Situating engineering within the Australian pre-tertiary education system

Abstract

A global shortage of engineers is coinciding with an increasing demand for engineering skills. Clear education pathways are needed to attract future engineers who will work across the traditional boundaries of disciplines. This paper explores the visibility of engineering-related learning in pre-tertiary education as a means to spark students’ interests and skills and encourage them to enter engineering as a profession. The national Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) and Australian Curriculum, Version 9 for Foundation to Year 10, are analysed as pre-tertiary documents that guide learning from birth to Year 10. Engineering is not explicitly named in the EYLF, but associated behaviours are woven through the document. Within the content of the Australian Curriculum F-10, whilst engineering may be named in the sub-strand title, it is predominantly located in optional elaborations rather than content descriptors. Further, despite shared characteristics of engineering learning identified in the EYLF and the Australian Curriculum, the differing structures of the documents impede the articulation of learning across education contexts. This highlights the need for vertical alignment of guiding documents so that engineering-related learning outcomes and pedagogical approaches build cumulatively through pre-tertiary learning environments. Concerns regarding equity and access are highlighted, as these have implications for workforce participation and the extent to which Australia will be equipped to meet sector demands in a world that increasingly relies on engineering skills.