Learn @ Work case studies (2003): Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Learn @ Work Day activity 2003
As part of Adult Learners' Week, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation is inviting you to visit their Adult Learners' Week display and stand at the ABC Shop, Melbourne, CBD on 5 September 2003.
'Training at work' within the ABC
The ABC has a very diverse range of occupations in our workforce and a great geographic spread, which presents a challenge in ensuring quality and value in the provision of development and training programs.
One of the main initiatives we have taken in training for our staff is to become a Registered Training Organisation (RTO). This means that we are able to use our in-house expertise to deliver nationally recognised qualifications for staff.
And the key to our delivery is flexibility. The following examples describe how we deliver training in two of our key areas, Radio and Television Production.
The training provided to 50 Radio recruits combined on- and off-the-job training and is part of a major initiative to ensure equity of access to broadcast radio training. Following an initial two week training block new recruits returned to their radio stations to practice their skills under guidance from workplace supervisors and supported by on-line networks. The process is supported by at least four visits by accredited assessors/trainers to each radio station every 16 months and by the establishment of an electronic community of practice, fostering a nationwide dialogue between enrolled broadcasters and senior craft specialists from around the country.
So far 90 broadcasters have enrolled in this program and a total of more than six thousand hours of training has been delivered.
Work-based delivery was also the model used for television production trainees in ACT and Darwin. They were given detailed training plans and resources to assist them and they worked through their training plans supported b workplace supervisors.
As with the Radio training program, the key to success of this training model is the team of work-based trainers and assessors. They are all handpicked as the models of good practice in their profession and their skills are then formally recognised. They are given the opportunity to undertake workplace trainer and assessor qualifications and they then become the vital key to skilling up the next generation.
To give one example:
Mary (not her real name) joined the ABC as a trainee editor in 2001. Despite some experience working in the industry as an editor she had no formal qualifications or recognition of skill.
The ABC enrolled Mary (and nine other young staff employed to staff the new Canberra News service) in a Certificate III in Screen program. This program saw Mary learn her skills on the job. All of these trainees followed a self-paced learning program combined with on-the-job training with a mentor.
Mary excelled in the Certificate III and quickly demonstrated competence. She was fast tracked through the program and is now working towards a Certificate IV in Screen. Mary is also due to commence a Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training.
Mary is currently employed by the ABC in Canberra as a Senior Editor. If and when the ABC Canberra takes on a new editing trainee, Mary's role will then change to that of trainer and mentor.