National awards boost VET researcher capacity 

 
 
Cathy Curry, CHARTTES


(From left) Larry and David Ryann, Wulgularr with CDU VET lecturer Stuart Anderson

Research into vocational education and training at Charles Darwin University has received a major boost with two staff members winning national scholarships to further their careers.

Stuart Anderson, VET lecturer and course coordinator, Alcohol and Other Drugs, Youth Work, was awarded an NCVER Research Scholarship that will assist him to complete his Masters in Education at CDU.

The scholarship, valued at $4000, is offered under the National Centre for Vocational Education and Research (NCVER) program “Working in partnership with VET organizations to build researcher capacity”. 

The NCVER program supports people employed in the VET sector to undertake formal study by research in a VET-related field.

Stuart will investigate how delivery of vocational education and training can be customized to better meet the needs of Indigenous learners living in the Wugularr Community.

Catherine Curry, executive officer, CHARTTES Training Advisory Council, has won an NCVER New Researcher Award that will fund her travel costs to present at the 2008 NCVER  No Frills Conference at the University of Tasmania in July.

Cathy’s paper, titled Skills planning for industry change, will explore how a small regional town (Katherine), that is already feeling the impact of national labour and skills shortages, can prepare for planned industry growth

The awards will offer Stuart and Cathy the opportunity to network, share and learn about new, innovative and best practice VET research.

Stuart and Cathy will give feedback on their experiences at the NT OctoberVET Conference. They are members of the Social Partnerships in Learning (SPiL) Research Consortium.