CaSPA Conference Day 3: Nick Wyman, “Skilling UP — why skills-based training is the perfect fit for young adults”

Read Nic’s jointly authored report on VET. Perceptions-Are-Not-Reality-SAF-Media

See https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/three-myths-vocational-education-you-need-know-untrue-nicholas-wyman

I would like to invite you to put aside your pre-conceived beliefs about vocational education and training (VET) and let me explain how misconceptions about VET are hurting the next generation’s chances of a meaningful future at work. We have all heard the old adage ‘perception is reality’, but when it comes to VET, nothing is further from the truth. Here’s my premise: Skills-based education gives young people the chance to get experience and gain confidence early. It can catapult them into steady jobs, a great pay packet and, more than likely, a future-proof career. Have you ever thought or believed any of these common statements? Well, allow me to bust these myths.

Impact of automation and technology: “robots are asking our jobs”. Loss of retail jobs because of big players like Amazon. Manufacturing is shrinking. Do we become a land of baristas? Most of the jobs are in logistics etc.

The lack of a recession and the mining boom has taken away the urgency from parents, government and schools. We need to educate for what is needed, not what is popular.

University qualifications no longer a pathway to work. Automation is driving the required skill level up. Yet our education system is well-placed to make a difference. However, our students are currently in-prepared for the world of work. Lack of critical thinking and communication skills, resilience, ability to function in the social workplace.

Amplify the attributes that make a young person employable. What is an employer looking for in a young employer —

• curious (a “multi-asker”);
• positive frame of mind (“positivity pays”) – negativity can be a killer of work and is often related to social media;
• go with the flow and be flexible; be a student for life.

Retain your employees by growing their skills.

People skills are timeless skills

Focus on a balanced skill set to meet challenging times: a particular technology soon becomes obsolete.

The loss of the reality of work – supermarkets, etc, hide the reality of work from young people, Everything is cling-wrapped and divorced from work. How would a young person know what a butcher does?

Don’t think job titles, think job categories. Buckets of jobs (pods?):

• Analytical jobs (data-based)
• Linker (a person to help you use the technology)
• Sentry (cyber- and physical security)

Artist (the whole creative dimension)

Carer

Maker (manufacturing of the traditional sort, but also 3D printing, building, construction)

Civic jobs (public service, education, philanthropic work)

Sustainer (caring for the earth, environmental management, renewability)

P-Tech as an example of real-world learning: a “learning by doing” environment. Any model should have these features:

• Engaging curricula
• Different and mixed modes of delivery: “University apprenticeships”, etc
• Parental resistance to different modes of learning
• Links to employment – students should be looking forward to a pay check.

“The new world of work is about getting savvy and getting students on he right pathway to successful and rewarding careers”.

Job snobbery: why do we have jobs that we can’t fill in the apprenticeship workspace?

See P-Tech schools – Skilling Australia.

University Technological Colleges – see the EDGE Foundation