Vocational education and training and the learning manager

A national skill shortage, coupled with a Government desire for all participants in the emerging knowledge economy to be ‘earning or learning’ and skilled to play a role, has propelled Vocational Education and Training (VET) into the national political spotlight. At its fundamental level VET represents the culmination and transition of formal learning into knowledge and skills that enable ‘the worker’ to produce products and services from a direct market standpoint. The construction of houses or the provision of services, such as hairdressing and hospitality, exemplify this circumstance. In this chapter the concept of vocational education and training is examined from a learning management perspective. The chapter aims to provide an insight and to outline the key knowledge sets associated with the development of the learning manager in the VET sector.