3. Provision of Flexible Learning Programs in Australia
3.3 Summary of Phase 1
Overall, Phase 1 of the research demonstrated that flexible learning programs form a sizeable ‘sector’ of Australian education, serving a large number of young people:
• The database lists over 900 flexible learning programs. Almost two-third of these are part of a mainstream school or TAFE/ACE institution – and most are quite small (fewer than 100 students per year). Nevertheless, in terms of the number of sites, they can be seen to constitute a substantial sector.
• The conservative estimate of 70,000 students in flexible learning programs equates to 7 per cent of the total 15-19 age group attending a (secondary, further or higher) education institution in Australia (ABS, 2014).
The findings from Phase 1 also highlight the diversity of this sector, for example in terms of:
• The structure of programs (within schools, within TAFE or Community Colleges, or as stand-alone annexes or schools).
• The types of credentials and activities offered. • The characteristics of young people they work with.
At the start of this chapter, two purposes were asserted for the material on the website: 1) to help young people find a suitable program, and 2) to support flexible learning programs to learn about and from each other.
At risk of non-completion 0 200 100 400 300 600 500 800 900 700
Early school leaverSuspended/ExpelledUmemployedIndigenousMental HealthDisability/IllnessJuvenille JusticeHomelessOut of Home Car e Pregnant/Par
enting Caring for Par
ent/s
RefugeesNew MigrantsLBOTE/CALDNESB/
Putting the jigsaw together July 2014
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In relation to the first purpose, the detailed information about credentials and activities offered (as well as about program duration and students catered for) together with the ‘map function’ makes it easy for young people (or their parents, carers, youth workers or teachers) to look for a suitable program in an accessible location. A staff member from a flexible learning program commented that “Your website is fantastic, thank you! I use it regularly when one of my learners (students) moves from Bendigo to Melbourne or elsewhere around Australia” (Van Maanen, 2014).
As an example, using the map to zoom in on Melbourne, as well as filtering by programs that run for a full year and offer Year 12, leads to 14 programs being shown (eight red, two green and four yellow dots). Clicking on one of the dots provides brief details of the site (see Figure 3.8) and clicking on “Find out more …” leads to a page displaying detailed information drawn from the database (see Figure 3.9).
Figure 3.8: Example of finding a suitable program for a young person
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Figure 3.9: Example of a webpage with detailed information
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Regarding the second purpose, the website makes it easy for flexible learning programs to learn about and from each other, in order to build networks and share knowledge. For example, an organisation may decide to set up a site for young mothers, but not have much experience working with this group. Applying the filters Target Group (selecting pregnant/parenting young people) and Activity (selecting parenting skills) reveals 40 programs around Australia which are likely to have expertise in this area (see Figure 3.10). The organization can click on various dots to find out more about each program, before deciding which one(s) to contact to initiate a conversation.
Figure 3.10: Example of finding a program with relevant expertise for an organisation
In summary, the evidence from Phase 1 demonstrates that flexible learning programs form a sizeable and diverse sector of education provision in Australia, serving and achieving successful outcomes for a significant proportion of young people. The availability of the database created through Phase 1 on the Dusseldorp Forum website has made it easy for young people to find a suitable program, and for programs to find out about and learn from each other.
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Putting the jigsaw together July 20144.1 Overview of Phase 2 and 3
Phases 2 and 3 of Putting the Jigsaw Together analysed publicly available documentation from more than 20 programs to generate insight in how they work and the outcomes they achieve. Phase 2 initially developed a set of ‘vignettes’ from which a smaller number of programs were chosen for more in depth case studies in Phase 3. In both phases, the programs had publicly available evidence for their outcomes as well as details about, and arguments for, their practices.
“Phase 2 developed a set of 2-page vignettes from which a
smaller number of programs were chosen for in-depth case
studies in Phase 3.”
Hundreds of flexible learning programs in the revised DSF database (see Chapter 3) exhibit good practice. Since it was not feasible to include so many programs in this research, three further criteria were applied to create a list of possible vignettes. The short-list of programs selected for a vignette included:
• At least one of each of the three structural types of flexible learning provision (within a high school, within a TAFE or community college, or as a separate program).
• Regional and metropolitan programs. • Geographic spread across Australia.
Publicly available documentation to explore the selected programs included annual reports, newsletters, evaluation reports and websites. The scoping data were then summarised in short (2 page) vignettes, providing information about how each program works, outcomes, data sources, and contact details (see Appendix IV for an example of a completed vignette). The vignettes served two purposes: 1) to generate insights into flexible learning programs across Australia, and 2) to be useful for young people and their families, as well as other flexible learning programs, by offering information about these specific programs. All programs selected for a vignette were given the opportunity to provide feedback, corrections and/or additional information, and most did. Table 4.1 provides an overview and further details are in Appendix I. Some programs also provided photos for the web version of their vignette, see: http://dusseldorp.org.au/ priorities/alternative-learning/case-studies/