School of thought: Jon Black

It was while sitting in the back seat of an Uber flitting across Sydney that Jon Black realised his vision for tertiary education in New South Wales was right on track.

He’d struck up a conversation with the young driver, a civil engineering graduate unable to find work in his industry. The managing director of TAFE NSW was shocked. "Particularly when Sydney is in the middle of a construction boom," he says. "But he explained that while he had his degree in civil engineering and knew all the theory, employers were also looking for practical experience. This young man had never been on a construction site. How does that happen? It just doesn’t make sense." 

Providing the practical

While it may not make sense, it does explain why 35% of TAFE enrolments last year were graduates armed with university degrees. TAFE, with its focus on Vocational Education and Training, (VET) has long been a popular launching pad for students to gain entry into university, but lately the trend has been working in reverse. University students, trained to the hilt in theory, are simply not job-ready on the practical front and are turning to TAFE to get the necessary skills to give them the edge in a competitive market. 

TAFE should be seen as a first choice for tertiary education … yet schools are pushing universities as the solution to a successful working life. That is just wrong. 

"TAFE should be seen as a first choice for tertiary education," Jon says. "It has always excelled in providing more practical-based courses, yet the schools are pushing higher education at universities as the solution to a successful working life. That is just wrong. 

"The young Uber driver with his civil engineering degree could complete one of our engineering modules designed to put all his theory into practice. A certificate or diploma from TAFE equips you with a firm foundation and understanding of the practicalities of that field.

When you go onto a construction site, for example, you’ll be there working with teams of people who are implementing plans. Our industry-based learning helps you understand the process, and that is going to make you become a much better engineer." 

Military mindset

Jon compares it to his own extensive military training where the basics always had to be understood before the implementation of a large strategy.

He spent 25 years serving in the Australian Army, predominately in management and leadership roles where quick thinking, teamwork and accountability were essential requirements.

Among other roles, he coordinated training regimes for up to 40,000 trainee soldiers and officers; was a military assistant to the chief of the Australian Army; commanded a contingent in the Middle East; and was the commanding officer and chief instructor at the Royal Military College, Duntroon. 

"The most important life skill I learned from the military was to put others before self," he says. "You learn to be responsible and accountable for your actions. I am very proud of my military service; a wonderful experience influenced by people I looked up to, respected and admired. At the same time, I also observed people who were not good leaders, and that enabled me to shape my own type of behaviour."

His impressive career and commanding mindset led him to various CEO positions in utilities, particularly in water management, and more recently to the director-general’s job at Queensland’s Environment and Heritage Department.

A tumultuous time

In January 2016, he took on the role at TAFE NSW. It was a tumultuous time for Australia’s largest tertiary organisation, which had endured drastic staff cuts, inadequate resources, scandals over incompetent and expensive administrative systems, and a top-heavy, hierarchical bureaucracy. A history of autonomous operation also meant competing institutions were duplicating functions and systems leading to increased costs and waste.

There was no doubt TAFE’s image was seriously flawed, with high-school students turning instead to universities and prestigious private colleges to continue their education. Reforms were desperately needed to restore respect for the 130-year-old institution, and Jon drew on all of his military skills to hit the ground running, look forward, not back, and take criticism on the chin.

"We had lost teachers and we had lost students in institutions competing against each other," Jon explains. "We had a multimillion-dollar enrolment system that didn’t work and a work culture that hadn’t been altered for decades. Changes had to be made."  

The concept of One TAFE NSW was launched, offering a more streamlined, modern and productive organisation. Ten individual institutions were merged into one multi-campus billion-dollar entity with a future-focused and very student-centric plan seeing money, previously poured into top-heavy bureaucracy, redirected to industry-ready facilities, technology, teachers and training facilities. It’s a revolution Jon has embraced.

The world of work

One major challenge he’s tackling is finding practical placements for students. Nursing is one of TAFE’s most popular courses, yet finding work experience in hospitals is notoriously difficult for students. Jon has approached the market and suggested aged, disability and seniors care living facilities be built on TAFE sites to provide a training hospital environment.

So far, the feedback has been positive, and Jon is networking in other areas to expand the market for work placements. "We want all our graduating students to be job-ready, and I’m seeking help from industry to find them work experience and jobs — not only the jobs for today, because that is a constantly evolving market, but jobs that are around the corner," Jon says. "Things are changing really quickly and we need to be agile enough to define new jobs and design the training necessary for them." 

We want all our graduating students to be job-ready, and I’m seeking help from industry to find them work experience and jobs — not only the jobs for today, because that is a constantly evolving market, but jobs that are around the corner.

Another, and perhaps even more tricky, dilemma is Jon’s vision to develop a workforce of the future. Many existing TAFE teachers, particularly those older than 60, are gifted with permanent status under current employment conditions, blocking opportunities to continually renew the workforce and ensure all teachers maintain industry experience throughout their careers. Jon is keen to add more industry-experienced teachers to his staff rather than relying solely on those with tertiary qualifications. 

"Of course, we still need teachers with advanced teaching qualifications, but we also need to have a good blend of full- and part-time teachers who have highly contemporary industry experience. They have to understand the current needs and challenges of industry so we can pass on that practicality to our students for them to understand what the workplace is actually like. That is really important." 

We need to be able to teach repetitive practical skills, and that can be done by training someone with industry experience to be an instructor. This blend is what makes up a really modern workforce."

Skills for success

Jon Black is determined TAFE will once again be the go-to destination for learning. He is excited about the future, but even more so for the students and teachers who will benefit from One TAFE.

"We have to be seen as an exciting place, not only to study but an exciting place to work," he says. "It has got to be collaborative and provide a useful education that will train students for jobs that actually exist. We also realise our student population is not homogenous. We need to make all our students successful, including those with learning difficulties, those who are older, and those who felt they failed at school. Our teachers will inspire all of them and take them on a new journey of learning.  

"Everywhere you look, just walking around the city, you see someone doing something they’ve been trained to do. Whether it is a techo pulling up cables or fixing overhead wiring, someone building on a construction site, someone laying a tile, making coffee. Everywhere there are people with skills making the world go around."