1. Industry Training Organisations & Foundation Skills ITF Research Forum, Wellington, 4 April 2005 Ruth Schick PhD, Development Manager Workbase: The New Zealand Centre for Workforce Literacy Development 2 Vermont Street, Ponsonby. PO Box 56571, Dominion Road, Auckland, New Zealand Ph: 64 9 361 3800 Fax: 64 9 376 3700 Email: admin@workbase.org.nz Web: www.workbase.org.nz

2. ITOs & Foundation Skills 2 Purpose, rationale, and context Methods (sample, interviews, analysis) Findings Discussion – links/implications to other work in the industry training sector Outline of the presentation

3. ITOs & Foundation Skills 3 TEC commissioned work to: Fill an information gap: How are ITOs dealing with Strategy 3: Integrating workforce literacy within the industry training environment? ─ Identify ITO perspectives, knowledge, current actions ─ Scope challenges Propose forms of support Purpose of the project

4. ITOs & Foundation Skills 4 The industry training sector role in addressing foundation skills 1.Industry training sector is purpose built to build the skills industry needs - these are not just technical skills, they include foundation skills 2.Industry training sector has potential to build foundation skills 3.Little is known about ITO perspectives, capability or actions in this area 4.ITOs have not focussed on foundation skills in the past To support ITOs to address foundation skills, we need more understanding of ITO perspectives and capability regarding foundation skills Rationale

5. ITOs & Foundation Skills 5 Working with key sector stakeholders ● Workplace Learning Solutions: Over 50 tailored workplace literacy programmes since 1994 ● Research & Development : Conducting empirical research and applying international best practice to work with ITOs, providers, practitioners, and policy makers ● Practitioner and Provider Support: Organisational and professional development with ITOs, providers, and vocational and literacy practitioners ● Sector Leadership and Funding: Advice to Government and business on policy and investment decisions; administering the Workplace Basic Skills Development Fund Why Workbase?

6. ITOs & Foundation Skills 6 Industry training sector is main source of vocational education/training for workforce with no, or few, formal qualifications Government has charged ITOs with taking a leadership role, and with addressing foundation skills in their industries Context

7. ITOs & Foundation Skills 7 Oral and written communication and reasoning, using numeric and English language media Referred to as “literacy, language and numeracy” Metacognitive skills – thinking skills necessary for: employee success in training and on the job business performance What are foundation skills?

8. ITOs & Foundation Skills 8 Training of longer duration (to achieve foundation skills gains as well as technical skills or unit standards) Teaching that ties technical and literacy skills together by linking training to real activities on the job Teaching that supports applying knowledge to new situations Assessment linked to what is taught on the job – that includes real life workplace literacy demands What will build employees’ foundation skills?

9. ITOs & Foundation Skills 9 Labour and skill shortages are increasing Foundation skills requirements of jobs are changing and increasing Gaps between employee literacy and job demands limit individual opportunities and business performance 750,000 employed people (40% of the workforce) have low literacy in relation to modern work demands An estimated 50% of trainees (about 67,000 currently) have significant literacy needs (information provided by the ITF) Literacy demands of Level 1 Unit Standards may be above the skill level of many employees Context

10. ITOs & Foundation Skills 10 One hour semi-structured interviews with six ITO chief executives ITOs selected by: ─ the size of the industry coverage & trainee numbers ─ implement in level 1-3 qualifications ─ limited experience in workplace literacy Methodology (research design)

11. ITOs & Foundation Skills 11 One hour long, face-to-face interviews – two interviewers Data recorded by written notes, tape Tapes transcribed and summarised Summaries sent to interviewees to check accuracy Summaries were analysed to identify themes and key observations Data collection, checking, analysis

12. ITOs & Foundation Skills 12 ITO structure, coverage, relationships with employers and training providers ITO and industry priorities & needs ITO and industry perspectives on literacy needs and impacts of skill gap ITO approaches and challenges to addressing these Addressing foundation skills in skill shortage survey Tracking causes of low retention Monitoring impacts of training on on-job performance ITO perspectives on support that would help them address foundation skills in training Interview prompts

13. ITOs & Foundation Skills 13 Industry coverage ITO structure Industry and ITO priorities and needs Sector relationships, perspectives and initiatives (providers, employers, other ITOs) Foundation skills - perspectives, expertise, initiatives, challenges ITO perspectives on help/support to address foundation learning needs Transcript analysis guide

14. ITOs & Foundation Skills 14 There is no single approach that will support all ITOs to build foundation skills There are shared experiences, challenges and principles that can guide the design and implementation of support Findings: challenges

15. ITOs & Foundation Skills 15 ITO resources: time, money, understanding and expertise, industry structure Employer priorities, attitudes/understanding Competing priorities: new regulations, compliance, labour shortages Funding structures don ’ t readily support foundation skills in industry training (time and cost of foundation skills provision) Provider availability and expertise Findings: shared experiences

16. ITOs & Foundation Skills 16 Employers - the major drivers of training Tend to be driven by compliance, regulation or wanting to do something for their workers Have limited understanding of impact of literacy on: ─ training participation and on-job learning ─ job performance ─ company performance ─ wastage error rates, rework, absenteeism, morale, on job communication and conflict, health and safety, customer service Providers may address foundation skills - 1:1, adhoc, not linked to training programme Findings: shared experiences

17. ITOs & Foundation Skills 17 include foundation skills in their industry skills analysis address literacy needs among the pre-vocational group identify possibilities for literacy and vocational tutors to work together address the added cost involved in providing additional foundation skills support with NZQF oriented training Findings ITOs would like support to:

18. ITOs & Foundation Skills 18 ITOs can build literacy into industry training in several ways: through messages to industry and employers through messages to providers via moderation and assessment processes and through: design of unit standards and qualifications design of trainee resources management of assessment professional development for ITO staff and workplace trainers and assessors Analysis/Discussion: ITO Impact Areas

19. ITOs & Foundation Skills 19 surveying foundation skill shortages prioritising target groups (industry, occupation, employee groups) setting goals and monitoring progress against goals developing and trialling approaches For ITOs to develop industry- specific literacy strategies, would involve support to ITOs in:

20. ITOs & Foundation Skills 20 designing qualifications assessing of training moderation monitoring outcomes/impacts of training communicating with employers leadership role and foundation skills This will require considering:

21. ITOs & Foundation Skills 21 System driven by enrolments and completed assessments – versus – Teaching and learning inputs and on-job performance gain Discussion

22. ITOs & Foundation Skills 22 To build foundation skills into industry training, ITOs will need support to: identify the foundation skill demands of jobs and industries identify the gap between employee skills and the demands of jobs and industries identifying training that would address these gaps monitor and revise training design based on evidence of the impacts of training on employee skills, job performance, and on business performance) Result: increased industry training participation & learning, reduced non completion Summary comments