VET teachers’ and trainers’ participation in professional development: A national overview Jacqueline Tuck and Erica Smith, Federation University Australia Abstract This paper reports on the professional development of vocational education and training (VET) teachers and trainers in Australia. It utilises the data on professional development (PD) gathered from two national surveys undertaken in 2016 as part of a major ARC-funded national research project on VET teachers and their qualifications. Part of the first survey, which focused mainly on VET teachers’ qualifications and teaching approaches, examined the PD activities undertaken by the respondents. It explored the nature and frequency of the activities, the motivations for participation and the support provided for PD. The second survey was sent to VET teachers/trainers who had participated in PD activities offered by three major PD providers for VET. It focused on the external PD activities undertaken by respondents and explored the frequency, content and nature of activities. The paper provides evidence on the current state of professional development, both formal and informal, for teachers/trainers across the VET sector and compares differences among teachers working for different types of provider. Detailed data are presented on participation in a range of industry and VET PD activities (both within and external to the RTO), the motivations for participation, and who pays for PD. The findings show the type of PD activities that were valued, and what participants would like to see in the future. The findings are expected to inform policy discussions about VET teacher development and will be useful for managers in TAFE Institutes and RTOs; and for those external organisations delivering PD to the VET workforce. Introduction The larger study on which this paper draws, is a multi-phased project undertaken to examine whether and how higher-level qualifications for vocational education and training (VET) teachers and trainers would improve quality in the VET system. The project was funded by the Australian Research Council and was supported by five industry partners 1 . Government documents and public commentary indicate that the VET sector suffers from some fairly serious quality problems. This is significant because VET provides training that underpins all Australian industries. However, most VET teachers are qualified only to a Certificate IV level in VET pedagogy. Given the relatively low levels of qualification of the VET workforce, professional development is very important. Moreover, it is needed in both ‘educational and industry- specific expertise’ (UK Commission for Employment and Skills, 2010). However, with recent funding cuts to the VET sector, fewer resources are available for PD, with teachers increasingly needing to take responsibility for their own PD. It has been recognised that engagement in PD by VET teachers is affected by many factors, with the nature of ‘initial teacher qualification’ being one such factor (Smith, 2000 and Guthrie, 2010a in Australia; Husband, 2015 in the U.K.) 1 The industry Partner Organisations, which provided financial and in-kind support, were the Australian Council for Private Education and Training, the VET Development Centre, TAFE Queensland, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research, and Federation Training. 1