Developing effective learning programs : what extension can learn from the fields of adult education and learning communities

Learning is an investment in capacity building that has and will continue to reap rewards for primary producers and government in terms of increased sustainable production, profitability, exports, jobs and sustainable rural communities. Primary production operates in a context of continual change and requires up to date, complex and varied skills of primary producers and land managers.

A recent national research project funded by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Australia confirmed that application of best practice from the theory of adult education in designing and developing learning programs in primary industry results in learning activities that provide information that is relevant to farmers’ needs, delivered in an entertaining way, and that draws on examples directly relevant to the participants. As a result, the training often exceeds the expectations of the participants.

The project produced a self-assessment checklist to identify ways of improving the development and delivery of training for extension practitioners and training providers. The key issues include continuous monitoring of client’s needs, and actively seeking opportunities to meet and work with industry organisations, other training providers and funding bodies.

There appear to be two drivers for the development of learning programs. One is problems or opportunities identified by people and organisations that could be termed ‘scanners’ and who tend not to be potential participants, the other is learning needs expressed by individuals or enterprises who want to participate in learning activities (participants). Scanners are typically industry organisations, government agencies and researchers, but may include providers and participants. Extension practitioners are well-placed to act as scanners.

It is very important that farmers and farmer organisations contribute to the development of new learning programs. Without industry input and support, extension practitioners and training providers cannot be expected to ensure they meet client needs. In other words, to develop effective learning programs, there must an industry learning community of producers, industry organisations, extension practitioners and training providers and other stakeholders such as supply chain enterprises, government and researchers.

Working and learning in vocational education and training in the knowledge era : final report of the professional development for the future project

This Report summarises the outcomes of the phases of the Professional
Development for the Future Project and presents the implications of this research for professional development of staff in Vocational Education and Training (VET), as they become knowledge workers.

These shifts are occurring within the knowledge era. Distinguishing features of this era are summarised into four broad areas:
- the importance and value placed on knowledge in organisations
- the time span of discretion
- the complexity of relationships, and
- the ubiquitous nature of information and communication technology.

It is within this context that work is currently performed, and understanding this context provides the foundation for considering new capabilities required in the knowledge era.
Key capabilities required of knowledge workers to work effectively in the
knowledge era were drawn together from an analysis of the theoretical literature and the results of interviews with knowledge workers. The core capabilities identified include:
- adaptive problem solving – becoming designers as well as problem -
solvers
- rapid knowledge gathering and sharing with others
- discriminating between relevant and irrelevant information, and
- understanding and working effectively with the organisation’s culture.

Knowledge era characteristics and knowledge worker capabilities have been mapped to each other illustrating conceptual linkages between these two areas.

Professional development themes drawn from interviews with knowledge
workers are presented. While global trends in knowledge work have been well documented, the impact of these trends on the capabilities of workers, and the ways in which knowledge workers develop these capabilities is less well understood. Their learning methods challenge our current thinking in relation to the ways in which workers acquire skills and knowledge. Some of the professional development methods include seeking exposure to new ideas from a wide variety of sources, embracing intense learning opportunities, and using relationships to increase knowledge.

‘Thought pieces’ (see p17 ff) commissioned for this Project, as well as
subsequent interviews with the authors, provided further insights into the
professional development of knowledge workers. The implications of these insights are an extension of earlier themes and emphasise:
- the emergent nature of knowledge work
- the importance of relationships that facilitate knowledge sharing
- coherent conversations and dialogue
- collaborative work and generosity.

A key insight is the shift from thinking about knowledge work in terms of
borrowed knowledge to an emphasis on generated knowledge within a context.

Data from focus groups of the Project provide further insights for knowledge worker professional development. These augment the perspectives of the earlier data analysis but also add greater emphasis to:
- the clear and direct relationship between professional development and
work and career aspirations of knowledge workers,
- the relationship of professional development to the organisational
mission, and
- the issues of managing and leading knowledge workers and their
development.

As part of this analysis the defining features of organisational life in VET were reviewed in relation to effective professional development of knowledge workers.

The final section of the Report revisits the core dimensions of the Project.
Concise commentaries on working and learning in the knowledge era,
professional development in the knowledge era, and leadership and
management in the knowledge era are presented.

The Report concludes with a discussion of the enablers of professional
development for knowledge workers in VET. This discussion is introduced by a re-statement of the VET sector’s positioning in the knowledge era and the consequences of this for VET managers an d staff in terms of complexity, uncertainty and diminished prospects for accurate predictiveness. The enablers comprised:
- integration of information technology into socio -technical systems
- greater understanding of the organisation from within
- connecting staff to the organisation’s fundamental identity
- connecting to the work and career trajectories of workers
- establishing work structures which integrate the use of professional
development resources with knowledge work
- providing workers with the autonomy to design their own professional
development activities
- building professional development into the iterative nature of knowledge
work, and
- creating organisational contexts that value intuitive thinking and working.

Professional development needs to be thou ght of in a much broader context in the knowledge era. What each VET staff member knows and shares will become increasingly central to their work, and in that sense all VET workers require capabilities for knowledge work. This report accurately describes t he VET context, the capabilities required, and the organisational enablers that will promote ‘knowing’ and thus embed a new style of professional development within VET.

Mathematics teacher education and technology

Various applications of electronic technology have contributed to the field of mathematics teacher education, but the array of tools now' available to teacher educators in developed countries can be somewhat daunting. In this chapter, the authors present an overview of some of these tools and the ways that they are being used. In addition, they address issues surrounding the development and applications of digital technology in teacher education programs in a number of countries. In particular, they present recent applications of videotapes, multimedia resources, internet-based communities, and tutorial conferencing facilities in pre-service and in-service education of mathematics teachers. As professionals who have used technology in teacher education, the authors blend their own insights into this review of technological tools and relevant issues.

Teachers talking difference: teacher education and the poetics of anti-racism

This paper reports on a case study which explores the experiences of two teachers of ethnic difference working in secondary schools in rural Australia. In seeking an alternative way of telling their stories, transcript poems have been constructed from data obtained through semi-structured interviews with the teachers. The poems highlight the teachers' experiences of marginalisation and racism and their responses to their positioning in mainly white Anglo-Australian school communities. The study raises particular concerns about the effects of professional and cultural isolation on young and inexperienced teachers of ethnic difference as well as the need to view teacher education as an important site for the development of greater cultural awareness in "mainstream" teacher education students.

Deaf education and underlying structures of power in communication

This article argues that claims of diversity in communication in deaf education are empty rhetoric when underlying structures of power are unexamined and remain unchanged. The field of deafness provides a powerful example of the way in which competing interests can be played out under the guise of choice of communication methods. Historically, teachers of the deaf have been divided about whether deaf children should be educated through speech or sign. However, recognition of the legitimacy of native sign languages has caused a shift in the debate to the linguistic basis of this communication and the way in which language policy privileges one cultural group and its method of communication over another.

Learners' perceptions about the relationship between music education and generic skills development : a case study within the Australian higher education sector

A major issue emerging from the research and debate concerning quality in higher education has been an emphasis on the value of the acquisition of generic skills by undergraduate students, as indicators of quality in education. Music educators have long recognised the contribution music makes to the general education of learners. Learning in and through music can present varied and complex means for the acquisition of generic life skills such as: problem solving, decision-making, critical thinking, oral and written communication and teamwork. This paper documents one particular course of action that was implemented within a university undergraduate primary teacher education program, to systematically gauge learner perceptions about generic skill development/enhancement before and after participation in the music component of the core arts education subject.

Environmental education and local initiatives: a rationale, international examples and an issue for research

This article explores the idea of localness in environmental education. The articles presents a case for activities that are localized and contextual, and then outlines a number of examples of local initiatives in environmental education drawn from Australia, South Africa, and Scotland. The article concludes with a consideration of an enduring research in this field.

The relationship between education and food consumption in the 1995 Australian national nutrition survey

Objective: To assess the relationship between education and the intake of a variety of individual foods, as well as groups of foods, for Australian men and women in different age groups.

Design: Cross-sectional national survey of free-living men and women. Subjects: A sample of 2501 men and 2739 women aged 18 years and over who completed the National Nutrition Survey (NNS) 1995.

Methods: Information about the frequency of consumption of 88 food items was obtained using a food-frequency questionnaire in a nation-wide nutrition survey. Irregular and regular consumers of foods were identified according to whether they consumed individual foods less than or more than once per month. The relationship between single foods and an index of education (no post-school qualifications, vocational, university) was analysed via contingency table chi-square statistics for men and women. Food group variety scores were derived by assigning individual foods to conventional food group taxonomies, and then summing the dichotomised intake scores for individual foods within each food group. Two-way analyses of variance (education by age groups) were performed on food variety scores for men and women, separately.

Results: While university-educated men and women consumed many individual foods more regularly than less-educated people, they were less likely to be regular consumers of several meat products. The relationship between education and food consumption was less apparent when individual food scores were aggregated into food group scores. University-educated men and women exhibited higher scores on total food group variety than the other educational groups.

Conclusions: Higher education is associated with the regular consumption of a wider variety of foods. Aggregation of individual food consumption indices into food variety scores may mask the apparent effects of educational background on food consumption.

The transition from schoolboy to elite sportsman: education and training and early career players in the AFL

IIn this paper we discuss some of the findings of a research project funded by the Australian Football League (AFL) titled: Getting the Balance Right: Professionalism, Performance, Prudentialism and Playstations in the Life of AFL Footballers. The research explored the following issues: the emergence and evolution of a 'professional identity' for AFL footballers an identity that has many facets including the emerging ideas that a professional leads a balanced life, and has a prudent orientation to the future, to life after football. This 'professional identity' isn't natural, and must be developed through a range of 'professional development' activities (a common link to all other 'professions'). In the AFL at this time professional development has a focus on engaging players in a variety of education and training activities TAFE & University courses, and workshops and seminars that the industry has put in place to educate players about issues that the industry sees as important.

The paper focuses on our research with players we classified as Early Career. For many of these 17 to 21 year old young men the later years of secondary schooling were compromised in their pursuit of an AFL career. Their subsequent drafting is followed by intense efforts to physically prepare for football. In this context our research indicates that many Early Career players put football first, second and third. Education and training, and professional development come further down their list of priorities.

Multicultural education and racism: the case of Arab-Australian students in contemporary Australia

This paper discusses the social and cultural dimensions of the educational experiences of Arab-Australian students. It seeks to explore the cultural attitudes and the social experiences of Arab-Australian secondary school students from two schools situated in Melbourne's northern region. The paper seeks to examine how Arab-Australian students and their families understand and construct their own social and educational experiences in relation to schools' initiatives as well as wider social discourses. The empirical findings presented in this paper suggest that there are critical links between Arab-Australian students' perceptions of belonging, identity and citizenship on the one hand, and their attitudes to schooling and educational experiences on the other. The study's findings show the need for current patterns of multicultural education research and practice to incorporate more systematically socio-political dynamics beyond the confines of school and family factors.