categories, namely Lowest SES quartile, Second lowest SES quartile, Second highest SES quartile and Highest SES quartile. I only took the lowest and highest SES quartile for a distinct comparison of students SES background. 198 from 26.2% (n=2012) in 2006 to 35.4% (n=3064) in 2009. While the highest SES Year 12 completers in “other” destination also followed this upward trend from 15.2% to 19.8%, there was only a moderate increase by 1.7% in the years 2006-2008 among those in “other destinations”, regardless of the influence of the global financial crisis in 2009.

percentage 20

0 Lowest Highest Lowest Highest Lowest Highest Lowest Highest SES SES SES SES SES SES SES SES University % VET % Full-time % Other % 2006 25.6 51.3 32.3 23.2 15.9 10.3 26.2 15.2 2007 25.6 51.8 30.4 21.6 17.5 11.2 26.5 15.4 2008 23.3 48.3 28.6 22.4 19.7 13.5 28.5 15.7 2009 23.6 50.3 26.5 20 14.5 10 35.4 19.8

Figure 7.5 Main destinations of Year 12 completers by SES, Queensland 06-09

7.2.6 Main destination of Year 12 completers for VET by gender, location, Indigenous identity and SES

Vocational education and training pathways now influence young adults’ choice of immediate post-school destinations and this is a key research focus in this thesis. Table 7.6 provides information about Year 12 graduates’ VET destinations based on the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) for recognised VET qualifications for Certificates I-IV. Generally, it shows that Certificate IV+ 36 was a more favourable destination for these Year 12 completers regardless of their subcategories. Even so, Table 7.6 shows that more females choose higher levels of Certificates such as Certificate III or IV+ than did males. Likewise, young adults

36 Certificate IV+ means studying Certificate IV, Diploma or Advanced Diploma (excluding apprentices and trainees) (Queensland Government, 2009a, p. 3).

199 from the metropolitan area were more than twice as likely as those from non- metropolitan Queensland to choose a Certificate IV destination. Young adults from non-Indigenous backgrounds were also more likely than did Indigenous peers to choose a Certificate IV destination. Those choosing this higher level qualification— and able to choose it—are likely to be able to access to more highly skilled work and/or higher education. In another way, approximately 0.9-3.2% more Indigenous young adults chose lower level VET Certificates I-II compared to those in the non- Indigenous grouping. Also, more young adults from the lowest SES background chose Certificate I-II or III than those from the highest SES background but less of them chose a higher level VET Certificate IV+ than their peers from the highest SES background.

200

Table 7.6 Main destination of Queensland’s Year 12 completers for VET, by gender, metro/non-metropolitan locations, Indigenous identity and SES 06-0937

2006 2007 2008 2009 Trends

Cert I-II/ other % Male 4.3 3.9 3.5 4.1 decrease Female 3.9 3.1 3.2 3.3 decrease Metro 4 3.2 3.2 3.5 decrease Non-metro 4.4 4.0 3.6 4 varied Indigenous 5 6.6 5 6.3 varied Non-Indige 4.1 3.4 3.3 3.6 varied Lowest SES 4.8 4.4 3.9 4.1 varied Highest SES 3.5 2.9 2.8 3 varied Cert III % Male 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.7 stable Female 3.1 2.4 2.4 3 varied Metro 2.1 1.7 1.6 2.1 stable Non-metro 2.7 2.2 2.2 2.9 varied Indigenous 2.8 2.7 3.9 4.1 increase Non-Indige 2.2 1.8 1.8 2.3 stable Lowest SES 3.4 2.4 2.8 3.5 varied Highest SES 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.3 stable Cert IV + % Male 6.5 6.0 5.4 6.3 varied Female 7.7 7.3 6.9 7.1 varied Metro 9 8.5 7.7 8.3 varied Non-metro 3.3 2.8 2.8 3.3 stable Indigenous 4.3 3.8 4.2 4.1 stable Non-Indige 7.2 6.8 6.2 6.8 varied Lowest SES 6.2 6.4 5.3 5.8 varied Highest SES 7.9 7.1 6.5 7.1 varied

The VET destinations of Queensland’s Year 12 completers shows a large gap in achievement associated with those in non-metropolitan locations, having an Indigenous identity and from the lowest SES. This suggests that the projected

37 Because only percentage of Year 12 completers’ destination by regional category was provided by original data, the percentages of Year 12 completer’s destination were used in other categories such as gender, Indigenous status and SES for the consistence of the data to be compared.

201 reformist outcomes from the policies of Australian Governments, including those of the Queensland Government for reworking Senior L/earning around VETiS, have not begun to positively effect in regional, Indigenous and low SES communities. At least, this trend data strengthens the case for direct government interventions in these communities to address limitations in the assets that affect the freedom of these particular young adults to choose the education, training and/or full-time skilled work they value and Queensland Government policy suggests they have reason to value.

7.3 Discussion of research question three

According to the data analysis, it was found that:

1. University was the most likely choice by young adults from 2006 to 2009. The choice of VET for young adults after Year 12 declined during these four years. Year 12 completers who entered full-time work dropped from 17.4% in 2008 to 12.3% in 2009. The destination for those young adults designated as “other” increased from 22% in 2008 to 28% in 2009.

2. Gender differences were evident in the post-school destination of Queensland’s young adults. Females were more likely to enter university than their male peers including those who were from Indigenous backgrounds from 2006 to 2009. In addition, more females than males chose VET Certificate III or IV+ which lead to higher skilled work and credit for higher education. On the contrary, more males than females chose a VET destination from 2006 to 2009.

3. The university destination rate in metropolitan regions was much higher than that in non-metropolitan regions including Indigenous young adults living in metropolitan background from 2006 to 2009. The VET destination rates in non-metropolitan Queensland were higher than that it was in the metropolitan areas, as was the full-time work destination rates in non- metropolitan Queensland which were also higher than those in the metropolitan region.

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4. Indigenous Year 12 completers were as less than half as likely to enter university when compared with their non-Indigenous peers but proportionally more Indigenous young adults choose VET destinations, than did their non-indigenous peers during 2006 to 2009. More Indigenous students were in the “other” category than their peers, the gap ranging from 13.9% (2006), 18% (2007), 15.8% (2008) and 16.4% (2009) during 2006 to 2009.

5. Year 12 completers from the highest SES group were twice as likely to enter university as those from the lowest SES group from 2006 to 2009. More students from the lowest SES group chose VET as a post-Year 12 destination than the students from the highest SES group. Those Year 12 completers in the lowest SES grouping entered full-time work at an increasing rate in the first three years, rising by about 4% but dropped to the lowest percentage (14.5%) in 2009. In terms of “other” destinations, 10% more young adults from the lowest SES quartile fall into this category than those from the highest SES quartile.

6. Analysis of the main VET destination of Year 12 completers shows that Certificate IV+ was more a favorable destination for Year 12 completers regardless their sub-categories from 2006 to 2009. Young adults from the metropolitan area were more than twice as likely as those from non- metropolitan to choose a Certificate IV destination. Young adults from non- Indigenous backgrounds were also more likely than Indigenous peers to choose a Certificate IV destination. In other words, relatively more Indigenous young adults and more young adults from the lowest SES background chose lower level VET Certificates (I-II) compared to those in the non-Indigenous groupings.

The optimistic finding is that more females chose university or higher level of VET Certificate which means that gender is not a disadvantaged issue for females’ post- school choices. In terms of immediate achievement, the post-school destinations of Queensland’s Year 12 completers reflect and reproduce non-metropolitan, Indigenous and socio-economic inequalities. The above evidence suggests the

203 university destination rate in metropolitan regions was much higher than that in non- metropolitan regions including that for Indigenous young adults from metropolitan background. The VET destination rates in non-metropolitan Queensland were higher than that in the metropolitan areas. Indigenous Year 12 completers were as less than half likely to enter university when compared with their non-Indigenous peers but more Indigenous young adults choose VET destinations, than did their non- indigenous peers. Year 12 completers from the highest SES group were twice as likely to enter university as those from the lowest SES group. More students from the lowest SES group chose VET as a post-Year 12 destination than did students from the highest SES group. While these students’ post-school achievements may be related to their diverse internal characteristics, their destinations are marked as much as shaped by external circumstances such as SES, non-metropolitan location, and Indigenous identity. What these results mean for the well-being of Queensland’s Year 12 completers can provide a way for critically analysing Australian policy arrangements made for this State’s young adults. The following sections are discussed around the research question of

Do young adults have equal opportunity for realised valued and valuable pathways regardless of their social and economic diversity? What internal and external factors influence young adults’ post-school destinations?

7.3.1 The “diversity” constructed in the Next Steps reports

Considerations of the relations between individual choice and freedom to achieve can take many different kinds of diversity into account (Sen, 1992, 1999). However, we would end up in a mess of empirical confusion if we tried to take note of all possible diversities, and therefore the demands of practice indicate discretion and suggest that “we disregard some diversities while concentrating on the more important ones” (Sen, 1992, p. 117). The question is what significant diversities are to be taken into consideration with regard to the learning and earning trajectory of young adults. Sen (1992, p. 117) argues that “analyses of inequality must, in many cases, proceed in terms of groups—rather than specific individuals—and would tend to confine attention to intergroup variations”. In doing group analysis, Government policymakers have chosen between different ways of classifying young adults, and these classifications involve selecting and thus privileging particular types of diversities

204 rather than others. In the Next Step surveys, young adults are classified by gender, SES, location and Indigenous identity, echoing those groups identified in the policies of the Australian Governments. These statistics suggest that the groupings of the lowest SES, Indigenous identity and non-metropolitan localities provide important diversities for interpreting young adults’ post-school choices. Their freedom to achieve can be compared with the social, economic and cultural assets secured by groups from the highest SES, non-Indigenous identity and metropolitan localities and their achievement of valued capabilities.

7.3.2 The freedom of young adults experiencing entrenched disadvantage to choose

Students’ post-school achievements in terms of destinations are related to the diversity in their internal characteristics and external circumstances. However, the results show that more females achieve entry into university or higher level VET Certificates which indicates gender is a factor in education, training and full-time work. In so far as more jobs may even suggest girls’ chances of obtaining full-time skilled work are limited. However, the evidence identifies gaps in the achievement of post-school destinations between urban and rural students; high and low SES students as well as non-Indigenous and Indigenous students. It has to be asked whether Queensland’s young adults from Indigenous, non-metropolitan and low SES backgrounds have the freedom to achieve these destinations given the social, cultural and economic resources they need to convert into valued capabilities or well-being.

With respect to the quality of the lives of these Queensland’s Year 12 completers, external circumstances limit their freedom to achieve the education, training and /or full-time skilled work needed to realise valuable functionings (Sen, 1992, p. 40). The Australian Governments’ policies indicate a priority of Queensland’s Indigenous, non-metropolitan and low SES Year 12 completers, which means that the reforms to Senior L/earning will provide them the resources with which to achieve a range of valuable post-school destinations. Specifically, these are now university, high-level VET Certificates or full-time skilled work. This is preferred over other less valued destinations such as unemployment, lower level VET Certificates or part-time, unskilled work. However, following Sen’s (1992) argument, the post-school

205 destinations for these young adults are not solely the result of their own activities, otherwise there would not be a need for Government policies for reforming Senior L/earning. The evidence from the Next Steps reports indicate that there are circumstances beyond the control of these young adults and beyond current reforms which aid some young adults while hindering Indigenous, non-metropolitan and low SES students from achieving their well-being.

The post-school destinations of Queensland’s Year 12 completers in terms of education, training, work or ‘other’ contexts can be judged from two different perspectives — the actual achievement and freedom to achieve. Their actual achieved destination can be related to what the reforms in Senior L/earning have made it possible for these young adults to accomplish relative to their desired goals. Likewise, their freedom to achieve university entrance, high-level VET or full-time skilled work is related to the social, economic and cultural assets immediately available to enable them to fulfil what they value and is valued with respect to these options. The resources available to young adults in non-metropolitan, low SES and Indigenous communities are less than their high SES, metropolitan, non-Indigenous peers have to achieve what they value and deem as valued. The lack of these comparable assets thereby curtails their freedom to achieve and closes off the choices they are free to make. Government policy has yet to grapple with this issue.

7.3.3 Providing valued post-school destinations for young adults experiencing entrenched disadvantage through Senior L/earning

As discussed in Chapter 3, Sen (1992, p. 34) offers two ways to evaluate the post- school destinations of young adults, either by adopting a “selection view” or an “options view”. The selection view is focused on the comparison of the goodness of the bundles of choices a young adult is faced with, for instance, university entrance, high-level VET Certificates and/or full-time skilled work, all of which are socially valued goods. Other alternatives such as unemployment and low-skilled part-time work are judged to be much less valuable (Sen, 1992). The selection view presents all young adults everywhere as being able to choose from among these goods. In this way, it is assumed that all young adults throughout Queensland are able to compare the characteristics of all these possible destinations as equally realisable choices.

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The option view provides an interactive comparison between the valued “commodities” themselves, that is university entrance, high-level VET Certificates, full-time skilled work and the “revealed preferences” of the young adults in their choice of a particular post-school destination (Sen, 1992, p. 34). This enables policymakers to see the decisions young adults make as depending on the socio-economic, Indigenous and geographic structuring of their preferences. The choices of young adults are based on the structural comparisons they can make about substantive education, training and work options. However, the weighing up of the potential among these options differs by Indigenous identity, SES and location which constraint the freedom some groups of young adults in achieving valued post-school destination.

Analysis from Queensland’s Next Steps surveys indicate that geographic, Indigenous and socio-economic factors influence the means and extent of the freedom certain groups of young adults have in selecting post-school destinations. Locally available resources tell them about the bundles from which they can choose. The entrenched disadvantages experienced by these groups of young adults are related to the absence of education, training and employment resources in their immediate environment. Thus, Queensland’s Next Steps surveys are important to use when considering efforts to readdress the entrenched disadvantages of these groups of young adults with regards to the freedom they have to achieve valued post-school destinations.

7.4 Conclusion

The Chapter has provided insights into the relevance of Sen’s (1992, 1999) capability approach to the outcomes young adults have gained from Queensland’s reforms to Senior L/earning. This analysis of the Next Step surveys (2006-09) may help Government policy makers and program conductors for the Indigenous, non- metropolitan and low SES communities to better understand the limits Senior L/earning have in terms of the achievements of young adult school leavers from their communities. While these Government reforms in Senior L/earning are important, there is a need to review the economic, social and cultural assets available to these young adults in their immediate communities. The Australian Governments know that policy interventions to improve the post-school destinations of Indigenous, non-

207 metropolitan and low SES students have to address the social, economical and cultural assets available to these young adults. Likewise, reforms in Senior L/earning need a stronger focus on the geographic location, Indigenous identity and SES of young adults. This means paying more attention to enhancing the freedom of Year 12 completers in these categories to achieve valued work, education and training goals through Government reforms to Senior L/earning.

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CHAPTER EIGHT: STUDENTS’ OUTCOMES OF VETIS IN QUEENSLAND SCHOOLS

8.0 Introduction

Students’ post-school opportunities for further study and/or full-time employment are an area of concern for all levels of policy actors. The Australian Government does consider equal education opportunity as an effective goal for young adults gaining necessary education and learning in recent Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) policies (MCEETYA, 2008a). It is presumed that these policies help ensure young adults develop their capabilities for education, training and employment which are valuable to them and valued by them. The issues of how school factors such as school location and school size influence VETiS outcome are the focus of much debate (Alfonso, et al., 2005; Cobbold, 2006; Golding & Pattison, 2004; Johns, et al., 2004; Lamb, 2007). The Queensland Department of Education, Training and the Arts (2006, pp.1-2) states that “Queensland is also the national leader in getting young people involved in earning and learning through school-based apprenticeships and traineeships” (Queensland Government, 2006c, p. 1). However, the Australian Qualification Framework (AQF) attainment rate in Queensland was 43% in 2007 which was 13% lower than the national average (reference to chapter 6). Likewise in 2007 the AQF completion rate was 25% which means that Queensland ranked the second lowest when compared with other States in 2007 (reference to Chapter 6).

In this chapter, student outcome is regarded as a means for investigating policy implementation with respect to a given learning context. It contributes to these deliberations through analysis of the interrelationship among VETiS outcomes, school characteristics and electorates in Queensland. The data were collected from Year 12 outcomes 2008 (Queensland Government, 2009b) which provided a snapshot of the outcomes for students who finished Year 12 in 2008 from 440 schools across Queensland. The data were analysed with SPSS. At first, analyses were conducted by correlation to consider whether the available factors such as RA level, school type, State and Federal electorates were correlated with VETiS outcome. The students’

209 other outcomes such as QCE, SAT and OP38 were also included to see if they have relationship with VETiS outcome. Next, multiple regression analysis was used to test whether the single and combined variables affecting VETiS outcome. The question addressed here was if place (RA levels), school characteristic (school type, electorate representatives) concurrently influence VETiS outcome and whether single or combined factor(s) were strong indicators for VETiS outcome.

8.1 Data collection method

The data were collected firstly based on Year 12 outcomes 2008 (Queensland Government, 2009b). It provided a snapshot of 440 schools outcomes for students who finished Year 12 in 2008. First, column 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 939 of the original report were selected as parts of this research data for analysis. The software, “Cogniview PDF2XL Evaluation” was used to convert PDF version of Year 12 outcomes 2008 to a word document. The Cogniview PDF2XL Evaluation helped save much time by inputting the data, and also helped avoid making mistakes which may occur in manual inputting.

8.1.1 Identifying schools’ electorates at State and Federal levels

The data is extended by identifying State and Federal electorates where these 440 schools were based on the locality area provided in the original data (see Appendix I). First, the school locality was input into the website of the Electoral Commission Queensland (ECQ) (http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/state.aspx). So the state electorates of these schools were found. Then these schools’ federal electorates were found on Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) website (http://apps.aec.gov.au/esearch/). However, there were two problems in searching State and Federal electorates of these schools. One is that the locality of “Toowoomba” is divided into Toowoomba North and Toowoomba South State electorates. Therefore, the electorates of the 15

38 QCE means Queensland Certificate of Education; SAT means School-based apprentice and trainee; OP means Overall Position. 39 Column 1 stands for school name; column 2 stands for locality; column 3 stands for number of students awarded a Senior Statement; column 5 stands for number of students awarded a QCE at the end of Year 12; column 6 stands for number of students awarded one or more VET qualifications; column 7 stands for number of students who are completing or completed a SAT; column 8 stands for number of students who received an OP; column 9 stands for number of students who did not receive on more of the following: OP, QCE, QCIA, IBD, VET qualification.

210 schools in Toowoomba could not be identified by their locality. Another problem was that 74 schools’ Federal electorates could not be found on the AEC websites. The reason was either gave locality on this website or the specific locality was registered in two federal electorates.

Third, I used the website of Queensland Department of Education and Training (DET, http://education.qld.gov.au/directory/phone/) to find these 440 school’s physical addresses. Furthermore, the State and Federal electorate of these schools were also listed on this website, which enabled the cross-checking the State and Federal electorates previously identified. 32 schools’ State electorates were corrected by cross checking. Thus, the schools in Toowoomba were identified as Toowoomba South and Toowoomba North State electorates. 420 schools’ Federal electorates were also identified by the information provided in this website. However, 20 schools’ address could not be found in this website. Their State and Federal electorates could only be identified by locality. With all the identified State and Federal electorates, the representative party of each electorate at State level was found on ECQ website 40and representative party at Federal level was found on the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) website41.

8.1.2 Identifying schools’ Remoteness Area (RA) level

In recognition of Australia’s geographical diversity, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has developed a composite index of geographic location, the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA) which is based on the concept of remoteness. Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA) is an index which measures remoteness based on the road distance to the nearest town (urban centre) in each of five population size classes. The Remoteness Areas classification allows quantitative comparisons between “city” and “country” in Australia (Australian Government, n.d.a). The purpose of ARIA is to “classify census collection districts which share common characteristics of remoteness into broad geographical regions called Remoteness Areas (RAs)” (Australian Government, n.d.b). The five RA categories range from “Highly Accessible (unrestricted access to

40 ECQ website: http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/elections/state/state2009/results/summary.html#5). 41 AEC website: http://www.aec.gov.au/pdf/elections/2007/hor_resultsmap.pdf).

211 a wide range of goods and services), to Very Remote (little access to goods and services, or opportunities for social interaction)” (Welch, Helme, & Lamb, 2007, p. 272). The five RA levels are: Major Cities of Australia (RA1); Inner Regional Australia (RA2); Outer Regional Australia (RA3); Remote Australia (RA4) and Very Remote Australia (RA5) based on the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC).

I identified each school’s RA level (see Appendix I) using the Rural and Remote Incentive Programs Assistance Service (RRIPA) 42. The system divides the rural, remote and metropolitan areas according to city status, population, rurality and remoteness. I searched for Australian Standard Geographical Classification- Remoteness Area by inputting either school postcode or locality.

8.2 Analysing data

After gaining a sound understanding of the different types of variables, I was in a position to begin analysing the data and, in particular, examining relationships between variables. The core of routine quantitative data analysis is to identify variables and the dataset for analysis. The variables are typically identified as “independent variables (IVs) and dependent variables (DVs)” (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007, p. 2). The independent variables are the factors that “may or may not be effective in changing scores (values) on the DV” (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2007, p. 2). The dependent variables here are the population of students who obtained VET qualification produced by the case. The IVs are other paralleled outcomes43, school type 44, RA level, electorate and representative Parties at Federal and State levels chosen by the researcher. The data set was analysed with SPSS to explore how different independent variables such as school size, school types, RA level,

42 Information was collected from website of RRIPA (http://www.rripa.com.au/Resources/tabid/366/language/en-AU/Default.aspx). 43 The parallel outcomes refer to OP, QCE, and SAT. Details are provided in Appendix I. 44 These 424 schools were categorised into four groups: 1) public schools; 2) special schools; 3) private schools and 4) independent schools. Public schools and special schools were defined as State schools because those schools are largely funded by the State and Federal Government. Meanwhile, private and independent schools were defined as non-State schools since they have other sources of funding. Then these schools were dummy coded which was discussed in 7.2.2. It was found that there are 214 State schools and 210 non-State schools.

212 representative parties at both in State and Federal levels are correlated with VETiS outcomes.

8.2.1 Normality check

During the preliminary stage, descriptive statistical analysis was used to establish whether data distribution meets the assumption of normal distribution. A normal distribution is “functional relation between deviations about the mean of a distribution and the probability of these different deviations occurring” (Williams & Monge, 2001, p. 54). In other words, a normal distribution has a symmetric bell- shaped curve defined by two things: the mean (average) and variance (variability) (see Figure 8.1).

Figure 8.1 Normal distribution curve

The normal distribution is a “very important and common pattern that occurs in a wide range of distributions of quantitative variables” (Antonius, 2003, p. 105). The central assumption behind statistical inference45 is that as the sample size increases, distributions will approximate the normal distribution. The parametric tests46 used in this analysis relied upon this assumption of normality in the data because they are “more powerful than non-parametric ones and so should be used if possible”

45 Statistic (singular) is “a characteristic of a sample”; parameter is “a characteristic of a population”; statistical inference is “the process of estimating parameters from statistics” (Williams & Monge, 2001, p. 49). 46 The statistical tests are “parametric (that is, they assume that the data were sampled from a particular form of distribution, such as a normal distribution)” (Greenhalgh, 1997, p.3).

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(Greenhalgh, 1997, p. 3). In other words, compared to non-parametric tests, parametric tests increase chance of finding significant results.

An examination of the histogram 47 of VET outcome variable indicates that the distribution of VET was non-normal (see Figure 8.2).

Figure 8.2 Histogram of VETiS outcome (N=440)

Figure 8.2 shows the shape of distribution of VET outcome is not bell shaped. The tail end of the histogram is longer on the right side than on the left side, which shows a significant difference from that of a normal curve. Further, a descriptive statistics of the skewness48 shows the skewness (1.237 >1) of VET occurs because the shape is not symmetrically distributed (see Table 8.1).

47 A histogram is “the easiest way of defining a normal distribution” (Miles & Shevlin, 2001, p.67). Distributions are usually defined by the shape that they form when they are drawn on a histogram. The frequency of data class is represented by an adjacent bar (Antonius, 2003, p. 59). 48 Skewness is a measure of the asymmetry of a distribution. The normal distribution is symmetric and has a skewness value of 0. A distribution with a significant positive skewness has a long right tail. “If the skewness is larger than 1, the shape starts to look significantly different from that of a normal curve” (Antonius, 2003, p. 67).

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Table 8.1 Descriptive statistics of VET (N=440; N=424)

Std. N Minimum Maximum Mean Deviation Skewness Kurtosis

Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Statistic Std. Error Statistic Std. Error VET 440 0 287 49.29 43.924 1.237 .116 2.199 .232 VET 424 0 287 51.15 43.668 1.233 .119 2.241 .237 Sqrt 424 .00 16.94 6.3968 3.20182 .085 .119 -.485 .237 _VET

The histogram result once again confirmed that “the normal distribution curve is a theoretical distribution only” (Williams & Monge, 2001, p. 54). It is rarely “sample distributions or population distributions that precisely fit the normal curve” (Williams & Monge, 2001, p. 54). Non-normality is commonly found in research samples. In such case, it is necessary to check outliers. Outliers are “aberrant scores that lie outside the usual range of scores” (J. Miles & Shevlin, 2001, p. 63). The “0” VET outcomes are 26 cases (schools). There are two assumption to explain “0” VET outcomes in these schools. One is that the school does not provide VETiS and another reason is that the students did not achieve VET outcome.

Before deciding keep or delete these outliers, it was necessary to identify reasons for these schools with “0” VET outcome. Because it was impossible to know if these schools provided with VETiS to their students on 2008 with the available data, then I examined the features of these schools. It was found that 14 of these 26 schools are special schools which are targeted at students with disabilities. In addition, the “Queensland Academy for Creative Industries” and the “Brisbane Grammar School” are academy-oriented schools and no focus on their vocational education. Therefore, 16 schools with “0” VET outcomes were removed from the data set. Now the total cases consisted of 424 schools. The descriptive statistics and the histogram of VET outcome were recalculated for the 424 schools to check if distribution of VET was normal (see Figure 8.3).

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Figure 8.3 Histogram of VET outcome (N=424)

Figure 8.3 shows the shape of distribution was still not bell shaped. The tail end of the histogram is longer on the right side than on the left side. The descriptive statistics for the skewness for these 424 schools was 1.233 (>1) which indicates VET outcomes were not symmetrically distributed (see Table 8.1).

Although a normally distributed curve of VET outcome was not generating by removing unusual cases, Greenhalgh (1997, p.3) argues that non-normal or skewed data can “sometimes be transformed to give a graph of normal shape by performing some mathematical transformation (such as using the variable’s logarithm, square root, or reciprocal)”. There are two primary reasons for making data transformations, namely “to normalize the dependent variable [and] to linearise the regression model, if the original data suggest a model that is nonlinear in either the regression coefficients or the original variables” (Kleinbaum, Kupper, Muller, & Nizam, 1998, p. 251). Kleinbaum, et al. (1998, p. 251) suggest different kinds of mathematical transformations for working with different datasets:

• Taking the square root of each data point helps to normalise negatively skewed (right-skewed) datasets. Carrying out a square root transformation will convert data with a Poisson distribution to a normal distribution. For example, compare values of 9 and 100, the square root values are 3 and 10 respectively. The square root values drops 6 points for the former but the latter drops 90 points. • Calculating the square of each data point helps to normalise positive skewed (left-skewed) datasets.

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• Taking the logarithm of an exponential dataset usually produces a normal distribution. • Taking the reciprocal (1/x) of each data point may also produce a normal distribution from an exponential dataset.

Figure 8.3 shows that VET distribution was right-skewed, the square root of VET outcome was adopted to see if a normal distribution was possible. Computing result showed that the skewness of square-rooted VET is 0.085 which is closer to 0. The histogram of squared-rooted VET was also near to the bell-shaped normal distribution (see Figure 8.4).

Figure 8.4 Histogram of square root of VET (N=424)

8.2.2 Dummy the variables

In the extended original data (see Appendix I), the RA levels were coded in ordinal numbers from 1 to 5; Party representatives at State and Federal levels were coded by ordinal numbers from 1 to 6 respectively. However, in SPSS analysis, it was necessary to give equal value to these variables. Dummy coding49 was necessary step to assign equal value to these variables. For example, in RA 1 column, the schools located in RA1 were given value 1, otherwise the value was 0; in RA 2 column, the

49 Dummy the variable is a way to estimate the correlation of a nominal or ordinal variable to a regression equation. The standard approach is to code each categorical variable by using “0” or “1” (Williams & Monge, 2001, p. 139). 217 schools located in RA 2 were given value to 1, otherwise the value was 0; in RA 3 column, the schools located in RA 3 were given value to 1, otherwise the value was 0; in RA 4 column, the schools located in RA 4 were given value to 1, otherwise the value was 0; in RA 5 column, the schools located in RA 5 were given value to 1, otherwise the value was 0. As for the value assignment for State and Federal Parties, four groups were created:

1. Group one: if the school State representative Party is ALP, the value is 1, otherwise it is 0.

2. Group two: if the school Federal representative Party is ALP, the value is 1, otherwise it is 0.

3. Group three: if the school both State and Federal representative Party is ALP, the value is 1, otherwise is 0.

4. Group four: if the school neither State and Federal representative Party is ALP, the value is 1, otherwise is 0.

8.3 Data analysis methods

In this section, the degree of inter-relationships between dependent and independent variables were examined by correlation and multiple regression methods.

8.3.1 Correlation of the variables

Correlation characterises “the existence of [a linear] relationship between variables” (Williams & Monge, 2001, p. 127). It describes how the dependent variable varies according to different categories of the independent variable. However, it only indicates that a pair of variables varies together either positively or negatively rather than indicating any deeper or more complicated relationships among more variables: “correlation itself only indexes the degree of relationship; the statistic that represents this index is called a correlation coefficient” (Williams & Monge, 2001, p. 127). The values of the correlation coefficient can “range from−1 to +1” (Antonius, 2003, p. 148). It means that the nearer the figure is to −1 or +1, the stronger is the negative or positive relationship between these two variables.

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Bivariate correlations 50 were used to test the interrelationships between different variables (see Column 1 and Row 1 in Table 8.2). Here, only the relationship between the dependent variable (Sqrt_VET) and other independent variables were highlighted in grey and carefully examined because VET outcome was the focus of this data analysis (see Table 8.2). Table 8.2 shows the following findings:

1. Pearson Correlation value51 between VET and SS52 is 0.773 which ranks the highest (closer to +1) in grey highlighted column. It indicates that VET outcome is significantly related to school size. 2. Pearson Correlation values between VET and RA 1, and 5 are 0.175 and - 1.37 which means that VET outcome may be much related to RA level 1 and 5. 3. Pearson Correlation values between VET and Parties at State and Federal are not much related which means that Parties may not be a strong indicator for VET outcome. 4. Pearson Correlation value between VET and State schools is 0.356, which indicates that State school may be a significant indicator for VET outcome. 5. Pearson Correlation value between VET and other outcomes are much related which indicate that learning for other qualifications may influence VET outcome.

50 The Bivariate Correlations procedure computes Pearson's correlation coefficient, Spearman's rho, and Kendall's tau-b with their significance levels. Correlations measure how variables or rank orders are related. (SPSS 17.0 Online Help) 51 Pearson Correlation values marked with ** are strongly considered in this study. 52 SS stands for means Senior Statement, which also indicate the number of graduate students in that school. I interpreted as school size for later discussion. 219

Table 8.2 Pearson Correlations among different variables (N=424)

Sqrt _ ALP_ ALP_ ALP- non_ state

VET SS RA1 RA2 RA3 RA4 RA5 state fed both ALP school QCE SAT OP NIL

Sqrt_ Pearson VET Correlation

SS Pearson .773** Correlation

RA1 Pearson .175** .300** Correlation

RA2 Pearson -.015 -.063 -.581** Correlation

RA3 Pearson -.097* -.170** -.488** -.273**

Correlation

RA4 Pearson -.124* -.177** -.202** -.113* -.095 Correlation

RA5 Pearson -.137** -.159** -.150** -.084 -.070 -.029 Correlation

ALP_ Pearson .087 .159** .330** -.269** -.065 -.124* -.002 state Correlation

ALP_ Pearson -.032 -.004 .240** -.200** -.108* -.012 .073 .464** fed Correlation

ALP- Pearson .043 .118* .391** -.222** -.192** -.141** .009 .741** .788** both Correlation non_ Pearson .032 .004 -.240** .200** .108* .012 -.073 -.464** -1.000** -.788** ALP Correlation state Pearson .356** .151** -.118* .019 .055 .094 .078 -.112* .017 -.063 -.017 school Correlation

QCE Pearson .683** .961** .325** -.090 -.175** -.172** -.161** .145** -.015 .104* .015 002 Correlation

SAT Pearson .704** .566** .057 .058 -.068 -.065 -.102* .012 -.106* -.039 .106* 253** 501** Correlation

OP Pearson .533** .904** .311** -.075 -.178** -.165** -.156** .136** .010 .116* -.010 .064 942** 328** Correlation

NIL Pearson .236** .353** -.042 .073 .005 -.064 -.001 .155** .030 .126** -.030 220** 179** 187** 173** Correlation

**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

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However, more complex relationships between the variables may exist. It is necessary to bear in mind that “there may be many reasons for a relationship, correlation says nothing about these reasons… this may be because one variable is the cause and the other the effect, or perhaps they both vary together as a result of a third variable” (Williams & Monge, 2001, p. 127). Correlation procedure only analyse variables on a one-to-one basis. It is presumed that combined variables such as location and Party together (RA levels and Parties representing electorate) may be strong predictors of students’ VET outcome. Since correlation analysis procedure can not explore the multiple relationships between variables, so it was decided to use multiple regression analysis for further analysis.

8.3.2 Multiple regression analysis

In this section, multiple regression analysis is used to explore the multiple relationships between dependent and independent variables. Multiple regression can be applied for “practical purpose of predicting a score on a variable given scores on two or more predictor variables” (Williams & Monge, 2001, p. 153). It is also used as “a method of describing the relative degree of contribution of a series of variables in the multiple prediction of a variable” (Williams & Monge, 2001, p. 153). Here multiple regression analysis is employed to examine if single variables such as other paralleled outcomes, RA level or Parties are strong predictors of VET outcomes. If not, multiple regression can help to recognise if some combined variables are significantly related to VET outcome.

8.3.2.1 Multiple regression for single variables

In the preliminary regression, the relationship between VET outcome and school size was examined by curve estimation. Figure 8.5 is a scatter plot of the relationship between Sqrt_VET outcomes and SS. The quadratic line53 (R²= 0.661) is larger than the linear line (R²= 0.598) which means the quadratic line is a more accurate way to describe the relationship between VET outcome and SS. The quadratic trend indicates that school size is a strong predictor of VET outcome. The upward curve indicates the positive proportion of school size and VET outcome. It means that the

53 To create a quadratic function needs to square the value of the independent variable then a curved line is created (Miles & Shevlin, 2001, p.138). 221 larger the school is, the more likely the better VET outcome. However, the downward curve indicates that once a school is large enough to some degree (around 200 graduates in this sample), the proportion of VET outcome does not continue to increase with increasing school size. The increased proportion of VET outcome is smaller as the school increases in size.

Sqrt _VET Sqrt

Figure 8.5 Relationships between square root of VET and school size

Then with the reference to the result of the correlation analysis, sqrt VET was set as the dependent variable. RA level 1, 3, 4, 5 and school types, other parallel outcomes (QCE, OP, SAT, NIL) and school types were set as independent variables for multiple regression analysis. Table 8.3 shows the regression model summary of VET outcomes. It was found that school size and other parallel outcomes are significant predictors of VET outcome, all of these variables p54value are 0 (<.05).

54 Statistical significance (Sig.) is about “assessing how confident we can be in using a finding taken from a sample to generalize to the population as a whole” (Connolly, 2007, p. 158). Oftentimes, the level set for significance is expressed in terms of a lowercase letter p (meaning probability) (Williams & Monge, 2001, p. 67). A p value is “a probability level that indicates the level of significance, that is, the probability that the results are a function of chance” (Hoy, 2010, p. 54). p=0.05 is used to determine whether we can have confidence in a finding derived from sample or not. If p<0.05 then we tend to conclude that “the finding reflects a real underlying trend in the population as a whole” (Connolly, 2007, p. 162).

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Table 8.3 Coefficients summary of VET outcome with single variables

Model Standardized Unstandardized Coefficients Coefficients B Std. Error Beta t Sig. 1 (Constant) 2.510 .133 18.933 .000 SS .087 .006 1.882 14.273 .000 state school .292 .170 .046 1.711 .088 QCE -.024 .007 -.445 -3.550 .000 SAT .037 .008 .144 4.557 .000 OP -.047 .005 -.750 -9.750 .000 NIL -.117 .014 -.257 -8.497 .000 a. Dependent Variable: Sqrt_VET

The B55 coefficients and the constant were used to create the prediction (regression) equation. It indicates the relationship between each independent predictor with VET outcome. Beta values are the standardised coefficients. The coefficients were obtained by standardized all the variables in the regression, including the dependent and all the independent variables, and the regression was run. Standardising the variables made it possible to compare the magnitude of the coefficients to see which one has more of an effect. This provided better insights into the importance of a predictor in this model. It is noticed that the larger betas are associated with the larger t-values and lower p-values. Predictor SS (β=1.882, t=14.273) is most significant positive variable because its Beta coefficient is larger than others. SAT (β=0.144, t=4.557) indicates it is a positive variable. However, QCE, OP and NIL outcomes (β=−0.445; −0.75;−0.25 7, t=−3.550; −9.75; −8.49) are negative significant variable, which means the higher the QCE, OP, NIL results, the fewer VET qualification the students obtained. The predictors can be explained one by one by B coefficient.

SAT (B= 0.037) means that when SAT qualification increases by one unit, sqrt_VET will on average increase by 0. 037 per unit.

55 B or b is the values for the regression equation for predicting the dependent variable from the independent variable (http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/spss/output/reg_spss.htm). It indicates the individual contribution of each predictor to the model. A positive value indicates positive relationship whereas a negative value represents a negative relationship. 223

QCE (B=−0.024) means that when QCE qualification increases by one unit, sqrt_VET will on average decrease by 0.024 per unit.

OP (B= −0.047) means that when O P qualification increases by one unit, sqrt_VET will on average decrease by 0.047 per unit.

NIL (B= −0.117) means that when NIL increases by one unit, sqrt_VET will on average decrease by 0. 117 per unit.

Such results indicate that VET outcomes as one of students’ possible learning outcomes in school have a close relationship with other outcomes. The results show that if the school achieves better outcomes in QCE and OP, their VET outcomes may be not as “good” as those of other schools. If the school achieve better outcomes in VET, the other outcomes such as QCE and OP may be “not satisfactory”.

8.3.2.3 Multiple regression for single and combined variables

According to p-value of variables in above regression model 1 (see Table 8.3) it suggests that students’ VET outcome is correlated with school size but not correlated with other single factors such as place (RA levels) or political parties. To explore the interactions between combined predictors proposed in above assumption, the combined variables were created by the syntax written as follows:

“DATASET ACTIVATE DataSet1. COMPUTE SCHOOL SIZE both_RA1= School size * RA1. EXECUTE.” ……

With the same mode of syntax, three groups of interaction variables were created and computed:

Group one: combined School size with RA level; Group two: combined School type with RA level; Group three: combined School size with school type.

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This time, all the single and combined variables were defined as predictors for VET outcomes. Table 8.4 shows the regression model summary of VET outcomes when single and combined variables are used as predictors. In this model, R56= 0.819, R²= 0.672 (nearer to +1) shows that this model is fit to generalise predictors.

Table 8.4 Multiple regression model summary

Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate 2 .819 .672 .668 1.84380

Predictors: (Constant), SS, RA1_statesch, state school , SS_RA1 Dependent Variable: Sqrt_VET

The backward selection procedure 57 was used for the linear regression analysis. Table 8.5 shows the results of this backward regression. It shows that when the multiple regression analysis was performed with squared-root VET outcome as the independent variable, SS, RA1_statesch, state school, SS_RA1 together explain 67.2% of the variance in sqrt_VET. P-values of these four variables are 0; 0; 0 and 0.001 (p<.05) which indicates that these four variables are significant predictors for VET outcomes. The B coefficients and the constant were used to create the prediction (regression) equation. The standard regression formula is:

Outcome of sqrt_VET= 0.040 x SS + 0.933 x State school – 0.009 x SS_RA 1 + 1.185 x RA 1_statesch

56 A coefficient R indexes the degree “to which two or more variables are related with a given variable. It has a range of values from +1 (perfect positive correlation) through−1 (perfect negative correlation)” (Williams & Monge, 2001, p. 141). R-square represents the total amount of variance accounted for in the dependent variable by the independent variable(s) (Miles & Shevlin, 2001, p. 32). Adjusted R-square is a reduced value for R-squared which attempts to make an estimate of the value of R² in the population (Miles & Shevlin, 2001, p. 32). 57 The backward technique starts off with a model that includes all of the independent variables. The parameters are estimated, and any variables that do not have significant parameters, at a pre-specified level (usually 0.10), are removed from the equation, and it is then re-estimated. Any non-significant variables are removed, and the equation is estimated (again). This process continues until no more independent variables are significant (Miles & Shevlin, 2001, p. 38).

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Table 8.5 Coefficients summary of VET outcome with single and combined variables

Standardized Unstandardized Coefficients Model Coefficients t Sig. B Std. Error Beta

2 (Constant) 2.334 .173 13.466 .000 SS .040 .002 .859 19.913 .000 state school .933 .246 .146 3.801 .000 SS_RA1 -.009 .002 -.217 -4.149 .000 RA1_statesch 1.185 .338 .156 3.502 .001

a. Dependent Variable: Sqrt_VET

These single and combined predictors can be explained by B coefficient as following:

SS (B= 0.040) means that when school size increases by one unit, sqrt_VET will on average increase by 0.040 per unit.

State school (B=0.933) means that when in State schools, sqrt_VET will increase by 0.933 per unit. It indicates that VET outcome is much better in State schools.

SS_RA1 (B=−0.009) means that when school size in RA 1 increases by one unit, sqrt_VET will decrease by 0.009 per unit. It indicates that VET outcome in RA 1 is not as “good” as that in other RA levels.

RA1_statesch (B=1.185) means that when a State school in RA 1 increases by one unit, sqrt_VET will increase by 1.185per unit. Compared with the above results, it implied that VET outcome in RA 1 are complicated. VET outcome in RA 1 is negative overall but State schools in RA 1 achieve very outstanding outcome in VET qualifications.

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8.4 Findings

Using multiple regression analysis, the analysis in 7.3.2.1 indicates that the larger the school is, the more likely the better VETiS outcome. Table 8.5 shows that VETiS outcome is significantly related to school size but no distinctive difference among RA levels. However, as will be seen from the analysis below this is not so. In addition, the multiple regression analysis shows that State schools in RA 1 achieve very outstanding outcomes in VET qualifications. Such results raise the question of whether there is equal number of large size schools in each RA level. Researchers do not agree on the definite number of students that would make an ideal size of a school (Coladarci, 2006; Cotton, 1996; Lamb, 2007; Lee, 2000; Stevenson, 2006). The downward curve in Figure 8.3 shows that once a school is large enough, (around 200 graduates in this sample), the proportion of VETiS outcomes does not continue to increase further with the increasing school size. The increased proportion of VETiS outcome is smaller as the school size increases beyond 200 students. This suggests that an important prerequisite for the successful operation of VETiS is the number of students in a school. It is not feasible to create many small classes in a school for VETiS projects. I just set the number at 100 students as unit of analysis for examining the effect of different school size with respect to different RA levels. For the purpose of this analysis, the size of school is based on the numbers of Year 12 student in each school, and not the total number of students in each school.

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> 300

201-300

100-200

< 99

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

< 99 100-200 201-300 > 300 RA 1 86 103 24 3 RA 2 61 39 4 RA 3 63 12 4 RA 4 15 1 RA 5 9

Figure 8.6 Distribution of schools of different sizes by RA levels (N=424)

Figure 8.6 shows the uneven distribution of schools of different sizes in the different RA levels. RA l has largest numbers of schools and bigger size schools. There are 216 schools in RA 1, 104 in RA 2, 79 in RA 3, 16 in RA 4 and 9 in RA 5. In RA 1, there are 103 schools with student numbers between 100 and 200, 24 schools with student numbers between 201 and 300. RA 1 is the only area with 3 schools with student numbers over 300. In RA 2, there are 39 schools with student numbers between 100 and 200, and 4 schools with student numbers between 201 and 300. RA 3 has fewer schools with student number between 100 and 200, or 201 and 300 than those in RA 2. In RA 4, there is only 1 school with student numbers over 100, and other 15 schools with student numbers less than 100. RA 5 has 9 schools with student numbers less than 100.

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> 300

201-300

100-200

< 99

0 20 40 60 80 100 120

< 99 100-200 201-300 > 300 RA 1 31 50 14 3 RA 2 24 28 3 RA 3 35 6 4 RA 4 11 1 RA 5 7

Figure 8.7 Distribution of State schools of different sizes by RA levels (N=217)

Figure 8.7 shows that State Schools distributed by different RA levels, and this shows a similar distribution tendency as for the distribution of all Queensland schools. There are 98 State schools in RA 1, 55 in RA 2, 45 in RA 3, 12 in RA 4, and 7 in RA 5. Figure 8.7 shows RA l has the largest numbers of State schools and the most number of large size schools. In RA 1, there are 50 State schools with student numbers between 100 and 200, 14 with student numbers between 201 and 300. 3 schools with student numbers over 300 in RA 1 are all State schools. In RA 2, there are 28 State schools with student numbers between 100 and 200, and 3 with student numbers between 201 and 300. RA 3 has more State schools of a small size (35 State schools with student numbers less than 100) than those in RA 1 and 2. In RA 4, the only school with student number over 100 is one State school, while 11 others have student numbers less than 100. RA 5 has 7 State schools with student numbers less than 100.

Figures 8.6 and 8.7 show that school numbers and school sizes gradually but steadily declined in accordance with their remoteness. The previous analysis (section 8.3.1) indicates that school size is a strong indicator to VETiS outcomes, therefore, it is reasonable to presume that VETiS outcomes are also influence by RA level because

229 there are fewer large size schools in RA 4 and 5. Based on correlation and multiple regression analysis, the key findings from data analysis presented in this chapter are as follows:

1. VET outcomes are significantly related to school size, which means that the larger a school is, the more likely better VET outcomes than a smaller school. However, once a school is large enough (around 200 graduates in Year 12 in this sample), the proportion of VET outcomes does not continue to increase substantially with increasing school size. The increased proportion of VET outcomes is smaller as schools increase.

2. VET outcomes are influenced by RA levels because fewer large size schools exist in RA 4 and 5. Being larger State schools in RA 1 achieve outstanding outcome in VET qualifications.

3. Being a State school is a positive indicator for VETiS outcomes such that VETiS outcomes are better in State schools than they in non-State schools.

4. VETiS and academic outcomes are negatively related, indicating that studying for academic qualifications may influence VETiS outcomes. Specifically, the evidence shows that if a school achieves better academic outcomes in QCE and OP, their VET outcomes may be not as high as those of other schools. If a school achieves better outcomes in VET, the academic outcomes such as QCE and OP may experience a drop.

5. VET outcomes and the political Parties representing citizens at State and Federal levels are not related, which means that Parties are not a strong indicator of VETiS outcomes.

8.5 Discussion of research question four

In this Chapter, Queensland’s student Year 12 VETiS outcomes in 2008 were analysed with respects to the relationships with academic learning outcomes, school characteristics such as school types and school size, as well as RA levels. The data were analysed with the aid of SPSS and shed light on the following research question:

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What school factors influence the implementation of the senior learning reform? How do these factors influence the freedom of choice of Year 12 students across all Queensland schools for pursuing different pathway? The findings indicate that VETiS outcomes are different for students depending on where VETiS programs are implemented. The analysis shows the gaps of VETiS outcomes between State and non-State schools, between urban and rural schools, as well as between VETiS outcomes and academic outcomes. The possible reasons behind the gaps are now explored.

8.5.1 Social privilege in access to education

Both Governments and schools implicated in policies and programs designed and executed under the banner of ensuring “equal opportunities” for all young adults, providing them equal freedom to choose further education, skills training or full-time jobs. However, supposing a Year 11 or 12 student from low SES family living in RA 4 or RA 5 wishes to learn VETiS for a full-time job after Year 12, does s/he have as many choices as his/her peer who lives in RA 1? There are two possibly scenarios to compare the student with his/her peers in RA 1.

Scenario 1: Supposing his/her peers in RA 1 are also from low SES background, s/he could choose from 98 State schools including 67 State schools with student number over 100 in RA 1. But the student in RA 4 can only choose from 12 State schools including only 1 State school with over 100 students. If the student is in RA 5, s/he can only choose from 7 State schools and has no choice of school with student numbers over 100.

Scenario 2: Supposing his/her peers in RA 1 are from middle or higher SES background, s/he can choose from 216 schools including 108 non-State schools. However, the student in RA 4 and 5 has no such extended choice in her/his entrenched situation.

Evidence in this thesis indicates that given Indigenous identity, SES and residential location, social privilege does exist, and influences students’ VETiS outcomes. This is so even though Federal and State education policies are supposed to be committed

231 to equal access to education and training. Social privilege generated with granted right or “conferred by the dominant group to a person or group solely by birthright membership in prescribed identities” such as gender, SES, ethnicity or residential location (Black & Stone, 2005, p. 245). Social privilege in education is such that more resources flow to schools in Queensland’s metropolitan area where more students in that state live. In other words, the students who are disadvantaged to live in remote areas and as a consequence have fewer resources and thus fewer opportunities to benefit from better study facilities, more educational materials and better teaching. This brings to the fore of the question of whether all students should attend large metropolitan schools to take advantage of educational opportunities these schools provide for achieving better outcomes, including VET qualifications. However, the possibility of supporting students’ move from small and remote schools to large metropolitan school is questionable on a number of grounds. There is a need to consider issues of homesickness among the students, parental worries about their children and unemployment of teaching staff in remote schools. Such dilemmas suggest that policy makers and educational researchers may need to reconsider the meaning of “equal opportunities” for education, and especially the criteria for resource allocation for different size schools in different locations.

As discussed in Chapter 3, the selection view of choices focuses on the comparison of the nature of “a particular bundle of commodities” from which to choose (Sen, 1992, p. 34). Sen (1992, p. 36) indicates that “resources tell us about the set of commodity bundles from which we can choose”. The evidence in this Chapter shows that students in metropolitan large schools possess a bigger bundle of resources than those in remote small schools. Therefore, education equity is required to be complemented with social policy for narrowing the gap between the advantaged and disadvantaged students in different residential locations. It also calls for schools to plan how to target their existing resources and link them to strategies that will lead to better achievements for these disadvantaged students in remote areas.

8.5.2 Resources allocation by RA levels

Evidence shows that VETiS outcomes are related to school size, school type and RA levels. The need to equally educate students who have access to limited resources

232 calls for a reconsideration of how to effectively allocate the resources provided by the Governments to support improvement in these students’ outcomes. That there are few large schools in RA 4 and 5 might be expected to drive a focus on resources allocation in a democratic society. The evidence suggests asking which resources are necessary to increase the outcomes of all students if they are to have “equal” right to education and training in Year 12. The concept of equal possession of resources is not best discussed in an abstract or decontextualised way because “the evaluation of equality tends to get distorted [if it] is viewed isolated from other concerns” (Sen, 1992, p. 10). Moreover, the diversity of students means that there is a need to address “the diversity of focus in the assessment of equality” (Sen, 1992, p, 3). It is necessary to choose “a ‘space’ in which different persons are to be compared” (Sen, 1992, p. 2). The uneven distribution of the number of large size schools in different RA levels raises the question of whether these schools are making adequate use of their existing resources and whether students from remote areas could be allocated to them as a move towards more effective strategies.

The need for “sufficient input levels to ensure student achievement of learning goals” (Amsterdam, 2006, p. 25), means the provision of resources for an adequate education and training for all students so that they achieve proficiency levels in the core learning areas (Picus, 2000). According to Baker (2005) educational adequacy concerns the overall level of financial support for public schooling associated with different educational needs of student in different educational contexts. Hence, educational adequacy looks diverse for different schools in different locations with different size of populations. Larger schools could be allocated more financial support for improving learning environment and recruiting more teachers by Australian Governments. A tenet of educational adequacy is resource allocation. Resource allocation is used to describe as the operational activities required to run schools and encompasses all inputs, defined by dollars spent, the resources these dollars buy, and the way these resources are used by educational institutions (Nakib, 1995). Because the lack of publicly available data about school fiscal status, it is difficult to determine an overarching level of adequacy for schools in Queensland’s different RA levels. However, since educational adequacy “depends on the needs of the student population”, school size does provide some indication for estimating the

233 costs of educational adequacy for different school (Chambers, Levin, & Parrish, 2006).

The data presented analysis in this Chapter shows that there are more large schools in RA 1, and that State schools in RA 1 achieved outstanding VET outcomes. It is presumed that these larger schools have more resources in terms of educational adequacy, and thus the schools are more educational productive, have better teacher recruiting and training, better organisational structures. The educational adequacy of these larger schools enable their students to access more facilities, education and training, and high-quality teachers. In terms of educational adequacy, it is evident that student achievements are better when resources are available and their use is aligned with research-based practices (Brinson & Mellor, 2005; Elliot, 1998; H. Miles & Darling-Hammond, 1998). The Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) in USA examined data on student performance as well as fiscal and human resource allocated to school districts (Pan, Rudo, Schneider, & Smith- Hansen, 2003). It was found that higher-performing districts were “associated with higher spending for instruction, core expenditures, and number of teachers [and] spent more on instruction per pupil and employed more teachers per 1,000 students” (Pan, et al., 2003, p. 2). This research suggests that high-performing school districts invest more per pupil in instruction and instruction-related areas, and also increase the allocation of both fiscal and non-fiscal resources.

There is no school with more than 100 students in RA 5 and only one school with more than 100 students in RA 4. Given the importance of school size this calls for attention to input, process and output in terms of educational adequacy. If schools are to be successful and educate all students to the expected levels of proficiency then they must be provided with adequate resources and strategies to increase student learning and their measurable outcomes. The different allocation of resources in different RA levels provides policymakers with challenge of supporting the low- performing schools because of their size to high performing, larger schools. School resources possession is of principal concern to all levels of the education system– national, state, region, and school. The analysis of evidence presented in this chapter suggests that every student’s pathways depend largely on the size of school. As expectations rise for students and teachers to perform at higher levels, and for 234 schools to guarantee the success of all students, the policy makers should to consider how best to support schools secure efficient allocation they need, and the effective strategy to use them that lead to students’ desired outcomes including VET qualifications.

8.5.3 School orientation for equal learning outcomes

This Chapter identified that VET and academic outcomes are related in such as way that gaining academic qualifications is negatively related to VET outcomes. If a school achieves better outcomes in QCE and OP, their VET outcomes are not “good”. If a school achieves better outcomes in VET, then its students’ academic outcomes such as QCE and OP are not satisfactory. This indicates that a school’s orientation to academic and VET studies has an influence on VETiS outcomes. It suggests that the reforms of senior secondary learning are producing two streams of schooling. One is academic achievements such as QCE and OP qualifications while the other is vocational outcomes such as VET and SAT qualifications. Within a school’s VET or academic orientation, students have to make decisions they weigh off the relative costs and benefits of pursuing academic or vocational education during their senior learning.

The different orientation of senior learning, academic versus VET, implies that the senior education system plays a major role in selecting students for different career paths (Passow, 1971; Richardson, 1933; Soukup, 2007; Synge, 1975; Wilms, 1983). This selective function of secondary schools is developed through their “negative functionings” by eliminating students according to their sex, colours or SES status to “positive functionings” that select students for different types of education and training (Richardson, 1933, p. 686). The academic and vocational streams of secondary learning provide different pathways, opportunity structured and outcomes for young adults. The different learning outcomes affect students’ choice of entry into either further education or the workforce. Schools’ orientation scheme and specific curriculum plan markedly shape students’ achievement as well as their post- school aims and goals. Therefore, the functioning of school system, consciously or sub-consciously, intentionally or otherwise, is to sort out its students for various

235 levels of society by the kinds of schools and students’ backgrounds. While schools serve a selective function but

the basis on which this sorting takes place can vary: they can serve to select and sort, placing barriers in growth and mobility for some while encouraging and aiding others or they can provide the means for opening doors to opportunities for all (Passow, 1971, p. 23).

This is the challenge and the promise for senior schools to achieve. The selective function of the school system is “undemocratic and discriminatory… designed to prepare some [students] for white-collar and other [students] for blue-collar jobs” (Judge Wright, cited in Passow, 1971, p. 19). On the other side, Saha and Fagerlind (1994) maintain that the selective function of schools see the coexistence of vocational and academic curricula producing two discrete occupational sectors, and therefore institutionalising and maintaining inequalities in society. Both of these views were argued in terms of education equality which is regarded as a “magic” word in education research. It is acknowledged that the Australian Government advocate senior learning should provide good and appropriate academic and vocational education for all young people because a democratic principles they cherish. Symbolically at least, vocational education is promoted as an equally important pathway, it seems to be for those students who are not suited to academic study, and is supposed to provide students with practical skills related to needs of the workforce so as to increase their chances of getting a job (Riele, 2007). But such ends have been not easily achieved in Queensland taking into consideration of students’ diverse internal and external factors such as their SES background, gender and their residential locations.

The idea of equality of educational opportunity cannot be simply interpreted as opening the doors to a school and setting a seat for every student. Instead, there is a need to consider and clarify school orientation and learning goals, to diagnose differences among schools flexible organisation—given that optimal conditions for learning appear to be associated with school size and location, and how to make use of the resources and personnel in large, metropolitan schools. When these purposes are better understood and these selection criteria are applied, teachers can plan activities for a narrower range of differences and the needs of students can be met

236 more effectively (Saha & Fagerlind, 1994). These effective measures might open the doors of learning and training to increase opportunities for students currently attending remote and /or small schools. There is a need for the school to re-evaluate and restructure of its curriculum, its functioning as a socialising institution.

This “new” approach to equality of educational opportunity is not merely a matter of equality of programs, services and resources. It brings the quest for individualisation and differentiation. It aims at making it possible for students to take advantage of educational opportunities by means of providing programs to enable them to attend and participate in optional education and training. This would mean re-examining the values and goals of public education to determine how these processes and strategies affect opportunities of students coming from remote and/or small schools.

8.6 Conclusion

This chapter has tested Sen’s (1992, 1999) capability approach in terms of in/equality by analysing the factors influencing Year 12 students VETiS outcomes across Queensland. Factors such as school size, RA levels, school types seem to influence VETiS outcomes. Knowing this may help policy makers better understand the barriers to implementing VETiS policies. It suggests that students’ VETiS outcomes might be compared within a specific space in terms of education equality. The diversity of students’ internal and external circumstances should be taken into account when assessing the implementation of education equality policy. Three issues about the VETiS outcomes are evident. First, there is no equal access to education because of student’s residential location, which means to consider the feasibility of complementing social policy by moving students to better places of residence. Second, the possession of school resources is a concern for all levels of the education system–national, state, region, and schools. Indeed, policy makers should take educational adequacy into consideration for how to support students securing efficient allocation of resources and work out the effective strategy to make use of them for desired outcomes including VET qualifications. Third, the selective function of school challenges the meaning of education equality and makes it necessary to re-evaluate and restructure the curriculum and functioning of schools to serve students, especially those from remote and/or small schools.

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CHAPTER NINE: SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY PERFORMANCE FOR VETIS IMPLEMENTATION IN SELECTED ELECTORATES IN QUEENSLAND

9.0 Introduction

The previous chapters indicated that Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS) outcomes are strongly related to school size and characteristics such as its type and its location. VETiS outcomes are also influenced by other learning outcomes. For example, the growth in QCE and OP qualification is most likely to be accompanied by a decrease in those obtaining a VET qualification (see Chapter 8). Based on such results, this chapter adds to knowledge about other factors which may influence students VETiS outcomes with regard to educational accountability by investigating school performance document management. By doing so, this chapter examines if Queensland secondary schools provide comprehensive vocational education and training information for young people as an effective optional pathway for their post-school life, this is a matter of public accountability which is a basic requirement of democratic political systems (Ryan & Feller, 2009). A mixed-method was used to understand students’ learning outcomes through descriptive statistics and texts analyses of school administrative data such as annual reports and curriculum plans secured from sixty-one selected school websites in Queensland. This data has been analysed in relation to different Queensland electorates selected on the basis of Remoteness Areas (RA) levels 1-5. The availability of VETiS information via websites and how schools presented such information in their annual reports and curriculum were analysed.

Democracy may be seen as “creating a set of opportunities, and the use of these opportunities calls for analysis of a different kind, dealing with the practice of democratic and political rights” (Sen, 1999, p.155). There is need for a deeper analysis of effective use of information for people’s participation in all form of valued and valuable life—in short, the “fuller practice of democracy” (Sen, 1999, p.154) in VETiS policy implementation in Queensland secondary education. In the process of education policy implementation, there is a pressing public responsibility

239 to address the needs of the young adults’ freedom of choice for pursuing different pathways. An understanding of how to manage this tension lies in the analysis of school accountability performance according to the communicative functions of school documents. The ways they govern senior education, allocate resources, and organise the delivery of different courses constitute a focus for analysing the accountability of education policy actors.

Educators understand that the learning outcomes of students are affected by what, how and where they learn. In the literature on educational inequality in VETiS, differences between rural and urban locations received little attention. However, Welch, et al. (2007, p. 271) argue that “in many systems, inequalities of place are both persistent and powerful”. It is important to consider whether the information about VETiS distributed to students and the public in rural and remote areas differs or equal to that given to those students and the public in urban schools. This chapter will focus on the geographical dimensions of the distribution of VETiS information, especially in terms of the space represented by electorates to test whether Year 12 students are VETiS policy beneficiaries. The purposes of this data analysis were (a) to examine the information-based distribution of educational resource as a way of providing multiple opportunities for young adults’ choosing learning-working pathways; and (b) to examine the accountability to which policy actors’ enacted processes for achieving the stated purpose of Queensland’s VETiS policy. The process of enacting the policy will be assessed in terms of the equality in democratic community according to two interrelated places namely, State electorates and schools location by RA levels.

9.1 Accountability in education

Any consideration of accountability should begin with the ways to conceptualise it. For example, Edwards and Hulme (1996, p. 967) define accountability as “the means by which individuals and organizations report to a recognized authority (or authorities) and are held responsible for their actions”. Keohane (2002, p. 12) goes further, arguing that an accountability relationship is “one in which an individual, group or other entity makes demands on an agent to report on his or her activities, and has the ability to impose costs on the agent”. Ryan and Feller (2009, p. 173) add

240 to this description, arguing that “accountability denotes the responsibility of an organization or individual (i.e., an agent) to perform within the specified boundaries set by some higher political authority (i.e., a principal) and to report to and justify one’s actions to this authority”. In breaking this complex concept down even further, Kearns (1996, p. 43) proposes that accountability be viewed as containing

as many as three dimensions: the higher authority to whom organizations and individuals are accountable, the standards of performance . . . for which organizations are held accountable, and the responses to the accountability environment . . . from inside the organization.

We can understand accountability as “an authorized or institutionalized accountability relationship when the requirement to report, and the right to sanction, are mutually understood and accepted” (Keohane, 2002, p. 12). Such understandings of these multiple dimensions of accountability are socially constructed and accountability is “a basic tenet of democratic political systems” (Ryan & Feller, 2009, p. 173). Keohane (2002, p. 13) argues that democratic accountability within a constitutional system is “a relationship in which power-wielders are accountable to broad publics”. Democratic accountability could be conceptualized as a hypothetical system in which agents whose actions made a sufficiently great impact on the lives of people in other societies would have to report to those people and be subject to sanctions from them.

The range of definitions for accountability offered above point to the contestation over this important concept and the creative role of such contestation in the development of this concept. In his historical analysis of accountability in democracy in U.S.A., Weber (1999, p. 453) observes that “the conceptualization of democratic accountability, rather than being a sacrosanct concept that all can agree on, varies dramatically over time.” In particular, he demonstrates how specific accountability mechanisms in public administration have changed significantly since the nineteenth century. Ebrahim (2003, p. 194) also contends that the changing context in the late twentieth century impacted on definitions of accountability and points out that the problem of defining accountability arises not only “from its socially constructed nature, but also from the observation that organizations often face plural accountabilities that change over time”. He defines accountability as “the means

241 through which individuals and organizations are held externally to account for their actions and as the means by which they take internal responsibility for continuously shaping and scrutinizing organizational mission, goals, and performance” (Ebrahim, 2003, p. 194).

Because of multifaceted and contested nature of the concept of accountability, it is helpful to understand its meaning depending on the context in which it is used. Here, the concern is with educational accountability defined and measured in terms of school performance (Ryan & Feller, 2009). School performance involves an organisation demonstrating “that its activities have produced the outputs, outcomes, and impacts for which it was established and provided resources” (Ryan & Feller 2009, p. 173). In other words, performance is a compound product of the objectives which provide the criteria used to measure the attainment of those objectives. In such context, an accountability system may be defined as “publishing outcome information on standardized tests for each school along with providing a way to aggregate and interpret the school performance” (Hanushek & Raymond, 2005, p. 306).

The prevailing mode of education accountability focuses on students test score improvement which is used to hold schools accountable for such measures (Heilig & Darling-Hammond, 2008; Keohane, 2002; McLendon, Hearn, & Deaton, 2006; Philp, 2009; Vanhoof & Petegem, 2007). There have been calls in Australia to implement a transparent system of accountability in public education, by the public sharing of information about school performance and student achievement (Rich, 2000). Rich’s (2000) research calls for releasing comparative and comprehensive data to the public could encourage schools to improve students’ learning outcomes. Felner, Bolton, Seitsinger, Brand and Burns (2008, p. 235) argue that accountability assessment should move beyond students’ achievement to “include a comprehensive assessment of all aspects of … the public education system”. The accountability for school performance explored in this chapter examines how school annual reports and curriculum disseminated information about VETiS learning information to the public including students via their websites in selected electorates in Queensland. VETiS information availability to the communities reflects schools’ accountability for

242 developing education and training as well as implementing VETiS policy in accordance with Queensland education policies requirement.

9.2 Data collection method

Chapter 8 discussed the RA classification, which is based on the concept of remoteness. The five RA levels are: Major Cities of Australia (RA1); Inner Regional Australia (RA2); Outer Regional Australia (RA3); Remote Australia (RA4) and Very Remote Australia (RA5) based on the ASGC. The specific methods to identify and select the State electorates for collecting documentary data from schools in these chosen electorates are explained in this section.

9.2.1 Identifying and choosing electorates for students’ VETiS outcome

In Queensland, there were eighty-nine State electorates in 2010 58. With the map provided on the Electoral Commission Queensland (ECQ) website, the eighty-nine electorates were categorised by different RA levels (see Table 9.1). Their RA levels were determined by putting each electorates’ name into the “Remoteness Area Locator” website provided by Australian Government. Afterwards, the postcodes of these eighty-nine electorates were found on another website—“RRMA/ASGC-RA Town/Postcode Search” provided by Health Workforce, Queensland. The identified postcodes of these electorates were then put into the website of RRIPA to double check the RA classification for reliability.

Table 9.1 Profile of RA classification of eighty-one electorates in Queensland

RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA RA 1 2 3 4 5 1&2 2&3 3&4 4&5 2&3&4 3&4&5

49 13 11 0 0 5 3 2 3 1 2

With these eight-nine State electorates, the next question was how to find a reliable method to select electorates to account for schools performance in relation to Year 12 students’ learning outcomes? Two selection approaches were considered. First, ten electorates were chosen according to the largest and smallest electoral enrolments in each RA classification. It was found that these ten electorates could not cover all the

58 Information obtained from ECQ (http://www.ecq.qld.gov.au/). 243 eight Regions of the Queensland DET, namely Brisbane North; Brisbane South; Central Queensland; North Queensland; South East Queensland; Western Queensland; Gold Coast; Sunshine Coast. Second, two electorates were chosen in each of the above eight Departmental Regions either by the largest and smallest electoral enrolments or by the farthest geographical distance to the centre of each of RA (see Tables 9.2 and 9.3). However, some electorates selected by geographical distance crossed two RA levels which added to the complexity of collecting and analysing school data (see table 9.3). Therefore, sixteen electorates were chosen by numbers of enrolment so as to avoid the overlap of RA classifications (see Table 9.2).

Table 9.2 State Electorates (N=16) by RA classification with largest and smallest voter enrolments

BN BS CQ GC NQ SEQ SSC WQ

RA 1 ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗

RA 2 ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗

RA 3 ∗ ∗

RA 4&5 ∗ ∗

Table 9.3 State Electorates (N=16) by RA classification and geographical distance

BN BS CQ GC NQ SEQ SSC WQ

RA 1 ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗

RA 1&2 ∗ ∗

RA 2 ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗

RA 2&3 ∗

RA 3 ∗ ∗

RA 4&5 ∗ ∗

According to the largest and smallest numbers of voters enrolments, sixteen electorates were chosen from different RA levels (see Table 9.2). Six electorates are in RA 1 and 2 respectively. Two electorates are in RA 3 and RA 4&5 respectively.

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Then the next step was to identify senior secondary schools in each of these sixteen electorates.

9.2.2 Collecting data from the senior schools in each of the chosen electorates

It was a major challenge for me as the researcher to find all the senior schools in each of the selected electorates, especially given that I am from China. First, I put each electorate’s name in the “Education Directory” website of the Queensland DET.59 A list of schools in each electorate was obtained from this site; it includes all primary schools, special education schools, public high schools as well as other types of schools.

Second, I selected the schools from the information in Year 12 Outcomes 2008 (Queensland Government, 2009b). However, according to my supervisor’s knowledge (a local researcher), some of the schools I identified were not exactly within the selected electorates. This pushed me to figure out another way to make the selection of schools by electorates reliable. I ascertained the physical address of each selected school on the DET’s “Education Directory” website. Then I searched each school’s address on the interactive map of 2008 Queensland State Redistribution Electoral Districts provided on the ECQ website. One by one, I re-checked the location of each school to make sure that all sixty-one senior schools were within the boundary of the selected electorates (see Table 9.4).

59 Refer to DET (http://education.qld.gov.au/directory/phone/). 245

Table 9.4 School distribution in selected electorates by RA level

School electorate Number of School Brisbane Central 7 RA1 Buderim 4 Logan 3 Mermaid Beach 2 Nudegee 3 Springwood 4 Condamine 5 RA2 Marryborough 3 Mackay 4 Lockyer 2 Pumicestone 4 Toowoomba South 6 Barron River 4 RA3 Broadwater 1 Cook 4 RA4&5 Mount Isa 5 Total 61

Table 9.4 shows the number of schools in each electorate. There are twenty-three schools in RA 1; twenty-four schools in RA 2; five schools in RA 3 and nine schools in RA 4&5 (also see Appendix II for school numbers). These sixty-one schools include State schools, Catholic schools and independent schools.

9.2.3 Criteria for collection of evidence

Evidence about VETiS was collected from the annual reports and curriculum of these sixty-one schools provided on each of their individual websites. 2008 school annual reports and 2009 curriculum information were collected before January 7, 2010. 2009 school annual reports and 2010 curriculum information were collected before Dec. 15, 2010 so that enough time was left for data analysis60.

The school annual reports “With or without VETiS information” were analysed in terms of whether they included VETiS information or not, that is: I checked if there

60 In the following data analysis, “2008” indicates school annual reports in 2008 or curriculum in 2009; “2009” indicates school annual reports in 2009 or curriculum in 2010 if there is no specification. 246 was any VETiS information in any section of the annual reports, except for the section of “Attainment and Achievement–Year 12”. I did so because every annual report includes an “Attainment and Achievement–Year 12” section which is compulsory. It provides some statistical information about the numbers of students getting different outcomes such as QCE, OP and/or VET Certificate. This section does not reflect whether schools attach importance to making public information about VETiS as an optional pathway for students. Therefore, evidence about VETiS was collected from the following sections of the School Annual Reports: “introduction, school progress towards its goal, future outlook, and curriculum offerings”. The annual reports indicate whether VETiS is a key focus of these schools and if they conduct it as an effective way to improve students’ capabilities for further education, training or employment.

Here it is important to identify missing and erroneous data sources. When collecting the 2008 school annual reports, I found that all the sixty-one senior schools provided annual reports on their websites. However, fifty-eight were labelled as 2008 version. Two were labelled as ‘2009 annual reports’ but these were based on 2008 data. Another school provided its 2007 annual report stating that it was the latest available. Further, when collecting the 2009 school annual reports, six schools had not updated their annual report to 2008 until the time I finished data collection61. In the following data analysis, the school with 2007 annual report was taken into consideration and categorised in the group of 2008 school annual reports. The other six schools without updated 2009 annual reports were identified as “without VETiS information in annual report”.

I then proceeded to collect data about these school’s curricula in terms of whether they provided the public information about VETiS, that is “With or without VETiS information” in curriculum. I searched the “curriculum” column of each school’s website to find out if it provided detailed VET course information. When collecting curriculum for 2009, two schools provided VETiS information either by printed handbook or required a password to log into the website and they were categorised as “Without VETiS information in school curriculum”. I did so because their VETiS

61 Data collection for 2009 school annual reports and school curriculum were done before January 7th, 2010. 247 information was not readily available in public domain on these two schools’ websites. In collecting evidence about their curriculum for 2010, one school did not provide its curriculum on the website in 2010. All the other schools (n=60) either provided general descriptions of Year 11 and 12 courses on their school webpage or attached detailed course selection handbooks for downloading by the public. There were twenty-one PDF curriculum documents (course guides) for 2009 and twenty- two PDF documents (course guides) for 2010. The schools’ websites and their curriculum documents for VET course information were carefully examined. Besides the slim possibility of “log in” requirement or failure to recognise the correct access for a school website, it is presumed that all the evidences obtained from the sixty-one chosen school websites are reliable.

9.3 The public availability of VETiS information in school annual reports and curriculum

I kept track of VETiS information from these sixty-one schools’ annual reports in 2008 and 2009, curriculum in 2009 and 2010 in order to establish what importance these schools attached to publicly disseminating information about VETiS. The sixty-one schools were divided into four categories based on the availability of VETiS information in their annual reports and curriculum (see Table 9.5):

1. With VETiS information in annual report and school curriculum; 2. With VETiS information only in Annual Report; 3. With VETiS information only in school curriculum; 4. Without VETiS information both in Annual Report & school curriculum.

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Table 9.5 Schools with and without publicly available VETiS information in annual report and curriculum by RA levels, 2008 and 2009

RA levels and school number RA 1 RA2 RA3 RA4&5 Total (23) (24) (5) (9) (61) 1. With VETiS information in Annual Report & school curriculum 2008 10 13 0 4 27/44% 2009 9 8 1 5 23/38% 2. With VETiS information only in Annual Report 2008 0 4 3 3 10/16% 2009 3 7 2 3 15/ 25% 3. With VETiS information only in school curriculum 2008 8 3 2 0 13/21% 2009 6 6 0 0 12/20% 4. Without VETiS information both in Annual Report & school curriculum 2008 5 4 0 2 11/18% 2009 5 3 2 1 11/18%

30 27

25 23

20 15 15 13 12 11 11 10 10

5 school numbers

0 2008 With VETiS With VETiS With VETiS Without VETiS information in information only in information only in information both in 2009 Annual Report & Annual Report school curriculum Annual Report & school curriculum school curriculum

information types

Figure 9.1 Comparison of school numbers with/without VETiS information in 2008 and 2009

Table 9.5 and Figure 9.1 show that public availabilities of information about VETiS from the schools’ annual reports and curriculum did not improve much from 2008 to

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200962 across RA 1-5. Four less schools provided the public both VETiS information in their annual report and curriculum plan in 2009 compared with that in 2008 and one school did likewise VETiS in its curriculum. However, the encouraging points were that five more schools provided the public VETiS information in their annual reports and schools without any VETiS information in both annual report and school curriculum levelled in 2009 compared with that in 2008. The following Figures 9.2, 9.3, 9.4 and 9.5 present the details of VETiS information public availability according to different RA levels.

Figure 9.2 indicates the number of schools which provided the public with VETiS information both in their annual reports and curriculum. It shows that there was a drop in VETiS information public availability in RA 1 (n=10 in 2008 but n=9 in 2009) and 2 (n=13 in 2008 but n=8 in 2009). 43% schools in RA 1 (n=10) provided VETiS information in 2008 but 39% schools (n=9) did so in 2009. Five less schools provided VETiS information in their annual reports and curriculum in RA 2 in 2008 than had done in 2009. Only one out of five schools provided VETiS information both in their annual reports and curriculum in RA 3 in 2009, while one more school did so in RA 4&5 in 2009.

62 The data collected labelled as 2008 were from school’s annual reports 2008 and their curriculum for 2009; data collected labelled as 2009 were from school’s annual reports 2009 and their curriculum for 2010. 250

14 13 12 10 9 10 8 8 5 6 4 4 54% 1 2 43% 39% 33% 0 0 20% 44% 56%

school numbers 0 RA 1 (23) RA2 (24) RA3 (5) RA4&5 (9) 2008 10 13 0 4 2008% 43% 54% 0 44% 2009 9 8 1 5 2009% 39% 33% 20% 56%

RA level

Figure 9.2 Schools with VETiS information in both annual report and school curriculum

Figure 9.3 shows the number of schools which provided the public with VETiS information only in their annual reports. Three more schools included VETiS information in their annual report in RA 1 and 2 respectively in 2009 compared that in 2008. There were 3 schools did so in RA 1 and 7 schools did so in RA 2 in 2009. One school less in RA 3 (n=3 in 2008 but n=2 in 2009) and the school numbers levelled in RA 4&5 (n=3) in 2009 compared that in 2008.

14 12 10

8 7 6 4 school numbers 4 3 3 3 3 2 2 0 0 13% 17% 29% 60% 40% 33% 33% 0 RA 1 (23) RA2 (24) RA3 (5) RA4&5 (9) 2008 0 4 3 3 2008% 0 17% 60% 33% 2009 3 7 2 3 2009% 13% 29% 40% 33% RA level

Figure 9.3 Schools with VETiS information only in annual report

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Figure 9.4 shows that the number of schools providing the public with VETiS information only in their curriculum dropped by two in RA 1 and 3 respectively in 2009 compared with that in 2008. However, three more schools provided VETiS information in their curriculum in RA 2 and the school numbers kept levelled in RA 4&5.

14 12 10 8 8 6 6 6 4 3 2

school numbers 2 35% 26% 13% 25% 40%0 0 0 0 0 0 0 RA 1 (23) RA2 (24) RA3 (5) RA4&5 (9) 2008 8 3 2 0 2008% 35% 13% 40% 0 2009 6 6 0 0 2009% 26% 25% 0 0 RA level

Figure 9.4 Schools with VETiS information only in school curriculum

Figure 9.5 shows that the number of schools with VETiS information neither in annual report nor in curriculum. The number of schools in RA 1 levelled in these two years (n=5). The number of schools in RA 2 (n=4 in 2008 and n=3 in 2009) and RA 4&5 (n=2 in 2008 and n=1 in 2009) decreased a bit. The number of school in RA 3 increased by 2 more schools which failed to provide any VETiS information in 2009.

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14 12 10 8 6 5 5 4 3

school numbers 4 2 2 2 1 22% 22% 17% 13% 0 0 40% 22% 0 11% RA 1 (23) RA2 (24) RA3 (5) RA4&5 (9) 2008 5 4 0 2 2008% 22% 17% 0 22% 2009 5 3 2 1 2009% 22% 13% 40% 11% RA level

Figure 9.5 Schools VETiS information neither in annual report nor in curriculum

The above evidence is not optimistic because less than half of the schools (27 out of 61 in 2008, and 23 out of 61 in 2009) provided the public with VETiS information in both their annual report and curriculum. All the other schools provided inadequate VETiS information for students and the public. However, based on the statistics provided in the Year 12 outcomes 2008 and 2009 (Queensland Government, 2009b, 2010b)63, 19 of these schools in 2008 and 25 in 2009 of these schools which did not make publicly available information about their VETiS curriculum reported the number of students who were awarded one or more VET qualifications. The numbers ranged from 1 to 103 in 2008 and from 1 to 158 in 2009 (see Table 9.6 and 9.7). Such results indicate that these schools conducted courses to enable their students to gain VET qualifications without providing the public corresponding information about their VETiS curriculum.

63 Brisbane Grammar School reported that none of its students were awarded one or more VET qualification in 2008 and Queensland Academy for Creative Industries reported that none of its students awarded VET qualifications in 2008 and 2009.

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Table 9.6 Schools with VET qualification outcomes but without detailed VETiS curriculum, 200964 (N=19)

Number of students School VETiS information VETiS information in Annual Report 2008 awarded one or number Curriculum in 2009 more VET qualification 1 no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 28 14 Can not open the link to annual report No curriculum offered 2

16 no VETiS mentioned No detailed information 99 24 School based apprenticeships, TAFE programs No detailed information on VETiS 9 and vocational subjects 27 no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 3 31 no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 11 33 no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 85 35 Senior pathways are becoming more flexible No detailed information on VETiS 48 with increasing numbers of students involved in completing Certificate II courses (p. 6). 39 no detailed VETiS information mentioned “A full description of senior subject 103 is provided in the Senior Studies Handbook available from Administration and on this web site” (but not found in the website) 43 …a program for vocationally oriented students, No curriculum information found 25 including school based apprenticeships, TAFE programs and vocational subjects (p. 1). 46 no detailed VETiS information mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 72 49 …offerings Indigenous Agricultural Studies No detailed information on VETiS 6 Cert 1 – For At Risk and Disengaged Students (p. 4). 50 … prepare via a variety of pathways for tertiary No detailed information on VETiS 8 entrance, other study, or employment. School based apprenticeships and traineeships are available, as are cooperative course offerings with other learning institutions (p.1). 51 Comprehensive partnerships with business and No detailed information on VETiS 50 industry to offer students opportunities in the work place (p. 2). 55 …provides a broad range of academic and No detailed information on VETiS 35 vocational educational opportunities for the youth of the area (p.1). 56 Building relationships with other Cape schools No detailed information on VETiS 22 to secure transition and employment outcomes for the children … was met with enthusiasm from all stakeholders (p. 2). 58 no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 14 60 no detailed VETiS information mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 15 61 …the emphasis has continued on offering all No detailed information on VETiS 1 students the opportunity of obtaining an OP and/or VET qualification through school-based traineeships, offering school-based traineeship/apprenticeships through shire council and local businesses (p. 1, 2).

64 The quotations of VETiS information were from 2008 annual reports of these respective schools. All these sixty-one schools are listed by numbers to ensure their confidential. 254

Table 9.7 Schools with VET qualification outcomes but without detailed VETiS curriculum, 201065 (N=25)

Number of School VETiS information Curriculum students awarded Annual Report 2009 number in 2010 one or more VET qualification 1 no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 24 2 no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 1 3 no VETiS mentioned Certificate III - fitness 80 With detailed course information

14 Cannot open the link to annual report No curriculum offered 4

16 The school was awarded the DET VET in 127 Schools Excellence Award for the innovative No detailed information VET curriculum (p. 3). 22 Vocational Education and Training subject No course detailed information 133 reporting was migrated to Synergetic providing a stable and secure reporting solution. 23 …continues to provide a wide range of academic No course detailed information 94 and vocational subjects (p. 1). 24 No annual report No detailed information on VETiS 5 25 The school has an excellent reputation in the You are not authorised to view this 93 community particularly in the areas of academic resource. excellence, vocational placements, cultural You need to login. performance and industry links (p. 1). No course detailed information 26 …provides for these students by supporting NO detailed course information 64 School Based Traineeships and Apprenticeships and Workplace Education. One significant initiative has been the introduction of whole day learning programs in Construction and Engineering (4). 27 no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 4 31 no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 4 35 …focus on Indigenous education and further No detailed information on VETiS 47 developing our offering of pathways for Senior students (p. 2). 37 …the continued delivery of both our OP subjects No detailed course information 13 including our many VET offerings. These have included certificate courses in the areas of Music, IT and Community Recreation for the first time (p. 5). 41 …provide curriculum offerings that meet the No course detailed information 158 academic, vocational, cultural, physical, developmental and social needs of students (p. 3) 43 A program for vocationally oriented students, No curriculum information found 28 including school based apprenticeships, TAFE programs and vocational subjects (p. 2). 46 …to access Vocational courses. These provide No detailed information on VETiS 86 students with a transition into further studies and/or the workplace environment (p. 6). 48 no detailed VETiS information mentioned No course detailed information on 9 website 49 …as well as Vocational options for students to No detailed information on VETiS 4 gain certificate qualifications … (p. 4). 50 no detailed VETiS information mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 8 51 …offers an extensive range of OP subjects, this No detailed information on VETiS 89 is complimented by a first class vocational

65 The quotations of VETiS information were from 2009 annual reports of these respective schools. All these sixty-one schools are listed by numbers to ensure their confidential. 255

education program. We are also a gateway school to the manufacturing industry (p. 1). 55 … provides a broad range of academic and No detailed information on VETiS 62 vocational educational opportunities for the youth of the area (p.1). 56 An extensive range of Certificate II and III No detailed information on VETiS 26 courses in Senior Schooling including (three campuses) Children’s Services, Hospitality, Furnishing and Engineering (p. 3). 58 …are offered the opportunity of undertaking No detailed information on VETiS 9 school based apprenticeships and VET style courses as their interest indicates (p.3). 61 No annual report No detailed information on VETiS 2

9.4 Analysis of school public accountability in selected Queensland schools

The descriptive statistical analysis of the public availability of VETiS information in the on-line annual reports and curriculum from selected sixty-one schools (n=61) in Queensland shows that 19 schools in 2008 and 25 schools in 2009 did not provide detailed VETiS information in their curriculum but some students did achieve VET outcomes. In 2008, 34 schools and in 2009, 38 schools (including 6 schools that did not update their annual reports) failed to provide the public with consistent VETiS information in their annual reports and curriculum. Such results make the concept of “public accountability” jump to the forefront of consideration of education in democracy. Schools have to publicly account for their implementation of education policies and manage the production of information the public needs to hold them to account. Here accountability is defined as the process of actors being responsible for actions. With the above results, it can be asked how do school annual reports and their school curricula, two aspects of school accountability for Queensland senior schooling, impact on the practices of schools to bring about outcomes for students.

In Australia, accountability agenda includes national student testing, a national curriculum and the publication of school performance data (Klenowski, et al., 2007). Analysing the effects of accountability on student performance is difficult because little progress have been made in explicitly describing the different policies, regulations and incentives that might be important in determining student performance. Publicly available documents such as school curricula and annual reports can be employed to explore schools’ public accountability because they are supposed to be consistent with the governing policy framework, and make explicit expectations about students’ achievements.

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In 2008, the Queensland Government released Towards Q2 (Queensland Government, 2008b), outlining the development of “tomorrow’s” Queensland. This policy advocated “strong, green, smart, healthy and fair” as the framework for addressing the government’s five ambitions with respect to the economy, environment and lifestyle, education and skills, health and community (Queensland Government, 2008b, p. 2). Subsequently, Queensland Department of Education and DET produced its Strategic Plan 2010-2014 (Queensland Government, 2010a, p. 6) to take responsibility for the “smart” agenda for delivering “world-class education and training ambition during the two 2020 targets”. The Department’s Strategic Plan promises to “provide Queenslanders with the knowledge, skills and confidence to maximise their potential, contribute productively to the economy and build a better Queensland” (Queensland Government, 2010a, p. 1). It defined the values of education accountability and performance by stating “we are accountable for our actions, ensuring efficient and effective use of our resources” (Queensland Government, 2010a, p. 1). A closer analysis of the publicly available annual reports and curriculum provided by the above schools will help to determine if they implemented these education policies as part of their focus on school performance.

9.4.1 Analysis of annual reports

The DET website provided specific information to assist Queensland schools to meet the requirements for the Annual Reporting Policy. The policy requires that “all Queensland schools (state and non-state) are to report in a School Annual Report for publication on their school website” (Queensland Government, n.d.a). The results of school annual reports for 2008 show that School 4 only provided its 2007 annual report on the website with no update over the next two years. School 9 and 24 “mis- labelled” their 2008 annual reports as “2009” although the reports were based on 2008 data. Form the collection of school annual reports for 2009 it was found that there were no new annual reports available from six schools for that year (School 4, 10, 14, 17, 21, and 61). According to DET, the school annual report information

is to be published by 30 June of each year. Following the release of Next Step, post school destinations information for Year 12 completers is to be included by 30 September of each year [and it] is to be made publicly

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available on the internet, and schools are to make arrangements to provide the information, on request, to a parent, carer or a person who is responsible for a student at the school and is unable to access the internet (Queensland Government, n.d.a).

School annual report is significant vehicle for public communication because it documents school’s performance with respect to desired goals and schools’ effectiveness in relating education policy to their implementation in practice. While the DET’s educational accountability policy addresses the need for schools to make public operating information, the issue of attribution remains problematic. The above mentioned six schools did not publish their updated annual reports before the required deadline and no new information was provided to the public including their school students, parents or the communities at large. The unavailability of their minimum information from these schools means there were no summaries of their achievements presented to the public and corresponding administrative educational departments, let alone providing transparency about school performance to the public.

Let us now have a closer look at the annual report template provided by Queensland DET (see Appendix IV) which was pointed to all Queensland schools to help them construct their 2009 school annual reports. Schools are encouraged to provide a broad range of information to parents and the community with their annual report. Here, the accountability via school annual reports can be conceptualised from three perspectives: contractual accountability, moral accountability and professional accountability (Gurr, 2007). These three dimensions allow for the accountability practice from school, teachers and students. Contractual accountability is focussed on “meeting the requirement of the system” (Gurr, 2007, p. 167) which mirrors the community the school serves and thus it is crucial that “the information reported contributes to a greater understanding of the context in which the school operates” (Queensland Government, n.d.a). It includes school information, school progress and future outlook, and curriculum offerings. Moral accountability is “concerned with meeting the needs of parents and students” (Gurr, 2007, p. 167) which involves “the environment in which the school operates, or is likely to operate in the foreseeable future” (Queensland Government, n.d.a). It includes information about school social climate, as well as parent, student and teacher satisfaction with the school. Professional accountability is concerned with the works of teachers (Gurr, 2007)

258 which requires information about the qualifications of staff and students’ key performances. Here, data about availabilities of VETiS information were from the “principal’s foreword” and “curriculum offerings” contained in school annual reports. Accordingly, schools’ policy implementation is focused on so called contractual accountability.

In the annual report template, schools are required to provide basic information such as postal address, phone, fax, email and webpage. The template indicates that “additional reporting information pertaining to Queensland state schools is located on the My School website and the Department’s Right to Information site ” (Queensland Government, n.d.b). The State schools are expected to provide functional links to the “right to information site”. However, only 10 out of 31 State schools 66 made the functional link as required, that is less than one third of State schools required to do so. 20 out of 31 State schools put the link as required in template but the link was not operational. Only one school did not make any link to the required webpage in its annual report as required by the Queensland DET. The policy requires effective operations between schools and the education department so as to widen public access to school information, in particular so that students and parents may make more informed choice about schools and courses. Two thirds of State schools did not implement a functional link for expanding information to the public and community. Calls for school accountability in terms of helping students obtain basic information about schools so they may choose to enrol remain to be addressed.

The other contractual information required in the template is a “principal’s foreword” and details of “curriculum offerings”. In each “principal’s foreword”, an introduction to this annual report, details of the school’s progress towards its goals and future outlook are to be presented. “Curriculum offering” requires each school to outline salient features of its curriculum instead of regular subjects.

Table 9.5 shows that 15 out of 61 schools provided VETiS information only in their annual reports but no consistent VETiS information was provided in their curriculum offerings. For example, one school stated that “the school was awarded the DET

66 There are 33 state schools and 2 of them failed to update their annual report in 2009. Among 28 non-state schools, 4 of them did not update their annual report in 2009. 259

VET in Schools Excellence Award for the innovative VET curriculum” (School 16, 2010, p. 3) but no information was provided to the public about this innovative VET curriculum on its website. Another school stated that

… further developing our offering of pathways for Senior students. Allowing for extension and learning support. Students have the opportunity to master skills / processes before moving to a higher level, by being able to study another unit at the same level (School 35, 2010, p. 2, italics added).

It would be difficult for students or others to find about “the opportunity to master skills” because no curriculum information was provided on this school’s website. Another school stated that “these have included certificate courses in the areas of Music, IT and Community Recreation for the first time” (School 37, 2010, p. 5) but still no such curriculum information was provided for students, parents or the community on its website. According to Table 9.5, it seems that these 15 schools met their contractual accountability requirements as stipulated in the annual report template. However, they did not provide the public with curriculum information that was consistent with the description in their annual report.

9.4.2 Analysis of curriculum

P-12 Curriculum Framework explains that “curriculum is the core business of schools. It directly affects the present and future of each child, our State, our nation” (Queensland Government, 2008d, p. ii). A curriculum that maximises the learning of all students is one that includes diversity and engages all students in learning experiences. It is supposed to provide students “with clear guidelines on what they are learning and how they will be assessed” (Queensland Government, 2008d, p. ii). This means schools need to be very clear about the understandings and skills they value and those they want their students to demonstrate. It requires schools to provide specific curriculum that helps students understand the key concepts in each learning area and how to make use of these in their particular ways of working.

Table 9.5 indicates that for 2010, 35 out of the 61 schools particularly mentioned VETiS information in general or in details as part of their curriculum. Information about their curricula was presented in three ways. Some schools presented course

260 introductions and course codes on their website without detailed guidebook. Other schools presented course codes and basic information about regular subjects but only a general introduction for VET Certificate courses. Further, other schools presented specific curriculum details in PDF format, including an overview of important topics for senior learning; authority and non-authority subjects; VET Certificate courses and information about assessment in these subjects and courses.

Senior secondary schooling in Queensland is a complex interplay between State and non-State schools. The Queensland Government’s regulations require “all state schools will provide a curriculum” based on the P-12 Curriculum Framework (Queensland Government, 2008d) and the Code of School Behaviour (Queensland Government, n.d.c). The code defines the responsibilities that “all members of the school community are expected to uphold and recognise the significance of appropriate and meaningful relationships … between learning, achievement and behaviour” (Queensland Government, n.d.c, p. 1). The code outlines the standards for students, parents/carers, schools, principals, regional executive directors and the senior management team of education Queensland. According to the code, schools are expected to “provide inclusive and engaging curriculum and teaching, [and] principals are expected to review and monitor the effectiveness of school practices and their impact on student learning” (Queensland Government, n.d.c, p. 3). The requirement of the P-12 Curriculum Framework states that

[all state schools] provide a curriculum to maximise the capacity of all students to achieve the QCARF Essential Learnings and Standards; to achieve Year 12 certification, or a Certificate III vocational qualification (or higher); and to exit from schooling with the capabilities and values to be active and responsible citizens (Queensland Government, 2008d, p. 4).

However, the data collected and analysed above shows that in 2010 only 14 schools out of 33 State schools provided specific curriculum in PDF format on their website which accounts for less than half of these particular State schools. The schools’ responses to Department’s policies on curriculum and performance in terms of public information delivery may reflect the degree to which educational policies are being implemented. If accountability policies aim to change the behaviour of schools for

261 getting better students’ outcome, they must hold them accountable for what they can control.

Furthermore, consistency in public report can be regarded as one determinant of how likely policies are being implemented. Tables 9.6 and 9.7 indicate that in 2008 21 schools and in 2009 26 schools did not provide the public with VETiS information in their curriculum but they all reported that their students achieved VET qualifications in these schools. This inconsistency between school annual reports, details about curriculum offerings and students’ achievement may raise questions of accountability, at very least for implementation of school reporting policies.

9.5 Discussion of research question five

Based on the collected analysis of data, the following are the key findings:

1. VETiS information availability from schools’ annual reports and curriculum via schools’ websites was not improved much from 2008 to 2009 in different RA levels. Less than half of the schools (27 out of 61 in 2008, and 23 out of 61 in 2009) provided VETiS information both in their annual report and curriculum plan.

2. Many schools provided inconsistent or inadequate VETiS information for students and for the public. 34 schools in 2008 and 38 schools in 2009 did not provide consistent VETiS information in their annual reports and curriculum plans, this includes 6 schools which did not update their annual report.

3. Many State schools did not base annual reports on the template requirement provided by Queensland DET. Only 10 out of 29 State schools made the functional webpage link as required.

4. Many schools did not provide specific curriculum plans as policy required. Only 14 schools out of 33 State schools provided specific curriculum plans for 2010; 15 out of 61 schools provided VETiS information only in their annual reports but no consistent VETiS information was provided in their

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curriculum plans. 21 schools in 2008 and 26 schools in 2009 did not offer VETiS information about their curriculum plans but there were students who achieved VET qualifications in those schools.

The evidence shows that availability of VETiS information from schools’ annual reports and curriculum via their websites did not improve much from 2008 to 2009 across different RA levels. Less than half of the schools (27 out of 61 in 2008 and 23 out of 61 in 2009) provided the public with VETiS information in both their annual reports and curriculum. These results require closer investigation to identify the conditions which might improve the public availability of this information and shed light on the research question of How do schools respond to providing publicly available information about VETiS as required by education policies? Do senior schools commit to their accountability for providing more optional information to help students choose their learning and post- school destinations?

This analysis of the public availability of VETiS information in annual reports and curriculum of selected schools (n=61) in different RA levels reflects these schools’ accountability for producing information to students as well as to the communities. It can reasonably be presumed that some senior schools are academically-oriented, and less likely to report VETiS information such as Grammar schools. Further, some schools provide written (hard copy) or oral reports about VETiS to students and community, even though the policy requires supplementing the public availability of information on schools’ website (Queensland Government, n.d.a). Moreover, the interpretation of VETiS policy should not be simplified to mean that all schools should uniformly provide the same configuration of VETiS and academic studies. It is quiet acceptable that some schools concentrate on academic outcomes to meet students’ desire for entry into higher education. Nor does VETiS focus only on those young people who are “most at risk of not making a successful transition from school to work [including] early school leavers, and those who are employed in part- time work, or unemployed … [or] young people … from rural areas” (Johns, et al., 2004, p. 55).

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However, that less than half schools published VETiS information in both their annual report and curriculum means that these schools are not providing the public with information to inform their deliberations about optional pathways for young adults to pursue. VETiS is now an effective transitional pathway for all young adult students who value such l/earning experience, see it as an opportunity for preparation for work or developing a broader knowledge of work, and/or increasing their options for employment—as well as not limiting opportunities for further education and/or training (Bean, 2004; Bowman, 2004; Dumbrell, et al., 2004; Parsons & Welsh, 2006). VETiS provides opportunities for them to develop insights into the world of employment at a general level, as well as insight into at least one specific form of employment (Anderson, 2007; Billett, 2004; Creed, et al., 2007; Marsh & Kleitman, 2005; Taylor, 2005). The VETiS information provides students with a sense of increased functionings over the decisions they make about their immediate post- school employment and/or their selection of specialisation or subjects for further study in university. The inadequate and inconsistent VETiS information publicly provided by these particular schools invites interrogation of their commitment to offering vocational education as integral to their aims and objectives, especially their curriculum as required by education policies. This indicates that there are possibilities for enhanced school accountability, including in the public schooling information.

Tippett and Kluvers (2010, p. 22) argue that “whilst information cannot be equated with accountability it is an essential ingredient and the raw material of the accountability relationship”. In constitutional democratic systems, the rules and procedures of the educational system “frame the expression and aggregation of people’s interests and give the public interest a determinate content” (Philp, 2009, p. 39). From an accountability perspective, the policy objectives, rules and procedures imposed by the government and thus indirectly by the society itself are established within a legislative framework. Furthermore, governments may also formulate policy expectations regarding educational processes such as attention creating conditions for people’s public participation in making decisions about their own life projects. Sen (2005, p. 13) argues that “democracy is intimately connected with public discussion and interactive reasoning”, which means what an individual values and sees as socially or economically valuable can and do change in the processes of reasoning 264 and making decisions based on publicly available information. Public reasoning includes the opportunity for citizens to participate in discussion and to influence public choice. Sen (2009, p. 348) argues that democratic discussion is “political and civil rights tend to enhance freedoms of other kinds (such as human security) through giving a voice, at least in many circumstances, to the deprived and the vulnerable”. To participate effectively in decision-making requires prior condition where adequate information is provided to inform individual choices and fair protection so as to mediate or mitigate disadvantage.

The requirement for publishing school annual reports on their website is meant to meet a public demand for a wide range of information about school performance. The publication of annual reports and curriculum offerings has broadened the concept of accountability for reporting school performance and made schools consider what students, parents and the community need to know, for instance about what to learn and how well they have learned (Honig, 2006). The analysis of evidence above shows that many schools provided inconsistent or inadequate VETiS information for students and the public. There is a need for the enhancement of school accountability through the public provision of information.

Sen (1999, p. 279) indicates that a good way to measure the social progress is not based on rational social choice, “but the use of an adequate informational base for social judgments and decisions.” Increasing the amount of information available to the public is helpful to make decisions, enable them to compare of individual utilities s/he need to find the real possibility. The public availability of school performance information means more types of information relevant to the assessment of opportunity can be taken into account when making choices about educational quality and social well-being. “[T]he ‘informational basis of a judgement’ identifies the information on which the judgement is directly dependent and—no less importantly- asserts that the truth and falsehood of any other type of information cannot directly influence the correctness of the judgement” (Sen, 1992, p. 73). The capability approach to education and training is concerned with how students actually achieve what they value and what is socially valued from a set of options. Students’ thinking about what it is valuable and valued to learn and what is not “may turn crucially on what information is taken into effective account” in making

265 learning decisions (Sen, 1999, p. 253). Therefore, the informational basis for their judgement is a key variable that is directly involved in assessing the equality of education in democratic societies such as Australia.

Publicly available information about school curriculum offerings and performance can provide students with opportunities for revising their chosen learning priorities in response to the knowledge. Chiswell, Stafford, Stokes and Holdsworth (2001, p. 31) conducted the “Country Education Project ” which investigated 14 schools VET practices and found that “where schools have a formal, official and specific commitment to vocational education and training, course development and operation is more likely to be successful”. Such commitment can be made through inclusion of information in the schools’ annual reports and detailed curriculum offerings. With regards to the later it would be useful to provide other course information such as subject descriptions; prerequisites; assessment and future directions. By doing so, students, parents and the community may better understand what is happening at school and make informed decision about their accountability for VETiS policy.

Consistency across schools in providing publicly accessible and accurate annual reports is a “touchstone” for voters in electorates to know whether policies for young adults are helping them secure achievements they value and are valued, especially in terms of their access to chosen pathway beyond Year 12. Without specific objectives for senior learning, without detailed information about selected courses and without explicit details concerning the allocation of time and staffing resources for the achievement of school-identified goals, electors and policy makers are unable to account for young adults’ freedom of choice in senior learning and their transitional pathway. Without this detailed VETiS information about all schools there is no way of establishing a comparison about whether students from different schools have an equal chance to select study programs as freely as those in schools which provide information about VETiS provisions. Walker (2006a, p.164) argues “schooling is a site for state intervention and public policy … equal schooling is something that Government may and can aim at”. Diverse learners should have access to equivalent learning opportunities according to “equality of what” (Sen, 1992). The enhancement of accountability for school means increasing public access to VETiS

266 information, so equal choices can be made about for VETiS no matter where the students are.

9.6 Conclusion

This chapter analysed evidence of school administrative data such as annual reports and curriculum plans secured from sixty-one selected school websites in Queensland. This data has been analysed in relation to different Queensland electorates selected on the basis of Remoteness Areas (RA) levels 1-5. The findings show that there is no much improvement for providing public availabilities of information about VETiS from the schools’ annual reports and curriculum from 2008 to 2009 across RA 1-5. Such result calls for school’s public accountability which is a basic requirement of democratic political systems.

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思省 si xing (means thinking and reflecting) “臣自思省，得其端倪” — 刘禹锡,《代裴相公让官第二表》 Si xing refers to the process of thinking about something, then reflecting from it for the self-improvement. Si xing as the title of the fourth story in this thesis presents the finding from my three-year, which entailed thinking critically about the whole research process.

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CHAPTER TEN: CONCLUSION

10.0 Introduction

This study was set out to develop a detailed picture of young adult outcomes from Queensland’s innovations in Senior Learning so as to provide a better understanding of the gap between policies on senior education (education equality) and the actual outcome students obtained from their learning and training. As an outsider to Australian education, I started this research with an extensive literature review the addressed questions such as: What is Queensland’s senior secondary school reform? What are the forms of Vocational Education and Training in Schools (VETiS)? What are the various factors that influence students’ VETiS outcomes and their post-school transition paths? As a neophyte I studied Sen’s (1992, 1999) broad and profound theory on equality, freedom and development. I started this theoretical journey by reading about these key terms so as to understand the relationships between these concepts, extracting key construct to form a theoretical frame for this study. Hesitatingly I studied qualitative and quantitative research methods. I started to collect data and developed a mixed method to carefully examine the data I had collected. This exploratory journey goes on. I have learnt to mine data for patterns and themes; to use theoretical concepts to make meaningful interpretations, and how to relate to research questions in analysis of evidence. This exploratory journey still goes on, but now it is the time to face the challenge of weaving together evidence, research literature and theoretical ideas to establish the key findings from this project.

This chapter explicitly addresses the research questions raised in Chapter 1 and includes six sections. The first section provides a summary of the construction of previous nine chapters and briefly reviews the research capabilities have achieved through the research process. The second section presents the main findings. The limitations and delimitations of this thesis are mentioned in section three. In the fourth section, the implications for education policy and practice are discussed. Consideration is given to possibilities for further research that arise from this study in section five. Finally, the researcher’s reflections are provided on how to adapt to the

271 new intellectual environment and gain recognition for making an original contribution to knowledge in the host country.

10.1 Summary of this thesis

Since a summary of each chapter of this thesis has been presented in Chapter 1, here I use the metaphor of making pizza to review the exploratory journey that led to this thesis (see Figure 10.1). The natural history of this research project can be divided into three stages. The first stage involved developing key research skills, such as reviewing the literature, constructing a theoretical framework and selecting appropriate research methodologies, as necessary to argue for confirmation of candidature. The second stage involved arguing for ethical approval and collecting and analysing data that focused on research questions. The third stage was to establish what original contribution to knowledge from the evidence generated through the data analysis and produce conclusions for the research questions.

In Chapter 1, the research problem was outlined. The research reported in this thesis aimed to explore the questions: “Are young adults provided equal opportunity for learning and training from Senior Learning education policy? What are the factors that affect their learning options and afterwards pathways?” Besides the focal questions, five contributory questions were necessary to build a more comprehensive picture of the gains or outcomes young adults are securing in order to support the focal question. The exploratory journey I took to address these six questions was like the process of making six pizzas.

Stage one

I started by preparing the ingredients and tools for making these pizzas. It included a review of the research literature in Chapter 2 to establish the current knowledge of VETiS practice and outcomes in Australia and the various factors that influence students’ VETiS outcomes. Another ingredient was a number of concepts generated from Sen’s (1992, 1999) capability approach (Chapter 3). Specifically these concepts included in/equality, freedom, achievement and choice, capability and functionings, social choice and democracy. These concepts were integrated into a framework to

272 guide the data collection and analysis processes. The tools I used for data analysis were a mixture of methods which were presented in Chapter 4. Excel and SPSS were used to make statistical data analysis. Excerpt-commentary unit analysis (Emerson, et al., 1995) was used to analyse education policies and school performance documents.

Stage two

The evidentiary Chapters 5-9 67 were the five “pizzas” made by focusing on the five contributory research questions raised in Chapter 1 (see Figure 10.1). Metaphorically, all of these pizzas were made with the same crust, the conceptual framework built from Sen’s (1992, 1999) capability approach. Chapter 5 was the first pizza which analysed education policies in terms of their social, cultural, economic and political premises for determining the skills necessary for young adults. These policies were analysed in terms of the place of equity for young adults and policy implementation strategies in a democratic society such as Australia. Afterwards, the policy excerpts were taken as “cheese” for use in other pizzas, to compare with other data to better understand the gap between policy objectives and the actual outcomes students obtained through their learning and training. Chapter 6 was the second pizza used to for explore the gains or outcomes of young adults in terms of their capabilities based on National Centre for Vocational Education Research (NCVER) statistics. Furthermore, the factors that influence young adults’ choice for VETiS pathways were analysed in terms of their social, cultural and economic background. Chapter 7 was the third pizza focusing on whether young adults obtain equal opportunity for transition pathways regardless their social and economic diversity, and what internal and external factors influenced young adults’ post-school destinations. Chapter 8 was the fourth pizza used to investigate how factors such as school location and size influence the implementation of the senior learning policies as well as their affect on their freedom of choice for the different pathway by analysing Year 12 students’ outcomes across all Queensland schools. Chapter 9 was the fifth pizza to examine the information-based distribution of educational resources

67 PE 1-18 means policy excerpts analysed in Chapter 5 (details are in sections from 5.2.1 to 5.4.2). f 6/1-5 means the five findings in Chapter 6 (details are in section 6.0). f 7/1-6 means the six findings in Chapter 7 (details are in section 7.0). f 8/1-5 means the five findings in Chapter 8 (details are in section 8.0). f 9/1-4 means the four findings in Chapter 9 (details are in section 9.0). Refer to Figure 10.1.

273 as a way of providing multiple opportunities for young adults’ choosing learning- working pathways. Moreover, this pizza examined the accountability of policy actors with respect to achieving the stated purpose of VETiS policies.

Stage three

These five pizzas produced during stage two were made by focusing on the contributory research questions. By stage three it was time to mine all the data to establish key findings and to give deeper meaning to them by looking at their underlying form. The findings reported in Chapter 10 were generated and developed through the researcher’s rigorous procedures of data collection and analysis, as much as through careful observation, thoughtful consideration and skilful enquiry. The sixth pizza 68 was made by intertwining the findings from each evidentiary Chapter with theoretical concepts and policy focuses. The following section presents the ten findings generating from all the data analysed in the evidentiary chapters.

68 F1-8 means the eight conclusions discussed in section 10.3. Each conclusion is based on the combined findings scattered in different evidentiary chapters. 274

Stage one Stage two Stage three

Findings Target to Q1 PE 1-18 f 6/4,5; 7/1-5 f 8/3, 4 + Chapter 5 + PE 2,3,8,15,18 PE 2, 11

Theoretical framework f 6/2,3; f 8/1,2 f 7/3-5; f 8/1-3 from Sen (1992, 1999) Findings +PE 1, 11, 16 +PE 2, 4, 8 Target to Q2 Chapter 3 f 6/1-5 E Chapter 6

Brain F1 F2 F3 F4 Mixed methods storming Chapter 10 Crust Chapter 4 Findings Target to Q3 f 7/1-6 Evidence F5 F6 F7 F8 Chapter 7 mixed

Extensive literature reviews about VETiS f 6/1; f 7/1, 6, Findings Target to Q4 f 6/1, 3; f 8/1, f f 8/4+PE 12,15 Chapter 2 9/1 + PE 4 f 8/1 - 5 Chapter 8 f 7/1-5 + f 7/3; f 8/1,2; PE 6, 13 f 9/1-4+PE 11,13

Findings Target to Q5 f 9/1-4 Chapter 9

Figure 10.1 The process of generating the findings

10.2 Findings

This project investigated young adults’ VETiS outcomes in order to examine whether they had been provided equal opportunity for learning and training from Senior Learning education policy. It explored the factors that affect their learning options and post-school pathways with due consideration of public accountability in the process of policy implementation. This section highlights key findings from this study.

10.2.1 The unequal VETiS outcomes in Queensland

This study found that students’ VETiS outcomes are unequal in relation to the level of Certificate qualification, the location they are living and their Indigenous identity.

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It is well acknowledged that Governments take education and training as an effective way to ensure young adults access to opportunities to enhance their personal, social and economic wellbeing and contribute to the economic development of Australia (Queensland Government, 2008b). The current policy extended the previous policy by stressing higher level of skill such as obtaining “Certificate III or above” (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 18) as the key for State and individual development. The higher level of VETiS outcomes are expected to equip young adults with the necessary capabilities to meet the changing requirements of the workplace and by doing so, this potentially solves the social inequalities that exist in contemporary communities. However, the rate of Certificate III completions in Queensland was lower than the national average and far from policy requirements.

The tension was between policy provision of equal opportunity for learning and training for disadvantaged students from Indigenous background, or from rural areas and the actual outcomes achieved by such groups of young adults. The course attainment and completion rate by Indigenous students was lower than that of their non-Indigenous peers across Australia and in Queensland. Other evidence shows that VETiS outcome in large size schools was better than those in small schools. Moreover, there are more large size schools in metropolitan areas but fewer in rural areas. This implies that young adults in rural situations have fewer opportunities to access to VETiS compared to those who are in big cities and large size schools. This suggests that what choice these young adults have and their VETiS provision offers differ from that of their peers in urban areas. Moreover, VETiS practices operationalised in metropolitan areas may not suit non-metropolitan areas where there is no large industry support.

Such evidence calls for policy makers to generate more informed policy, making higher-quality decisions for guiding more effective VETiS practices and in turn, improved outcomes for rural, Indigenous young adults. To find a useful, alternative way of wrapping both outcomes and values together focus on the concept of social choice and the use of available resources in community will be helpful.

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10.2.2 Social choice and individual behaviour

Young adults’ choices of VETiS courses and their post-school destinations show that socio-economic background, the location where they live are interwoven to influence the choices young adults make about schooling and their subsequent pathways.

Government policies claim that VETiS will help the young adults, especially those who are from disadvantaged background to gain a good future (MCEETYA, 2008a; Queensland Government, 2008b). However, the evidence indicates that their choices are influenced not only by their own decisions but also by other factors such as the economy, public policy and environmental influences.

Nussbaum (cited in Walker, 2006b, p. 40) argues that young adults adapt their preferences or choices “according to what they think is possible for them”. This means their choices are socially constrained. When faced with multiple choices for post-school pathways, young adults’ choices are better accounted for in terms of the social choice. Sen’s (1999) social choice theory provides a frame to interpret various problems where social judgments and group decision affect the views and interest of individuals who make up the society or group. For example, university was the most likely choice for the post-school destination because of its social prestige and reward of well-paid job.

Students’ choices for VETiS subjects may be influenced either by labour market demand or by their own interests. Young adults’ choices may come from their reflection and analysis. Such reflections may lead them to endorse a wide range of capabilities or functionings because “different persons may have very different ways of interpreting ethical ideas including those of social justice, and they may even be far from certain about how to organise their thoughts about it” (Sen, 1999, p. 261). Young adults’ choices may also arise from their willingness to follow conventions— for those governing gender—and to think and act in ways that the established morals suggest they do so. Sen (1999, p. 253) argues that this means policies should not act only on “the basis of given individual preferences”, but also show sensitivity to social basis of decisions that inform “the development of individual preferences and norms”. More students in non-metropolitan areas and more Indigenous students

277 choose a VET destination does not mean that they were actually content with their choices, because they could be “forced” to do so by their living environment. Young adults chose different VETiS courses based on the structural comparisons they can make about substantive education, training and work options. This indicates that we “need institutions that work to promote our goals and valuable commitment, and furthermore we need behavioural norms and reasoning that allow us to achieve what we try to achieve” (Sen, 1999, p. 249). Therefore, it is sensible under these circumstances that policies intended to shape individual preferences to take into account long-term and broad social distributions of their consequences. Moreover, government VETiS policy outcomes may need to consider what is good for students and how this affects others and the communities with which they live and work.

10.2.3 Selective function of school

The conflict between achieving a VET and an academic qualification (such as a QCE and OP) reflect two differing perspectives on the role of senior learning. In one way, academic achievement is seen to remain the school’s primary concern, with vocational education viewed as an issue for curriculum reform. In another way, vocational training is seen as valuable learning experience for acquisition of specific vocational competence for at least part of school population.

Academic education in senior learning is not the only education stream in Australia. A variety of vocational education options have been promoted as alternative pathways to attain a full-time job and/or further university credentials (MCEETYA, 2008a). Within the bounds of social choice, students make their decisions by weighing the relative costs and benefits of choosing academic or vocational education as part of their senior learning.

The different orientations of senior learning imply that the selective function of schools plays a major role when students choose for different career paths. Young adults compare and contrast the academic and vocational streams of education which provide different pathways, structured opportunities and different outcomes. Therefore, the schools need to clarify their orientation and learning goals; diagnose individual differences, flexible organisation, optimal conditions for learning and then

278 make use of resources and personnel for achieving the promised learning goals. When the purposes are better understood and the selection criteria are applied in terms of these purposes, teachers can plan activities for a narrower range of differences and individual needs of students can be met more effectively (Saha & Fagerlind, 1994). Effective measures such as these may provide diverse learning or training opportunities to secure students’ involvement and commitment. Such a selective function of school could be conducted positively in a way that not only select those students who intend to go to university or undertake college training, but also select those who intend to find their careers after high school. Such demand requires schools to re-evaluate and restructure of their curriculum and functioning as socialising institutions. In other words, the calls are for education policy and practice to do more than attracting large numbers of senior secondary students into vocational programs of almost any description. Instead, there is a need to consider how to unite general education and vocational education for the long-term benefits of students’ post-school pathways.

10.2.4 Difficulties for the disadvantaged in obtaining equal opportunities for VETiS

This study found that social privilege makes it difficult for students from disadvantaged backgrounds to obtain as equal opportunities as their peers to access to VETiS, let alone to choose non-State schools for learning.

Government education policies create the expectation of assistance for the disadvantaged students to access to equal opportunities for education which means that “all young Australians” (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 3) should be free from discrimination based on gender, language, sexual orientation, culture, ethnicity, geographic location and socioeconomic background. However, more Indigenous students, students from non-metropolitan areas and those from low SES background chose VET as their post-school destinations than their peers in other situations. It seems that on the one hand, vocational education remains limited by the conception that it is for students from disadvantaged backgrounds as an alternative to general education, but it is not integral to it. This point has been discussed in previous findings. On the other hand, even if VETiS is regarded as an effective way to narrow

279 the gap between disadvantaged and advantaged students, there is still some social privileges in front of disadvantaged students which makes it more difficult for them to achieve as many opportunities as others. For example, the fewer number of schools and fewer large size schools in rural areas block the students in non- metropolitan areas to choose from a big “bundle” (Sen, 1992, p. 34) of VETiS programs as their peers in urban and large size schools. Furthermore, the division between State and non-State schools reinforces the gap between disadvantaged and advantaged students. The tensions over social privilege in education mean education researchers and policy makers need to reconsider the meaning of education equality to find better ways for students’ better achievement.

10.2.5 A “space” needed to evaluate VETiS outcomes

This study’s analysis of students’ VETiS outcomes in any cases proceed in terms of groups—a space rather than specific individuals—and would tend to confine attention to intergroup variations.

The existence of educational privilege implies that

space does not have to be artificially created in the human mind for the idea of justice or fairness—through moral bombardment or ethical haranguing. That space already exists, and it is a question of making systematic, cogent and effective use of the general concerns that people do have (Sen, 1999, p. 262).

Seeking equality in a defined space is important because “we are so deeply diverse, that equality in one space frequently leads to inequality in other spaces” Sen (1992, p. 117). There are many different kinds of diversities. For example there is the diversity of internal human beings in terms of age, gender, physical and mental abilities. There is also the diversity of external circumstances such as ownership of assets, social background and environmental predicaments. To minimise empirical confusion it is not possible to take note of all the diversities, which limits any research analysis, including those made in this study.

The evidentiary chapters indicated that it was possible to compare the students’ VETiS outcomes within a specific space. For example, the statistics from

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Government data bases were categorised by VET course enrolment, attainment or completion. Students’ post-school destinations were categorised by entery to university, further VET, full-time work or other activities. When Sen (1992, p. 88) propose the capability approach for explaining of inequality, he claims that “inequality is measured for some purpose and the choice of space as well as the selection of particular inequality measures in that space would have to be made in the light of that purpose”. Therefore, this study compared young adults’ VETiS outcomes within some defined spaces such as students from disadvantaged background, or students from different RA levels and students from different schools. Only by doing so can the evaluation of policy in terms of equality be made in relation to the freedom students have to pursue their opportunities as much as their observed choices and outcomes. The outcomes of Government VETiS reforms promised to contribute to students’ well being and quality of life. If this is happening for some categories of students rather than others, then questions arises about government policy promises to achieve equality of desirable capabilities.

10.2.6 A nuanced interpretation of education equality

This study found that students’ different VETiS outcomes and the factors influencing such outcomes require a new interpretation of equality in education rather than a mechanical reproduction of existing understandings.

As noted, the evidence shows that more Indigenous students, students from non- metropolitan areas, and those from low SES background chose VET as their post- school destinations compared to their peers in other situations. Such result can be interpreted as a form of discrimination whereby VETiS is for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, such that for these students “mainstream education is inappropriate to the needs of at least some young people” (Riele, 2007, p. 56) to get an alternative to general education. Another interpretation may be that VET is an effective way to assist young adults “to overcome barriers to education, training and employment, and are motivated to acquire and utilise new skills” (MCEETYA, 2008a, p. 17). Such a differentiated or nuanced interpretation of education equality poses a challenge for those social grouping lived under different socio-economic conditions suffering from inequality.

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As discussed in Chapter 3, because humans are different, equality in one “space” reveals inequality in another (Sen, 1992, p. 43). Sen (1992) proposes the identification of an evaluative space for testing equality which can be of various types, depending on the context. The space for the assessment of policies on education equality can apply to a school, a community, a district or an electorate—in effect any geographical space or any grouping of people. A more nuanced interpretation of equality for educational opportunity might bring educators back to the quest for individualisation and differentiation. It could make it possible for students to take advantage of educational opportunities even if it means providing unequal compensatory programs in order to enable them to participate. Research on education equality should combine educational outcomes with an explanation of the social, cultural and economic factors influencing these outcomes. While current Australian and Queensland education policies treat students from lower socioeconomic background as a distinct equity target group, the regional and economic diversity (social privilege) has not been diminished by government equity policies and programs in education. Education equity initiatives need to be complemented with social policies.

The percentage of VETiS participation or VET related post-school destinations reflect only one aspect of VETiS implementation in Queensland. Even if 100% of students were involved in VETiS this does not mean that students have equal opportunities for learning as evident in their learning outcomes being different. That equality in one space reveals inequality in another indicates that there is no absolute equality and it cannot be assessed in a mechanical manner. Therefore, it is important that policy-makers carefully monitor and evaluate the interventions so as to get a better understanding of what can work in enhancing better education provision via the reduction of social disadvantage. This thesis contributes to this task. It is suggested that there is a need to re-examine the accountability of public education to determine how these processes and strategies affect opportunities for nurturing individual potential.

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10.2.7 Accountability for the public availability of VETiS information

This study found that despite the policy requirement for the public presentation of school annual reports and school curricula (on the school web sites), the inadequate and inconsistent VETiS information publicly provided by these particular schools invites interrogation of their accountability for offering the public information about vocational education.

The publication of school annual reports and curricula has broadened the concept of accountability for the reporting school performance and made schools consider what students, parents and the community need to know, for instance about what to learn and how well they have learned (Honig, 2006). The education policy requirement for publishing school annual reports on their website is meant to provide students with a sense of increased functionings over the decisions they make about their immediate post-school employment and/or their selection of areas for specialisation or subjects for further study in university.

While information cannot be equated with accountability it is an essential ingredient, being the raw material in the public accountability relationship (Tippett & Kluvers, 2010). In constitutional democratic systems, the rules and procedures of the educational system frame the expression and collection of citizen’s interests and give those public interests a determinate content (Philp, 2009). Sen (2005, p.13) argues that “democracy is intimately connected with public discussion and interactive reasoning”, which means what individual’s value and see as socially or economically valuable can and does change through the processes of public reasoning and decisions making based on publicly available information. The capability approach to education and training is concerned with how students actually achieve what they value and what is socially valued from a set of options. Students’ thinking about what it is valuable and valued to learn and what is not, is based in part on what information they take into account.

To participate effectively in decision-making requires as a prior condition that adequate information be provided to inform individual choices and to ensure fair protection so as to mediate or mitigate corruption. Increasing the amount of

283 information available to the public is helpful for them to make informed decisions, and enables them to compare schools in terms of their need to find out what is possible. The public availability of school performance information means more types of information relevant to the assessment of opportunity can be taken into account by young adults and their parents or guardians when making choices about educational quality and social well-being. Therefore, the informational basis for their judgement is a key variable that is directly involved in assessing the equality of education in a democratic society such as Australia.

Besides the inadequate and inconsistent information about school annual reports and curricula provided to the public, there was incomplete information about Year 12 students’ location provided in the 2006 and 2007 VETiS statistics (NCVER, 2008, 2009) and a total absence of statistics about students’ SES (see Chapter 6). This is despite these variables being foregrounded in Government policies (MCEETYA 2008a). Without the information about grouping students by location and SES make it difficult to interrogate the success of Government policy implementation. Likewise, without specific information about objectives for senior learning and selected courses, electors and policy makers are unable to account for young adults’ freedom of choice in senior learning and their transition pathway. Furthermore, without this detailed VETiS information about all schools, there is no way of establishing comparisons about whether students from different schools have an equal chance to select study programs as freely as those in schools which provide information about VETiS provisions. Therefore, publicly available information about VETiS is needed to provide students with opportunities for revising their chosen learning priorities in response to the knowledge. The enhancement of accountability for school information means increasing public access to VETiS information, so equal choices can be made about VETiS that address relevant characteristics of students such as where they live.

10.2.8 Capability development in VETiS

This study suggests that VETiS outcomes may not confined to the qualifications students obtained from school, and much valuable learning whether informal or nonformal, could occur in community and VETiS workplace settings.

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In fact, the statistic data collected from NCVER (2008, 2009) did not show how students developed their capabilities. Further, statistic data only can provide yes or no students outcomes (obtaining qualification or without qualification). However, such result made the research interrogate the question of what Year 12 students learned from school through they did not obtain credited qualification. Does it mean that they learned nothing from VETiS?

Here, it is argued that some Year 12 students did not obtain credited qualification may not mean they gain nothing from VETiS. The analysis of achievement for courses attainment in Chapter 6 invites us to look beneath outcomes to consider what young adults have to choose and achieve their valued functioning (Sen, 1992). It requires us to look beneath VETiS outcomes to the freedom or opportunities each student has to achieve what s/he values and hence “the self-determination of their ends and values in life to generate reflective, informed choices of ways of living that each person deems important and valuable for their well-being” (Walker, 2008b, p. 478).

As discussed in Chapter 6, students’ outcomes from Senior L/earning may be judged by so called hard criteria 69 or soft criteria 70. The learning process—whether it be an apprenticeship or a doctoral program—is seldom linear and instant; it is more often cyclical—iterative—with new learning building on existing knowledge, past experiences and students’ identities. Learning is then a process of “becoming” as well as “being” over a life course, through cycles of learning and earnings. VETiS programs may be seen as providing a set of interrelated “functionings” consisting of beings and doings.

The evaluation of a capability set may be based on the assessment of the particular valuable capabilities chosen from a space. With respect to education capabilities, the core multi-dimensional capabilities may be “autonomy; knowledge; social relations; respect and recognition; aspiration; voice (participation in learning); bodily integrity

69 “Hard” criteria mean qualifications or certificates issued by the governments that accredit students’ learning performance. 70 “Soft” criteria refer to the physical, psychological and mental achievements students acquire during their education and training; of course, the latter is harder to measure than the former.

285 and bodily health; and emotional integrity and emotions” (Walker, 2006a, pp. 179, 180). It is suggested that young adults may learn more valuable capabilities from VETiS than that be determined by the governments’ so-called hard criteria. It is proposed further research be done to investigate what that students learn with regard to valued and valuable outcomes through VETiS such as interpersonal skills, communication skills, problem-solving abilities, independence, initiative, punctuality, work ethic, teamwork skills, personal pride and courtesy. All these are the traits that students could develop consistently in schools. Any valued functioning they achieve in this regard may help students identify these dimensions that enhance or change their capability sets. In this way, VETiS provides the possibility to develop individual’s varied capabilities and functionings by facilitating their adoption to flexible work environments.

10.3 Delimitations and limitations of this study

This study has explored VETiS outcomes of Queensland’s young adult to provide a better understanding of the gap between Senior Learning in Government policies and evidence of the actual outcome students obtained through their education and training. Factors that affect their learning options and post-school pathways were analysed to explore how young adults can pursue sustainable pathways after Senior Learning (Years 10, 11 and 12, or their equivalent) in terms of educational equality. The research reported in this thesis has been confined to the outcomes of Year 12 students’ vocational training in school in 2006 and 2007, and excludes school-based apprenticeship and traineeship because apprenticeship and traineeship are conducted in the workplace instead of school. Further, the Next Step surveys were bounded by time covering the period from 2006 to 2009. 2006 was the first year in which school extension to Year 12 or at the age of 17 in Queensland (Harreveld & Singh, 2007). The 2010 survey is not available by the time thesis submission because the survey is conducted approximately six months after the young adults left school.

This research project was designed to analyse multiple sources of evidence. Given that both qualitative and quantitative approaches have their strengths and weakness, the use of combined data sources is to offset the weaknesses inherent with each method. The qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis used in this study

286 provide different evidentiary perspectives from which to view each contributory research questions, thereby making a distinctive contribution to answers and thus, making stronger claims possible.

As with all research, there are some limitations to this study. It is acknowledged that students’ learning outcomes are influenced by many factors such as family background, community, school policy and economic status. But it is impossible to obtain data on all variables that would be required to analyse multiplicity of causes. The data collected and analysed for this study was limited to the publicly availability to the data. NCVER (2008, 2009) provided VETiS data by VETiS course enrolment, attainment and completion but not student numbers. Students’ characteristics such as gender and Indigenous identity were provided but the data were ambiguous about students’ metropolitan or non-metropolitan location. The Next Step surveys (Queensland Government, 2006a, 2007, 2008a, 2009a) provided Year 12 students’ post-school destinations based on their characteristics such as gender, Indigenous identity and SES but there was no clear information about students’ location. Year 12 students’ outcome collected from all Queensland schools provided data about school locations but without students’ characteristics such as gender, Indigenous identity and SES. Identifying variables in statistics such as students SES, students or schools’ location was not always possible. The delimitation of different datasets made the research work valuable by exploring findings from different aspects to examine students’ VETiS outcomes. The various research limitations of the specific datasets were also discussed in detail in the evidentiary chapters.

10.4 Implication—Operational mechanism in VETiS

Honig (2006, p. 9) argues that policy implementation involves “confronting complexity”. The contemporary implementation research demands a blended perspective because of the need to focus on “how and why interactions among [the] three dimensions [of policy, people, place] shape implementation in particular ways” (Honig, 2006, p. 14). Therefore, given the varying interactions between policy, people and place it can be anticipated that learning outcomes are not consistent across any one educator and training system, let alone the sector as a whole. The valuable learnings in VETiS may be informal or nonformal and may occur in 287 community and workplace settings. That few schools provided VETiS information in their annual reports and curriculum may indicate that many other schools cannot implement these policies quickly, perhaps because they have fewer stuff with the respective expertise (people). The operation of VETiS is not a simple argument about “top to bottom” (from government to school) or “bottom to top”. VETiS involves broad, multi-faceted, inter-sectoral cooperation, linking partnerships among “the school, local community, and State and Commonwealth education authorities” (Johns, et al., 2001, p. 1). To plan and implement a VET in Schools program to maximise opportunities for students is a major, long-term undertaking.

This section proposes the educational concept “因地制宜 (yin di zhi yi)” to explain the operational mechanism of VETiS. “因” (yin) means “according to”; 地 (di) means “environment”; 制 (zhi) means “make up”; 宜” (yi) means “proper measures”. “Yin di zhi yi” means adjust measures to differing environments in terms of locality, persons, issues and time involved. A successful education practice of “yin di zhi yi” for dealing with the shortage of teaching staff in rural areas was from China. Tao Xingzhi (Yao, 2002, p. 268), an educational reformer in China, linked the reform of rural education in China to the reconstruction of rural villages. He trained rural school-teachers to be community leaders “capable of rural reconstruction [to] cultivate a new kind of rural school student [who] would be an activist in rural reconstruction both while at school and after graduation” (Yao, 2002, p. 254). Tao’s “teaching-learning-doing” and “work-study-union movement” integrated intellectual and manual labour to achieve individual and social transformation. Training local people to be qualified teachers lessened the chance of qualified teachers moving to metropolitan areas and helped keep a stable teaching force in local schools. The metaphor yin di zhi yi is used here to shed light on how to provide equal VETiS choices for young adults in different RA levels or electorates as part of Queensland’s senior learning reforms which have been implemented since 2006.

10.4.1 Yin di zhi yi at School level

Schools are the main place for the implementation of Government education and training policies. Recent studies identify a variety of outcomes from VETiS for communities including increased school retention rates (Riele, 2007), more positive

288 attitudes towards education and learning within the community (Johns, et al., 2004), and the provision of lifelong learning opportunities (Harreveld, 2007; Johns, et al., 2001). For young adults, the outcomes include improved self-esteem and self- confidence, increased vocational, team work and communication skills; and greater chances of obtaining employment (Johns, Kilpatrick, Mulford & Falk, 2001). The process of policy implementation is a record of overcoming many difficulties and barriers to realise success. This is especially so in rural schools which face substantial barriers to the successful operation of VETiS. For example,

keeping up to date with information about and understanding of VET issues; the availability of work placements; travel issues; teachers’ perceptions of centralised control of curriculum; inflexible internal organisation of schools; the availability of staffing and other resources (including the costs and time involved in the development and maintenance of courses, and resource conflicts between VET and other senior studies); and cluster co-ordination (Chiswell, et al., 2001, p. 6).

All the barriers mentioned in the above quotation may lead to the failure to providing detailed information in school annual reports and curriculum in some schools. For example, with respect to the curriculum in School 18, it was reported that

the number of teachers appointed to a school depends on student numbers, and this may alter without notice. It is not feasible to create too many small classes in a school, and parents and students are advised if this is to happen (School 18, p. 21).

With regard to the curriculum in School 29, it was reported that “School Based Units of Competency will only be offered if either the human resources are available and the Scope of Registration allows” (School 29, p. 34). Faced with a shortage of different resources needed to provide VETiS, the schools may deal with the situations with the concept of “yin di zhi yi”, that is adjusting measures to their differing local conditions as a helpful strategy to deal with barriers to VETiS implementation. Therefore, these schools could plan VETiS offerings based on choices with respect to program offerings, available providers or modes of delivery. Their VETiS subjects are likely to be chosen with due consideration of main local industries as well as the availability of work placements, staff and course registration requirements. Even so this is likely to advantage urban schools and their students. For instance, School 21 in

289 an urban area joined with other institutions to deliver VETiS to its students. It was reported in its curriculum that

Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE (MSIT) and [School 21] are working in partnership to promote flexible learning pathways. Our partnership provides students a better opportunity to enter the workforce with a qualification, better job skills and increased study and employment options.

Likewise, School 36 promised to provide VETiS by “working in partnership with the University of Queensland (Gatton campus) to deliver the requirements for Certificate II in Rural Operations and the Queensland Certificate of Agriculture (a Certificate III course of study)” (School 36, p. 20).

These schools provide some flexible methods for improving the outcomes of students. It is proposed that schools may build on and develop VET courses; promote new and existing VET courses within schools; co-ordinate VET courses with other schools; and reflect on factors influencing their VET course development. Where the appropriate staff are not already available, schools may support teachers to undertake training, or have shared staffing resources by means of some form of arrangement. In addition, e-learning make another effective alternative for schools in remote areas or small in size which are short of qualified VETiS staff.

10.4.2 Yin di zhi yi at the organisational level

Elected Government representatives and educational administrators exercise their authority on behalf of the local voters in democracies. They are expected to coordinate the partnership between the education sectors and other community groups in regard to the local resource allocation. They represent electors in the policies they make or respond to the influence of educators to develop strategies to enhance the implementation of VETiS programs. They may devise mechanisms to enable schools and other agencies to provide the necessary administrative support to arrange students and monitor them.

Sen (1992, p. 81) explains people’s freedoms lies in them actually enjoying the chance “to choose the lives that they have reason to value”. The decision about what

290 to choose rests on “which information is given the most weight” (Sen, 1999, p. 55). Sen’s (1999) freedom-based approach to equality depends on the context and the information that is available. People cannot make social judgements “with so little information” (Sen, 1999, p. 252). Therefore, the specific and detailed information required in school annual reports and curriculum are part of the public information needed to guarantee young adults can choose from the multiple pathways available to them. The information may help young adults to identify their preferences and rank what and how they might gain from different available courses.

The government and its administrative apparatus act on behalf of local electors, have a commitment to the successful implementation of education policy, for instance by making effective cooperation between different education sectors. They play an important role in coordinating the VET sectors to maximise the use of all available resources for cost-effective and successful programs. They may help provide a platform for sharing successful VETiS delivery strategies which due to their results, are more likely to be accepted and supported in other schools. They may help document the success or failure of VETiS implementation, especially for schools which initiate VETiS courses where no experience previously existed. Chiswell, et al. (2001) investigated instances throughout Victoria and other States, and found that “co-operative action has resulted in highly effective programs being developed and implemented”. Well-organised co-operation may lead to flexible use of resources which can produce better outcomes for all of the key stakeholders in VETiS.

10.5 Recommendations for further research

Three directions for further research into the ways in which VETiS is implemented to investigate accountability for policies in Queensland schools are recommended. First, the implementation of policies to improve student outcomes in schools with challenging circumstances in Queensland is an area for further investigation. The unique environment such as small sized schools in remote area indicates that a range of interventions and strategies are necessary to address significant difficulties in achieving satisfactory VETiS outcomes. A point for further study could be an examination of the extent to which existing interventions have assisted or hampered students’ VETiS outcomes and the nature of effective interventions for the most

291 challenging schools in Queensland contexts. Likewise, this investigation could explore ways to bring about conditions for stability, consistency and policy fidelity that benefit staff and students.

Second, since school self-assessment of performance seems to support improvements to students’ learning outcomes, research is needed to find ways of making professional accountability processes a strong part of school cultures. Practices that achieve whole school commitment to school self-assessment processes in a range of contexts throughout Queensland is an area for further study. Further investigation could be made to compare how small schools, large schools and K-12 schools achieve comprehensive and improvement-producing practices in their unique contexts.

Third, the investigation of public accountability is not limited to the public availability of information about schooling but extends to how schools and school system target their existing resources and link them to strategies which will lead to student achievement. Future research could focus on the ways to implement effective resource allocation strategies. The issue of how to fund the various components of VETiS that warrant investigation include but are not limited to: staffing, curriculum and instruction, professional development, and facilities.

10.6 Reflections

The thesis is drawing to an end but the time when I prepared for the research proposal for my confirmation as a candidature for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy seems like it just happened yesterday. At that time, I compared a PhD thesis to a Western bride because it also bears four things: “something old” which means previous knowledge learnt from others; “something borrowed” which means previous theories and secondary data sources; “something blue” which means all the setbacks I had to overcome, and “something new” which means the original contributions to knowledge I have now made. During the process of continuous thinking, analysis and reflection for this project, I acquired more in-depth knowledge than how to write a thesis. Here I focus two particular aspects to reflect on this three- year study. The first is about how to contribute to original research as an early career

292 researcher (ECR); the other is about how to adopt identities in new academic and work communities as a bilingual, transnational knowledge worker.

10.6.1 Early career researcher’s originality

The concept “ECR-originality” was conceived by my principal supervisor, Professor Singh as a way of focusing on a beginning researcher’s contribution of novel concepts, analysis of evidence, use methods or theoretical interpretations to inquiry in the field of education system. The importance of originality was stressed to me as I registered for PhD course. The criteria for a PhD Degree required me to undertake

a supervised program of original research ... A PhD candidate should uncover new knowledge either by the discovery of new facts, the formulation of theories or the innovative re-interpretation of known data and established ideas (University of Western Sydney, 2009).

Research into creativity (Boden, 2004; Torrance, 1993) provided me with useful insights into what originality in education research might mean, and some indications of how to work towards this goal. There is no universally agreed test for, nor universally agreed definition of creativity. But all creativity is based on previous understandings, prior experiences and the accumulation of knowledge (K+i) (Sternberg & Lubart, 1995). “K” refers to the knowledge one has acquired through formal study or work-related training, while “i” refers to the informal knowledge that one may know or come to know through association with such experiences. By combining “K” and “i” it is possible to create novel or original concepts (Sternberg & Lubart, 1995). When doing the research reported in this thesis, originality was emphasised from the beginning to the end of the process. To this end I pursued originality by blending theoretical knowledge (Sen, 1992, 1999) and empirical data from different disciplines and sources. Likewise, the adaptation, appropriation or the revaluing of otherwise might be marginalised knowledge such as Chinese metaphors proved useful for me to make an original contribution to this study and to develop my capabilities for scholarly argumentation. As an original work of research this thesis includes a reappraisal of previous research, new methodologies, a novel research design, innovative analytical procedures, fresh findings from existing data and novel theoretical interpretations relative to the field of inquiry.

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An important step towards such original research involved developing my capabilities, motivation, self-confidence, capacity for hard-work and willingness to persevere. Thus, this research involves the self-exploration of my potential and strength of commitment to this particular field of inquiry. It also called for wide reading, in-depth study, a good memory and an uncanny power of association. No original ideas came into being in one day. During this three-year study, I have had to critically reflect, do introspective thinking, write, rewrite and write again, discuss and practice, plan and revise the research design, and refine my ideas again and again.

Singh’s concept of “ECR-originality” encourage me to combine “K” and “i” which proved useful for exploring the link between knowledge and activity to build my expertise as a researcher in this field. This made it possible to create “aha” moments which involved making previously unconnected or unusual conceptual associations. Novel concepts arose as a result of random associations of distant or atypical connections among my ideas. As a beginning researcher I had to undertake the reading and writing, the study and the learning, the fieldwork and the networking, and the conceptually-informed data analysis in order to have the formal and informal (K+i) knowledge necessary for me even to make these creative connections. Of course, the K and i domains differ from researcher to researcher, from monolingual to bilingual researcher, from parochial to transnational researcher (Lingarda, 2006). But like other researchers who also have K and i knowledge, it was possible for me to make an original contribution to knowledge through the research.

As an ECR when I started project, I benefited from being made aware of, and encouraged by my supervisor to look for just such creative roads to originality. Exploring the literature and reflecting on my own work/life experiences helped me to break open the problem of making on substantive original contribution to knowledge. This is an important kind of creativity for me as an ECR, even as I came to understand that this did not mean I had to make a Nobel Prize winning breakthrough (Mullins & Kiley, 2002). Second, the knowledge required for producing original research increased with the amount of research experiences I accumulated, and will no doubt continue to do so. For example, I participated with my supervisors in their two Australian Research Council Projects, as well as a research project for a Local Government Authority. These added to my formal (K) and informal (i) knowledge 294 about doing research and being a researcher. This professional learning also included chances to engage in peer reviewing for journals; reading examiners’ reports of other students’ theses; joining professional research associations; meeting leading researchers; studying full-time on-campus so as to have daily contact with my principal supervisor if desired; and working with him to produce jointly authored research papers. Here it is important to note that I learnt much of this worthwhile knowledge informally by looking beyond all-important books and journal articles. It gave me new insights into research. By observation or peripheral participation with one’s research peers, team meetings with other researchers, and attendance to professional conferences, I learnt what research means to me and what I mean to research. It is not simply the length of time that matters but how I as a researcher made an advantage of the rich research culture provided by the Centre for Educational Research.

10.6.2 Identities adopting in new communities as a bilingual, transnational worker

I was a university teacher from China and now undertaking doctoral studies in Australia. The studying experience also involves undergoing identity transformations across geographical and psychological borders, immersing myself in new socio- cultural environments. It has been a process of negotiating differences, finding ways through—as well as living with—fissures, gaps, and contradictions, and overcoming ambivalence. Here, Sen’s (1992, 2004) concepts of identity and capability approach helped me to intertwine my “being, doing and becoming” a bilingual speaker in a transnational study and work contexts. It involved me choosing and adopting different identities from both my home culture and target culture. My “being” an academic was constructed in terms of being intellectual, capable of critical thinking, knowledgeable and committed to scholarship. “Doing” refers to my practices of research-related activities. “Becoming” refers to my construction new knowledge or skills (capabilities) that drew on my “being” and “doing”.

Identity includes how I positioned myself in relation to the existing background (home culture) and the new settings (target culture). It is a mediated relationship, a process of identifying who I am through my interactions with others and the world. However, studying abroad posed a challenge, when and how could I add a new 295 identity to the old? It has not been a simple half-and-half proposition whereby I become half of what I was and half of what I have been exposed to in this new research culture. My identity-adopting process has been influenced by the choice of identity in certain situations but also constrained or influenced by the goals of others, or by rules of conduct operating in different contexts. Looking back at what I was, did and became in different study and work contexts in Japan, the Netherlands and Australia, I can see the changing relationship between my identity, linguistic knowledge and research practices across time and space. I accepted rather than resisted identity transformation by being flexible and open to opportunities in each target country, to become more than a bilingual transnational knowledge worker.

It should be noted that identity is not fixed completely and I fully expect it will be elaborated, stretched and elongated in the different contexts I meet in the future. Of course, my identity is fixed to a degree because everyone is a unique “package” of innate characteristics and a set of acquired knowledge and skills which s/he identifies as valuable to his/her life’s project. My identity is less likely to change if I stopped in a small isolated community. But my identity is also changeable with revisions to the life goals. I adjust some aspects of my identity to bring it in line with those of others that value and are seen as valuable by others. As an individual I have a degree of freedom to choose between one and another aspect of identity or add a new aspect to my identity and therefore, enhance the capabilities for pursuing valuable goals in different cultural contexts.

I found that one identity- adopting strategy in different social contexts is to minimise some aspects of my original identity and to foreground the salience of an aspect of identity after acquaintance with and cultivation of what was found to be the most rewarding in another culture. For example, I minimised my “Chinese” and “student” identities and maximised the “career worker” aspect to work as survey analyst when I took an internship in the Sutherland Council. I tried to complete the tasks by choosing aspect of my identity which seemed contextually appropriate. Of course, my choice to privilege one aspect of identity was influenced by the position of others and their positioning of me. Sen (2004, p. 217) indicates that “acceptance of rules of conduct toward others with whom one has some sense of identity is part of more general behavioural phenomenon of acting according to fixed rules, without 296 following the dictates of goal-maximization”. Metaphorically, I take all these identity “balloons” with me but choose to “blow up” the one that seems to suit the context. This suggests my being, doing or becoming depends in part on what others value in their community. The ways of “being”, and “doing” and “becoming” largely foregrounded my identification with the community to which I gained access. The research project reported here—and this thesis itself—and the publications to arise from it—have provided me an important means for identifying with the international research community—albeit as an early career researcher.

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Appendix I: Profile of 440 Schools in Queensland

School Locality Address Electorate (S) RA Party Electorate Party level (S) (F) (F) 1. A B Paterson College Arundel 10 A B Paterson Drive Arundel Southport 1 ALP Fadden LP 4214 2. Aboriginal and Islander Acacia Ridge 1277 Beaudesert Road, Acacia Sunnybank 1 ALP Oxley ALP Independent Community School Ridge 4110 3. Agnew School Wakerley 190 Ingleston Road, Wakerley Chatsworth 1 ALP Bonner ALP 4154 4. Albany Creek State High School Albany Creek Albany Forest Drive, Albany Everton 1 ALP Dickson LP Creek 4035 5. Albert Park Flexible Learning Brisbane 1 Hale Street (Cnr MIlton Road), Mount Coot-tha 1 ALP Brisbane ALP Centre Brisbane 4000 6. Aldridge State High School Maryborough Boys Avenue, Maryborough Maryborough 2 no Wide Bay NP 4650 7. Alexandra Hills State High School Alexandra Windemere Road, Alexandra Capalaba 1 ALP Bowman LP Hills Hills 4161 8. All Hallows' School Brisbane 547 Ann Street, Brisbane 4000 Brisbane Central 1 ALP Brisbane ALP 9. All Saints Anglican School Merrimac Highfield Drive, Merrimac 4226 Mudgeeraba 1 LNP Mcpherson LP 10. All Souls St Gabriels School Charters 30 Dr George Ellis Drive, Dalrymple 3 LNP Kennedy IND Towers Charters Towers 4820 11. Anglican Church Grammar East Oaklands Parade, East Brisbane South Brisbane 1 ALP Griffith ALP School Brisbane 4169 12. Annandale Christian School Annandale Jonquil Crescent, Annandale Burdekin 3 LNP Herbert LP 4814 13. Aquinas College Southport Edmund Rice Drive, Southport Southport 1 ALP Moncrieff LP 4215 14. Aspley Special School Aspley 751 Zillmere Road, Aspley 4034 Aspley 1 LNP Petrie ALP 15. Aspley State High School Aspley 651 Zillmere Road, Aspley 4034 Aspley 1 LNP Petrie ALP 16. Assumption College Warwick 6 6 Locke Street, Warwick 4370 Southern Downs 2 ALP Maranoa NP 17. Atherton State High School Atherton Maunds Road, Atherton 4883 Dalrymple 3 LNP Kennedy IND 18. Australian Technical College Scarborough 294 Scarborough Road, Redcliffe 1 ALP Petrie ALP North Brisbane Scarborough, QLD 4020 19. Australian Technical College Douglas Discovery Drv, Douglas QLD Mundingburra 3 ALP Herbert LP North Queensland 4814 20. Aviation High Clayfield Widdop Street, Clayfield 4011 Clayfield 1 LNP Lilley ALP

21. Ayr State High School Ayr Cnr Edwards and Wickham Burdekin 3 LNP Dawson LP Streets, Ayr 4807 22. Babinda State School Babinda Boulders Road, Babinda 4861 Mulgrave 3 ALP Kennedy IND 23. Balmoral State High School Morningside Cnr Thynne and Lytton Roads, Bulimba 1 ALP Griffith ALP Morningside 4170 24. Barcaldine State School Barcaldine Gidyea Street, Barcaldine 4725 Gregory 5 LNP Flynn ALP

25. Beaudesert State High School Beaudesert Mount Lindesay Highway, Beaudesert 2 LNP Forde ALP Beaudesert 4285 26. Beenleigh Special School Mount 52-74 Mount Warren Boulevard, Albert 1 ALP Forde ALP Warren Park Mount Warren Park 4207 27. Beenleigh State High School Beenleigh Alamein Street, Beenleigh 4207 Waterford 1 ALP Forde ALP 28. Beerwah State High School Beerwah 35 Roberts Road, Beerwah 4519 Caloundra 2 LNP Fisher LP 29. Benowa State High School Benowa Mediterranean Drive, Benowa Surfers Paradise 1 LNP Moncrieff LP 4217 30. Bentley Park College Edmonton McLaughlin Road, Edmonton Mulgrave 3 ALP Leichhardt ALP 4869 31. Biloela State High School Biloela Cnr Scoria Street and Gladstone Callide 3 LNP Flynn ALP Road, Biloela 4715 32. Blackall State School Blackall Cnr Hawthorne and Shamrock Gregory 5 LNP Flynn ALP Streets, Blackall 4472

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33. Blackheath and Thornburgh Charters 55 King Street, Charters Towers Dalrymple 3 LNP Kennedy IND College Towers 4820 34. Blackwater State High School Blackwater Elm Street, Blackwater 4717 Gregory 3 LNP Flynn ALP 35. Boonah State High School Boonah Macquarie Street, Boonah 4310 Beaudesert 2 LNP Blair ALP 36. Bowen State High School Bowen 1-9 Argyle Park Road, Bowen Burdekin 3 LNP Dawson ALP 4805 37. Bracken Ridge State High School Bracken 68 Barfoot Street, Bracken Sandgate 1 ALP Petrie ALP Ridge Ridge 4017 38. Bray Park State High School Bray Park Lavarack Road, Bray Park 4500 Pine Rivers 1 ALP Dickson LP 39. Bremer State High School Booval Cnr Blackstone and Grange Ipswich 1 ALP Blair ALP Roads, Silkstone 4304 40. Bribie Island State High School Bribie Island First Avenue, Bongaree 4507 Pumicestone 2 ALP Longman ALP 41. Brigidine College Indooroopilly 53 Ward Street, Indooroopilly Indooroopilly 1 LNP Ryan LP 4068 42. Brisbane Adventist College Mansfield 303A Broadwater Road, Mansfield 1 ALP Bonner ALP Mansfield 4122 43. Brisbane Boys' College Toowong Kensington Terrace, Toowong Mount Coot-Tha 1 ALP Ryan LP 4066 44. Brisbane Girls Grammar School Brisbane Gregory Terrace, Spring Hill Brisbane Central 1 ALP Brisbane ALP 4000 45. Brisbane Grammar School Brisbane Gregory Terrace, Spring Hill Brisbane Central 1 ALP Brisbane ALP 4000 46. Brisbane School of Distance West End 405 Montague Road, West End South 1 ALP Griffith ALP Education 4101 Brisbane(Postcode ) 47. Brisbane State High School South 150 Vulture Street, South South Brisbane 1 ALP Griffith ALP Brisbane Brisbane 4101 48. Brisbane Youth Education Wacol Block 181 Cnr Aveyron & Inala 1 ALP Oxley ALP Training Centre Wolston Park Roads, Wacol 4076 49. Browns Plains State High School Browns Ivor Street, Browns Plains 4118 Logan 1 ALP Rankin ALP Plains 50. Bundaberg Christian College Bundaberg 234 Ashfield Road, Bundaberg Burnett 2 LNP Hinkler NP 4670 51. Bundaberg Special School Bundaberg Dr Mays Road, Bundaberg 4670 Bundaberg 2 LNP Hinkler NP 52. Bundaberg State High School Bundaberg 37 Maryborough Street, Bundaberg 2 LNP Hinkler NP Bundaberg 4670 53. Bundamba State Secondary Bundamba 15a Naomai Street, Bundamba Bundamba 1 ALP Blair ALP College 4304 54. Burdekin Catholic High School Ayr 45 Gibson Street, Ary 4807 Burdekin 3 LNP Dawson ALP 55. Burdekin School Ayr 159 Young Street, Ayr 4807 Burdekin 3 LNP Dawson ALP 56. Burnett State College Gayndah 65 Pineapple Street, Gayndah Callide 3 LNP Flynn ALP 4625 57. Burnside State High School Nambour Blaxland Road, Nambour 4560 Nicklin 2 no Fairfax LP 58. Caboolture Special School Morayfield Torrens Road, Caboolture South Morayfield(Postcod1 ALP Longman ALP 4510 e) 59. Caboolture State High School Caboolture Lee Street, Caboolture 4510 Pumicestone 1 ALP Longman ALP 60. Cairns School of Distance Manunda Hoare Street, Manunda Cairns Cairns(Postcode) 3 ALP Leichhardt ALP Education Cairns 4870 61. Cairns State High School Cairns Cnr Sheridan and Upward Cairns 3 ALP Leichhardt ALP Streets, Cairns 4870 62. Calamvale Community College Calamvale 11 Hamish Street, Calamvale Stretton 1 ALP Oxley ALP 4116 63. Calamvale State Special School Calamvale Nottingham Road, Calamvale Stretton 1 ALP Oxley ALP 4116 64. Calen District State College Calen Mount Charlton-Calen Road, Whitsunday 3 ALP Dawson ALP Calen 4798 65. Caloundra Christian College Caloundra 7 Gregson Place, Caloundra Caloundra 1 LNP Fisher LP 4551 66. Caloundra State High School Caloundra 88 Queen Street, Caloundra Caloundra 1 LNP Fisher LP 4551 67. Calvary Christian College Carbrook 559 Beenleigh Redland Bay Redlands 1 LNP Bowman LP

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Road, CARBROOK 4130 68. Calvary Christian College Mount Louisa 569 Bayswater Road, Mount Townsville 3 ALP Herbert LP Louisa 4814 69. Cannon Hill Anglican College Cannon Hill Cnr Junction and Krupp Roads, Bulimba 1 ALP Griffith ALP Cannon Hill 4170 70. Canterbury College Waterford Old Logan Village Road, Waterford 1 ALP Forde ALP Waterford 4133 71. Capalaba State College Capalaba School Road, Capalaba 4157 Capalaba 1 ALP Bowman LP 72. Capella State High School Capella 35-45 Gordon Street, Capella Gregory 4 LNP Flynn ALP 4723 73. Carmel College Thornlands 20 Ziegenfusz Road, Thornlands Redlands 1 LNP Bowman LP 4164 74. Cavendish Road State High Holland Park Cnr Cavendish and Holland Greenslopes 1 ALP Griffith ALP School Roads, Holland Park 4121 75. Centenary Heights State High Toowoomba 60 Ramsay Street, Toowoomba Toowoomba South 2 LNP Groom LP School 4350 76. Centenary State High School Jindalee 1 Moolanda Street, Jindalee Mount Ommaney 1 ALP Ryan LP 4074 77. Chancellor State College Sippy Downs Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Kawana 1 LNP Fairfax LP Downs 4556 78. Chanel College Gladstone 11 Paterson Street, Gladstone Gladstone 2 no Flynn A LP 4680 79. Charleville State High School Charleville Cnr Partridge & Hunter Streets, Warrego 4 LNP Maranoa NP Charleville 4470 80. Charters Towers School of Charters 15-23 Brisk Street, Charters Dalrymple 3 LNP Kennedy IND Distance Education Towers Towers 4820 81. Charters Towers State High Charters 97-113 Towers Street, Charters Dalrymple 3 LNP Kennedy IND School Towers Towers 4820 82. Chinchilla State High School Chinchilla 7 Tara Road, Chinchilla 4413 Warrego 3 LNP Maranoa NP 83. Chisholm Catholic College Cornubia 204 California Creek Road, Springwood 1 ALP Rankin ALP Cornubia 4130 84. Christian Outreach College Mansfield 322 Wecker Rd, Mansfield QLD Mansfield 1 ALP Bonner ALP Brisbane 4122 85. Christian Outreach College, Toowoomba 505 Hume Street, Toowoomba Toowoomba South 2 LNP Groom LP Toowoomba 4350 86. Clairvaux MacKillop College Upper Mount Klumpp Road, Upper Mount Mansfield 1 ALP Bonner ALP Gravatt Gravatt 4122 87. Claremont Special School Ipswich 136a Robertson Road, Silkstone Ipswich 1 ALP Blair ALP 4304 88. Clayfield College Clayfield 23 Gregory Street, Clayfield Clayfield 1 LNP Lilley ALP 4011 89. Clermont State High School Clermont 1 Kitchener Street, Clermont Gregory 4 LNP Capricornia ALP 4721 90. Cleveland District State High Cleveland Russell Street, Cleveland 4163 Cleveland 1 LNP Bowman LP School 91. Clifford Park Special School Toowoomba Rob Street, Toowoomba 4350 Toowoomba South 2 LNP Groom LP 92. Clifton State High School Clifton Clifton Highway, Clifton 4361 Condamine(Postco 2 LNP Maranoa NP de) 93. Cloncurry State School Cloncurry Daintree Street, Cloncurry 4824 Mount Isa 4 ALP Kennedy IND 94. Clontarf Beach State High School Clontarf Cnr Elizabeth Avenue and King Redcliffe(Postcode 1 ALP Petrie ALP Beach Street, Clontarf 4019 ) 95. Collinsville State High School Collinsville Walker Street, Collinsville 4804 Burdekin 4 LNP Capricornia ALP 96. Columba Catholic College Charters Hackett Terrace, Charters Dalrymple 3 LNP Kennedy IND Towers Towers 4820 97. Concordia Lutheran College Toowoomba 154 Stephen Street, Toowoomba South 2 LNP Groom LP Toowoomba 4350 98. Cooktown State School Cooktown Cnr May and Charles Streets, Cook 4 ALP Leichhardt ALP Cooktown 4895 99. Cooloola Christian College Gympie 1 College Road, Gympie 4570 Gympie 2 LNP Wide Bay NP 100. Coolum State High School Coolum Havana Road East, Coolum Noosa 1 LNP Fairfax LP Beach 4573 101. Coombabah State High School Coombabah Pine Ridge Road, Coombabah Broadwater 1 ALP Fadden LP 4216

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102. Coomera Anglican College Coomera Days Road, Coomera 4209 Albert 1 ALP Fadden LP 103. Coorparoo Secondary College Coorparoo Cnr Stanley Street East and Greenslopes 1 ALP Griffith ALP Cavendish Road, Coorparoo 4151 104. Corinda State High School Corinda 46 Pratten Street, Corinda 4075 Mount Ommaney 1 ALP Oxley ALP 105. Corpus Christi College Nundah 23 Donkin St, Nundah QLD Clayfield 1 LNP Lilley ALP 4012 106. Craigslea State High School West Hamilton Road, Chermside West Aspley 1 LNP Petrie/ ALP Chermside 4032 107. Cunnamulla State School Cunnamulla 17 Francis Street, Cunnamulla Warrego 5 LNP Maranoa NP 4490 108. Currimundi Special School Currimundi Buderim Street, Currimundi Caloundra 1 LNP Fisher LP 4551 109. Currumbin Community Special Currumbin 5 Hammersford Drive, Currumbin 1 LNP McPherson LP School Waters Currumbin Waters 4223 110. Dakabin State High School Dakabin Marsden Road, Dakabin 4503 Kallangur 1 ALP Longman ALP 111. Dalby Christian School Dalby Mary Street, Dalby 4405 Condamine 2 LNP Maranoa NP 112. Dalby State High School Dalby 26 Nicholson Street, Dalby 4405 Condamine 2 LNP Maranoa NP 113. Darling Downs Christian School Toowoomba 451 McDougall Street, Toowoomba South 2 LNP Groom LP Toowoomba 4350 114. Darling Point Special School Manly 368 Upper Esplanade, Manly Lytton 1 ALP Bonner ALP 4179 115. Deception Bay Flexible Deception Cnr Grosvenor Terrace and Murrumba 1 ALP Longman/ ALP Learning Centre Bay Silver Street, Deception Bay Petrie 4508 116. Deception Bay State High Deception Phillip Parade, Deception Bay Murrumba 1 ALP Longman/ ALP School Bay 4508 Petrie 117. Djarragun College Gordonvale Maher Road, Gordonvale 4865 Mulgrave(Postcod 3 ALP Kennedy IND e) 118. Downlands Sacred Heart Toowoomba 72 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba Toowoomba North 2 ALP Groom LP College 4350 119. Dysart State High School Dysart Edgerley Street, Dysart 4745 Mirani 4 LNP Capricornia ALP 120. Earnshaw State College Banyo Cnr Earnshaw and Tufnell Nudgee 1 ALP Lilley ALP Roads, Banyo 4014 121. Eidsvold State School Eidsvold 7 Hodgkinson Street, Eidsvold Callide 3 LNP Flynn ALP 4627 122. Elanora State High School Elanora Cnr 19th Avenue & Avocado Currumbin 1 LNP McPherson LP Street, Elanora 4221 123. Emerald State High School Emerald Old Airport Drive, Emerald 4720 Gregory 3 LNP Flynn ALP 124. Emmanuel College, Carrara Carrara Birmingham Road, Carrara 4211 Mudgeeraba 1 LNP Moncrieff LP 125. Emmaus College North 185 Main Street, Park Avenue Rockhampton(Post 2 ALP Capricornia ALP Rockhampto 4701 code) n 126. Everton Park State High School Everton Park 668 Stafford Road, Everton Park Everton 1 ALP Brisbane ALP 4053 127. Fairholme College Toowoomba 40 Wirra Wirra Street, Toowoomba North 2 ALP Groom LP Toowoomba 4350 128. Faith Lutheran College Plainland 5 Faith Avenue, Plainland 4341 Lockyer 2 LNP Blair ALP 129. Faith Lutheran College - Victoria Point 132 Link Road, Victoria Point Redlands 1 LNP Bowman LP Redlands 4165 130. Ferny Grove State High School Ferny Grove McGinn Road, Ferny Grove Ferny Grove 1 ALP Brisbane ALP 4055 131. Flagstone State Community Flagstone Cnr Homestead Dve and Logan 1 ALP Forde ALP College Poinciana Dve, Flagstone 4280 132. Forest Lake College Forest Lake College Avenue, Forest Lake Algester 1 ALP Oxley ALP 4078 133. Forest Lake State High School Forest Lake High Street, Forest Lake 4078 Algester 1 ALP Oxley ALP 134. Fraser Coast Anglican College Hervey Bay Lot 2 Doolong South Road, Hervey 2 LNP Hinkler NP Wondunna QLD 4655 Bay(Postcode) 135. Freshwater Christian College Brinsmead Brinsmead Road, Brinsmead Barron River 3 ALP Leichhardt ALP 4870 136. Genesis Christian College Bray Park 10 Youngs Crossing Road, Bray Pine Rivers 1 ALP Dickson LP

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Park 4500 137. Gilroy Santa Maria College Ingham 17 Chamberlain Street, Ingham Hinchinbrook 3 LNP Kennedy IND 4850 138. Gin Gin State High School Gin Gin 30 High School Road, Gin Gin Callide 3 LNP Flynn ALP 4671 139. Gladstone State High School Gladstone Dawson Highway, Gladstone Gladstone 2 no Flynn ALP 4680 140. Glenala State High School Inala Heights Glenala Road, Durack 4077 Inala(Postcode) 1 ALP Oxley ALP 141. Glenden State School Glenden Gillham Terrace, Glenden 4743 Mirani 4 LNP Capricornia ALP 142. Glendyne Education and Nikenbah 72 Nikenbah/Dundowran Road, Hervey Bay 2 LNP Hinkler NP Training Centre Nikenbah 4655 143. Glenmore State High School North Cnr Bruce Highway and Farm Rockhampton 2 ALP Capricornia ALP Rockhampto Street, Rockhampton North n 4701 144. Good Counsel College Innisfail 66 Owen Street, Innisfail 4860 Mulgrave 3 ALP Kennedy IND 145. Good Shepherd Catholic Mount Isa Mary Street, Mount Isa 4825 Mount Isa 4 ALP Kennedy IND College 146. Good Shepherd Lutheran Noosaville 115 Eumundi Road, Noosaville Noosa 4 LNP Wide Bay NP College 4566 147. Goodna Special School Goodna 65 Queen Street, Goodna 4300 Bundamba 1 ALP Oxley ALP 148. Goondiwindi State High School Goondiwindi 3 Sandhurst Street, Goondiwindi Southern Downs 3 LNP Maranoa NP 4390 149. Gordonvale State High School Gordonvale 85 Sheppards Street, Mulgrave 3 ALP Kennedy IND Gordonvale 4865 150. Grace Lutheran College Rothwell Anzac Avenue and Mewes Road Murrumba 1 ALP Petrie ALP Rothwell 4022 151. Groves Christian College Kingston 70 Laughlin Street, Kingston Woodridge 1 ALP Rankin ALP 4114 152. Gympie Special School Gympie 52 Cootharaba Road, Gympie Gympie 2 LNP Wide Bay NP 4570 153. Gympie State High School Gympie 2 Everson Road, Gympie 4570 Gympie 2 LNP Wide Bay NP 154. Harristown State High School Toowoomba 341-367 South Street, Toowoomba South 2 LNP Groom LP Toowoomba 4350 155. Heatley Secondary College Townsville Cnr Hanlon Street and Fulham Mundingburra 2 ALP Herbert LP Road, Heatley 4814 156. Heights College North Cnr Carlton Street and Yaamba Rockhampton 2 ALP Capricornia ALP Rockhampto Road, North Rockhampton 4701 n 157. Helensvale State High School Helensvale 243 Discovery Drive, Helensvale Coomera 1 LNP Fadden LP 4212 158. Hervey Bay Senior College(not Hervey Bay Urraween Rd, Pialba, QLD, Hervey Bay 2 LNP Hinkler NP on QED) 4655 159. Hervey Bay Special School Scarness 23 Frangipanni Avenue, Hervey Bay 2 LNP Hinkler NP Scarness 4655 160. Hervey Bay State High School Pialba Beach Road, Pialba 4655 Hervey Bay 2 LNP Hinkler NP 161. Hillbrook Anglican School Enoggera 45 Hurdcotte Street, Enoggera Ashgrove 1 ALP Brisbane ALP 4051 162. Hillcrest Christian College Reedy Creek 21 Bridgman Drive, Reedy Mudgeeraba 1 LNP McPherson LP Creek 4227 163. Hills International College Jimboomba Lot 4 Johanna Street, Beaudesert 1 LNP Forde ALP Jimboomba 4280 164. Holland Park State High School Holland Park Bapaume Road, Holland Park Greenslopes 1 ALP Bonner ALP West 4121 165. Holy Spirit College North Baxter Drive, North Mackay Whitsunday 2 ALP Dawson ALP Mackay 4740 166. Home Hill State High School Home Hill First Street, Home Hill 4806 Burdekin 3 LNP Dawson ALP 167. Hughenden State School Hughenden 12 Moran Street, Hughenden Mount Isa 5 ALP Kennedy IND 4821 168. Ignatius Park College Cranbrook 368-384 Ross River Road, Mundingburra 3 ALP Herbert LP Cranbrook 4814 169. Immanuel Lutheran College Buderim 126-142 Wises Road, Buderim Buderim 1 LNP Fairfax LP 4556

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170. Indooroopilly State High School Indooroopilly Ward Street, Indooroopilly 4068 Indooroopilly 1 LNP Ryan LP 171. Ingham State High School Ingham 12 Menzies Street, Ingham 4850 Hinchinbrook 3 LNP Kennedy IND 172. Innisfail State High School Innisfail Mulgrave 3 ALP Kennedy IND 173. Iona College Lindum 85 North Road, Wynnum West Lytton 1 ALP Bonner ALP 4178 174. Ipswich Girls' Grammar School Ipswich Cnr Queen Victoria Parade & Ipswich 1 ALP Blair ALP Chermside Road, East Ipswich 4305 175. Ipswich Grammar School Ipswich Darling Street, Ipswich 4305 Ipswich 1 ALP Blair ALP 176. Ipswich Special School Ipswich 2a Milford Street, Ipswich 4305 Ipswich 1 ALP Blair ALP 177. Ipswich State High School Brassall 1 Hunter Street, Brassall 4305 Ipswich West 1 ALP Blair ALP 178. Isis District State High School Childers 3 Ridgway Street, Childers 4660 Burnett 3 LNP Hinkler NP 179. Islamic College of Brisbane Karawatha 45 Acacia Road, Karawatha Stretton 1 ALP Moreton ALP 4117 180. James Nash State High School Gympie 109 Myall Street, Gympie 4570 Gympie 2 LNP Wide Bay NP 181. John Paul College Daisy Hill John Paul Drive, Daisy Hill 4127 Springwood 1 ALP Rankin ALP 182. Kawana Waters State College Bokarina 119 Sportsmans Parade, Kawana 1 LNP Fisher LP Bokarina 4575 183. Kedron State High School Wooloowin Park Road, Wooloowin 4030 Clayfield 1 LNP Lilley/ ALP Brasbane 184. Keebra Park State High School Southport Anne Street, Southport 4215 Southport 1 ALP Moncrieff LP 185. Kelvin Grove State College Kelvin Grove L'Estrange Terrace, Kelvin Brisbane Central 1 ALP Brisbane ALP Grove 4059 186. Kenmore State High School Kenmore 60 Aberfeldy Street, Kenmore Moggill 1 LNP Ryan LP 4069 187. Kepnock State High School Bundaberg Kepnock Road, Bundaberg 4670 Bundaberg 2 LNP Hinkler NP 188. Kilcoy State High School Kilcoy Seib Street, Kilcoy 4515 Nanango 2 no Fisher/ LP 189. Kimberley College Carbrook 41 Kruger Road, Carbrook 4130 Redlands 1 LNP Bowman LP 190. Kingaroy State High School Kingaroy Toomey Street, Kingaroy 4610 Nanango 2 no Maranoa NP 191. King's Christian College Reedy Creek 68 Gemvale Road, Reedy Creek Mudgeeraba 1 LNP McPherson LP 4227 192. Kingston Centre for Continuing Kingston Woodridge 1 ALP Rankin ALP Secondary Education 193. Kingston College Kingston 62-84 Bega Road, Kingston Woodridge 1 ALP Rankin ALP 4114 194. Kirwan State High School Kirwan Hudson Street, Kirwan 4817 Thuringowa 3 ALP Herbert LP 195. Kuraby Special School Kuraby 83 Alpita Street, Kuraby 4112 Stretton 1 ALP Moreton ALP 196. Kuranda District State College Myola 260 Myola Road, Kuranda 4881 Barron River 3 ALP Leichhardt ALP 197. Laidley State High School Laidley 98 Alfred Street, Laidley 4341 Lockyer 2 LNP Blair/ Wright ALP 198. Livingstone Christian College Ormeau 62 Reedmans Road, Ormeau Coomera 1 LNP Fadden LP 4208 199. Lockyer District State High Gatton William Street, Gatton 4343 Lockyer 2 LNP Blair ALP School 200. Logan City Special School Logan 133 Wembley Road, Logan Woodridge 1 ALP Rankin ALP Central Central 4114 201. Loganlea State High School Loganlea Neridah Street, Loganlea 4131 Waterford 1 ALP Forde ALP 202. Longreach State High School Longreach Jabiru Street, Longreach 4730 Gregory 5 LNP Flynn ALP 203. Loreto College Coorparoo Coorparoo 415 Cavendish Road, Greenslopes 1 ALP Griffith ALP Coorparoo 4151 204. Lourdes Hill College Hawthorne 86 Hawthorne Road, Hawthorne Bulimba 1 ALP Griffith ALP 4171 205. Lowood State High School Lowood Prospect Street, Lowood 4311 Ipswich West 2 ALP Dickson LP 206. Mabel Park State High School Slacks Creek Paradise Road, Slacks Creek Woodridge 1 ALP Rankin ALP 4127 207. MacGregor State High School Macgregor Blackwattle Street, MacGregor Sunnybank 1 ALP Moreton ALP 4109 208. Mackay Christian College North 9 Quarry Street, North Mackay Mackay 2 ALP Dawson ALP Mackay 4740 209. Mackay District Special School Mackay 63 Mansfield Drive, Beaconsfield Mackay 2 ALP Dawson ALP

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Mackay 4740 210. Mackay North State High North Valley Street, Mackay North Mackay 2 ALP Dawson ALP School Mackay 4740 211. Mackay State High School Mackay 105 Milton Street, Mackay 4740 Mackay 2 ALP Dawson ALP 212. Malanda State High School Malanda Memorial Avenue, Malanda Dalrymple 3 LNP Kennedy IND 4885 213. Maleny State High School Maleny 50 Bunya Street, Maleny 4552 Glass House 2 LNP Fisher LP 214. Mansfield State High School Mansfield Broadwater Road, Mansfield Mansfield 1 ALP Bonner ALP 4122 215. Mareeba State High School Mareeba Jasper Street, Mareeba 4880 Cook 3 ALP Kennedy IND 216. Marist College Ashgrove Ashgrove 142 Frasers Road, Ashgrove Ashgrove 1 ALP Brisbane ALP 4060 217. Marist College Emerald Emerald Jeppesen Drive, Emerald 4720 Gregory 3 LNP Flynn ALP 218. Marist College Rosalie Paddington fernberg road, paddington, qld Mount Coot-Tha 1 ALP Brisbane ALP 4064 219. Maroochydore State High Maroochydor 160 Maroochydore Road, Maroochydore 1 LNP Fairfax LP School e Maroochydore 4558 220. Marsden State High School Waterford 106-130 Muchow Road, Waterford 1 ALP Forde ALP West Waterford West 4133 221. Maryborough Special School Maryborough 164 Woodstock Street, Maryborough 2 no Wide Bay NP Maryborough 4650 222. Maryborough State High Maryborough Kent Street, Maryborough 4650 Maryborough 2 no Wide Bay NP School 223. Marymount College Burleigh 261-283 Burleigh Connection Burleigh 1 ALP McPherson LP Waters Road, Burleigh Waters 4220 224. Matthew Flinders Anglican Buderim Stringybark Road, Buderim 4556 Buderim 1 LNP Fairfax LP College 225. Merrimac State High School Mermaid Dunlop Court, Mermaid Waters Mermaid Beach 1 LNP Moncrieff LP Waters 4218 226. Metropolitan South Institute of Alexandra Capalaba 1 ALP Bowman LP TAFE Hills 227. Miami State High School Miami 2137-2205 Gold Coast Highway Burleigh 1 ALP Moncrieff LP Miami 4220 228. Middlemount Community Middlemount James Randell Drive, Mirani 4 LNP Capricornia ALP School Middlemount 4746 229. Miles State High School Miles Pine Street, Miles 4415 Warrego 3 LNP Maranoa NP 230. Mirani State High School Mirani Augusta Street, Mirani 4754 Mirani 3 LNP Capricornia ALP 231. Mitchelton State High School Mitchelton 754 Samford Road, Mitchelton Ashgrove 1 ALP Brisbane/ ALP 4053 Ryan 232. Mitchelton State Special School Mitchelton Kedron Avenue, Mitchelton 4053 Everton 1 ALP Brisbane/ ALP Ryan 233. Monto State High School Monto Mouatt Street, Monto 4630 Callide 3 LNP Flynn ALP 234. Moranbah State High School Moranbah Mills Avenue, Moranbah 4744 Dalrymple 4 LNP Capricornia ALP 235. Morayfield State High School Morayfield Visentin Road, Morayfield 4506 Morayfield 1 ALP Longman ALP 236. Moreton Bay College Wynnum 450 Wondall Road, Manly West Lytton 1 ALP Bonner ALP West 4179 237. Mossman State High School Mossman 46-62 Front Street, Mossman Cook 3 ALP Leichhardt ALP 4873 238. Mount Alvernia College Kedron 82 Cremorne Road, Kedron Stafford 1 ALP Lilley ALP 4031 239. Mount Gravatt State High Mount Loreburn Street, Mount Gravatt Greenslopes 1 ALP Bonner ALP School Gravatt 4122 240. Mount Morgan State High Mount 4 Central Street, Mount Morgan Mirani 2 LNP Capricornia ALP School Morgan 4714 241. Mount St Bernard College Herberton Broadway Street, Herberton Dalrymple 3 LNP Kennedy IND 4887 242. Mountain Creek State High Mountain Lady Musgrave Drive, Mountain Buderim 1 LNP Fairfax LP School Creek Creek 4557 243. Moura State High School Moura Gillespie Street, Moura 4718 Callide 3 LNP Flynn ALP 244. Mt Gravatt Special School Mount Mansfield 1 ALP Bonner ALP Gravatt

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245. Mt Gravatt West Special School Holland Park 49 Nursery Rd, Mt Gravatt QLD Greenslopes 1 ALP Bonner ALP 4122 246. Mt Maria College Mitchelton 340 South Pine Road, Enoggera Ashgrove 1 ALP Brisbane ALP 4051 247. Mt Maria College - Petrie Petrie Armstrong Street, Petrie 4502 Kallangur(Postcod 1 ALP Dickson LP e) 248. Mt Ommaney Special School Mount Mount Ommaney 1 ALP Ryan/ Oxley LP Ommaney 249. Mt St Michael's College Ashgrove 67 Elimatta Drive, Ashgrove Ashgrove 1 ALP Brisbane ALP 4060 250. Mudgeeraba Special School Mudgeeraba 4-6 School Street, Mudgeeraba Mudgeeraba(Postc 1 LNP McPherson LP 4213 ode) 251. Mueller College Rothwell 75 Morris Road, Rothwell 4022 Murrumba 1 ALP Petrie ALP 252. Murgon State High School Murgon 2 Dutton Street, Murgon 4605 Callide 3 LNP Wide Bay NP 253. Nambour Christian College Woombye McKenzie Road, Woombye Nicklin 2 no Fairfax LP 4559 254. Nambour Special School Nambour 70 Windsor Road, Nambour Nicklin 2 no Fairfax LP 4560 255. Nambour State High School Nambour 1 Carroll Street, Nambour 4560 Nicklin 2 no Fairfax LP 256. Nanango State High School Nanango 54 Elk Street, Nanango 4615 Nanango 2 no Maranoa NP 257. Narangba Valley State High Narangba Harris Avenue, Narangba 4504 Morayfield 1 ALP Longman ALP School 258. Narbethong State Special Buranda 25 Salisbury Street, Buranda South Brisbane 1 ALP Griffith ALP School 4102 259. Nerang State High School Nerang Weedons Road, Nerang 4211 Gaven 1 LNP Moncrieff LP 260. Noosa District State High Cooroy Tulip Street, Cooroy 4563 Nicklin 2 no Wide Bay NP School 261. Noosa Flexible Learning Centre Tewantin Bicentennial Drive, Sunshine Noosa 1 LNP Wide Bay NP Beach 4567 262. North Bundaberg State High Bundaberg Marks St North Bundaberg QLD Bundaberg 2 LNP Hinkler NP School North 4670 263. North Lakes State College Mango Hill Joyner Circuit, North Lakes 4509 Murrumba 1 ALP Longman ALP 264. North Rockhampton State High Rockhampto Berserker Street, Rockhampton Rockhampton 2 ALP Capricornia ALP School n North North 4701 265. Northern Beaches State High Deeragun Meranti Street, Deeragun 4818 Thuringowa 3 ALP Kennedy IND School 266. Northern Peninsula Area Bamaga Sagaukaz Street, Bamaga 4876 Cook 5 ALP Leichhardt ALP College 267. Northpine Christian College Dakabin Hughes Road East, Dakabin Kallangur 1 ALP Longman ALP 4503 268. Northside Christian College Everton Park 151 Flockton Street, Everton Everton 1 ALP Petrie ALP Park 4053 269. Nyanda State High School Salisbury Fairlie Terrace, Salisbury 4107 Yeerongpilly 1 ALP Moreton ALP 270. Oakey State High School Oakey 1 Campbell Street, Oakey 4401 Condamine 2 LNP Groom LP 271. Ormiston College Ormiston 97 Dundas Street West, Cleveland 1 LNP Bowman LP Ormiston 4160 272. Our Lady of the Southern Cross Dalby 2 Nicholson Street, Dalby 4405 Condamine 2 LNP Maranoa NP College 273. Our Lady's College Annerley 15 Chester Road, Annerley 4103 Yeerongpilly 1 ALP Griffith ALP 274. Pacific Lutheran College Birtinya Woodlands Boulevard, Meridan Kawana 1 LNP Fisher LP Plains 4575 275. Pacific Pines State High School Pacific Pines Archipelago Street, Pacific Pines Gaven 1 LNP Fadden LP 4211 276. Padua College Kedron 80 Turner Road, Kedron 4031 Stafford 1 ALP Lilley ALP 277. Palm Beach Currumbin State Palm Beach Thrower Drive, Palm Beach Currumbin 1 LNP McPherson LP High School 4221 278. Park Ridge State High School Park Ridge 14-30 Lancewood Street, Logan 2 ALP Rankin ALP Park Ridge 4125 279. Parklands Christian College Park Ridge 11 Hillcrest Road, Park Ridge Logan 2 ALP Rankin ALP 4125 280. Peace Lutheran College Kamerunga Cowley Street, Kamerunga 4870 Barron River 3 ALP Leichhardt ALP

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281. Pimlico State High School Pimlico Fulham Road, Pimlico 4812 Townsville 3 ALP Herbert LP 282. Pine Rivers Special School Lawnton 10 Lawnton Pocket Road, Kallangur 1 ALP Dickson LP Lawnton 4501 283. Pine Rivers State High School Strathpine Gympie Road, Strathpine 4500 Pine Rivers 1 ALP Dickson LP 284. Pioneer State High School Andergrove Bedford Road, Andergrove Mackay(Postcode) 2 ALP Dawson LP Mackay Mackay 4740 285. Pittsworth State High School Pittsworth Factory Street, Pittsworth 4356 Condamine 2 LNP Groom LP 286. Proserpine State High School Proserpine 4 Ruge Street, Proserpine 4800 Whitsunday 3 ALP Dawson ALP 287. Queensland Academy for Kelvin Grove 61 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove Brisbane Central 1 ALP Brisbane ALP Creative Industries 4059 288. Queensland Academy for Toowong 78 Bywong Street, Toowong Mount Coot-Tha 1 ALP Ryan LP Science Mathematics and 4066 Technology 289. Ravenshoe State High School Ravenshoe Moore Street, Ravenshoe 4888 Dalrymple 4 LNP Kennedy IND 290. Redbank Plains State High Redbank Willow Road, Redbank Plains Bundamba 1 ALP Blair ALP School Plains 4301 291. Redcliffe Special School Redcliffe Klingner Road, Redcliffe 4020 Redcliffe 1 ALP Petrie ALP 292. Redcliffe State High School Redcliffe Cnr Klingner Road and Oxley Redcliffe 1 ALP Petrie ALP Avenue, Redcliffe 4020 293. Redeemer Lutheran College Rochedale 745 Rochedale Road, Mansfield 1 ALP Bonner ALP Rochedale 4123 294. Redland District Special School Thornlands 51-53 Panorama Drive, Cleveland 1 LNP Bowman LP Thornlands 4164 295. Redlands College Wellington 38 Anson Road, Wellington Cleveland 1 LNP Bowman LP Point Point 4160 296. Rivermount College - Yatala Yatala Rivermount Drive, Yatala 420771 Albert 1 ALP Forde ALP 297. Riverside Christian College Maryborough 23 Royle Street, Maryborough Maryborough 2 no Wide Bay NP West 4650 298. Robina State High School Robina Investigator Drive, Robina 4226 Mudgeeraba 1 LNP McPherson LP 299. Rochedale State High School Rochedale 249 Priestdale Road, Rochedale Mansfield 1 ALP Bonner ALP 4123 300. Rockhampton Girls' Grammar Rockhampto Cnr Denham and Agnes Streets, Rockhampton 2 ALP Capricornia ALP School n Rockhampton 4700 301. Rockhampton North Special Rockhampto 353-359 Dean Street, Rockhampton 2 ALP Capricornia ALP School n North Rockhampton North 4701 302. Rockhampton Special School Rockhampto Cnr Denison & William Streets, Rockhampton 2 ALP Capricornia ALP n Rockhampton 4700 303. Rockhampton State High Rockhampto Campbell Street, Rockhampton Rockhampton 2 ALP Capricornia ALP School n 4700 304. Roma State College Roma Cottell Street, Roma 4455 Warrego 3 LNP Maranoa NP 305. Rosedale State School Rosedale 21 James Street, Rosedale Burnett 3 LNP Flynn ALP 467472 306. Rosella Park School Gladstone 20 Park Street, Gladstone 4680 Gladstone 2 no Flynn ALP 307. Rosewood State High School Rosewood 46 Lanefield Road, Rosewood Ipswich West 2 ALP Blair ALP 4340 308. Runcorn State High School Runcorn 132 Hill Road, Runcorn 4113 Sunnybank 1 ALP Moreton ALP 309. Ryan Catholic College Kirwan 59 Canterbury Road, Kirwan Thuringowa 3 ALP Herbert LP 4817 310. Saint Stephen's College Coomera Reserve Road, Coomera 4209 Albert 1 ALP Fadden LP 311. San Sisto College Carina 97 Mayfield Road, Carina 4152 Chatsworth 1 ALP Griffith ALP

71 Yatala is in RA 1 according to Incentive Programs Assistance Service (RRIPA) website (http://www.healthworkforce.com.au/main_rrma.asp?NodeID=27679) and its postcode is 4208. However, the school postcode is 4207 provided by Queensland Department of Education and Training (DET). I choose to identify the RA level of this school by locality. 72 Rosedale is in RA 3 according to Incentive Programs Assistance Service (RRIPA) website (http://www.healthworkforce.com.au/main_rrma.asp?NodeID=27679) and its postcode is 4676. However, the school postcode is 4674 provided by Queensland Department of Education and Training (DET). I choose to identify the RA level of this school by locality.

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312. Sandgate District State High Sandgate 41 Braun Street, Deagon 4017 Sandgate 1 ALP Lilley ALP School 313. Sarina State High School Sarina Anzac Street, Sarina 4737 Mirani 3 LNP Capricornia ALP 314. Seton College East Mt 1148 Cavendish Road, Mount Mansfield 1 ALP Capricornia ALP Gravatt Gravatt East 4122 315. Shailer Park State High School Shailer Park Leaf Street, Shailer Park 4128 Springwood 1 ALP Rankin ALP 316. Shalom Christian College Condon 190 Hervey's Range Road, Thuringowa 3 ALP Herbert LP Condon 4815 317. Shalom College Bundaberg 9 Fitzgerald Street, Bundaberg Bundaberg 2 LNP Hinkler NP 4670 318. Sheldon College Sheldon Lot 5 Taylor Road, Sheldon Redlands 1 LNP Bowman LP 4157 319. Siena Catholic College Sippy Downs 60 Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Kawana 1 LNP Fairfax LP Downs 4556 320. Smithfield State High School Smithfield O'Brien Road, Smithfield 4878 Barron River 3 ALP Leichhardt ALP 321. Somerset College Mudgeeraba Somerset Drive, Mudgeeraba Mudgeeraba 1 LNP Mcpherson LP 4213 322. Somerville House South 17 Graham Street, South South Brisbane 1 ALP Griffith ALP Brisbane Brisbane 4101 323. South Burnett Catholic College Kingaroy Nanango 2 no Maranoa NP 324. Southern Cross Catholic Scarborough 299 - 307 Scarborough Road, Redcliffe 1 ALP Petrie ALP College Scarborough 4020 325. Southport Special School Southport Cnr Kumbari Avenue and Smith Southport 1 ALP Moncrieff LP Street, Southport 4215 326. Southport State High School Southport 75 Smith Street, Southport 4215 Southport 1 ALP Moncrieff LP 327. Southside Christian College Salisbury 99-109 Golda Avenue, Salisbury Yeerongpilly 1 ALP Moreton ALP 4107 328. Southside Education Centre Sunnybank 153 Lister Street, Sunnybank Sunnybank 1 ALP Moreton ALP 4109 329. Spinifex State College Mount Mount Isa Fifth Avenue, Mount Isa 4825 Mount Isa 4 ALP Kennedy IND Isa 330. Springwood State High School Springwood 202 Springwood Road, Springwood 1 ALP Rankin ALP Springwood 4127 331. St Aidan's Anglican Girls' Corinda 11 Ruthven Street, Corinda Mount Ommaney 1 ALP Oxley ALP School 4075 332. St Andrew's Anglican College Peregian 40 Peregian Springs Drive, Noosa 1 LNP Fairfax LP Springs Peregian Springs 4573 333. St Andrews Lutheran College Andrews 175 Tallebudgera Creek Road, Burleigh(Postcode) 1 ALP McPherson LP Tallebudgera 4228 334. St Augustine's College, Springfield Inala 1 ALP Oxley ALP Springfield 335. St Augustine's Marist Brothers Cairns Cairns 3 ALP Leichhardt ALP College 336. St Brendan's Christian Brothers Yeppoon Keppel 2 ALP Capricornia ALP College 337. St Columban's College Caboolture 100 McKean Street, Caboolture Pumicestone 1 ALP Longman ALP 4510 338. St Edmund's College Woodend Mary Street, Woodend 4305 Ipswich 1 ALP Blair ALP 339. St Francis College Crestmead 64 Julie Street, Crestmead 4132 Logan 1 ALP Rankin ALP 340. St George State High School St George 2 Victoria Street, St George Warrego 4 LNP Maranoa NP 4487 341. St Hilda's School Southport 52 High Street, Southport 4215 Southport 1 ALP Moncrieff LP 342. St James College Brisbane 201 Boundary Street, Spring Hill Brisbane Central 1 ALP Brisbane ALP 4000 343. St John Fisher College Bracken John Fisher Drive, Bracken Sandgate 1 ALP Petrie ALP Ridge Ridge 4017 344. St John's College, Nambour Nambour Perwillowen Road, Nambour Nicklin 2 no Fairfax LP 4560 345. St John's School Roma 61 Bowen Street, Roma 4455 Warrego 3 LNP Maranoa NP 346. St Joseph's College, Gregory Brisbane 285 Gregory Terrace, Spring Hill Brisbane Central 1 ALP Brisbane ALP Terrace 4000 347. St Joseph's College, Toowoomba 54 James Street, Toowoomba Toowoomba South 2 LNP Groom LP

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Toowoomba 4350 348. St Joseph's Nudgee College Boondall 2199 Sandgate Road, Boondall Nudgee 1 ALP Lilley ALP 4034 349. St Joseph's School, Stanthorpe Stanthorpe Southern Downs 3 LNP Maranoa NP 350. St Laurence's Christian South South Brisbane 1 ALP Griffith ALP Brothers College Brisbane 351. St Luke's Anglican School Bundaberg 4 Mezger Street, Kalkie, Bundaberg 2 LNP Hinkler NP Bundaberg 4670 352. St Margaret Mary's College Hermit Park 1-9 Crowle Street, Hyde Park Townsville 3 ALP Herbert LP 4812 353. St Margaret's Anglican Girls Ascot 11 Petrie Street, Ascot 4007 Clayfield(Postcode 1 LNP Lilley ALP School ) 354. St Mary's Catholic College, Woree 53 Anderson Road, Woree 4868 Cairns 3 ALP Leichhardt ALP Woree 355. St Mary's College Maryborough 51 Lennox Street, Maryborough Maryborough 2 no Wide Bay NP 4650 356. St Mary's College Toowoomba 286 Margaret Street, Toowoomba North 2 ALP Groom LP Toowoomba 4350 357. St Mary's College, Ipswich Woodend Mary Street, Ipswich 4305 Ipswich 1 ALP Blair ALP 358. St Michael's College Merrimac Jondique Avenue, Merrimac Mudgeeraba 1 LNP Moncrieff LP 4226 359. St Monica's College Cairns 177 Abbott Street, Cairns 4870 Cairns 3 ALP Leichhardt ALP 360. St Patrick's College, Gympie Gympie Church Street, Gympie 4570 Gympie 2 LNP Wide Bay NP 361. St Patrick's College, Shorncliffe Shorncliffe 60 Park Parade, Shorncliffe Sandgate 1 ALP Lilley ALP 4017 362. St Patrick's College, Townsville Townsville 45 The Strand, Townsville 4810 Townsville 3 ALP Herbert LP 363. St Patrick's Senior College, Mackay Gregory Street, Mackay 4740 Mackay 2 ALP Dawson ALP Mackay 364. St Paul's School Bald Hills 34 Strathpine Road, Bald Hills Aspley 1 LNP Petrie ALP 4036 365. St Peter Claver College Riverview 10 Old Ipswich Road, Riverview Bundamba 1 ALP Blair ALP 4303 366. St Peter's Lutheran College Indooroopilly 66 Harts Road, Indooroopilly Indooroopilly 1 LNP Ryan LP 4068 367. St Rita's College Clayfield 41 Enderley Road, Clayfield Clayfield 1 LNP Lilley ALP 4011 368. St Saviour's College Toowoomba Neil Street, Toowoomba 4350 Toowoomba North 2 ALP Groom LP 369. St Stephens Lutheran College Gladstone 803 Glenlyon Road, Gladstone Gladstone 2 no Flynn ALP 4680 370. St Teresa's Catholic College Noosaville Sea Eagle Drive, Noosaville Noosa 1 LNP Wide Bay NP 4566 371. St Teresa's College, Abergowrie 3819 Abergowrie Road, Hinchinbrook 4 LNP Kennedy IND Abergowrie Abergowrie 4850 372. St Thomas More College Sunnybank Cnr Troughton Road and Turton Sunnybank 1 ALP Moreton ALP Street, Sunnybank 4109 373. St Ursula's College Yeppoon Queen Street, Yeppoon 4703 Keppel 2 ALP Capricornia ALP 374. St Ursula's College, Toowoomba 38 Taylor Street, Toowoomba Toowoomba North 2 ALP Groom LP Toowoomba 4350 375. Stanthorpe State High School Stanthorpe 2 McGlew Street, Stanthorpe Southern Downs 3 LNP Maranoa NP 4380 376. Stuartholme School Toowong Birdwood Terrace, Toowong Mount Coot-Tha 1 ALP Brisbane ALP 4066 377. Suncoast Christian College Woombye Cnr Schubert and Kiel Mountain Nicklin 2 no Fairfax LP Road, Woombye 4559 378. Sunnybank Special School Sunnybank 79 Troughton Road, Sunnybank Sunnybank 1 ALP Moreton ALP 4109 379. Sunnybank State High School Sunnybank Boorman Street, Sunnybank Sunnybank 1 ALP Moreton ALP 4109 380. Sunshine Beach State High Sunshine 45 Ben Lexcen Drive, Sunshine Noosa 1 LNP Wide Bay NP School Beach Beach 4567 381. Sunshine Coast Grammar Forest Glen 372 Mons Road, Forest Glen Buderim 1 LNP Fairfax LP School 4556

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382. Tagai State College Thursday c/- District Office 31 Hargrave Cook 5 ALP Leichhardt ALP Island Street, Thursday Island 4875 383. Tamborine Mountain College North 80 Beacon Road, North Beaudesert 2 LNP Forde ALP Tamborine Tamborine 4272 384. Tamborine Mountain State High North Holt Road North Tamborine Beaudesert 2 LNP Forde ALP School Tamborine 4272 385. Tannum Sands State High Tannum 65 Coronation Drive, Tannum Gladstone 2 no Flynn ALP School Sands Sands 4680 386. Tara Shire State College Tara 22 Binnie Street, Tara 4421 Warrego(Postcode 3 LNP Maranoa NP ) 387. The Cathedral College, Rockhampto 189 William Street, Rockhampton 2 ALP Capricornia ALP Rockhampton n Rockhampton 4700 388. The Cathedral School Mundingburr 154 Ross River Road, Mundingburra 3 ALP Herbert LP a Mundingburra 4812 389. The Centre Education Kingston 108 Mudgee Street, Kingston Woodridge 1 ALP Rankin ALP Programme 4114 390. The Gap State High School The Gap 1020 Waterworks Road, The Ashgrove 1 ALP Ryan LP Gap 4061 391. The Glenleighden School Fig Tree Cubberla Street, Fig Tree Indooroopilly 1 LNP Ryan LP Pocket Pocket 4069 392. The Glennie School Toowoomba 248 Herries Street, Toowoomba Toowoomba North 2 ALP Groom LP 4350 393. The Kooralbyn International Kooralbyn Ogilvie Place, Kooralbyn 4285 Beaudesert 2 LNP Forde ALP School 394. The Rockhampton Grammar Rockhampto Rockhampton 2 ALP Capricornia ALP School n 395. The School of Total Education Warwick 2 Freestone Road, Warwick Southern Downs 2 LNP Maranoa NP 4370 396. The Scots PGC College Warwick 60 Oxenham Street, Warwick Southern Downs 2 LNP Maranoa NP 4370 397. The Southport School Southport Winchester Street, Southport Surfers Paradise 1 LNP Moncrieff LP 4215 398. Thuringowa State High School Townsville 26 - 54 Vickers Road South, Thuringowa 3 ALP Herbert LP Condon 4815 399. Toogoolawah State High Toogoolawah 76 Old Mount Beppo Road, Nanango 2 no Dickson LP School Toogoolawah 4313 400. Toolooa State High School South Philip Street, Gladstone 4680 Gladstone 2 no Flynn ALP Gladstone 401. Toowoomba Grammar School Toowoomba 24 Margaret Street, East Toowoomba North 2 ALP Groom LP Toowoomba 4350 402. Toowoomba State High School Toowoomba Stuart Street, Toowoomba 4350 Toowoomba North 2 ALP Groom LP 403. Townsville Community Mundingburr 78 Thompson Street, Mundingburra 3 ALP Herbert LP Learning Centre a Mundingburra 4812 404. Townsville Flexible Learning West End 26 Ingham Road, West End, Townsville(postcod3 ALP Herbert LP Centre Townsville 4810 e) 405. Townsville Grammar School Townsville 45 Paxton Street, North Ward Townsville 3 ALP Herbert LP 4810 406. Townsville State High School Railway 36 Boundary Street, Townsville Townsville 3 ALP Herbert LP Estate 4810 407. Trinity Anglican School White Rock Progress Road, White Rock Mulgrave 3 ALP Leichhardt ALP 4868 408. Trinity Bay State High School Manunda 26-62 Hoare Street, Manunda Cairns (postcode) 3 ALP Leichhardt ALP Cairns Cairns 4870 409. Trinity College Beenleigh Scott Street, Beenleigh 4207 Waterford 1 ALP Forde ALP 410. Trinity Lutheran College Ashmore 641 Ashmore Road, Ashmore Southport 1 ALP Fadden LP 4214 411. Tullawong State High School Caboolture Del Rosso Road, Caboolture Pumicestone 1 ALP Longman ALP 4510 412. Tully State High School Tully Bruce Highway, Tully 4854 Hinchinbrook 3 LNP Kennedy IND 413. Upper Coomera State College Upper 137 Reserve Road, Upper Albert 1 ALP Fadden LP Coomera Coomera 4209 414. Urangan State High School Urangan Robert Street, Urangan 4655 Hervey Bay 2 LNP Hinkler NP 415. Varsity College Robina 198 Varsity Parade, Mermaid Beach 1 LNP McPherson LP

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Varsity Lakes 4227 416. Victoria Point State High Victoria Point 93-131 Benfer Road, Victoria Redlands 1 LNP Bowman LP School Point 4165 417. Victory College Gympie 173 Old Maryborough Road, Gympie 2 LNP Wide Bay NP Gympie 4570 418. Villanova College Coorparoo 24 Sixth Avenue, Coorparoo South Brisbane 1 ALP Griffith ALP 4151 419. Warwick State High School Warwick Palmerin Street, Warwick 4370 Southern Downs 2 LNP Maranoa NP 420. Wavell State High School Wavell Telopia Avenue, Wavell Heights Nudgee 1 ALP Lilley ALP Heights 4012 421. Wellington Point State High Wellington Badgen Road, Wellington Point Cleveland 1 LNP Bowman LP School Point 4160 422. West Moreton Anglican College Karrabin Keswick Road, Karrabin 4306 Ipswich West 1 ALP Blair ALP 423. Western Cape College Weipa Central Avenue, Weipa 4874 Cook 5 ALP Leichhardt ALP 424. Western Suburbs State Special Inala Glenala Road, Durack 4077 Inala 1 ALP Oxley ALP School 425. Westside Christian College Goodna 65 Stuart Street, Goodna 4300 Bundamba 1 ALP Oxley ALP 426. Whites Hill State College Camp Hill 138 Burn Street, Camp Hill 4152 Chatsworth 1 ALP Griffith ALP 427. Whitsunday Anglican School Beaconsfield Celeber Drive, Beaconsfield Mackay 2 ALP Dawson ALP 4740 428. Whitsunday Christian College Cannonvale Lot 6 Paluma Road, Cannonvale Whitsunday 3 ALP Dawson ALP 4802 429. William Ross State High School Townsville Mervyn Crossman Drive, Burdekin 3 LNP Herbert LP Annandale 4814 430. Windaroo Valley State High Bahrs Scrub 240 Beenleigh Beaudesert Albert 1 ALP Forde ALP School Road, Bahrs Scrub 4207 431. Winton State School Winton 71 Cork Street, Winton 4735 Mount Isa 5 ALP Flynn ALP 432. Woodcrest State College Springfield 38 Nev Smith Drive Springfield Bundamba 1 ALP Oxley ALP 4300 433. Woodridge State High School Woodridge Wembley Road, Logan Central Woodridge 1 ALP Rankin ALP 4114 434. Woody Point Special School Woody Point 85 Georgina Street, Woody Redcliffe 1 ALP Petrie ALP Point 4019 435. Woree State High School Woree Rigg Street, Woree 4868 Cairns 3 ALP Leichhardt ALP 436. Wynnum North State High Wynnum Prospect Street, Wynnum North Lytton (postcode) 1 ALP Bonner ALP School North 4178 437. Wynnum State High School Manly Peel Street, Manly 4179 Lytton 1 ALP Bonner ALP 438. Xavier Catholic College Eli Waters 1 Wide Bay Drive, Eli Waters Hervey Bay 2 LNP Hinkler NP 4655 439. Yeppoon State High School Yeppoon Rawlings Street, Yeppoon 4703 Keppel 2 ALP Capricornia ALP 440. Yeronga State High School Yeronga 159 Villa Street, Yeronga 4104 Yeerongpilly 1 ALP Moreton ALP

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Appendix II: List of 61 schools’ Annual Report 2008

School Annual Report 2008 Curriculum number 1. no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 2. no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 3. no VETiS mentioned Certificate II - Business Certificate II - Information Technology Certificate II - Creative Industries (Media) Certificate III - Childhood Services With detailed course information Kelvin Grove State College retains the right to cancel the course if it is unable to meet requirements. (Senior Curriculum Guide 2010: 8-9) 4. no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 5. In Year 11 and 12, the provision of courses which Certificate II Business (BSB20101) address a variety of post-school options allow students Certificate I In Media (CUF10101) the flexibility to study OP as well as Vocational-oriented Certificate II Multimedia (CUF20601) courses. In regard to the latter, it is noted that St James Certificate I &II Information Technology students had the highest per-capita incidence of Certificate I Hospitality (THH11102 successfully completed Australian Quality Training Certificate I in General Construction (BCG10103) Framework certificate qualifications of any school in Certificate I Engineering (MEM10105) QLD. (14) Certificate II Information Technology (ICA20105) Certificate I Outdoor Recreation (SRO20303) Certificate II Outdoor Recreation (SRO20306) Certificate II in Workplace Practices (30064QLD) Certificate II Senior First Aid (70180NT) With detailed course information 6. An independent, not-for-profit senior secondary school Advanced Diploma of Business and supervising registered training organisation catering Certificate IV in Career Development for senior secondary students.(2) Certificate II Automotive Mechanical (Air conditioning) Certificate II in Engineering Certificate II in Hospitality Certificate II in Creative Industries Certificate II in Workplace Practices Certificate II in Outdoor Recreation With detailed course information 7. no VETiS mentioned Certificate II in Hospitality (Operations) Certificate II in Primary Industries No course detailed information 8. ...coordinate Vocational Education and training within the Certificate II in Business College. This has enabled the College to develop links Certificate III in Hospitality between TAFE, industry experts and numerous local Certificate II in Information Technology employers. (4) With detailed course information

9. no VETiS mentioned Certificate I &II in Business With detailed information 10. no VETiS mentioned Certificate II in Workplace Practices Certificate II in Hospitality Operations (SIT20207) (Certificate II in Furnishings - Furniture Making) Certificate III Allied Health (HLT32407) Certificate II In Community Recreation No course detailed information 11. no VETiS mentioned Certificate I in Hospitality CERTIFICATE III IN FITNESS (SRF30206) Certificate II in Business With detailed course information 12. Seven Vocational Certificates courses were offered in Certificates I & II in Information Technology 2007 to cater for the wide range of student interest and Certificate I in Media post-school destinations. (3) Certificate II in Multimedia Certificates I & II in Business, Business Communication & Technology No course detailed information

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13. There are 27 Authority and 18 non Authority subjects Certificate I in Information Technology, Engineering, offered to cater for the full range of academic and Hospitality, Work education and Workplace Practices vocational pathways. (3) Certificate II in Business Services, Furnishing, General Construction, Horticulture, Screen and Visual Arts. subject to changes in resource requirements and availability of staff. (16) With detailed course information 14. Cannot open the link to annual report No curriculum offered 15. Authority registered subjects are designed toward Certificate I & II in Business nationally recognised Vocational Education and Training Certificate III in Children Services qualifications toward gaining apprenticeships, Certificate II in Hospitality Operations traineeships and cadetships, as well as full time Certificate I in ICT employment. Certificate II in Information Technology Certificate I & II in Retail With detailed course information 16. no VETiS mentioned No detailed information 17. no VETiS mentioned No detailed information Public subject information is offline temporarily. If you are a parent, full course outlines are available in the Nudgee Portal. 18. no VETiS mentioned Certificate III in Children’s Services No course detailed information

The number of teachers appointed to a school depends on student numbers, and this may alter without notice. It is not feasible to create too many small classes in a school, and parents and students are advised if this is to happen. In some cases composite classes of years 11 & 12 students study together. (21) 19. In Years 11 and 12, students choose 15 Authority Certificate III in Tourism Registered subjects – eight of these included vocational Certificate III in Allied Health Assisting competencies. (3) Certificate III in Business Certificate III in Children’s Services Certificate II in Workplace Practices With detailed course information 20. Offering an extensive range of academic and vocational Certificate II in Workplace Practices pathways to students from years 8 through 12. Some VETiS courses are TAFE linked program which means school is lack of teachers such as Certificate III in Tourism Certificate III in Allied Health Assisting Certificate III in Business Certificate III in Children’s Services (2) With detailed course information 21. no VETiS mentioned Certificate III in Business Certificate II in Business (embedded in BCT) Certificate I in Business ( Junior School ) Certificate II in Financial Literacy ( Junior School ) Certificate II in Information Technology Certificate II in Hospitality Studies Certificate I in Hospitality Studies Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE (MSIT) and Chisholm Catholic College are working in partnership to promote flexible learning pathways. Our partnership provides students a better opportunity to enter the workforce with a qualification, better job skills and increased study and employment options. (webpage)

No course detailed information 22. no VETiS mentioned John Paul College in partnership with Chisholm Institute of TAFE, Homesglen TAFE and other private providers offers students access to the following vocational programs: Certificate II Automotive Technology Certificate III Beauty Services Certificate II Building and Construction Certificate II Community Recreation Certificate II Community Services 326

Certificate II / III Concept Development for Clothing Products Certificate II Electro Technology Certificate II Equine Industry Certificate II Engineering Studies Certificate II Hairdressing Certificate II Horticulture Certificate II Hospitality (Operations) Certificate II / III Information Technology Certificate II / III Music Industry Skills Certificate II Outdoor Recreation No course detailed information 23. Senior pathways framework facilitating School Based Certificate II in Business BSB20107 Apprenticeships and Traineeships, Early Start to senior Certificate II in Hospitality SIT20207 studies, certificate level courses in a range of areas and Certificate II in Creative Industries (Media) CUF20107 alternative programmes (2) Certificate III in Computer Aided Drafting Certificate II in Outdoor Recreation (SRO2026) No course detailed information 24. School based apprenticeships, TAFE programs and No detailed information on VETiS vocational subjects73 25. The number of school – based apprenticeships and traineeships is steadily growing and vocational education Certificate III in Contemporary Art and Craft CUV30103 is achieving prominence in the curriculum in line with The following courses are available as external courses broader education initiatives. (2) offered by SQIT (Southern Queensland Institute of TAFE) Certificate II Automotive Certificate III Beauty Certificate III Business Certificate III Children’s Services Certificate II Retail Introductory Certificate in Beauty/Hair Certificate III Tourism These courses will only be available provided sufficient student enrolment numbers exist.

No course detailed information 26. Academic and Vocational Education were very pleasing Certificate I in Hospitality THH11002 (1) Certificate II in Hospitality THH21802 Year 11 and 12 Structured Work Place Learning - Year TDT10202Certificate I in Transport & Distribution 11 and 12 Vocational Education students are offered 2 LMF10102Certificate I in Furnishing weeks of industry placement (3) BCG10103Certificate I in General Construction MEM10105Certificate I in Engineering CUS20101Music – Certificate II in Music Industry Certificate II in Business Certificate II in Information Technology With detailed course information 27. no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 28. Pittsworth and district businesses have demonstrated BSB20107 Certificate II in Business their confidence in the school and the LMF10102 Certificate I in Furnishing Vocational Education program through their willingness 30626QLD Certificate I in Work Education to participate in the Australian SIT10207 Certificate I in Hospitality School Based Apprenticeships and Traineeships ICA10105 Certificate I in information Technology Scheme(1). RTE10103 Certificate I in Rural Operations High participation in School based With detailed course information apprenticeships/traineeships in Senior Phase (3). 29. Vocational careers with VET subjects targeting BSB20101 Certificate II in Business Certificate II outcomes. 2010 also offers a renewed MEM20305 Certificate II in Boating Services approach to Vocational Education with the impending CHC20202 Certificate II in Community Services Work construction of the $4,488,000 Trade Training Centre MEM20105 Certificate II in Engineering that will cater for Engineering, Furnishing and Boat LMF2002 Certificate I & II in Furnishing Building Certificate courses. (1) THH02 Certificate II in Hospitality ICA20105 Certificate II in Information Communication and Technology CUS20101 Certificate II in Music Industry SRO20203

73 The text is quoted from Dalby Christian School 2009 Annual Report which is based on 2008 data just as other schools. 327

Certificate II in Outdoor Recreation CUV20103 Certificate II in Visual Arts and Contemporary Craft

DISCLAIMER School Based Units of Competency will only be offered if either the human resources are available and the Scope of Registration allows. (34) With detailed course information 30. Student achievement in vocational skills and vocational Certificate I in Work Education certificates was a key objective of reforms (2). Certificate II in Hospitality No course detailed information 31. no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 32. no VETiS mentioned Certificate I and II Hospitality Certificate III Children’s Services Certificate II Tourism Certificate II in Business While every effort is made to ensure that students make informed choices and are offered a balanced range of subjects across the six lines, student numbers and other factors may still mean that a subject is not viable to operate. If this happens, the students concerned will be required to alter their initial choice ( 8)

With detailed course information 33. no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 34. In terms of the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Certificate I Work Education courses offered at the College, students have the Certificate I Engineering opportunity to complete full certificate courses that are Certificate I Furnishing embedded in the various Queensland Studies Authority Certificate II Information Technologies Study Area Specifications (SAS). Students who No course detailed information undertake such subjects complete a number of on-the- job and assessment activities throughout their senior course. (8) 35. Senior Pathways are becoming more flexible with No detailed information on VETiS increasing numbers of students involved in completing Certificate II courses or School Based Traineeships and Apprenticeships(6)74. 36. Lockyer District High School offers a four day week to all Certificate III in Agriculture Year 11 and 12 students - the fifth day being utilised for Certificate II in Rural Operations School Based Traineeships, Apprenticeships or Certificate II Transport and Logistics Workplacement (4) Certificate II in Hospitality Lockyer District High School is also working in partnership with the University of Queensland (Gatton campus) to deliver the requirements for Certificate II in Rural Operations and the Queensland Certificate of Agriculture (a Certificate III course of study) (20).

With detailed course information 37. The curriculum expanded in 2008 to include greater Cert III in Childcare opportunities for our students in the area of Vocational Cert II in Rural Operations Education subjects. (6) Cert I in Furnishing With detailed course information 38. no VETiS mentioned Certificate I in Hospitality Operations Certificate II Community Recreation Certificate II in Business Certificate I in Engineering Certificate I in Furnishings Certificate II in Tourism With detailed course information 39. no detailed VETiS information mentioned “A full description of senior subjects is provided in the Senior Studies Handbook available from Administration and on this web site” (but not found in the website) 40. no detailed VETiS information mentioned Certificate III in Business

74 Text Quotation is from the school 2007 annual report which is latest available version in its website. 328

Certificate III in Childcare Certificate I in Construction Certificate III in Financial Services Certificate III in Fitness Certificate I & II in Hospitality Certificate II in Tourism Certificate III in Youth Ministry With detailed course information 41. Planning the commencement/completion of nationally BSB30107online Cert III in Business recognized Certificates in VET courses from Years 10- CUV20103Cert II Visual Art & Contemporary Craft 12 (1). CUE20103Cert II Entertainment BSB20107Cert II Business – Events Management In 2008, each major curriculum department investigated SIT07Cert II Hospitality - Operations options of VET courses they could deliver to our students CUF20601Cert II Information Technology – Multimedia (3). CUS20101Cert II in Music Industry – Foundation SRC20206Cert II Community Recreation - Fitness SIR20207Cert II Retail Cert II Sampling and PML20104Measurement THT2052Cert II Tourism 30627 QLD Cert II Workplace Practices No course detailed information 42. Our Senior schooling program currently places 109 Certificate II in Rural Operations students in school based traineeships (2). Certificate II in Business Certificate II Information Technology Certificate II in Tourism or Events Management With detailed course information 43. Career start, a program for vocationally oriented No curriculum information found students, including school based apprenticeships, TAFE programs and vocational subjects (1). 44. Many students are enrolled in Certificate II and III Certificate I & II in Hospitality programs, through coordination with the College and With detailed course information TAFE, in areas such as Retail, Computing, Hospitality and Child Care. Others are beginning apprenticeships while still at College. There are opportunities offered across a range of industries of which our students take advantage. 45. A higher number of students achieved qualifications in Certificate I in Information Technology VET as a part of their coursework. No course detailed information on website 46. no detailed VETiS information mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 47. Higher proportion of VET certificate attainment and Certificate II BCT completion rate Certificate II Business Procedures Certificate I & II Hospitality Practices Certificate II Information Technology Certificate II Tourism Operations No course detailed information on website 48. no detailed VETiS information mentioned Certificate II in Business No course detailed information on website 49. Our distinctive curriculum offerings Indigenous No detailed information on VETiS Agricultural Studies Cert 1 – For At Risk and Disengaged Students (4). 50. In the Senior School (Year 10 – 12) students prepare via No detailed information on VETiS a variety of pathways for tertiary entrance, other study, or employment. School based apprenticeships and traineeships are available, as are cooperative course offerings with other learning institutions. 51. Comprehensive partnerships with business and industry No detailed information on VETiS to offer students opportunities in the work place (2) 52. no detailed VETiS information mentioned BCG 10103 Certificate I Construction LMF 10108 Certificate I Furnishing ICA 10105 Certificate I Information Technology 30626 QLD Certificate I Work Education Certificate I & II Business Certificate I & II Creative Industries – Media Certificate I & II Hospitality Certificate I & II Visual Arts and Contemporary Craft Certificate I & II Visual Arts and Contemporary Craft

329

SRC 20206 Certificate II Community Recreation CUF 20601 Certificate II Multimedia SRS 20206 Certificate II Sport SIT 20107 Certificate II Tourism No course detailed information found on website 53. Staff work with external partners to ensure that Certificate II in Radio Broadcasting Certificate II in appropriate pathways are available for students from the Hospitality middle years through their senior years to fulfil the Certificate III in Information Technology Certificate II in Service Guarantee (2). Business Certificate II in Tourism Certificate II in Workplace Practices Certificate II in Conservation and Land Management Certificate III in Children’s Services No course detailed information found on website 54. A flexible Thursday Program for Senior Students. This Certificate I & II in Information Technology allows our students to access tutorials and ICA20199Certificate II in Information Technology School-Based Apprenticeships and Traineeships. It also SCR10201Certificate I Community Recreation provides opportunities for students to Certificate I in Engineering (Manufacturing) access TAFE (2). LMF10102Certificate I in Furnishing THH11002Certificate I in Hospitality (Operations) CUE 10103Certificate I in Live Theatre, Production and Events CUF10101Certificate I in Media CUF20601Certificate II in Multimedia Certificate I in Rural Operations 30031QLD Certificate I in Work Education THT 20502Certificate II Tourism (Operations) CHC 30402Certificate III in Children's Services No course detailed information found on website 55. Mossman State High School provides a broad range of No detailed information on VETiS academic and vocational educational opportunities for the youth of the area. 56. Building relationships with other Cape schools to secure No detailed information on VETiS (three campuses) transition and employment outcomes for the children of Cape York was an additional focus for the College in 2007 and was met with enthusiasm from all stakeholders75 (2).

57. Students select a course of study from a wide variety of Certificate I in Engineering offerings including Queensland Studies Authority Certificate II in Information Technology subjects, Authority Registered subjects and also TAFE Certificate I in Automotive courses (1) Certificate I in Engineering With detailed course information 58. no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 59. The Earning or Learning Phase of schooling (Years 10- Certificate I Workplace Education 12) continues to provide opportunities for our students Certificate II in Business through school based traineeships and apprenticeships Certificate I Community Recreation and the offering of certificate courses of study both within With detailed course information our school subject offerings and our links with the local TAFE annex (1). 60. no detailed VETiS information mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 61. In the Senior Phase the emphasis has continued on No detailed information on VETiS offering all students the opportunity of obtaining an OP and/or VET qualification through school-based traineeships, offering school-based traineeship/apprenticeships through shire council and local businesses (1,2)

75 Text Quotation is from the school 2007 annual report which is latest available version in its website. 330

Appendix III: List of 61 schools’ Annual Report 2009

School Annual Report 2009 Curriculum number 1. no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 2. no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 3. no VETiS mentioned Certificate III - fitness With detailed course information

4. no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 5. In the field of Vocational Education and Training, the St James students can achieve many Certificate I and II level College has developed a highly-successful partnership courses within the AQTF (Australian Quality Training with the Beacon Foundation to deliver a training Framework) embedded in their courses. program for students in Year 10 in regard to preparation for the world of work. (9) These courses include Certificates in Information Technology Systems, Information and Communications Technology, Media, Multimedia, First Aid, Engineering, Construction, Workplace Practices, Outdoor Education and Hospitality. http://www.stjamescollege.qld.edu.au/curriculum/curriculum_o verview

With detailed course information 6. North Brisbane actively works to increase the status of Advanced Diploma of Business the trades as an excellent career choice for young Certificate IV in Career Development Australians. The College community prides itself on Certificate II Automotive Mechanical (Air conditioning) assisting student-apprentices achieve A+ standards Certificate II in Engineering particularly in the Employability Skills. The culture of Certificate II in Hospitality the College therefore mirrors a workplace at every Certificate II in Creative Industries opportunity.(2) Certificate II in Workplace Practices Certificate II in Outdoor Recreation With detailed course information 7. no VETiS mentioned Certificate II in Hospitality (Operations) Certificate II in Primary Industries No course detailed information 8. ... has engaged a specialist staff member to head and co-ordinate Vocational Education and Training (VET) Construction within the College. This has enabled the College to Hospitality Studies develop links between TAFE, industry experts and NO detailed course information numerous local employers （4）. http://www.immanuel.qld.edu.au/our-college/years-11-12

9. no VETiS mentioned Certificate I &II in Business With detailed information 10. no updated report Certificate II in Workplace Practices Certificate II in Hospitality Operations (SIT20207) (Certificate II in Furnishings - Furniture Making) Certificate II Engineering Certificate III Allied Health (HLT32407) No course detailed information 11. no VETiS mentioned With a flexible curriculum offered to students, additional subjects may be offered as further options. This could include TAFE courses and School-based Traineeships and Apprenticeships. The aim is to help Year 12 students in their transition from school to work by contributing to the likelihood of obtaining employment or further study after leaving school. Students are offered the opportunity of experiencing life in the ‘real world,’ while being supported by staff, accredited trainers and mentors from the wider community http://www.scgs.qld.edu.au/our_schools/senior_school/senior _curriculum/ year11_12.php NO detailed course information 12. The middle of the year saw a review of our Year 10 Certificates I & II in Information Technology Curriculum which now positions our Year 10s in the Certificate I in Media

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Senior School and provides both foundation studies for Certificate II in Multimedia senior subjects as well as an early start in some Certificates I & II in Business, Business Communication & certificate courses. (1) Technology With course detailed information 13. Park Ridge State High School is committed to The school is a Registered Training Organisation (RTO) and providing high quality learning opportunities for as such is able to offer nationally accredited vocational students. The school provides a dynamic and vibrant courses in a number of subjects. In addition, the school has curriculum and stresses both academic and vocational formed a partnership with MSIT. As a result, students are able pathways for students. (1) to study Certificate courses at MSIT campuses while still attending school. Specific TAFE courses on offer will be advertised through our school as they become available. Students may choose to attend the relevant TAFE College whilst still enrolled in our school. http://parkridgeshs.eq.edu.au/new/index.php?option= com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=128 NO detailed course information 14. Can not open the link to annual report No curriculum offered

15. Students are able to choose these subjects based on Merrimac State High School is an accredited Registered their specific pathway to employment, Vocational Training Organisation Education and Training and tertiary study beyond Year (RTO) http://merrimacshs.eq.edu.au/wcmss/content/view/85/1 12. Subjects in Year 11 and 12 are delivered aligned 41/ with pathway options for students(4) NO detailed course information 16. The school was awarded the DET VET in Schools No detailed information Excellence Award for the innovative VET curriculum at Varsity College(3) 17. no VETiS mentioned Nudgee College offers a Vocational Education program which provides pathways into training and includes a greater emphasis upon the world of work. While remaining at school, students can gain credit towards or complete a Vocational Education and Training qualification which allows them to take up further study at a TAFE College. http://www.nudgee.com/public/academic/years- 10%E2%80%9312 No detailed information 18. Enhanced Senior Schooling Pathways including Certificate II in hospitality expanded subject offerings through the Individual With detailed information Pursuit Learning Program and expanded Vocational Education Options (3)

19. Our Senior curriculum includes a very wide range of Certificate III in Tourism academic and vocational subjects(1). Certificate III in Allied Health Assisting The school curriculum will continue to be sufficiently Certificate III in Business broad to satisfy the interest and skills of all students by Certificate III in Children’s Services providing a large range of academic, cultural, Certificate II in Workplace Practices vocational and sporting opportunities (4). With detailed course information

20. Springwood State High School is a coeducational Certificate II in Workplace Practices school offering an extensive range of academic and Some VETiS courses are TAFE linked program which means vocational school is lack of teachers such as pathways to students from years 8 through 12( 3). Certificate III in Tourism Certificate III in Allied Health Assisting Certificate III in Business Certificate III in Children’s Services (2) With detailed course information 21. no VETiS mentioned Metropolitan South Institute of TAFE (MSIT) and Chisholm Catholic College are working in partnership to promote flexible learning pathways. Our partnership provides students a better opportunity to enter the workforce with a qualification, better job skills and increased study and employment options.

With course detailed information 22. Vocational Education and Training subject reporting No course detailed information

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was migrated to Synergetic providing a stable and secure reporting solution. 23. Our school continues to provide a wide range of No course detailed information academic and vocational subjects, extra-curricular activities and opportunities for staff and student leadership (1) 24. No annual report No detailed information on VETiS 25. The school has an excellent reputation in the You are not authorised to view this resource. community particularly in the areas of academic You need to login. excellence, vocational placements, cultural No course detailed information performance and industry links. (1) This is ongoing work involving the removal of some unpopular vocational certificates and planning around the development of new ones, targeted at the Agribusiness and Resources sectors(2). The additional resources at the new campus will provide the perfect platform for students to engage in Agribusiness vocational pathways through the AACC (2) 26. Transport and Furnishings. Data in this report, NO detailed course information indicates that this school provides for these students by supporting School Based Traineeships and Apprenticeships and Workplace Education. One significant initiative has been the introduction of whole day learning programs in Construction and Engineering(4). 27. no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 28. The school offers a wide range of Vocational Education BSB20107 Certificate II in Business & Training courses and prides itself on positive LMF10102 Certificate I in Furnishing relationships within the local community and with local 30626QLD Certificate I in Work Education businesses. This contributes to the high rate of SIT10207 Certificate I in Hospitality participation in School Based Traineeships & School ICA10105 Certificate I in information Technology Based Apprenticeships for senior students. (1). RTE10103 Certificate I in Rural Operations With detailed course information

The school must have certain teachers and equipment to run these courses. If the school loses access to these resources, the school will attempt to provide students with alternative opportunities to complete the course and the related qualification. The school retains the right to cancel the course if it is unable to meet requirements. 29. 2010 also offers a renewed approach to Vocational BSB20101 Certificate II in Business Education with the impending construction of the MEM20305 Certificate II in Boating Services $4,488,000 Trade Training Centre that will cater for CHC20202 Certificate II in Community Services Work Engineering, Furnishing and Boat Building Certificate MEM20105 Certificate II in Engineering courses. Such a facility will provide industry quality LMF2002 Certificate I & II in Furnishing resources and reinforce current partnerships with local THH02 Certificate II in Hospitality industries. (1) Our Senior School philosophy is to ICA20105 Certificate II in Information Communication and provide students with the capacity to engage in Technology subjects that will establish a pathway to University and CUS20101 Certificate II in Music Industry SRO20203 higher learning or towards a vocational career with Certificate II in Outdoor Recreation subjects that are industry based and approved(4). CUV20103 Certificate II in Visual Arts and Contemporary Craft

With detailed course information 30. We carry a broad and increasing range of senior Certificate I in Work Education subjects including OP academic subjects, non-OP Certificate II in Hospitality vocational studies (SAS’s) and an extensive range of Certificate II in IT Certificate courses available at TAFE, Maryborough With detailed information State High School and Aldridge. The TAFE courses are run on Mondays and Fridays and are an integral part of the timetable. Aldridge is the only Maryborough School that offers Agriculture related subjects in the junior and senior schools. (4). 31. no VETiS mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 32. no VETiS mentioned Certificate I and II Hospitality

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Certificate III Children’s Services Certificate II Tourism Certificate II in Business While every effort is made to ensure that students make informed choices and are offered a balanced range of subjects across the six lines, student numbers and other factors may still mean that a subject is not viable to operate. If this happens, the students concerned will be required to alter their initial choice ( 8) With detailed course information 33. development of the high academic standards, varied Certificate I and II in Business programs in Sporting Academies, Instrumental Music, Certificate I in Community Recreation Agriculture, Arts/Drama and strong Vocational links, we Certificate I in Construction will promote the quality education available here at Certificate I in Engineering Mackay SHS(1). offers a range Certificate I in Furnishing of alternatives that cater to students’ abilities, interests Certificate I and II in Information Technology and vocational pathway goals(3). Certificate I in Work Readiness No detailed course information 34. No VETiS mentioned Certificate I Work Education Certificate I Engineering Certificate I Furnishing Certificate II Information Technologies No course detailed information 35. We are continuing our focus on Indigenous education No detailed information on VETiS and further developing our offering of pathways for Senior students. Allowing for extension and learning support. Students have the opportunity to master skills / processes before moving to a higher level, by being able to study another unit at the same level(2) 36. No VETiS mentioned Certificate III in Agriculture Certificate II in Rural Operations Certificate II Transport and Logistics Certificate II in Hospitality Lockyer District High School is also working in partnership with the University of Queensland (Gatton campus) to deliver the requirements for Certificate II in Rural Operations and the Queensland Certificate of Agriculture (a Certificate III course of study) (20).

With detailed course information 37. The curriculum has been reaffirmed throughout the No detailed course information year with the continued delivery of both our OP subjects including Maths C for the first time, as well as our many VET offerings. These have included certificate courses in the areas of Music, IT and Community Recreation for the first time. (5) 38. no VETiS mentioned Certificate I in Hospitality Operations Certificate II Community Recreation Certificate II in Business Certificate I in Engineering Certificate I in Furnishings Certificate II in Tourism With detailed course information 39. The school is innovative, offering a cutting edge certificate ii in information technology curriculum with a focus on academic, vocational and certificate ii in workplace practices intellectual rigor, with real life and relevant learning certificate iii in information technology experiences. (1) certificate I in construction (cpc10108) (year 11 2010) certificate I in resources and infrastructure operations With detailed course information 40. Students may select a course with vocational Certificate III in Business outcomes. This course caters for students who wish to Certificate III in Childcare directly enter the workforce or gain a Tertiary Entrance Certificate I in Construction Rank (TER) for further study at a niversity/TAFE/with a Certificate III in Financial Services private provider (6) Certificate III in Fitness Certificate I & II in Hospitality Certificate II in Tourism Certificate III in Youth Ministry

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With detailed course information 41. At Tullawong State High School we provide curriculum No course detailed information offerings that meet the academic, vocational, cultural, physical, developmental and social needs of students (3). online Cert III in Business (BSB30107) offered through TAFE Cert II Visual Art & Contemporary Craft Cert II Entertainment Cert II Business – Events Cert II Hospitality - Operations Information & Communications Technology {Cert II Information Technology – Multimedia Cert II in Music Industry – Foundation Cert II Community Recreation - Fitness Cert II Retail Cert II Sampling and Measurement (PML20104)} Cert II Tourism Cert II Workplace Practices 42. Trends in student achievement are consistent and very Certificate II in Rural Operations high numbers of students completing school based Certificate II in Business traineeships Certificate II Information Technology Certificate II in Tourism or Events Management With detailed course information 43. A program for vocationally oriented students, including No curriculum information found school based apprenticeships, TAFE programs and vocational subjects (2) 44. Many students are enrolled in Certificate II and III Certificate I & II in Hospitality programs, through coordination with the College and With detailed course information TAFE, in areas such as Retail, Computing, Hospitality and Child Care (4) 45. no detailed VETiS information mentioned Certificate I in Information Technology With detailed course information 46. Senior students are able to access Vocational courses. No detailed information on VETiS These provide students with a transition into further studies and/or the workplace environment (6) 47. no detailed VETiS information mentioned Certificate II BCT Certificate II Business Procedures Certificate I & II Hospitality Practices Certificate II Information Technology Certificate II Tourism Operations With course detailed information on website 48. no detailed VETiS information mentioned No course detailed information on website 49. offers academic pathways into university as well as No detailed information on VETiS Vocational options for students to gain certificate qualifications or begin traineeships and apprenticeships (4). 50. no detailed VETiS information mentioned No detailed information on VETiS 51. Our Senior School offers an extensive range of OP No detailed information on VETiS subjects, this is complimented by a first class vocational education program. We are also a gateway school to the manufacturing industry (1) 52. Yr 12 students who leave before completion are those BCG 10103 Certificate I Construction who have moved into further study focused on their LMF 10108 Certificate I Furnishing vocational pathway. Further services involve a co- ICA 10105 Certificate I Information Technology ordinated approach to vocational education, including 30626 QLD Certificate I Work Education the adoption of practices leading to students accepting BSB 20107 Certificate I & Certificate II Business work experience, school based traineeships and CUF 20107 Certificate I & Certificate II Creative Industries – apprenticeships. Media (Movie Making) SIT 20107 Certificate I & Certificate II Hospitality CUV 20103 Certificate I & Certificate II Visual Arts and Contemporary Craft (Photo Imaging Studies) CUV 20103 Certificate I & Certificate II Visual Arts and Contemporary Craft (Visual Arts Studies) SRC 20206 Certificate II Community Recreation

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CUF 20601 Certificate II Multimedia SRS 20206 Certificate II Sport (Career Oriented Participation) SIT 20107 Certificate II Tourism HLT 30507 Certificate III Health Services (Assistant Nursing)* CHC 30402 Certificate III Children’s Services* courses delivered by an outside provider No course detailed information found on website 53. a clear VET pathway to employment or paid AQTF Certificates (School as RTO) employment of 25+ hours/week or alternative pathways for some students with special needs. Cert I Work Education Cert II Workplace Practices Cert I Business Administration Cert II Business Administration Cert I Hospitality Cert II Hospitality AQTF Certificates (2nd Party Agreements) Cert I Tourism - Tropical Far North Queensland TAFE Cert II Tourism - Tropical Far North Queensland TAFE Cert III Children’s Services - Tropical Far North Queensland TAFE Cert III Information Technology - South Bank TAFE Cert II Broadcasting (Radio) - 4AAA Cert II Conservation and Land Management (being negotiated) With course detailed information found on website 54. This year, our students have Certificate I & II in Information Technology experienced a wide range of learning experiences. Our ICA20199Certificate II in Information Technology Technology, Vocational Programs, Gifted and Talented SCR10201Certificate I Community Recreation Programs, Sports Excellence Programs, Learning and Certificate I in Engineering (Manufacturing) Earning Pathways, cultural productions and community LMF10102Certificate I in Furnishing service have given students opportunities to excel in THH11002Certificate I in Hospitality (Operations) their CUE 10103Certificate I in Live Theatre, Production and chosen area. Events CUF10101Certificate I in Media CUF20601Certificate II in Multimedia Certificate I in Rural Operations 30031QLD Certificate I in Work Education THT 20502Certificate II Tourism (Operations) CHC 30402Certificate III in Children's Services With course detailed information found on website 55. … provides a broad range of academic and vocational No detailed information on VETiS educational opportunities for the youth of the area. 56. An extensive range of Certificate II and III courses in No detailed information on VETiS (three campuses) Senior Schooling including Children’s Services, Hospitality, Furnishing and Engineering. 57. Students select a course of study from a wide variety Certificate I in Engineering of offerings including Queensland Studies Authority Certificate II in Information Technology subjects, Authority Registered subjects and also TAFE Certificate I in Automotive courses. Certificate I in Engineering With detailed course information 58. Students in senior secondary are offered the No detailed information on VETiS opportunity of undertaking school based apprenticeships and VET style courses as their interest indicates. 59. The school continues to provide opportunities for our Certificate I Workplace Education students in Years 10 to 12 for work experience and Certificate II in Business school based traineeships and apprenticeships and the Certificate I Community Recreation offering of certificate courses of study both within our With detailed course information school subject offerings and our links with the local TAFE annex. 60. Our goal is always to provide a quality education for With detailed information on VETiS the whole person, including academic, social, emotional, physical and vocational. 61. No annual report No detailed information on VETiS

336

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Appendix IV: Queensland State School Reporting Template76

76 It is the abridged version from the original document. 338

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Appendix V: Ethics approval letter from University of Western Sydney

Email on behalf of the UWS Human Research Ethics Committee

Dear Bingyi and Michael

I'm writing to advise you that the Human Research Ethics Committee has agreed to approve the project.

TITLE: In/equality and choice in senior secondary school students’ outcomes: Queensland’s reforms of vocational education and training in schools

PhD candidate: Bingyi Li

The Protocol Number for this project is H6660. Please ensure that this number is quoted in all relevant correspondence and on all information sheets, consent forms and other project documentation. Please note the following: 1) The approval will expire on 28 February 2011. If you require an extension of approval beyond this period, please ensure that you notify the Human Ethics Officer ([email protected]) prior to this date. 2) Please ensure that you notify the Human Ethics Officer of any future change to the research methodology, recruitment procedure, set of participants or research team. 3) If anything unexpected should occur while carrying out the research, please submit an Adverse Event Form to the Human Ethics Officer. This can be found at http://www.uws.edu.au/research/ors/ethics/human_ethics 4) Once the project has been completed, a report on its ethical aspects must be submitted to the Human Ethics Officer. This can also be found at http://www.uws.edu.au/research/ors/ethics/human_ethics Finally, please contact the Human Ethics Officer, Kay Buckley on (02) 4736 0883 or at [email protected] if you require any further information. The Committee wishes you well with your research. Yours sincerely Dr Janette Perz, Chair, Human Research Ethics Committee

Kay Buckley Human Ethics Officer University of Western Sydney Locked Bag 1797, Penrith Sth DC NSW 1797 Tel: 02 47 360 883 http://www.uws.edu.au/research/ors/ethics/human_ethics

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Appendix VI: Ethics approval letter from Queensland Government, the Department of Education, Training and the Arts

346

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