Sue Coventon was one of six Australian representatives at the IVETA (International Vocational Education and Training Association) August 21 to 24 conference in Malawi Africa. The conference theme was ‘Human Resource Development for Poverty Eradication’. Speakers from USA, UK, Russia, Germany, Finland, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Australia and various African countries presented papers on strategies, policies and plans being implemented to promote vocational education in their respective countries.
Australia’s contribution was a case study account of the TAE Enterprise Trainer and Assessor Skill Set delivery to supervisors at an Ivory Coast (Cote d’Ivoire) mine site. Pertrain organised and supervised the training delivery and assessment. The training objective was to provide supervisors with the knowledge and skills to train, mentor and assess workers during normal operations under a TAE qualified training superintendent’s supervision.
The paper outlined how the course delivery was contextualised to suit the international and remote setting. Points that were prominent in contextualising the course conduct and content included:
- cultural nuances
- additional time allowed for building rapport through exchange of cultures
- being patient
- acknowledgement that English was a second language
- trainer brushed up on her French before course
- increased the number of checks for understanding and retention during delivery
- persons in the group were identified to act as interpreters where necessary
- increased the opportunities for practice and constructive feedback
- lengthened course duration in consideration of resources available in the remote location and language/culture difference.
IVETA will be holding an Annual Conference in Melbourne August 13 – 16, 2013. The theme will be ‘Expanding the boundaries of e-learning in the Global Community’. These conferences provide an excellent opportunity for RTOs, trainers and assessors to meet and share information on technical and vocational training developments across the globe.
Useful websites:
- IVETA www.iveta.org
- Melbourne IVETA Conference www.vetnetwork.org.au
- Performance Training Pty Limited www.performancetraining.com.au
