Dr John McIntyre

Recent publications on research in adult and vocational learning

McIntyre, J. and Wickert, R. (in press). Research for policy: the negotiated management of meanings. In Garrick, J. and Rhodes, C. (in press). Knowledge At Work. Routledge. Published in revised form in Research and Practice, Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Post-Compulsory Education and Training. Griffith University Centre for Research in Learning and Work, December 1999.

This contribution to a forthcoming book asks the question: when research goes to work for public policy, what does this do to research and to policy? What kinds of relationship are constructed and negotiated? The chapter first explores how policy constitutes a context for research, theorising this using Ball’s policy cycle framework with its five contexts of action, and Yeatman’s analysis of the state and policy processes, including her concepts of corporate managerialism, policy activism and co-production. It is thus argued that policy co-production involves the negotiated management of research meanings. The work of research has been shaped by new kinds of policy work in the contemporary state, which now have to be understood in ways quite different from older instrumental and hyper-rational concepts of policy and policy research. How research and policy relationships are negotiated is then explored by reference to the authors’ experiences of research commissions. Negotiation of meaning occurs as parties manage the stated and unstated problematics of a ‘research brief’. A further order of negotation occures around questions of perspective and methodology. The chapter concludes by asking what scope there is, given these conditions, for research and policy to mutually influence each other, and concludes that research-for-policy exemplifies how deeply the academy now engages in the processes of ‘practical’ knowledge formation.

A revised form of this chapter was presented at Research and Practice, Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Post-Compulsory Education and Training. Griffith University Centre for Research in Learning and Work, December 1999.

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McIntyre, J. (1999). Equity and local participation: some findings from Sydney postcodes. In Quality & Diversity in VET Research, Proceedings of the second national conference of the Australian Vocational Education and Training Research Association. Sydney, AVETRA.

This paper reports some preliminary findings from research on TAFE participation in some 230 Sydney postcodes conducted as part of the work of the UTS Research Centre for Vocational Education and Training funded by the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) under its national key centre program.

The rationale for the research is that equity policy in vocational education and training needs to acknowledge (as it has in the recent past) the pronounced effects of area of residence on educational participation and achievement, given that educational and economic disadvantage is concentrated in particular localities. Hence equity policy needs to provide for local provider strategies, since the burden of achieving ‘equity outcomes’ is not evenly shared across VET systems or across provider networks or institutes.

The paper reports on approaches to locality analysis of equity in VET participation using AVETMISS and Cdata96 census data which map VET participation by disadvantaged groups. These approaches include: identifying differences in VET participation rates by postcode and comparing the socio-economic profiles of high and low participation postcodes; establishing the profile of VET participants in selected disadvantaged postcodes compared to state and national profiles; examining VET participation by ‘target equity groups’ in postcodes with high concentrations of these groups; and nominal catchment analysis of TAFE institutes.

The Sydney study finds that TAFE participation in Sydney is highest in the outer Sydney postcodes of outer western and south western suburbs, and lowest in the more affluent inner city suburbs.Various postcode participation rates correlate strongly with socio-economic indicators of education, occupation and income. The high participation postcodes in outer south-western and western Sydney include many areas regarded of relative disadvantage, in conventional terms, as indicated by relatively lower educational levels (postschool qualification held), ‘blue collar’ occupational profiles (eg higher proportions ASCO occupational major groups 7,8 and 9) and lower household incomes.

What is true for general TAFE participation in a postcode (all TAFE clients as a proportion of the postcode population aged 15 and over) is reflected in other more specific rates of participation including: the vocational rate (stream 3000 and 4000 clients); the employed client rate, the unemployed client rate and the ‘low schooling’ rate. These more specific rates indicate to what extent relatively socio-economically disadvantaged (unemployed, those with low schooling levels) are participating. On the face of it, TAFE participation is highest in areas where there are relatively disadvantaged people are living. That is, people in the target equity groups living in these areas are participating in TAFE in significant numbers. Those postcodes which are high on social indicators of non-English speaking background have in general, very high NESB TAFE participation rates. Postcodes with relatively large populations of indigenous people also have high indigenous participation rates.

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McIntyre, J. (forthcoming) Equity and local participation in VET: policy critique and research directions. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Vocational Education Research, accepted for publication, December 1999.

This article argues that national equity policy in Australian vocational education and training is flawed by its neglect of the local or ‘community’ dimension. Policy misrepresents the compound nature of social disadvantage, ignores the concentration of disadvantaged people in particular localities and gives little incentive for providers, including community agencies, to develop equity strategies to address local labour market and socio-cultural disadvantage. If community-based provision is a key element in equity strategy, then research on patterns of local participation using national statistics and census data can contribute to debate by examining how far equity is achieved at the local provider level. The article sets out a conceptual a model for local equity analysis developed in a recent study which assumes participation patterns reflect a complex interplay of area socio-economic factors, participant or clientele influences and provider constraints, and describes three research approaches of area participation analysis, catchment analysis and provider equity analysis. Conceptual issues arising in these directions for VET participation research are discussed.

McIntyre, J. and Solomon, N. (1999). De-schooling vocational knowledge: work-based learning and the politics of curriculum. Paper presented at Vocational Knowledge and Institutions: Changing Relationships, the Sixth International Conference on Post-Compulsory Education and Training organised by Griffith University Centre for Research in Learning and Work, Gold Coast, Queensland, December 1998. A revised version is to be published in C. Symes and J. McIntyre (eds.) Working Knowledge, Universities and Human Capitalism, Buckingham, Open University Press in late 2000.

This paper explores how work-based learning degrees are a radical departure for universities, arguing they amount to a de-institutionalisation of vocational knowledge. Their key organising principle is the ‘curriculum of work’ which represents both a continuation of ‘vocationalising’ trend in higher education and a radical break with existing ‘knowledge codes’ that have prevailed in the regulation of higher learning. This change threatens power-knowledge relations inherent in traditional academic curricula and thus generates a ‘politics of curriculum’ since there is both a dis-establishment of the formal vocational curriculum (through negotiated learning) and an institutionalising of new areas of vocational experience at work. The paper finds the explanation for the trend to work-based learning in the changes occurring in contemporary knowledge production in both educational institutions and corporate workplaces, suggesting that work-based learning prefigures a new codification of vocational knowledge.

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McIntyre, J. & Solomon, N. (1999). The policy environment of work-based learning: globalisation, institutions and the workplace, Researching Learning & Work, Proceedings of a first International Conference organised by the School of Continuing Education, Leeds University, September 10-13, 1999. A revised version is to be published in C. Symes and J. McIntyre (eds.) Working Knowledge, Universities and Human Capitalism, Buckingham, Open University Press in late 2000.

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This draft chapter explores the policy context that requiring VET institutions to fundamentally redesign the nature of vocational curricula, with particular reference to the rise of work-based learning in all its forms. The interpretation of work-based learning needs a policy perspective. Not only can it be shown that work-based learning is a policy solution (in its own terms) to a range of problems that are strategic for both employers and institutions. It is also a response to the impact of globalisation on national economies, their politics and social institutions, leading governments to intervene and re-shape post-compulsory education and training to make it more economically responsive.

The paper argues that it is essential to inquire into the broader environment that has endorsed work-based learning as an ‘answer’ to perceived problems of vocational education. We argue that the educational policy environment has been decisive in suggesting the parameters for this development. Educational policy in this environment because it is ‘policy’ that has sought the ‘reform’ of educational institutions, and through restructuring, has pressed them to more flexible and adaptive, in the interests of national economic competitiveness. Policy has been part of a range of conditions making vocational institutions (including universities and colleges in this) behave in a more entrepreneurial and outward-looking way. In this sense, we will argue for policy intervention in post-compulsory education as a catalyst of work-based learning.

The paper will first discuss the meanings of globalisation using the work of Waters. It will then discuss how these forces have impacted on both vocational institutions and the nature of work and workplaces, bringing pressures for a changed relationships between them. The nature of this restructuring is discussed in terms policy mantras such as ‘flexibility’ and ‘responsiveness’ in working out arrangements between enterprises and institutions. The paper will also refer to the changes in contemporary work that are causing a rethinking of knowledge at work. The paper concludes by examining some consequences for the new world of VET that is coming into being, its flatter structures, managerial ethos, performative funding regimes and the self-regulating professionals who negotiate the new arrangements and institutional performances.

McIntyre, J. (1998). Policy symbolism and economic realities: ACE, equity and the market. In Ferrier F. and Anderson D. (eds), Different Drums, One Beat: Economic and Social Goals in Education and Training. Adelaide: National Centre for Vocational Education Research.

This paper explores that thesis that though adult community education (ACE) in Australia is marginal to policy, in resources allocated and in being run largely by a largely volunteer and female workforce, it nevertheless appears to have some symbolic value for governments who desire a more market-driven system of VET. The ‘ACE sector’ is an Australian policy construct which can be made to represent significant symbolic values in policy struggles around the de-regulation of vocational education and training. ACE national policy has given ACE a higher policy profile, assisted by two Senate reports in five years, particularly through the symbolism of responsive, community-based providers concerned with access and equity and calling upon a powerful discourse of communitarianism.

The paper highlights the divergence between this policy symbolism and the economic realities of community adult education agencies funded through a ‘user-pays’ system revealed by recent research (McIntyre Brown & Ferrier 1997). To survive financially, ACE providers in urban areas target relatively advantaged clienteles who have a given capacity to pay for the kinds of courses they want at a given level of fees and who are concentrated in particular localities. In the absence of funding regimes which require equity outputs, participation tends to narrow to clienteles advantaged in terms of qualifications, employment and income living in more affluent areas. In rural areas, there would be no provision without Board subsidies.

Thus the potential for ACE to achieve equity outcomes is highly dependent on better resourcing. This role is being frustrated by the narrow terms in which competition policy is being constructed in VET as well as differences in the attitudes to ACE of state training authorities. A competitive allocation of public funds might have the effect of giving a larger equity role to ACE organisations in VET.

McIntyre, J. (1998). Equity in VET: Are there pathways from adult community education? Paper prepared for the Faces of Equity Conference at the University of Queensland organised by the Department of Employment, Training and Industrial Relations, Queensland, November 1998.

This paper examines the claim that community-based adult education (ACE) provides ‘second chance education’ by examining the evidence that ACE provides pathways from informal learning to formal VET for disadvantaged people and discussing the barriers which prevent ACE from taking a larger role in equity. First clarifying that ACE can only meaningfully describe a type of provider organisation rather than an ethos or type of course, the paper highlights the emerging issue of partnerships between the sectors and suggests that in an open and more competitive environment, TAFE as the public provider of VET has a great deal to gain from collaboration with ACE organisations in delivering services to less advantaged clienteles. The paper describes some pathway planning models which have been identified by recent nationally funded research for the Women’s VET Strategy.

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McIntyre, J. (1998). Using databases for qualitative analysis in J.Higgs (ed). Writing Qualitative Research, Centre for Professional Education Advancement Series. Sydney: Hampden Press.

Commercial software has become available to researchers in recent years with the promise of making qualitative data analysis easier, more thorough and accountable. However, not all researchers want to invest the time in learning to use specific software applications despite the longer-term benefits from doing so, including being able to claim this competence in their research skills repertoire.

This paper outlines an alternative approach of using standard database software to problems in managing an interpretive analysis of qualitative data. The paper explores how the notion of ‘data management’ can be realised by using software such as Claris Filemaker Pro to assist interpretive work. The paper characterises this approach as ‘unstructured’ compared to commercial coding applications which are ‘structured’ in that they provide a technology which embodies both procedures and assumptions about qualitative analysis.

The paper shows how interpretive work is facilitated by the sophistication of database software. The progress of the analysis is assisted by and recorded in the developing database. In the simplest terms, database analysis refers such procedures as entering ‘chunks’ of data in fields, setting up other fields in which interpretative comment can be added, coding these interpretations and sorting them, finding instances of particular kinds of interpretations, exporting these selected records into a word-processing file in a given order and so on. If the business of qualitative analysis is systematically conducting a complex textual analysis and producing an account based on instantiation through quotation of text, then this can be made less laborious than it used to be.

After brief discussion of some prior theoretical considerations surrounding the problematic meanings of qualitative research, the paper gives a description of some database concepts followed by a discussion of typical procedures involved in database management. The paper concludes with several examples from research conducted using this approach.

In McIntyre, J. (1998). What do we mean ‘research influences policy’? In McIntyre, J. and Barrett, M. (1998) (eds) VET Research: Influencing Policy and Practice, Proceedings of inaugural annual conference of the Australian Vocational Education and Training Association. Sydney, February 1998. Sydney, AVETRA.

VET researchers are continually pressed to produce work that can be shown to ‘influence policy’ with little analysis of the policy processes involved or the contemporary context of the politics of education and training reform. The paper argues that the field needs to develop better understanding of the way research and policy relationships are constructed through the ‘real-world’ processes of VET research. To do so requires an analysis of the origins of policy instrumentalism in TAFE institutional culture where research was captive to policy, framed by administrative concerns and often uncritically empiricist. The paper then argues that the intervention of the state in education reform has changed research and policy practices within the turbulent public sector environment of VET. These changes are theorised drawing on Yeatman’s analysis of corporate managerialism to examine the co-option of the academic research to the needs of strategic policy work and the role of such research in shaping policy. The paper concludes that the VET field should critically examine the terms of its engagement with policy, draw upon current interest in the politics of education reform and treat VET research and policy relationships as a domain of inquiry.

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Courtney, S, McIntyre, J. and McGivney, V. Rethinking Participation Research in Adult Education. International Symposium. Proceedings of the North American, Adult Education Research Conference. San Antonio, Texas. May 1998.

The increased interest of government world-wide in educational reform and the promotion of lifelong learning has stimulated renewed interest in participation research in adult education. This symposium aimed to bring together a range of analytical perspectives on participation research from the US, Australia and the UK. The symposium aimed to report on recent participation research in these countries, theorise participation from different perspectives, addresse commonalities among approaches and define directions for future research. It discussed such such questions as: does it make sense to persevere with a concept of adult education participation at large? what are alternative perspectives can be deployed to theorise participation, including social and cultural analyses? what are the implications of viewing participation as socio-cultural rather than psychological terms? how does participation as a construct fare within postmodernist discourses?

McIntyre, J. (1997). Restructuring adult education: research, policy and the state. In Armstrong, P, Miller, N and Zukas, M (eds). Crossing Borders, Breaking Boundaries, Proceedings of the International 27th Annual SCUTREA Conference. London: Standing Conference on University Teaching and Research in the Education of Adults. pp 295-299.

This paper argues that the boundaries of adult education with other ‘territories of provision’ are being redrawn through the intervention of the state, though current scholarship in adult education has been slow to theorise contemporary challenges to the field—economic globalisation, the domination of social policy by economic rationalism, the restructuring of public sector agencies extending to the public university itself and the ascendancy of a neoconservative politics which crosses traditional party-political boundaries.

The paper sets out an analysis of the changes in the nature of the contemporary state due to the influences of economic globalisation. Following the work of Yeatman and others, it is argued there is a new culture of public administration, referred to as ‘corporate managerialism’. In this context, Australian adult education has been radically reshaped not only by national ‘training reform’ but by the state’s ‘communalisation’ of adult education agency. Policy has taken a leading role in this reform, and the new public management culture has employed research as a strategic tool, drawing academics into the work of strategic policy formation. Several examples of commissioned research from the author’s experience are discussed in order to challenge the view that policy work entails how that the policy work is more complex than is suggested by impact-on-policy models, and involves an interplay of research and policy understandings.

The paper provides concludes that academics need to theorise the terms on which they are drawn into the policy interventions of the contemporary state and to examine the possibilities such work might offer for policy activism. The field also needs to give more attention to understanding adult education as social policy.