I will be contributing a regular column to the national weekly newspaper Campus Review, starting in the next edition, under the by-line ‘John Mitchell’s INside VET’. My overall interest in writing this column will be in answering this question: how is the VET sector going about continually improving its national contribution? In the column I will focus on micro or local developments that contribute to the macro impact of VET.
My aim in this column is to push past the curtains of policies, regulations, jargon and media spin that may prevent us from clearly seeing into the sector. My intention is to provide an alternative set of windows to view how VET practitioners and organisations go about improving their performance. Implicitly, my interests are organisational strategy, performance improvement, customer service, new practices, leadership, strategic management, change management and professional development – the same topics addressed in this blog.
The column will show that we need multiple windows to view the breadth of VET experience. Depending on which window we look through, we will be able to see transformational leaders, strategic managers, entrepreneurs and innovators, visionary corporate services personnel and highly adaptable teachers and trainers. We will also see a vast array of students, from apprentice to degree level, with a variety of learning styles and social needs.
But almost every window will show that VET organisations consist of human beings who have different perspectives and different capabilities. Hence the column will point to the multiple goals, pressures, anxieties, hopes and achievements of the people and organisations in the sector. I enjoy working deep inside this sector and intend to use this column to bring to life the richness, complexities, tensions, excitement and humaneness of VET.
A regular column can only capture a slice of the variegated nature of the VET sector, so I propose to connect the column with this blog site, where I can extend my commentary and cover other related matters.