CREEW Major Projects - Workplace Change/Innovation
Current Projects
The personal domain: Exploring what sustains professionals through the
narratives of teachers, social workers and emergency service workers
Funding body: UniSA DRPF Grant
Researchers: Brenton Prosser, Sarah Wendt, Michelle Tuckey, Helen Masterman-Smith
The entry of Australia into competitive global markets in the eighties resulted
in the majority of workers now experiencing increased productivity demands,
working hours and worker-related stress. This has increased occupational stress
on service professionals, and particularly professionals working in regions
where economic restructuring hit hardest, such as Adelaides northern urban
fringe. As unemployment and reduced income placed financial pressure on these
communities, it has pushed some individuals and families to breaking point. For
service professionals (such as teachers, social workers and emergency service
workers), this has resulted in more frequent encounters with conflict, poverty,
trauma and tragedy.
For some, this demand has been too great and there is growing attrition amongst early career professionals while for others, fatigue and depression is a challenge as they continue in their position but struggle to sustain the passion. Meanwhile, others have been able to draw on resources from the personal domain to sustain their wellbeing and support their service work for significant periods of time. This project will develop and use an appreciative inquiry approach to identify what sustains these professionals in their work in Adelaides low socio-economic northern urban fringe. By appreciative inquiry we mean an approach that focuses on service professionals that have demonstrated success in sustaining wellbeing and best practice in this difficult region for over a decade.
Young Women talk: Women's stories about learning and work. 50 interviews from
across Australia
Funding body: Security4Women
Researcher: Elaine Butler
New directions in VET policy and practice: Europe and Canada
Funding body: NVETRE ($36,375)
Researchers: Roger Harris and Michele Simons
This proposal is an exploration of new directions in vocational education and
training (VET) policy and practice in Europe and Canada, with implications for
Australian VET. With the rapid development of the European Union (EU) concept
and in light of the very significant positioning of VET in the policy agendas of
both its individual members and supra-nationally, it is very timely to analyse
closely the developments occurring and being mooted in that region (just as they
are closely monitoring Australian initiatives). Furthermore, despite particular
similarities in the national contexts of Canada and Australia, there is very
little published analysis of the Canadian VET system, and it is also opportune
to study that countrys directions in VET.
Research questions are:
The project will be primarily undertaken using synthesis-based desk research, supported by communication with European and Canadian professional counterparts. Content analysis of relevant, available literature will generate the required information for the study, and then, to minimize the risk of distortion, key themes will be verified using a modified Delphi technique with a small number of selected key figures in Europe and Canada.
Comparatively speaking: Global conversations on work and life
Funding body: UniSA/HRISS
Researchers: Elaine Butler & Sue Shore
Talking about women
Funding body: Security4Women
Researcher: Elaine Butler
Recently Completed Projects
Private providers: Their characteristics and their training
activities
Funding body: NREC
Researchers: Roger Harris, Michele Simons & Claire Ralfs
VET practitioners ways of working with private enterprises
Funding body: NVETRE
Researchers: Roger Harris, Michele Simons & Julian Moore (CREEW)
This study aims to explore the roles of public VET practitioners in working
with private enterprises and to examine ways in which their ways of working
may be made more effective. Thus, the key objectives of the study are to:
1. identify, through in-depth analysis of six case studies across two States,
how public VET practitioners work with and within enterprises
2. analyse the perceptions of these ways of working held by the public VET
practitioners, industry personnel and their learners
3. critically evaluate, using the lens of learning network theory, the
effectiveness of these ways of working, and
4. recommend how these ways of working may be enhanced in terms of
effectiveness.
The outcome of this study will be an in-depth analysis of how VET practitioners
work with and within private enterprises, how these ways of working are
conceptualised and evaluated by various parties, and how these ways of working
might be made more effective.
More than just a VET certificate: Are there unrecognised outcomes from
apprenticeship training
Funding body: Victorian Qualifications Authority
Researchers: Michele Simons, Roger Harris & Ken Bridge
This project evaluated learning and assessment experiences of apprentices and
trainees to identify areas which pose particular challenges and to make
recommendations about approaches to best practice. It involved identification of
what different stakeholders expect apprentices and trainees to learn, analysed
different approaches, evaluated the extent to which these approaches meet needs
and contribute to learning goals, and examined areas where improvements may be
made to learning and assessment practices.
Past Projects
The Australian Apprenticeship and Traineeship System: Factors that
contribute to retention and completion rates for apprentices and
trainees
Funding body: National Research and Evaluation Committee Grant
Researchers: Roger Harris, Michele Simons, K. Bridge, G. Edwards, B.
Clayton & H. Symons
The project investigated a range of factors that contribute to retention
and completion rates. It achieved an understanding of how personal,
demographic, structural, economic, educational, political and
environmental factors contribute to these rates across a number of
occupations. The research included macro-analysis of national data,
discussions with state/territory authorities, and interviews with
supervisors, apprentices and trainees in a sample of enterprises across
five states.
The learning factory: Processes and systems in Australian automotive
components manufacturing
Funding body: ARC SPIRT Grant
Researchers: Rger Harris, C. Provis, R. Delbridge (Cardiff University),
R. Park, with accompanying ARC APA(I), D. Mason
This research will investigate links between organisational learning and
performance by exploring the management of innovation, the
implementation of improvements and the interface between systems,
processes and technology in automotive components manufacturing. It will
identify sources of knowledge available to manufacturers and explore
processes by which employees, suppliers and customers contribute to, and
benefit from, internal process improvements. The research will develop
Australian models of best practice for the learning factory, and
guidelines for implementation to be disseminated widely through the
automotive industry. It will also develop a self-assessment tool for
manufacturers to assess their learning processes and systems.
School-based research and reform
Funding body: DETE Grant
Researchers: Bruce Johnson, Judy Peters & Rosie Le Cornu
This study aims to support schools with creative ideas about improving
students' learning, teachers' work and the way schools are organised and
administered. The funding for this project allows schools to release
staff for roundtable commitments and to document their action research
and workplace reform activity. The project is intended to strengthen
collaborative working relationships between schools, university
colleges, union representatives and professional officers of the
Department of Education, Training and Employment.
Impact of the GST on Australian Adult and Community education centres
Funding body: Adult Learning Australia Grant
Researchers: Roger Harris, Sue Gelade, D. Mason (University of South
Australia)
This project investigated the difficulties associated with the
implementation of the GST within adult and community education (ACE)
organisations; focussing on relevant accounting and enrolment systems,
costs relating to GST collection, and continuing needs arising from the
GST implementation. Data collected by questionnaire and interview were
collected from 232 ACE organisations proportionally drawn from an
estimated population of 1,000. The project report summarises the key
findings, themes and issues and makes recommendations.
More than meets the eye: Rethinking the role of the workplace trainer
Funding body: National Research and Evaluation Committee Grant
Researchers: Roger Harris, Michele Simons & J. Bone
Recent training reforms have led to the (re)claiming of the worksite as
a legitimate learning environment and moves to foster a training
culture. With this de-institutionalisation of training, the role of the
workplace trainer becomes critical. This study explored the extent to
which workplace trainers in small enterprises are ready, willing and
able to fulfil this enhanced role. Data came from observations and
interviews in 18 enterprises, and from a survey of 675 enterprises, in
three industries across three states.
Case studies of organisations with established learning cultures
Funding body: National Research and Evaluation Committee Grant (with
UTS)
Researchers: G. Hawke (UTS), Peter Willis, K. Bridge, A. Thonemann &
Roger Harris
This study identified features and strategies organisations have adopted
to develop, and then maintain, a learning culture within their
organisation. By cross-case analysis, it identified factors common to
organisations that have successfully developed such a culture as well as
identifying factors in organisational structure, corporate culture and
operating environment that have resulted in the culture developing in
different ways. The study examined six case study organisations in SA
and NSW.
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