From Certificate III to PhD: a connected learning pathway

A few short years ago, Janneke Zoontjens wasn’t really sure what to do with her life. She’d been working odd jobs since she finished school in year 10, and was pondering her future when an online education brochure from Federation TAFE in regional Victoria caught her eye.

The brochure included a picture of a woman planting a tree, advertising a Cert III in Conservation and Land Management, “I saw that, and I thought ‘I can do that’,” says Zoontjens.

While studying at TAFE, Zoontjens realised she could expand it to a year-long Diploma of Conservation and Land Management. She then expanded that to a Bachelor of Environmental Science, all while staying within the same Federation administrative system.

Zoontjens is now halfway through a PhD on the ecology of malleefowl, a ground-dwelling bird that’s similar in size to a chicken. “I have found it challenging at times, but for the most part I’ve been enjoying it, especially when working out in the field, getting to do real research,” she says.

Zoontjens was lucky in that her chosen TAFE institution was able to facilitate a joined-up transition between a TAFE qualification and a university degree. It’s an unusual system in the Australian university context and one that Federation would like to expand further.

Flexible pathways for everyone

Professor Iven Mareels, Executive Dean of the Institute for Innovation, Science and Sustainability at Federation University, says that such flexibility allows opportunity for people who might not traditionally see themselves as university material.

“I believe that we’re leaving far too many people behind in our education system,” says Mareels.

It’s a sentiment shared by Bill Shorten, Vice Chancellor of the University of Canberra, which in April overhauled its marketing to adopt “U CAN” branding.

“What this country’s suffered from for a long time is an artificial demarcation between TAFE and universities,” Shorten says.

U CAN is working towards more seamless integration of TAFE and university credentials – including microcredentials – so that learners of any age and any background can easily plug education gaps as they arise.

Shorten says the mixed TAFE-uni model might not be attractive to Australia’s more traditional universities, but that he believes education “belongs to everyone”, and that the labour-market challenges of the future demand a new approach to higher education.

“I’m not arguing for lower scholarship, I’m just arguing for greater access.”

Seamless transitions between learning environments

At Central Queensland University (CQU), it’s the flexibility between vocational education training and university degrees that has allowed a less traditional mix of students to be studying for a degree.

Professor Tania Signal, Acting Dean of the School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, says that “a lot of CQU students are first in family, they’re regional, they might be lower socioeconomic, we have a good proportion of First Nations,” she says.

The university is collecting the numbers, but Signal says they have noticed a trend for students to transition from Cert III in pathology collection to a Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Science.

She says the path to a university degree at CQU can even begin at high school level, with students undertaking VET training as part of their high school certificate.

This harmonised approach positions students to move seamlessly from high school into a joined-up education system, enabling progression across levels as their skills and ambitions evolve.