| Background
Process
Issues
General Issues Raised
Conclusions
Brief Program |
FACILITATOR’S
SUMMARY
The ARES Forum was organised by the
Australian Society of Archivists (ASA) and the Records Management Association
of Australasia (RMAA). The Forum was intended to focus on education within the
broadest range of recordkeeping areas including archives, records and records
management. Its intention was to
focus on the need to sustain specialist education within those fields. The two
associations were concerned to ensure that such education is sustained in the
current climate of considerable change in the local educational landscape.
The
aims of the Forum were:
- to
ensure that all stakeholders understand the current environment for
professional education;
- to
ensure that stakeholders understand each others' views on education;
- to
develop a shared agenda for professional education which will benefit all
stakeholders; and
- to
develop a list of actions for implementation which will sustain
professional education which is valued by all stakeholders.
The Forum was divided into sessions
devoted to the perspectives of the five main stakeholder groups identified as
having an interest in archives and records education:
 |
employers; |
|
employees; |
|
professional
associations; |
|
regulators;
and |
|
educators. |
Two or three papers
were prepared relating to the issues seen from the perspective of each of the
stakeholder groups and circulated in advance of the Forum.
In each of the sessions at the Forum the authors of the papers gave a
brief presentation of their main themes and arguments.
This was followed by a general discussion on the issues raised.
This covered and successfully fulfilled Forum aims 1 and 2.
The last afternoon was devoted to an
attempt to address Forum aims 3 and 4. There
was some difficulty in developing a practical work agenda but a set of statements
of intent reflected the unanimous views of the Forum regarding the
principal issues that must be addressed in order to sustain effective and
meaningful specialist education for recordkeeping.
Specific actions to progress two major
issues raised during the Forum were also agreed to.
The statements of intent and the actions are listed below under the
heading ‘Conclusions’.
It was also agreed that the ASA and RMAA would discuss with the
Recordkeeping, Educators and Trainers Forum the possibility of having further
meetings of stakeholders.
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The key issues raised in this session
were:
|
employers
want to be involved in discussions about course content and want to be
involved in consultations with educators. |
|
the
need to market the profession to employers. It became clear that many employers and potential
employers don’t know what their real recordkeeping requirements are or
what a professional recordkeeper can offer them. As a result they have
no understanding of the need for qualified recordkeepers. |
|
employers
want people with a range of skills and qualifications: generalist,
interpersonal and organisational skills as well as recordkeeping ones.
There was a range of views about who is responsible for providing
these skills and where they are best obtained. |
|
there
is a difference between the requirements of large government employers,
who are willing to provide on the job training and small and private
employers who want experienced staff able to do the job immediately.
Where only one recordkeeper is employed in an organisation that
person will not in the normal course of events be able to access any
suitable on the job training. |
|
is
there a need for a distinctly recognised para-professional stream in the
profession? There were
opposing views on this question but in later discussion there was
agreement that this was not a suitable approach for the profession. |
The Detailed
Report records discussions.
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The key issues raised in this session
were:
|
the
special needs of lone practitioners, Indigenous recordkeepers and some
specialists are not addressed in courses.
Although the needs of these groups were recognised it was felt
that it was impossible for general courses to meet them with any level
of specificity, and other ways, including CPD organised by professional
associations, would have to deal with them. |
|
there
is need for mentoring to be considered as part of the educational
framework. There was
overwhelming support for the vital role of mentoring which includes
formal mentoring schemes, particularly for those involved in distance
education, group mentoring programs, and informal advice provision and
self-help arrangements. |
|
Continuing
Professional Development (CPD) of all sorts is vital but the cost of CPD
is a major impediment to employees in the private sector having adequate
access to it. |
|
employees
seek recognition in the qualification framework for CPD.
Employees want formal CPD to result in credit towards
qualifications. |
|
there
is a need for awareness programs among schools and communities, as well
as more scholarships and traineeships, if more Indigenous people are to
be enticed into recordkeeping courses.
Indigenous communities are not currently aware of recordkeeping
as an appropriate area of study but there are ways of overcoming this
lack of awareness, particularly by reaching Indigenous educators. |
|
there
was a desire for courses to include more practical training as well as
theoretical education. This
reflects the issue also brought up by the employer representatives. |
The
Detailed
Report records discussions.
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The key issues raised in this session
were:
|
what
should be the role of professional associations in the provision of CPD?
There was a general view that CPD was an important role of
professional associations but that financial constraints can inhibit
comprehensive CPD programs. The
RMAA will complete its current CPD trial.
The ASA will study the result of the RMAA trial. |
|
should
CPD participation (or tested successful completion) be required for the
maintenance of professional membership?
There were diverging views on this issue. The majority view was that compulsory CPD is only
effective where the professional body has the power to prevent practice
by recalcitrant members. However
the ALIA model of voluntary entry to the program but compulsory
completion post entry was also discussed. |
|
what
is the purpose of course recognition?
What should be recognised? What
should be the criteria for recognition? How can members of recognition
panels be supported? These
questions and related matters were the most discussed areas at the
Forum. There was no
agreement but there was a commitment for the RMAA and the ASA to meet
with educators and other interested professional associations, such as
IIM, to propose a way forward. The
VET sector must be included. |
|
there
is great benefit in the RMAA and ASA conducting recognition reviews at
the same time. This will be
included in the joint meetings proposed under the previous point. |
The Detailed
Report records discussions.
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The key issues raised in this session
were:
|
regulation
of recordkeepers is a new thing and will take some time to bed down.
It is probably too early to judge outcomes although the success
of SRNSW’s goal of improving the level of skills in the NSW government
records management workforce by 2005 will be an indicator of what can be
achieved. |
|
models
and information from one jurisdiction are not easily transferred to
other jurisdictions. The
differing legislative environments and statutory powers mean that
programs need to be devised specifically for each jurisdiction. |
|
partnerships
between regulators and education and training providers are a very
productive way of ensuring that the training required by regulators can
be delivered. |
The Detailed
Report records discussions.
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The key issues raised in these two
sessions were:
|
the
profession and associations need to be aware of the rapidly changing
nature of the current education environment, including the changed
financial structures, and to take this into account in their
expectations of what is possible. The
old models of course recognition are probably no longer capable of
effectively delivering the outcomes desired. |
|
assessment
for course recognition purposes should not cover areas already covered
in university quality assessment processes.
University educators, and in different ways other education
providers, are already assessed in several ways under a range of quality
assurance programs. It
could be assumed that these meet course recognition requirements, or,
alternatively, the outcomes of these assessments could be made available
to assessment panels. This
will form part of the discussions between the ASA and RMAA and educators
outlined in the Professional Associations section above. |
|
universities
want to communicate with employers and welcome employer representatives
on panels or in other consultative forums. |
|
research
is important to both the universities and the profession. |
|
there
is a need to provide quality assessed resources and accredited trainers
for VET courses. It was
noted that there are no quality assessed courses for recordkeeping
training and there is a shortage of qualified trainers.
RTO representatives noted that this did not mean that there were
not adequate and suitable resources.
They also noted that partnerships were a way of addressing the
shortage of trainers. |
|
articulation
of courses should be addressed in a comprehensive way.
People completing VET courses want an assured pathway into
tertiary courses. Both
entry qualification for courses and advanced standing in them need to be
addressed. |
|
professional
associations must address how they are going to support the VET sector.
This will form part of the discussions between the ASA and RMAA
and educators outlined in the Professional Associations section above. |
|
the
role of the private non-VET sector needs to be understood as part of the
whole education/training area, particularly in relation to specific
skill training, CPD and brokerage of cross sectoral training. |
The Detailed
Report records discussions.
Some issues cutting across stakeholder
groups were also raised in discussion. These
included:
|
The
need to identify exactly what is the body of domain-specific
professional knowledge that recordkeepers require and that should form
the content of courses. How
this will be addressed will form part of the discussions between the ASA
and RMAA and educators outlined in the Professional Associations section
above. |
|
the
need for an inclusive framework for the structure of the profession.
There needs to be a clear understanding of the nature of the
profession, the qualifications and skills required and with clear
pathways, related to education, which allow and equip people to move
between different roles and areas within the profession. |
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Statements
of intent
The Forum agreed that the following
statements of intent should form the basis for further work
|
Statement
of professional knowledge - A definitive
statement of the professional knowledge required by the recordkeepers
needs to be developed. |
|
Framework
for the structure of the profession - An
inclusive framework for the structure of the profession needs to be
developed. It must equip
people to move between professional areas and provide recognised
pathways for doing this. |
|
Course
recognition – Course recognition is
important for the profession, for the education providers and for
students. It must be transparent, accountable, efficient and
sustainable, and should cover all of the educational and training areas. |
|
Continuing
Professional Development –CPD should be
an explicit outcome of the framework and statement of professional
knowledge. |
|
Marketing
and communications - The profession needs
to develop explicit marketing and communications strategies and develop
specific marketing outcomes. It
must market to: |
 |
employers
generally; |
|
specific
groups of employers; |
|
schools
(especially schools with indigenous students); and |
|
school
leavers. |
|
Attracting
Indigenous recordkeepers - The number of
Indigenous recordkeepers must be increased.
Indigenous people must be encouraged and supported to pursue
educational opportunities in recordkeeping by financial support for
existing scholarships and traineeships, an increase in the number of
scholarships and traineeships, and the active involvement of Indigenous
teachers and communities. |
|
Increasing
employers’ awareness - Efforts must be
made to give employers an awareness of what their real recordkeeping
needs are and what professional recordkeepers can offer them. |
|
Mentoring
- Mentoring programs must be developed further and should encompass
formal mentoring schemes, particularly for those involved in distance
education, group mentoring programs, and informal advice provision and
self-help arrangements. Experienced
members of the profession must be encouraged to offer themselves as
mentors. |
|
Dialogue
between stakeholders – There is value in
bringing stakeholders in recordkeeping education together on a regular
basis. All stakeholders,
including students and graduates of education programs and training
courses should be involved. |
The ASA and RMAA representatives agreed to
undertake the following action:
|
Course
recognition – The RMAA and the ASA will
consult with education and training providers to get sufficient
information to carry out course recognition in an accountable and
sustainable manner, across all of the educational and training areas. |
|
Continuing
Professional Development – The RMAA will
complete its current CPD trial. The
ASA will study the result of the RMAA trial and ALIA’s review of its
CPD program. Following this
both associations will examine the benefit of reconvening the ALIA/ASA/RMAA
CPD Committee. |
|
Further
meetings – The ASA and RMAA will discuss
with the Recordkeeping, Educators and Trainers Forum the possibility of
having further meetings of stakeholders to progress issues outlined in
the statements of intent. |
A
Detailed Report records discussion in each session.
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ARES
Home
Thursday
12 June 2003
|
|
9.00
am – 9.15 am
|
Opening
and welcome
|
|
9.15
am – 10 45 am
|
Employers
Kathryn
Dan Council of Federal, Territory and State Archives
Michael
Piggott University of Melbourne Archives
Gail
Murphy Information Enterprises Australia Pty Ltd
Discussion |
|
11.15
am – 12.45 am
|
Employees
Barbara
Van Bronswijk Archivist Wesley
College Perth
Loris
Williams ASA Indigenous Issues SIG
Discussion |
|
1.45
pm – 3.15 pm
|
Professional
Associations
Colleen
McEwen Australian Society of Archivists
Lesley
Ferguson Records Management Association of Australasia
Discussion
|
|
3.45
pm –5.15 pm
|
Regulators
Kathryn
Dan Council of Federal, Territory and State Archives
Cassandra
Findlay State Records New South Wales
Bronwyn
Keighley-Gerardy WA Information Commissioner
Discussion
|
Friday
13 June 2003
|
|
9.00
am – 12.30 am
|
Educators
Karen
Anderson, Edith Cowan University
Margaret
Pember, Curtin University
Sue
McKemmish, Monash University
Discussion
Phil
Bevan and Kate Walker, Esset Australia
Barbara
Reed Recordkeeping Institute
Amanda
Cossham Open Polytechnic New Zealand
Discussion
|
|
1.30
pm – 4.15 pm
|
Summary,
discussion, review and agreements
|
|
4.15
pm – 4.30 pm
|
Close
|
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