The NZ Institute of Skills and Technology last month confirmed membership for its seven working groups which will inform the design of the new, national organisation. Each group is comprised of 10 people, drafted from ITPs and ITOs and held their first meetings this month.
Unitec has representatives on three of the working groups and they have shared their notes below:
International Working Group (David Glover – Executive Director Partnerships and Student Recruitment)
“At our first meeting, held in Wellington, we were briefed on the process for co-creation of a set of recommendations. We then discussed a wide range of topics including post-study work visa settings, the long terms skills shortage, offshore delivery, internationalisation of domestic students and building global connectivity for New Zealand.”
Student Journey Mapping Working Group (Annette Pitovao – Director Student Success)
“We were hosted at Wintec in Hamilton and the first decision was to change the work stream name to Learner Journey Mapping. There was a strong ITO and union presence within the working group which led to some great, robust interactions. We also have two student representatives in our group which provides diversity and perspective. The key purpose of our group is to “model learner journeys based on consultation with educators, students, whānau and communities”.
MIT are hosting the second session, then we’re off to Toi Ohomai in Rotorua for session three.”
Work based Learning workstream (Heather Stonyer – Director Industry Partnerships)
“The working group aims to develop the framework and approach for how NZIST will support work-based learning, including planning for the transfer of trainees and apprenticeships and their employers currently supported by the ITOs. Our conversation was a timely reminder that that we are not simply dealing with apprentices, as trainees are found across all sectors and industries. We recognised that that the framework needs to be inclusive of learners in blended learning environments.”
The working groups have four further meetings scheduled before Christmas, then one more in early 2020. Our Unitec representatives will provide brief updates after each and welcome any questions, insights, research or evidence you can share to aid with the discussions.
For further information on the Reform of Vocational Education, please visit our RoVE page where we will be collating all information and updating as we go.