Some myths of TAFE (1 Viewer)

[Twig]

Being brought up in a school where i have, with parents i have - it has been rather expected of me that i would go to University. Due to some UAI predictions and what i expect, I have the feeling that Uni isn't for me.

Now, as i said, when i mention this to people at school, they make references to plumbers, electricians and other assortments.
Now, perhaps you know what i am hinting at - Is TAFE somewhere for those who weren't smart enough to get into uni? Are we able to make these sorts of generalisations? Have you anything to say contrary to some myths that you have realised by studying at TAFE or knowing someone who has.

I'm thinking of studying News media.

Cheers.

 

[kami]

TAFE is not the "lesser" alternative if you get a low score - its a different one, just as if you opt to go to Mac instead of UTS, some institutions fit you and your career path and others don't. One of the most pathetic illusions perpetrated among highschoolers and their parents is that low UAI = less worth, so you have many people deriding institutions such as TAFENSW and UWS because they are easier to get into. And this has no meaning at all since each institution whether it be one of 10 or so universities or TAFENSW all have different skill sets they are trying to teach. For example TAFENSW is far more hands on than any of the universities and teaches mainly practical skills in the workplace, with usually some sort of industry placement as part of the course whereas USYD's courses abound with theory - infact if you took two qualifications from each in the same area you would find almost no similarity in the experience. Anyways...[/rant]
Here are the points about TAFE that you might want to consider in your choices:
Pros
TAFE does not discriminate on the basis of the UAI, so its less restrictive in entry.
TAFE is extremely flexible - a 2 year course can be extended to far longer if necessary.
Its cheaper, and won't give you a debt that most university courses will.
Its all practical, which means that you don't spend time learning skills that aren't relevant to your future career.
TAFE has many campuses spread around the state so you can likely go to a class relatively close to you which might not happen with a uni.
The Diploma and Certificate qualifications do not take as long as a Bachelor to attain.
Cons
TAFE does not discriminate on achievement in high school so alot of underachievers can filter into some of the early stages.
Its all practical, and very few general courses are offered - where a uni will allow you a range of electives, TAFE will not.
The Diploma and Certificate qualifications may in some sectors not be as highly regarded as their university Bachelor equivalents(this is an iffy one)
There is less student community at TAFEs than at one of the universities.

There is probably more that could be mentioned but its mostly self evident. It should also be noted that if you complete a Diploma or Advanced Diploma you could move into the Bachelor equivalent at most unis with considerable advanced standing and credit.

 

[sikeveo]

North shore boys don't go to TAFE. Keep your head high and you wont be at TAFE next year.

 

[...]

North shore boys don't go to TAFE. Keep your head high and you wont be at TAFE next year.

yeah, north shore boys can't decide on their degre preferences, they let their mummy and daddy decide for them

 

[Anthrax]

There is less student community at TAFEs than at one of the universities.

can you elaborate more on this.

 

[kami]

At a university, there are innerchild societies, greek societies, chess clubs, O - week and students politicians etc.
At TAFE, you have the um, student association which um gives you cheaper print offs at the library and informs you of sporting events and has next to no impact on the smaller campuses - at least thats how it seems.

 

[Musegirl]

At TAFE, you have the um, student association which um gives you cheaper print offs at the library and informs you of sporting events and has next to no impact on the smaller campuses - at least thats how it seems.

At $15 per semester for the Student Association, you get more back than what you pay in the dollar. Even though it's a very small amount.

 

[sikeveo]

yeah, north shore boys can't decide on their degre preferences, they let their mummy and daddy decide for them

fuck you, i did that

 

[kami]

At $15 per semester for the Student Association, you get more back than what you pay in the dollar. Even though it's a very small amount.

My statement was in reference to Anthrax's query on TAFE's student community ie Universities have societies that fulfill this purpose but the losest you come to this at TAFE is the Student Association - which isn't so much about the community than it is about disounts, useful though they can be.

 

[xeuyrawp]

yeah, north shore boys can't decide on their degre preferences, they let their mummy and daddy decide for them

*high-fives jimmy*

I think the matter is simple- if you don't think you can get into Uni or you don't want to be there, go to TAFE.

It totally depends on what you do.

At a university, there are innerchild societies,

My friend started that society at USyd =D

 

[julius]

Is TAFE somewhere for those who weren't smart enough to get into uni?

Cheers.

Yes and no.

Yes because,

I wanted to study architecture @ UTS this year, but fucked up. I am now doing Architectural Tech Cert 4.

No because,

Depending on the course your doing you can gain advanced standing @ uni. To see if you can get advanced standing you have to check how the awards (bachelor, diploma, etc.) branch out.

 

[White Rabbit]

Some courses are harder to get into at TAFE than at Uni.

Take nursing, all you need is a 60 - 70 UAI in order to study at Uni, where as the TEN program offered through TAFE is far more compeditive and also takes in more than your UAI. You see, Uni relies on one thing and one thing alone - marks based on one year in high school and a few exams at the end. It's a rather ridiculous way to judge someones ability to achive in a course, and their level of intelligence IMO. TAFE on the other hand requires more the completion or either Year 10 or 12, you need to have a decent personality and actually show some ability to adequatly perform the job you plan to study. Nursing, for example, won't allow someone eith absolutley no social skills to enrol, where as they could get into Uni.

Yes, in some cases it's a form of alternative entry when your UAI doesn't meet cut offs, but in other cases, it provides a more practical, hands on form of study or provide more direct entry into certain fields. And, as shocking as this may sound, TAFE can also provide BETTER courses than Uni, they can actually be more benifical to students than Uni.

I never understood the mentality of so many people on this board, this ridiculous belief that TAFE is somehow inferior to Uni. I'd love to see you lot survive without TAFE trained workers, you'd be rather lost i'd imagine.

 

[xeuyrawp]

Some courses are harder to get into at TAFE than at Uni.

They're in the minority.

Take nursing, all you need is a 60 - 70 UAI in order to study at Uni, where as the TEN program offered through TAFE is far more compeditive and also takes in more than your UAI. You see, Uni relies on one thing and one thing alone - marks based on one year in high school and a few exams at the end. It's a rather ridiculous way to judge someones ability to achive in a course, and their level of intelligence IMO. TAFE on the other hand requires more the completion or either Year 10 or 12, you need to have a decent personality and actually show some ability to adequatly perform the job you plan to study. Nursing, for example, won't allow someone eith absolutley no social skills to enrol, where as they could get into Uni.

Yes, TAFE has a better selection method. This doesn't make the actual teaching side of it better. UWS law could suddenly take people in after singing auditions, but that woulnd't make it a better law campus. Don't confuse selection criteria with why people actually go there.

Yes, in some cases it's a form of alternative entry when your UAI doesn't meet cut offs, but in other cases, it provides a more practical, hands on form of study or provide more direct entry into certain fields.

There, you said it. 'certain fields'. That's exactly right, because no unis really offer plumbing, or hairdressing, or practical electrician training. (Although they do offer nursing, one of the few crossovers between tafe and uni)

And, as shocking as this may sound, TAFE can also provide BETTER courses than Uni, they can actually be more benifical to students than Uni.

Care to justify that statement?

Although there are some crossovers, like nursing, most of the TAFE courses are shorter, and more 'practical'. You can't get a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese from TAFE: you can't do three years of Japanese, with cool subjects like Manga studies, comparitive history, in-country opportunities, the Japanese club, Japanese competitions- but you can do Japanese at TAFE.

Don't pretend TAFE and Uni have the same purpose.

Although a lot of people go to TAFE when they can't get into uni, TAFE is a place to get practical hands-on training. Practical things that are taught there, like languages, IT, nursing (which is a totally practical field, anyway), hairdressing etc, are always taught from a far different perspective to uni.

Don't pretend everyone here is TAFE bashing. We prefer uni because we prefer uni for what we do. Just because we don't go to TAFE and because we're un-PC enough to admit that students who want things offered by uni but go to TAFE (eg, want to do law, but do legal studies at TAFE) haven't been able to go to uni.

 

[White Rabbit]

Care to justify that statement?

Although there are some crossovers, like nursing, most of the TAFE courses are shorter, and more 'practical'. You can't get a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese from TAFE: you can't do three years of Japanese, with cool subjects like Manga studies, comparitive history, in-country opportunities, the Japanese club, Japanese competitions- but you can do Japanese at TAFE.

Don't pretend TAFE and Uni have the same purpose.

Although a lot of people go to TAFE when they can't get into uni, TAFE is a place to get practical hands-on training. Practical things that are taught there, like languages, IT, nursing (which is a totally practical field, anyway), hairdressing etc, are always taught from a far different perspective to uni.

Don't pretend everyone here is TAFE bashing. We prefer uni because we prefer uni for what we do. Just because we don't go to TAFE and because we're un-PC enough to admit that students who want things offered by uni but go to TAFE (eg, want to do law, but do legal studies at TAFE) haven't been able to go to uni.

First off, I don't pretend they serve the same purpose. However people who automatically assume people choose TAFE must be too dumb to get into Uni do. Clearly they see TAFE serving one purpose - a backdoor into Uni and to sit back and say they dont do it is rather blind. TAFE, while serving a different purpose, is no less vaild or it's students 'dumber' than their University counterparts.

In regards to your Japanese example, it could depend all on your aims for studying it to begin with. If you simply wanted to learn the language in order to have basic communication with japanese people TAFE (or even community college) would be the practical option, whereas if you wanted to fully immerse yourself in the culture, travel and work within japan then Uni would be the smarter choice. It comes down to motives and why you wish to study the course.

In regards to TAFE providing 'better courses', my thoughts were on Nursing. My main point was TAFE can be the better option for many students. Someone who wishes to be an electrician would perhaps be better off doing an apprenticeship than a degree at Uni. People learn differently, and just because many of us learn through practice rather than books doesn't make us 'stupid' or worth less than Uni counterparts. Hell, I'm applying for TAFE - Uni is just a backup incase I dont get in.

And while not everyone 'bashes' TAFE, all you need to do is go back through the threads in TAFE and General Uni in order to see it's a fair percentage who see TAFE as inferior and for the 'dummies'.

 

[xeuyrawp]

And while not everyone 'bashes' TAFE, all you need to do is go back through the threads in TAFE and General Uni in order to see it's a fair percentage who see TAFE as inferior and for the 'dummies'.

But a lot of people chose TAFE when they can't get into uni... Some things, like hairdressing, yes are great at TAFE. Some things, like the HSC year 12, are great at TAFE (look at kami, great example there). Most of us go to uni and do courses that would be crap at TAFE. That's why you get so many TAFE bashers; because most of us go to uni and do courses that would be only good there.

That being said, a lot of people here say that Macquarie law is for dummies

 

[White Rabbit]

LOL, I don't know much about Mac Law, but I do know it's suppose to have the best damn history program in the country!

And I agree, people do use TAFE as a backdoor, it's just people who can not recognise TAFE is just as vaild as Uni, and provides practical courses Uni quite simply couldn't, just as Uni provides courses that TAFE can't accommodate

 

[mossup]

There, you said it. 'certain fields'. That's exactly right, because no unis really offer plumbing, or hairdressing, or practical electrician training. (Although they do offer nursing, one of the few crossovers between tafe and uni)



Care to justify that statement?

Although there are some crossovers, like nursing, most of the TAFE courses are shorter, and more 'practical'. You can't get a Bachelor of Arts in Japanese from TAFE: you can't do three years of Japanese, with cool subjects like Manga studies, comparitive history, in-country opportunities, the Japanese club, Japanese competitions- but you can do Japanese at TAFE.

Don't pretend TAFE and Uni have the same purpose.

Although a lot of people go to TAFE when they can't get into uni, TAFE is a place to get practical hands-on training. Practical things that are taught there, like languages, IT, nursing (which is a totally practical field, anyway), hairdressing etc, are always taught from a far different perspective to uni.

Don't pretend everyone here is TAFE bashing. We prefer uni because we prefer uni for what we do. Just because we don't go to TAFE and because we're un-PC enough to admit that students who want things offered by uni but go to TAFE (eg, want to do law, but do legal studies at TAFE) haven't been able to go to uni.

If you're not TAFE bashing, why are you insisting she justifies anything good she says about tafe? Yes, we tafer's relise that for some professions you have to go to uni, but for a hell of a lot you're better off goin to tafe. I chick i work with in marketing who did a degree in Marketing and communications, cannot believe how when she got into the real world after completing her years at uni, that she had no real experience in the field, and the course that she was taught has little to NO relevance in the real world. For instance, Uni doesn't teach shorthand (summarising what people are saying, great for interviews) and simply say you can just record it and type it up later. While this is good in some ways, the shorthand skill is still widely used today because of the simple fact that it is instant. You can walk away from an interview with a set of notes that detail the WHOLE thing! so if someone asks you (before you got the chance to type up the interview) what the interviewee said in response to a question, the person with the set of shorthand notes can look over what they wrote and give them an answer.

Thats just one example.

Who can Blame people for being defensive about the merits of TAFE. The name gets dragged around in the dirt by so many people, but do you know why they do this? Its because they really don't know much about TAFE at all.

From a recent dealings with University staff, (in a combined TAFE UNI info day) They claimed that 90% of yr 12 students went to uni. That statement is OBVIOUSLY completly false but the uni people said it becuse they are snobbish towards tafe. I'm not lieing, i have no reason to lie. I work for the tafe and while i may be a little biased, i still can't get over the stigma attached to tafe.

Just remember this, Uni has pot smoking derros too! its just unfortunate that centrelink bludgers use tafe as a means of pleasing the goverment who pays them to go to tafe for a bit while "Looking" for a job.

i'll stop ranting now.

EDIT: my aim here is to simply promote the benifits of both tafe and uni in an attempt to minimise snobbish/petty rivalry

 

[LexxY]

But a lot of people chose TAFE when they can't get into uni... Some things, like hairdressing, yes are great at TAFE. Some things, like the HSC year 12, are great at TAFE (look at kami, great example there). Most of us go to uni and do courses that would be crap at TAFE. That's why you get so many TAFE bashers; because most of us go to uni and do courses that would be only good there.

That being said, a lot of people here say that Macquarie law is for dummies

Well I dont think you would want to do Visual Comm. at UTS or Design @ COFA to do graphic design, when tafe offers the cheapest and leading education in graphic design. I dont need to know the historyof typography or the theory behind reading left to right. tafe is not for stupid people who can't get into uni. I chose tafe over university. When I went to the UTS open day and saw the visual comm. work for the 3rd years, it was the equivelant of cert4 or first half of the year diploma work from graphic design (and other related courses) at tafe.

TAFE and uni both have their place. I'm sure you don't want psychologist from tafe?

Im so sick of people bashing tafe for stupid people. So many people in my family have worked at tafe and so I've never thought of it to be any less.

 

[ur_inner_child]

why uni graduates go and take a tafe course must blow people's perceptions about tafe being for dummies, doesnt it?

another type of leg up toward a career.

 

[champ_sammy_19]

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why uni graduates go and take a tafe course must blow people's perceptions about tafe being for dummies, doesnt it?

another type of leg up toward a career.

Agreed