Abstract:

Many industry groups serviced thorough the current vocational education framework in New Zealand, are experiencing rapid changes in best practice and staffing requirements, usually resulting from shifting social and environmental pressures. For some professional bodies, typically those requiring, degree level qualifications, the lag between the classroom and the workplace can be problematic. This is true both of the time it takes for potential employees to gain their qualifications and, in some instances, of the content being taught. At the same time learners wishing to enter into in-demand roles in growing industries often find themselves unable to commit to full programmes of study in order to gain a degree for a variety of reasons including family commitments, existing work obligations, inability to travel to campus, and a desire to avoid a heavy debt burden. One possible mechanism for addressing this is the use of degree level apprenticeship programmes where the recognition, development, and evaluation of authentic workplace learning as part of a learners path of study improves outcomes for both learners and industry.

In Aotearoa-New Zealand an engineering degree apprenticeship has been successfully piloted in partnership with the National Asset Management professional body. In this paper, we describe the delivery of a three year Engineering Technology (BEngTech) degree through apprenticeship and the expansion of this concept to other pathways in engineering as well as other disciplines in order to meet wider workforce demands. In the pilot, the apprenticeship mode of delivery has led to increased learner enrollments, improved outcomes for women, enhanced mobility within the workplace for many learners, and boosted connectedness between industry and education providers. With the creation of Te Pūkenga (a national provider in charge of delivering vocational education) degree apprenticeship pathways now have the ability to draw on a national delivery network to provide learners with a range of content and delivery options regardless of their geographic location.

By leveraging both the national delivery network and the specific workplace contexts of learners, degree apprenticeship models have the potential to be both nationally consistent, and regionally responsive. This paper will draw on a range of international examples, as well as focusing on key case studies from New Zealand to explore the ways in which degree apprenticeship programmes can be leveraged at a macro level, while also meeting the needs of individual learners and employers.

Keywords:

Degree Apprenticeship, Vocational Education, Work-Integrated Learning.