Industry Training Organisations & Foundation Skills

Industry Training Organisations

& Foundation Skills

ITF Research Forum, Wellington, 4 April 2005

Ruth Schick PhD, Development Manager

Workbase: The New Zealand Centre for Workforce Literacy Development

2 Vermont Street, Ponsonby. PO Box 56571, Dominion Road, Auckland, New ZealandPh: 64 9 361 3800 Fax: 64 9 376 3700 Email: [email protected] Web: www.workbase.org.nz

ITOs & Foundation Skills2

Purpose, rationale, and context

Methods (sample, interviews, analysis)

Findings

Discussion – links/implications to other work in the industry training sector

Outline of the presentation


TEC commissioned work to:

Fill an information gap:

How are ITOs dealing with Strategy 3: Integrating workforce literacy within the industry training environment?

─ Identify ITO perspectives, knowledge, current actions─ Scope challenges

Propose forms of support

Purpose of the project


The industry training sector role in addressing foundation skills

1. Industry training sector is purpose built to build the skills industry needs - these are not just technical skills, they include foundation skills

2. Industry training sector has potential to build foundation skills3. Little is known about ITO perspectives, capability or actions in

this area4. ITOs have not focussed on foundation skills in the past

To support ITOs to address foundation skills, we needmore understanding of ITO perspectives and capabilityregarding foundation skills

Rationale


Working with key sector stakeholders

● Workplace Learning Solutions: Over 50 tailored workplace literacy programmes since 1994

● Research & Development : Conducting empirical research and applying international best practice to work with ITOs, providers, practitioners, and policy makers

● Practitioner and Provider Support: Organisational and professional development with ITOs, providers, and vocational and literacy practitioners

● Sector Leadership and Funding: Advice to Government and business on policy and investment decisions; administering the Workplace Basic Skills Development Fund

Why Workbase?


• Industry training sector is main source of vocational education/training for workforce with no, or few, formal qualifications

• Government has charged ITOs with taking a leadership role, and with addressing foundation skills in their industries

Context


Oral and written communication and reasoning, using numeric and English language media

Referred to as “literacy, language and numeracy”

Metacognitive skills – thinking skills

necessary for:

employee success in training and on the job

business performance

What are foundation skills?


Training of longer duration (to achieve foundation skills gains as well as technical skills or unit standards)

Teaching that ties technical and literacy skills together

by linking training to real activities on the job

Teaching that supports applying knowledge to new situations

Assessment linked to what is taught on the job – that includes real life workplace literacy demands

What will build employees’ foundation skills?


Labour and skill shortages are increasing Foundation skills requirements of jobs are changing and

increasing Gaps between employee literacy and job demands limit

individual opportunities and business performance 750,000 employed people (40% of the workforce) have low

literacy in relation to modern work demands

An estimated 50% of trainees (about 67,000 currently) have significant literacy needs (information provided by the ITF)

Literacy demands of Level 1 Unit Standards may be above the skill level of many employees

Context


One hour semi-structured interviews with six ITO chief executives

ITOs selected by:

─ the size of the industry coverage & trainee numbers─ implement in level 1-3 qualifications─ limited experience in workplace literacy

Methodology (research design)


One hour long, face-to-face interviews – two interviewers

Data recorded by written notes, tape

Tapes transcribed and summarised

Summaries sent to interviewees to check accuracy

Summaries were analysed to identify themes and key observations

Data collection, checking, analysis


ITO structure, coverage, relationships with employers and training providers

ITO and industry priorities & needs

ITO and industry perspectives on literacy needs and impacts of skill gap

ITO approaches and challenges to addressing these

Addressing foundation skills in skill shortage survey

Tracking causes of low retention

Monitoring impacts of training on on-job performance

ITO perspectives on support that would help them address foundation skills in training

Interview prompts


Industry coverage

ITO structure

Industry and ITO priorities and needs

Sector relationships, perspectives and initiatives (providers, employers, other ITOs)

Foundation skills - perspectives, expertise, initiatives, challenges

ITO perspectives on help/support to address foundation learning needs

Transcript analysis guide


There is no single approach that will support all ITOs to build foundation skills

There are shared experiences, challenges and principles that can guide the design and implementation of support

Findings: challenges


ITO resources: time, money, understanding and expertise, industry structure

Employer priorities, attitudes/understanding

Competing priorities: new regulations, compliance, labour shortages

Funding structures don’t readily support foundation skills in industry training (time and cost of foundation skills provision)

Provider availability and expertise

Findings: shared experiences


Employers - the major drivers of training

Tend to be driven by compliance, regulation or wanting to do something for their workers

Have limited understanding of impact of literacy on:

─ training participation and on-job learning─ job performance─ company performance─ wastage error rates, rework, absenteeism, morale, on job

communication and conflict, health and safety, customer service

Providers may address foundation skills - 1:1, adhoc, not linked totraining programme

Findings: shared experiences


include foundation skills in their industry skills analysis

address literacy needs among the pre-vocational group

identify possibilities for literacy and vocational tutors to work together

address the added cost involved in providing additional foundation skills support with NZQF oriented training

Findings ITOs would like support to:


ITOs can build literacy into industry training in several ways: through messages to industry and employers through messages to providers via moderation and assessment

processes

and through:

design of unit standards and qualifications design of trainee resources management of assessment professional development for ITO staff and workplace trainers

and assessors

Analysis/Discussion: ITO Impact Areas


surveying foundation skill shortages

prioritising target groups (industry, occupation, employee groups)

setting goals and monitoring progress against goals

developing and trialling approaches

For ITOs to develop industry-specific literacy strategies, would involve support to ITOs in:


designing qualifications

assessing of training

moderation

monitoring outcomes/impacts of training

communicating with employers

leadership role and foundation skills

This will require considering:


System driven by enrolments and completed assessments

– versus –

Teaching and learning inputs and on-job performance gain

Discussion


To build foundation skills into industry training, ITOs will needsupport to:

identify the foundation skill demands of jobs and industries identify the gap between employee skills and the demands of

jobs and industries identifying training that would address these gaps monitor and revise training design based on evidence of the

impacts of training on employee skills, job performance, and on business performance)

Result: increased industry training participation & learning, reduced non completion

Summary comments

Industry Training Organisations & Foundation Skills

Documents

Transcript of Industry Training Organisations & Foundation Skills