WELFARE DIPLOMA – FAST TRACK IN INDUSTRY

Presenters Names: Alison Shurmer and Jacqueline Ashleigh

TAFE NSW Western Institute Bathurst Campus

Panorama Ave, Bathurst NSW 2795

Abstract

Many workers in the rural welfare sector have many years of work experience but have not had the opportunity to access qualifications appropriate to their levels of skill and knowledge. This presentation will focus on the development of an innovative and entrepreneurial partnership between TAFE NSW, Western Institute and the network of Family Support Service agencies in central and western NSW. The main purpose of the partnership is to develop a recognition tool for the full CHC50702 diploma in Community Welfare Work qualification and pilot this with 10 industry based workers.

This presentation will outline the history of the project, how funding was secured and the practical steps involved in bringing it to fruition. Included in the presentation will be ideas of how to link recognition to job roles and the process of working with industry based workers seeking recognition. Staff presenting the information will offer their ideas of how best to approach fast track recognition and they will outline the ways in which they have met the needs of this cohort of learners. Included also will be an overview of the learning and outcomes to date in this project and some clear tips and recommendations for other staff keen to be involved in work based fast track recognition projects.

Introduction

The need for a recognition tool for the Diploma in Community Welfare Work has long been recognised by staff from the Western Institute of TAFE.

Increasingly we have responded to requests from industry for part or full qualification recognition from the Community Services training package.

Being a rural and remote Institute we see many workers in the rural welfare sector who have many years of work experience but have not had the opportunity to access qualifications appropriate to their levels of skill and knowledge.

During 2006 Bathurst Community Services section staff formed a partnership with Bathurst Family Support. The partnership focussed on a community initiative that strengthened the links between men and children as a means of building the capacity of the community as a whole. Through this experience staff from Bathurst TAFE Campus recognised the anomaly of working with highly skilled workers with no formal qualifications. It was on this basis that the idea to seek funding to develop a full welfare work recognition guide for the Diploma in Community Welfare Work evolved.

After discussing with Bathurst Family Support staff the decision to provide a recognition process was extended to incorporate all Family Support Services that are part of Central West Family Support Network.

Funding

Funding was gained through the Department of Education Industry and Enterprise Skills Program.

The Community Services and Health Services has been identified as a skills shortage area and this project was deemed suitable under the DET NSW Skills Development Priorities 2007-2008.

The Project team consists of Bathurst Family Support Coordinator and two representatives from Department of Education and Training (DET), Industry Training Advisory Board (ITAB), Australian Services Union (ASU), plus four representatives from TAFE Western Institute.

The DET, ITAB and ASU representatives also advisory committee. Their role is to keep the project on track with regards to timeframes.

Their main role to date is to give feedback on the written resource that has been developed.

The feedback has been mostly positive with no major changes required. The areas commented on were mainly concerned with language and interpretation.

Positive feedback was received from ITAB in regards to mapping the competencies to job roles and how important this is.

Overall the advisory committee has been very positive and constructive with all feedback they have given.

Our experience of recognition

From the perspective of teachers from the Bathurst Community Services section the task of applying for recognition has always been regarded as an onerous one characterised by wading through huge portfolios of evidence that have been deemed essential in meeting auditing requirements.

In most instances, undertaking the assessment process is deemed an easier option for staff and candidate, with both parties feeling overwhelmed by the recognition process. A key focus in this project has been on engaging the candidate in both the development of the tools and process for recognition, rather than we as the assessors taking ownership and control of this process.

Pilot Resource

The final recognition tool will be designed to be generic and available through Department of Education and Training for any community services worker wanting to apply for recognition for the Diploma in Community Welfare.

The process has allowed the resource to be co-developed and piloted with industry. The focus of the resource has been to provide an integrated recognition fool that is user friendly and relevant to workers in the field. Characteristics of the resource include competencies being clustered around job roles, competencies and performance criteria being linked to job functions and suggestions for types of evidence that could be submitted as proof of competency. Accompanying the candidates guide is an assessor guide that is also clustered to competencies and provides tools such as a tool for conducting the professional conversation.

Meeting the Needs of Candidates

The process of supporting candidates through recognition using the pilot resource has been candidate driven.

Staff initially met with candidates as a group to introduce them to the draft resource and negotiate a plan for preparing for recognition. The preferred method for candidates has been to workshop each cluster as a whole group. This has involved candidates travelling to a central location for a day workshop whereby they share ideas and map evidence which they then gather between workshops. This is then accompanied by workplace visits to validate their evidence and undertake any observations that the candidate has requested as a means of providing evidence of competency.

There are a number of factors that have made the group recognition process more viable for their candidates. They include, shared job roles, employment in similar organisations, rural isolation of workers who rarely have the opportunity to meet with peers from other locations and a high number of indigenous participants (40%) who prefer group discussion and feedback.

Key outcomes to date

To date from the feedback of participants and staff involved in this project there have been a number of key outcomes:

-  Focus on job roles has allowed staff to reorientate the way they have previously approached the recognition process. By focusing on what people do in the field and reinterpreting competencies and performance criteria into job functions it has made it easier for staff to engage candidates and assess evidence.

-  Clustering of competencies against job roles has made it easier for both assessor and candidate by reducing overlap of evidence required. Assessors need to have a good understanding of whole qualifications and how competencies overlap and relate to each other as well as an understanding of the job role of candidates.

-  Engaging candidates in a way that they want to be engaged has been seen as essential to candidates staying engaged in the recognition process.

-  Flexibility of RTO – is also seen as essential for supporting successful outcomes of the recognition process. RTO’s need to be flexible in recognising the individual needs of candidates and resource implications associated with recognition.

Conclusion

Through a strong relationship that existed between Bathurst Family support Service and TAFE Western Institute a partnership was formed for a proposal for the funding of a recognition tool for the diploma of Community Welfare Work.

This tool will be available from the Department of Education and Training once the pilot program is complete.

The focus of the Recognition Tool was to meet the needs of the Candidates and allow this process to be driven by them. All compulsory competencies within this qualification have been clustered around job roles and the performance criteria has been linked to job functions.

Assessors have had to reorientate their thinking about their role in recognition and to have a good knowledge of the whole qualification and job roles of candidates.

This project is still in its pilot stage but feedback thus far has been positive.

This project is exciting and continues……………