Providing Education and Training for At Risk ... - Victoria University

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programs for individual or groups of students in such areas as conflict resolution, angermanagement and social skills. (43)Brooks et al. conclude that ‘a complex mix of programs and a plethora of school services andlocal initiatives was seen to exist….[this] makes it difficult to assess the extent that needs…arebeing met’ (44). Local initiatives are often presented as community-based, and the role oflocal government is therefore more prominent than hitherto. For example, and developing thisReview, again, by analogy, we note the emergence of ethnicity as a dimension in youth policy- and the location of many programs on local government jurisdictions:It is through local government in particular that new youth community workers, includingthose with specific ethnic attachments, become most significant. ‘Communities’ aresupposed to provide the social networks to sustain the coming generation. In this context,ethnic communities take on new meaning, assuming new roles in controlling the youngthrough such initiatives as ‘community policing’, involving ethnic and other communitiesin consultation with the police, but also placing more responsibility on communitiesand individual families to control their own young. (Guerra and White: 1995:31)In quite another context, the community is also worked hard as a source of moral authority forlearning, or, in this case, juvenile justice, for re-learning:Young women who have received a custodial sentence and are assessed as suitable, areplaced, earlier than usual, into the community through the use of the extended temporaryleave program…a Voluntary Support Group is established…this group develops a ClientService Plan… When in the community, the young women…use existing communitysupports and professional services to facilitate the establishment of a long-term network.(Alder and Baines: 1996:62)This is not an outline of a returning to study program, but it does demonstrate many of thefeatures of one: individual needs, negotiated support, clear expectations, and a ‘pathway’ tosuccess. By analogy, we can look for similar features in other community-based programs,many run by non-school agencies such as churches, local government and the like.Another example of locally based and flexibly designed programs is found in the (normallygovernment-funded) area of labour market programs, which have mainly been job-creating(such as LEAP). Research indicates…some evidence that young unemployed, including those disadvantaged in the labourmarket, are able to gain access to community-based employment developmentprojects….The staff of community-based job creation projects report that they achievesome success partly because their small-scale projects can respond to local employmentneeds, can mobilise local employment networks and can allow close monitoring ofparticipants’ progress by committed staff…Young long-term unemployed were likely…tobe further education and training [rather than employment] and such outcomes wereconsidered positive by staff and the participants themselves. (Carson and Doube 1994:iv-v)The messages, even by analogies such as these, are constant: where staff are consistentlycommitted, practical outcomes are a shared expectation, and flexibility over individuals’ needsare all prominent, programs are effective.19
Indeed, these ‘messages’ have been particularly well unpacked in reports of two communitybasedpilot projects conducted in areas of high youth unemployment, the Northern Metropolitanand the Gippsland Regions of the ACFE (Adult, Community and Further Education) Boardstructure in Victoria (ACFE Board 1998). In 1997, action learning strategies focussed on theusage of a wide range of current ACFE programs, including the Certificates of GeneralEducation for Adults, access and preparatory programs, and general education programs, withthe pilots involving young unemployed people, aged from 15 to 24. In Melbourne, the pilotwas centred on the City of Darebin (local government) and the Preston Reservoir Skillshare.In Gippsland, a consortium of Sale-based organisations (adult education providers such as theneighbourhood house, schools, and labour market program agencies) ran the pilot.A range of issues need to be addressed at the state, regional and provider level ‘if programs forthe target group are to be successful in the ACE [Adult and Community Education] sector’(1998:6). These issues are worth listing, because they reinforce the analysis undertaken so farin this Review, and they reflect experiences in perhaps the most community-driven, lessinstitutionalised sector of the education panorama. The ‘key issues’ (1998: 6-7) arising fromthe pilot projects are:• the importance of developing networks with other networks who deliver services tounemployed young people in order to facilitate recruitment and referrals for assistance;• the need to market programs available through ACE providers for this target group toschools, other organisations who work with young people and other ACE providers;• the importance of ACE providers working closely secondary schools to develop earlyintervention strategies for young people wishing to leave school early or those who haveleft;• the need for professional development opportunities for community provider staff toacquire skills in developing and delivering programs to young unemployed people;• the importance of sharing existing customised curriculum and programs throughout thesector, and in identifying skilled practitioners who are available in regions to develop anddeliver programs;• the benefit of work experience placements as part of any program but with anacknowledgment of the difficulties associated with finding host employers and the timeinvolved in organisation;• the need for flexibility with student contact hour targets because of the varying needs ofpotential participants and the difficulties associated with engaging and maintaining theinvolvement of unemployed young people;• the importance of a suitable venue in which to deliver a program to this target group;• the need to focus on developing self-esteem and social skills in programs for youngunemployed young people;• the difficulties associated with access to transport for unemployed young people,particularly those in rural areas; and• the need for involvement of young people’s parents and carers.However, the reliance on a ‘community’ perspective, effective though this can be on ageographical basis, may mask the complexities of the alienating personal experiences of, say,long-term unemployment, as well as the manifold complexities of the institutionalisation ofthat alienation. We turn now to some attempt at synthesising that complexity.20
Page 2 and 3: Providing Education and Trainingfor
Page 4 and 5: ForewordThe Commonwealth Government
Page 6 and 7: ContentsForeword 3Acknowledgments 4
Page 8 and 9: Executive SummarySuccessful learnin
Page 10: program leaders (at least) to meet
Page 13 and 14: The major outcome sought from this
Page 15 and 16: Data was entered in categories unde
Page 17 and 18: 2Literature ReviewBenchmark 1995Sub
Page 19: It is likely that a significant gro
Page 23 and 24: In this we look at labour market sk
Page 25 and 26: Individuals appear to perform bette
Page 27 and 28: The research literature on ‘alien
Page 29 and 30: ConclusionPathways are notoriously
Page 31 and 32: 3Mapping the FieldThe Stage 1 inter
Page 33 and 34: Wilderness Enhancement Program, ATL
Page 35 and 36: them from progressing or even parti
Page 37 and 38: 4Program ModelsAnumber of the 19 pr
Page 39 and 40: 3. All students are case managed.4.
Page 41 and 42: (i) accommodating student diversity
Page 43 and 44: Teachers involved in the course hav
Page 45 and 46: There are VET subjects, of which th
Page 47 and 48: This approach helps the transition
Page 49 and 50: Young people are referred to the pr
Page 51 and 52: to become contributing members of t
Page 53 and 54: Rules are negotiated with the young
Page 55 and 56: 5Characteristics of Programs That W
Page 57 and 58: The review processes that already e
Page 59 and 60: attitude to learning and enhanced s
Page 61 and 62: 6Conclusion and RecommendationsMr G
Page 63 and 64: 2.4 That program activities include
Page 65 and 66: ReferencesACFE Board (1998) Young a
Page 67 and 68: Withers, G. and Batten, M. (1995) P
Page 69 and 70: Successful learning projectsDraft o
Page 71 and 72:
Successful learning projects 1998Dr
Page 73 and 74:
Program and LocationTarget Group, P
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Program and Location- Certificate i
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Program and LocationCambodian Youth
Page 105:
APPENDIX IIICURRICULUM OUTLINE FOR
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