training for training

More on the organisation of the early Christian church, as well as the beginning of canon law, later.

Not having much in the way of money or prospects, I'm trying to do something about it by turning my voluntary, and sometimes paid, work as a teacher [I currently teach ESOL, basic computing and, just recently, literacy] into something more of a bread-winning nature. So I've commenced the Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, with financial assistance from Maxima. Being a lazy bugger, I might use this blog to further my studies [which are terribly boring - even the lecturer recommends reading the course materials with a glass, or even a bottle, of your favourite beverage ready to hand]. Basically it's about multi-skilling, employability and being a change agent for your students, methinks.

So how have things changed, work-wise, since the late 1970s? Well the participation of women in the workforce has increased apace; there has been a move, in Australia and elsewhere, away from large, mostly unskilled numbers of industrial workers to a more diversified workforce, with in particular an increase in work in the service sector; the typical nine to five, or at least eight hours a day, five days a week job has been replaced by more flexible working hours, and a higher level of part-time and casual work; and people move from job to job, and even from career to career much more readily than they used to. This sort of chopping and changing was once frowned upon; now it is seen as a fundamental asset [as long as it's not a sign of incompetency]. Even within one job, more of a diversity of skills is now required. All of this is positive change; people feel more motivated when they have a hand in every aspect of the job. They feel a greater ownership of the work they do.

These changes have brought the importance of training to the fore, and have highlighted the importance of training to employers, who have come to recognize that if they aren't able to provide a varied environment to their employees, they're likely to lose them. This involved multi-skilling and the concept of life-long learning. I should return here to the changes since the seventies - I didn't mention the rapid and endlessly ongoing changes in technology, which requires ongoing training to keep up with it. It involves changes in occupational health and safety, and in personnel management in the ever-changing environment of work practice. Trade unions, for example, have seen their roles transformed and diversified, as they have seen the importance of collaborating with employers in the provision of training.

As training has come to the fore in recent decades, issues of uniformity, proper targeting and accreditation have arisen, and this was an obvious role for government as a body transcending particular workplaces and industries. It's essential, given that people are moving more than ever from job to job and from career to career that their skills can be transferable and flexible, applicable to a range of workplaces and industries, and that tey are able to get recognition for skills acquired in previous positions. An over-arching system of accreditation and quality control  was required. The government is an essential player, considering the globalisation and the international competitivism of skills and productivity. The whole working nation needs to be able to compete in the international market-place.

There you go, and I didn't drink a thing.

Weight and exercise problems. I'm up at 80.7 kgs, need to lose about 10kgs. It's mainly just overeating.