Changing TAFE in new times

Abstract

Teachers and managers in Technical and Further Education have experienced radical changes to their work over the last decade. They have experienced the policy driven imperative of governments to insert the market form into the operations of the public sector including education. The policies of new vocationalism have not only changed the institution of TAFE but have placed different demands and different expectations on personnel working in this sector Debate over government reforms to VET has commonly revolved around problems to do with their implementation or have foregrounded issues to do with the professional competence of teachers in the new educational environment, with calls being made to reform the initial and continuing education of teachers. However, the position reflected in these debates can also be seen as making an overly instrumental means ends connection between teachers' knowledge and skills and the professional practice of teaching. It fails to appreciate that when teachers are asked to 'do things differently' in their everyday teaching practices they are also being called on to become different teachers, that is, to have different understandings of their role in education, to have different relationships with students, communities and industries, to conceptualise their professional and vocational knowledge differently, to change their understanding of who they are in vocational education and training. In short, to change their identity. This paper investigates the way TAFE teachers' identification with their educational institution is being reconstructed by the policies and discourses of government.