Professional education and credentialism / Higher Education Council
- Bib ID:
- 2904486
- Format:
- Book
- Description:
-
- Canberra : Australian Govt. Pub. Service, 1996
- xiii, 129 p. ; 25 cm.
- ISBN:
- 0644473053
- Summary:
-
This report describes investigations undertaken by the Higher Education Council on the interactions between universities and professional organisations, the role of these professional bodies in curriculum desing and content and the accreditation of graduates, and the relationship between higher education study and entry to the professions. The Council concluded that the relationships between the universities and the professional bodies are very complex and vary significantly between professional fields. The relationships between regulation and accrediation of courses is influenced by industry requirements, student demands, government policy, the regulatory environment and globalisation. Professional organisations are heavily involved in university course approvals and reviews,
teach and assessment but in spite of a history of concerns raised by universities over the intrusiveness of the professions the Council found little evidence at present of this or of unreasonable demands which might impact on institutional autonomy. The Council considers that this change may be related to the comprehensive adoption of quality assurance processes in the sector during the last three years which has resulted in a greater involvement of all stakeholders in course design and review. Nevertheless, it appears to the Council that there should be greater involvement of consumers of the educational services along with the professional bodies in the processes of approvals, accreditation and registration of graduates from professional courses.
The Council also examined the nature of accreditation processes used in the various professions, and has concluded that the academic quality of professional education university courses is primarily secured by the internal quality assurance processes of the universities. However, alignment of outputs from the courses with the requirements of professional practice both in Australia and increasingly overseas is of critical importance and can best be acieved by external accreditation processes. Such accreditors should wherever practicable recognise internal quality assurance processes and should be focused on required outputs rather than the detailed manner in which outputs are achieved. The Council has identified a model for a 'good practice' course review and accreditation process.
In investigating the relationship between academic preparation for professional practice and the rull requirements for entry to professions, the Council discovered that representatives from universities and professional bodies often do not have a widely informed understanding of the various routes to practice in their own fields. Because the implications of this for students are significant, the Council believes that the universities and the professional bodies should document all current entry pathways to the professions and publish them so that the quality of information available to students is improved. The various academic pathways in preparation for professional practice are subject to different degrees of public subsidy.
There has been a tendency in recent years for professions to increase the level and length of educational entry requirements and to concentrate much of the professional studies in postgraduate level courses, which may attrac up-front fees. The Council also discovered that the future plans of professional bodies in a number of professions continue this trend. The 1996 budget announcements, which foreshadow differential Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS) and the potential reduction in HECS-liable postgraduate coursework training, also impact on the financial equity of the various entry pathways to the professions.
The Council therefore considers that: funding of basic professional education should be considered within a given profession and should be substantially publicly subsidised to ensure equity of access; the issue of funding of professional education, including whether or not professional educationl should be consolidated at the undergraduate level or exempt from fees should eb examined as part of the recently announced review of higher education policy and funding; and a review of the impact of the 1996 budget decisions on undergraduate and postgraduate entry level processional education should be undertaken in 1999. From its analysis of the student profile in the processions and the costs charged for some entry pathways the Council noted that the profiles of the prefessions were not representative of the community as a whole.
The Council believes that the health of the professions and their ability to serve the full diversity of the Australian community is dependent on their membership being broadly representative of that community. Decisions made by professional bodies on admitting graduates to practice and on the nature of their entry requirements should therefore not exacerbate what is already an unsatisfactory situation in relation to equity of access to all groups of the community. The Council believes that steps should be taken to address some of these equity issues and therefore believes that universities should regularly monitor the profile of enrolments in professional education courses and develop strategies jointly with professional bodies to ensure that, as far as possible, they reflect the broad diversity of the community in their composition.ions rate.ad Injury Counc
- Full contents:
-
- 1. Introduction
- 1.1. History
- 1.2. The reference
- 1.3. Scope of the project
- 1.4. Approach to the reference
- 2. Background
- 2.1. The nature of professionalism
- 2.2. The first stage of the study
- 2.3. Scope of the stage 2 study
- 3. Relationships between the universities and professional bodies
- 3.1. Method used
- 3.2. General comments from the community and the professions
- 3.3. Purpose and nature of the involvement
- 3.4. Formal registration and accreditation processes
- 3.5. Scope of the involvement
- 3.6. Quality of the relationships
- 3.7. Conclusions
- 3.8. Issues for the future
- 4. Entry to the professions
- 4.1. General comments from submissions
- 4.2. Pathways for entry level qualifications for each professional field
- 4.3. The role of professional bodies in determining minimum requirements for practice
- 4.4. Conclusions
- 4.5. A description of the educational streams of entry to the professions
- 4.6. Issues
- 5. Paying for professional education
- 5.1. Current funding arrangements
- 5.2. Comments from the submissions
- 5.3. Patterns of funding for selected fields
- 5.4. Future plans for changes in entry level course requirements
- 5.5. Conclusions
- 5.6. Issues
- 6. Equity of access to the professions
- 6.1. General context
- 6.2. Costs of professional fee-paying courses
- 6.3. Participation by designated equity groups in fee-paying professional courses
- 6.4. Equity implications of the 1996 Budget
- 6.5. Issues
- 7. Consultations
- 7.1. General response to the discussion paper
- 7.2. A model of good practice
- 7.3. Institutional autonomy and legal mandates to accredit
- 7.4. Funding and extension of professional education requirements
- 7.5. Equity of access
- 7.6. Other issues
- 8. Conclusions
- 8.1. Nature of the relationships between the universities and professional bodies
- 8.2. The nature of accreditation processes and good practice
- 8.3. Streams of entry to professional practice
- 8.4. Funding professional education in the future
- 8.5. Equity issues
- Appendix 1. Submissions
- Appendix 2. Participants in consultation seminars
- Appendix 3. Membership criteria for Australian Council of Professions
- Appendix 4. Consultancy teams: stage 1 and stage 2 projects
- Appendix 5. Profiles of selected professions.CCRW)
- 1
- Notes:
- Bibliography: p. 129.
- Subject:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Higher Education Council (Australia)
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
You may copy under some circumstances, for example you may copy a portion for research or study. Order a copy through Copies Direct to the extent allowed under fair dealing. Contact us for further information about copying.
- Reason for copyright status:
- Until 2046 [Created/Published Date + 50 Years]
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 1996
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
Request this item
Request this item to view in the Library’s reading room.
Feedback
Similar items
- The preparation of human service professionals / Alan Gartner
- The changing pattern of requirements in professional education / by Phillip Law
- College as a training ground for jobs / Lewis C. Solmon, Ann S. Bisconti, Nancy L. Ochsner
- Didattica della formazione professionale / Con prefazione dell'avv. Giuliano Santoro
- Continuing learning in the professions / Cyril O. Houle