Underpinning knowledge in training packages

This paper reports on the recent national strategic evaluation, funded by the Australian National Training Authority, to investigate the nature and clarity of the specification of underpinning knowledge within Training Packages. The research process included extensive consultation within the VET community to ascertain the common understandings, needs and opinions with respect to the nature of underpinning knowledge. The research found that the specification of underpinning knowledge within Training Packages is of great concern to the VET community. However, there is no common position about its nature or of the pedagogical and epistemological assumptions which give it form and value. This paper looks at the outcomes of the evaluation and their implications for action to strengthen the explicitness of underpinning knowledge within Training Packages.