EDF3803

Working with difference: learners in the workplace and community

8 Credit Points -Semester 2 -Peninsula campus - On campus - 2 hours per week

Objectives Upon successful completion of this subject, students should have: developed an understanding of how `difference' has been theorised in recent educational literature; gained an appreciation of how issues concerning age, gender, ethnicity, dis/ability, and socio-economic class interact and shape processes of adult learning and development; acquired knowledge of the ways in which key words such as `participation', `access', `equity' and `diversity' have been conceptualised and applied to adult learning and development; reflected critically on current debates concerning educational difference, human capital and social equity in adult and vocational education and training; evaluated the implications of relevant theoretical perspectives and policy frameworks for their philosophy and practice as adult educators; and developed skills and strategies for working with adult learners with different needs, backgrounds and learning styles in workplace and community settings.

Synopsis This subject will introduce students to theoretical perspectives relating to the issues of difference and equity in the context of adult and vocational education and training (AVET). Debates concerning the nature of `skill' its relationships to age, gender, ethnicity, dis/ability and socio-economic class will be explored. Links between theory and contemporary AVET policies and practices will be examined with reference to human capital and social equity orientations to difference. Against this background, keywords such as `participation', `access', `equity', and `inclusiveness' will be unpacked and students will be encouraged to relate such concepts to their own educational roles and contexts. Particular attention will be paid to key policy concepts such as `social justice' and `managing diversity', `user choice' and `customisation'; and related program initiatives. Recent research on the diversity of adult learners in workplace and community settings will be reviewed and students will be expected to familiarise themselves with, and draw upon, such research in their coursework. Students will be exposed to strategies for accommodating and valuing difference in the design, management and delivery of adult education and training programs.

Assessment Assignment one, based on students' learning logs completed during the semester (1000 words) 20% . Assignment two (seminar presentation and/or role play activity equivalent to 1000 words): 10%. Assignment three: critical review of research, policy and/or practice relating to their area of expertise (3000 words): 70%.

Recommended reading

Jackson N Skills formation and gender relations: the politics of who knows what, Deakin University Press, Geelong, 1991.

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