Training beyond the tools The power of collaboration

The learnings given in the early days of a joiner’s career will last a lifetime. A career lifetime? How long is a piece of string right?

Today, a joiner can have a career that includes cabinetry, installation, specializing, detailing, production delivery or being the business owner and driving business strategy. Registered Master Joiners contribute to apprentice training, passing on critical skills with a keen eye in ensuring a quality workforce. It is critical we continue to evolve the teachings on offer to our incoming joiners.

Waihanga Ara Rau is one of the newly established Workforce Development Councils (WDC) representing construction and infrastructure, which includes joinery. WDCs are responsible for developing industry qualifications, setting industry standards and assessing training provision against these standards across vocational education.

Their vision is to reimagine vocational education to ensure the system best meets industry’s current and future needs and give a stronger voice to Māori business and iwi development. They work to provide employers and industry greater influence on their workforce development requirements to ensure a sustainable and thriving Aotearoa.

Earlier this year, Master Joiners engaged with Waihanga Ara Rau and contributed to the review of the joinery apprenticeship unit standards, which was facilitated by an experienced Qualifications System Product

Analyst. A Technical Advisory Group met regularly to carry out the review. We look forward to seeing the outcomes of this review, which is scheduled for completion at the end of August. Master Joiners thanks the contributors to that work whose volunteer time and technical expertise is highly valued in these forums. At the same time, Waihanga Ara Rau met with the Master Joiners leadership to share and learn more of what the future of work looks like in the sector. They now have more intimate knowledge from which to support workforce strategy planning for joinery and understanding its needs. The knowledge seeking to understand our profession extended into visiting joinery businesses to hear and share views. This opportunity was warmly welcomed by Master Joiners.

This opportunity to collaborate with Waihanga Ara Rau allows another dimension of engagement with the wider joinery industry. We are seeking feedback on the current apprenticeship from joiners throughout the country, including those who are not members of Master Joiners.

Improvement cannot happen without the voice of industry so if you have something that you would like to contribute to the improvement of the joinery apprenticeship, please feel free to email us anytime on info@masterjoiners.co.nz

For more on this go to www.waihangaararau. nz click on the menu bar then go to Reviews and Developments for information on the joinery unit standard review