Globalisation is a phenomenon which should be understood before its effects are studied. According to Hobart (1999), globalisation is the growth of trade and finance due to the increase of international travel and commerce, “globalisation means that individual firms are no longer competing with a limited number of product or service providers, but with all other firms in the world economy” (p. 1). Many researchers and studies have noted that Globalisation is merely a large group of changes which takes place because of internationalisation at various levels.
Like all the other major changes, globalisation too has its effects on the society and its components like education and training industry specifically the Adult and Vocational Education and Training (AVET). AVET in Australia is a very important part of the tertiary education system and it provides skill-based education to the students. According to Hobart (1999), most of the AVET education is provided by Technical and Further Education (TAFE) institutes but can also be obtained by other sources like private providers, secondary and higher education centres, industry-based training centres etc.
One of the most significant effects of globalisation on AVET was the internationalisation of its curriculum (Hobart 1999). As more and more international students started arriving in Australia to study AVET courses, it became imperative that the curriculum is expanded to cover not only the data related to Australian standards but also to international levels enabling the international students to relate to the course content better. This led to various adjustments to the training packages which were designed to deliver vocational courses.
Another important effect of globalisation was on the way AVET courses were delivered by the teachers and on the classroom environment which existed. With the internationalisation of the curriculum and increase of global students, the delivery of education became more diverse and understanding of cultural differences increased.
Lastly, it also affected the way information technology was used within the AVET framework. Due to the growing globalisation, the need of individualised education became a challenge for most of the education providers, they were required to ensure that all the individual requirements of the students were met, imposing a major challenge. In order to cater to this, the use of informational technology was expanded and modified to offer different delivery patterns suiting the growing needs of customised delivery. In conclusion, globalisation has had various effects on the AVET industry which in turn transformed the whole structure of the vocational education making it more robust and complete.
References
Hobart, R.(1999), ‘Globalisation and its impact on vocational education and training’, in IVETA conference 1999: skilling for a small planet: proceedings., eds I Vocational Education and Training Association & T NSW, IVETA and TAFE NSW, Sydney, [20]p. Retrieved from https://www.ncver.edu.au/research-and-statistics/publications/all-publications/globalisation-and-its-impact-on-vet-review-of-research