CREEW Major Projects - Professional Development
Current Projects
Developing pedagogical maps: Creating strategies to engage vocational
education and training professionals in new pedagogical practices
Funding body: HRISS Research & Development Grant
Researchers: Michele Simons & Roger Harris
Stakeholders’ perceptions of successful early career teaching in South
Australian primary schools
Funding body: UniSA/DEASS
Researchers: Judy Peters & Rosie Le Cornu
Data will be collected from teachers and principals in six 'Learning to Learn'
primary schools.
Supporting VET providers in building capability for the future
Funding body: Australian National Training Authority (ANTA)
Researchers: A consortium including Roger Harris & Michele Simons from the
University of South Australia, together with the University of Technology Sydney
(UTS) and the Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT)
The consortium will work together to build the workforce capability and
professional standing of the VET workforce, focussing on three areas of
workforce development that together build organisational capability: people,
cultures and practices.
Recently Completed Projects
Resilient teachers: Resisting stress and burnout
Funding body: UniSA/DEASS
Researchers: Sue Howard & Bruce Johnson
Quality Teachers Project
Funding body: DETE (DETYA)
Researchers: Bruce Johnson & Bob Smith
Capacity building of relationship educators
Funding body: Marriage Educators' Association of Australia
Researcher: Michele Simons
Core competencies for asthma education
Funding body: AEA/NSW
Researcher: Michele Simons
A study of the nature and extent of the impact of changes to work in the VET
sector on the role of VET professionals
Funding body: National Research and Evaluation Committee Grant (with Canberra
Institute of Technology)
Researchers: Michele Simons, Roger Harris, & B Clayton (CIT)
VET teachers and trainers have been subject to unparalleled change recently.
This project is exploring the ways in which changes to work in the VET sector
over the past five years have impacted on the roles and attitudes of VET
professionals. Methods include an extensive literature review, nine focus groups
across five States and Territories, and 64 individual interviews with teachers
and trainers in a selected number of registered training organisations.
Development of competency based standards and training, to an advanced level,
for staff working with people who perpetrate domestic violence
Funding body: Commonwealth Government: Department of the Prime Minister and
Cabinet: Safety and Security Section, Office of the Status of Women
Researchers: M Simons/D Colley/R Harris/G Edwards/A Edwards
The project requires the conduct of research to inform the development of
national competency standards to underpin training, to an advanced level, for
people engaged in the provision of services for people who perpetrate domestic
violence and an information booklet to facilitate the implementation of the
competency standards to support the training of practitioners.
Past Projects
Development of national endorsed crime prevention competency standards
Funding body: Commonwealth Government: Attorney General's Dept
Researchers: Roger Harris, Michele Simons, F. Wyatt, D. Foreman, G. Edwards, J.
Bone & A. Edwards
The project involves analysis of the work of crime prevention workers
nationally, leading to the development of crime prevention competency standards
for endorsement by ANTA and support materials to assist training delivery and
assessment based on the competency standards. The methodology comprised five
phases, each containing a number of parallel streams of activity. These phases
employ approaches based upon iterative and evolving sets of data that will be
confirmed, expanded and consolidated as the project develops. These approaches
include wide consultations with stakeholders across the nation, focus groups and
critical incident interviews in each State/Territory, development workshops,
desktop synthesis, further consultations and writing up for presentation to and
endorsement by ANTA.
Professional development needs in flexible delivery of contract and casual
staff in the Australian VET sector
Funding body: NREC - National Research and Evaluation Committee
Researchers: Tom Stehlik, Michele Simons, Lyn Kerkham (LPLC), R. Pearce, J.
Gronold (TAFE Queensland Centre for Innovation and Development)
The project is being funded by a grant from the National Research and Evaluation
Committee and is an initiative within the Australian Flexible Learning Framework
for the National Vocational Education and Training System 2000-2004. The Centre
for Research in Education, Equity and Work at the University of South Australia
in collaboration with TAFE Queensland has been awarded funding to investigate
the changing roles and professional development needs of contract and casual
teachers and trainers in the vocational education and training sector,
particularly in the area of flexible delivery, including online learning. The
research study will contribute to policy and practice in flexible delivery and
online learning in the vocational education and training sector. The research
methods include interviews in case study sites in South Australia and
Queensland, and an online survey across several states.
Crime prevention curriculum development
Funding body:
SA Government's Attorney-General's Department Crime Prevention Unit (with the
Department of Education, Training and Employment, the Association of Independent
Schools of South Australia and Catholic Education)
Researchers:
G. Edwards, Roger Harris, L. Carr, M. Hudson, C. Mathews, M. O'Connell
This project involved an audit of the existing crime prevention curriculum
and associated programs and materials in South Australia, the identification of
opportunities for further development in crime prevention curriculum, the
development of appropriate teacher professional development to guide the future
delivery of the curriculum; and promotion of crime prevention curriculum within
the education sector. Products developed include a database of existing crime
prevention curriculum programs and specifications and examples of 'good
practice'.
Improving the quality of staff VET provision: The role of staff development for
teachers and trainers in VET providers
Funding body:
National Research and Evaluation Committee Grant (with CSU and QTAFE)
Researchers:
Roger Harris, Michele Simons, D. Snewin, D. Hill, E. Smith, J. Blakeley, R. Pearce
& S. Choy
This study focussed on the changing role of staff development in public and
private VET providers across Australia. It involved analysis of the link between
current modes of employment and access to professional development, and the
strengths and weaknesses of current approaches to professional development. Data
were gathered from state authorities, a Delphi study of 56 key informants, a
questionnaire survey of a national sample of approx. 300 registered training
organisations, and 15 case studies.
Work-based learning: A study of professional development for SA Police
Funding body: ARC Collaborative Research Grant with SAPOL, and with an APA(I)
Researchers: Roger Harris, Michele Simons, A. Edwards, G. Edwards (CREEW), P.
White, P. Shanahan (APAI)/SAPOL
This project explored the impact of a new professional development model for
policing which recognises the workplace as an important learning environment.
The situation of work-based learning in 1997 was portrayed, and then the change
process was analysed over 1998 and 1999. Subjects were probationary constables,
their team members, supervisors and field training officers, and research
methods included focus groups, questionnaires, interviews and journals.
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