Papers by Stephen Billett
Higher education students are increasingly engaging in work experiences, often directed towards e... more Higher education students are increasingly engaging in work experiences, often directed towards enriching their study and promoting employability. Considerable institutional and personal resources are directed towards these experiences. It is important, therefore, to identify how to utilise them in achieving particular educational purposes. An earlier study found the optimum time for educational interventions is after students had completed work experiences, as they can share, compare and engage critically with those experiences. As these interventions are premised on student engagement, it is important to understand: (i) the reasons why and (ii) means by which they prefer particular interventions. This paper discusses the findings of a survey of higher education students from healthcare disciplines that sought to address those two issues. Students reported a preference for processes assisting them gauge and further develop their occupational capacities and readiness to secure employment and practice effectively once employed. Those interventions led, facilitated or guided by teachers or experts (i.e. clinicians), were preferred over student-organised and led ones. These students place lower value on peer assistance and feedback. This finding contradicts recent literature indicating being assessed by peers is greatly valued. It is these findings and discussions that are elaborated here.
Sustaining and Transforming the Practice of Communities: Developing Professionals’ Working Practices
Professional and Practice-based Learning, 2016
A Learning practice: Conceptualising professional lifelong learning for the health-care sector
Griffith Research Online.
Barriers to skills transference: the challenges in health professional education
Irreconcilable Differences? Women in Small Business and VET
Abstract: Recent research on Australia's vocational education and training (VET) system and ... more Abstract: Recent research on Australia's vocational education and training (VET) system and women in small business was synthesized to identify ways of making VET more responsive to the needs of women in small business. Special attention was paid to the following ...
Conceptualising and Connecting Francophone Perspectives on Learning Through and for Work
Professional and Practice-based Learning, 2015
International journal of training …, Jan 1, 2009
Securing Conceptual Development in Workplaces
ABSTRACT
The evocative, tactile world of textile centres Cecilie Peier's primary art practice. She is... more The evocative, tactile world of textile centres Cecilie Peier's primary art practice. She is especially interested in exploring the use of felting. It is charged with symbolism and associations that transcend time, making it highly appropriate for her themes of memory and mortality.
National Centre for …, 2009
The purpose of this support document is to: (1) provide a fuller version of the literature review... more The purpose of this support document is to: (1) provide a fuller version of the literature review than in the report and issues paper; and (2) provide the interview schedules that were used to gather the data for this project. (Contains 7 footnotes.) [Funding for this report was ...
In Australia, the most common service used by self-injurers is the emergency department. Even tho... more In Australia, the most common service used by self-injurers is the emergency department. Even though nurses are the key clinician available to such patients, nurses have usually received no special training to identify and address the needs of these clients. Building on the knowledge that emergency nurses feel ill-prepared, lack clear frameworks for practice and are thus vulnerable to subtle discourse tensions such as managing versus caring, and diagnosing versus understanding, an intervention was conducted and evaluated to enhance understanding and build proactive nursing skills. It was centred on a nursing philosophy known as solution focused nursing (SFN) -a model of care developed by author to orient care away from a deficit model. Deficit models tend to be reactive and centred on presenting problems. SFN is designed to move nurses' perspective towards a proactive, strengths orientation, the aim of which is to assist them to instill hope in the client and motivate him/her to take the next steps needed for change and recovery. Nurses in two Australian emergency departments completed questionnaires before and after participating in SFN training focused on working with complex clients who self-harm. A comparison group of nurses also completed questionnaires. Results indicated some benefits of the intervention; there were improvements in participants' perception that nursing is strengths oriented and in nurses' satisfaction with their skills. Yet, there were no significant improvement in nurses' reports of their professional self-concept. There is merit in: broadening access to the intervention, so that more nurses in other contexts can learn a strengths model of care and apply it to their practice; and extending the research to measure sustained learning outcomes and improvements to practice.
Self-harm is a risk factor for further episodes of self-harm and suicide. The most common service... more Self-harm is a risk factor for further episodes of self-harm and suicide. The most common service used by self-injurers is the emergency department. However, very often, nurses have received no special training to identify and address the needs of these patients. In addition this care context is typically biomedical and without psychosocial skills, nurses can tend to feel unprepared and lacking in confidence, particularly on the issue of self-harm. In a study that aimed to improve understanding and teach solution-focused skills to emergency nurses so that they may be more helpful with patients who self-harm, several outcome measures were considered, including knowledge, professional identity and clinical reasoning. The think-aloud procedure was used as a way of exploring and improving the solution-focused nature of nurses' clinical reasoning in a range of self-harm scenarios. A total of 28 emergency nurses completed the activity. Data were audiotaped, transcribed and analysed. The results indicated that significant improvements were noted in nurses' ability to consider the patients' psychosocial needs following the intervention. Thus this study has shown that interactive education not only improves attitude and confidence but enlarges nurses' reasoning skills to include psychosocial needs. This is likely to improve the quality of care provided to patients with mental health problems who present to emergency settings, reducing stigma for patients and providing the important first steps to enduring changeacknowledgment and respect.
Aim and objectives. This Australian study evaluated the effectiveness of a solution-focused educa... more Aim and objectives. This Australian study evaluated the effectiveness of a solution-focused education intervention in extending and improving emergency nursing responses to patients who present because of self-injury. Background. Emergency nurses commonly report lack of training and feeling unskilled in managing people who present because of self-harm. Most educational interventions have provided content knowledge, yet rarely have they focused on conveying the value of health promotion strategies such as proactive skills and coping strategies. Design. A mixed method pretest-posttest group design was used. Methods. Nurses (n ¼ 36) were interviewed to examine differences in professional identity, awareness of self-injury and clinical reasoning.
This chapter addresscs the theme of this book by discussing factors that influence how leaming ca... more This chapter addresscs the theme of this book by discussing factors that influence how leaming can best proceed in workplaces" ln particular, the discussion focuses on the dual considerations of horv workplaccs afford opporfunities for leaming, on the one hand, and how individuals eiect to cngage in activities and with the support and guidance provided by the workplace, on the other hand. Together, these dual bases for participation at work, and the relations between them, are held as being central to understanding the kinds of learning that lvorkplaces are able to provide to those r,vho work within them. Accordingly, the preparedness or readincss of thc rvorkplace to afford and support opportunitics stands as a key determinant of the quality of learning in workplaces. These affordances are salient to both structured workplace learning arrangements, such as mentoring, as well as the contributions to learning accessed through cveryday participation at rvork. Evidence and illustrative instances of enterprise readiness and its consequences are provided through the findings of an investigation of guided iearning in five different kinds of workplaces (Billett, McCann & Scott 1998; Billett 2001a). It was found that guided learning strategies (Modelting, Coaching, Questioning, Analogies and Diagrams') augmented individuals' learning tlirough contributions that cannot be realised through everyday work activities alone. However, across the five enterpriscs, the frcquency of guidcd leaming strategy use and pcrccptions of their value were diverse. Factors such as variations in enterprise size, activities or goals did not ftrlly explain these differences. Instead, from this sfudy the salience of the enterprises' readiness to afford activities and guidance were identified as a key factor-Overall, learners afforded the richest opportunities for learning and how engaged with what was being afforded reported the strongest developrnent. This readiness goes beyond the preparedness for guided iearning to proceed (c.g. the prcparation of mentors), although this was an important l-actor.
Australian Educational Researcher, Jan 1, 2005
Navigating Social Partnerships: Central Agencies, local Networks
British Journal of Sociology of Education, Volume 26, Issue 5, 2005, Jan 1, 2005
This paper considers the way social partnerships tend to be represented as either horizontal loca... more This paper considers the way social partnerships tend to be represented as either horizontal localised networks or neo‐liberal policy instruments. Building on two empirical studies of partnerships, we argue that partnerships cannot be understood in either/or ways but are negotiated at the interface between central agencies and local networks. They are mediated by networks operating through the partnership and through government and community, and by the different organisational logics of agencies. These complexities challenge our ways of analysing and representing partnerships, and justify further research.
Higher Education In TAFE
3 September 2009
Technical and further education (TAFE) institutes offering higher education deg... more 3 September 2009
Technical and further education (TAFE) institutes offering higher education degrees is a relatively new development but is expected to grow as a consequence of government policies aimed at increasing the percentage of Australians holding a bachelor degree. This report considers different perspectives of higher education qualifications offered by TAFE institutes, focusing on associate degrees and degrees. The report argues that separate governance, policy, funding, quality assurance, curriculum and industrial frameworks to support academic standards are impeding the growth of higher education in TAFE.
National Centre for …, Jan 1, 2009
This support document accompanies a paper which reports and discusses the growing trend of techni... more This support document accompanies a paper which reports and discusses the growing trend of technical and further education (TAFE) institutes to offer baccalaureates. The trend is relatively recent but is likely to grow as a consequence of government policies that both seek to increase the percentage of Australians holding a bachelor degree and create a more unified tertiary education sector. There are ten TAFE institutes authorised to offer higher education in five states, with fewer than 1600 higher education students in TAFE in 2006. Initially, TAFE institutes focused on niche programs not offered by universities; however, they now offer vocationally focused programs similar to those of many universities. This project sought to understand different perspectives on the nature of higher education in TAFE by interviewing staff from six state offices of higher education, senior managers at two dual-sector universities and nine TAFE institutes (in six states), along with teachers and students. Six of the nine TAFE institutes included in this project offer higher education, and the other three do not.
This support document of 60 pages provide a fuller version of the literature review than in the report and issues paper; and provides the interview schedules that were used to gather the data for this project.
Journal of Vocational Education & Training Volume 56, Issue 1, 2004 , Jan 1, 2004
Social partnerships that respond to and address local needs are becoming an increasingly signific... more Social partnerships that respond to and address local needs are becoming an increasingly significant feature of public policy, particularly in Europe and more recently Australia. The trend is also being actively promoted through the development planning agencies such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, UNESCO and World Bank. The common policy intent is to devolve decision-making to the local level where action consequences are more immediate and more readily realised than in more centralised forms of governance. Working to secure mutuality of interests and reconciliation of conflicting interests among client groups then becomes the hallmark of mature service delivery. This article sets out the conceptual terrain for ‘new’ social partnerships in terms of their prospect of building communities through participation in vocational education and training (VET). It initially identifies some of the qualities and characteristics of ‘new’ social partnerships being enacted in VET, their achievements and contributions to community building. In doing so, it highlights some bases for judging the successes and threats to these social partnerships, and to appraise the extent to which they have shifted conceptions of learning beyond traditional institutional spaces occupied by centralised policy formulation and provision of VET through education institutions. A principal concern is to identify strategies for making social partnerships work better in supporting localised decision-making and opportunities for VET to be enacted in ways to support both communities and individuals.
Effective models of employment-based training: Literature review and case studies—Support document
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Papers by Stephen Billett
Technical and further education (TAFE) institutes offering higher education degrees is a relatively new development but is expected to grow as a consequence of government policies aimed at increasing the percentage of Australians holding a bachelor degree. This report considers different perspectives of higher education qualifications offered by TAFE institutes, focusing on associate degrees and degrees. The report argues that separate governance, policy, funding, quality assurance, curriculum and industrial frameworks to support academic standards are impeding the growth of higher education in TAFE.
This support document of 60 pages provide a fuller version of the literature review than in the report and issues paper; and provides the interview schedules that were used to gather the data for this project.