Mr. Paschal Somers
Senior Lecturer, Vocational Education and Training (VET)
Campus
Biography
Paschal Somers is a senior lecturer in vocational education whose work focuses on adult learning, VET educator development and the relationship between industry engagement and teaching practice. Paschal is committed to strengthening VET educator capability and supporting practitioners to design purposeful curriculum, build effective assessment strategies and work collaboratively with industry partners.
Before joining Federation, Paschal spent 20 years working across the vocational education and training sector in roles that combined educator development, industry consultation and national training product design. At Box Hill Institute and RMIT, Paschal specialised in designing and facilitating workplace trainer programs across industries including education, health, aged care, rail, automotive, gaming, manufacturing and justice. He later served as Industry Engagement Manager at Australian Industry Standards (now Industry Skills Australia), where he contributed to national workforce development projects and the design of occupational standards for aviation, defence, police, public safety and correctional practice.
Paschal is currently undertaking a PhD at Federation University, probing the ways in which vocational teachers adapt their pedagogies and practices in the prison environment. His current research examines RTO and Industry partnerships.
He is actively involved in ACDEVEG, AVETRA and Federation’s Researching Adult and Vocational Education (RAVE) group, and he mentors early‑career VET educators through the units he teaches in the Bachelor of Adult and Vocational Education and Training and Associate Degree of Vocational Education and Training.
When he’s not teaching or researching, Paschal is a pastoral care volunteer at Mecwacare Age Care, connecting the local church with the age care center.
More about Paschal
Qualifications
- Master of Education, Monash University
- Diploma of Vocational Education and Training, Canberra Institute of Technology
- Diploma of Training Design and Development, Canberra Institute of Technology
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment (TAE4010), RMIT University
- Diploma of Vocational Education and Training Practice, Box Hill Institute
- Diploma of Training and Assessment, Box Hill Institute
- Diploma of Vocational Education and Training, Box Hill Institute
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, Box Hill Institute
- Certificate IV in Assessment and Workplace Training (BSZ), Box Hill Institute
- Diploma in Human Resources Management, Institute of Management London
Areas of interest
- Vocational teaching and assessment practice
- Prison education
- Teacher reflective practice and identity development
- Recognition assessment in VET
- Professional judgement in assessment
- Industry workforce capability
Areas of expertise
Paschal has expertise in adult learning, VET educator development and industry‑engaged curriculum and assessment design. His work examines how vocational teachers build reflective practice, how assessors make complex judgements in recognition assessment contexts, and how students transfer training into workplace performance. Paschal also contributes research in prison education, focusing on how VET pedagogies adapt to the constraints and opportunities of correctional environments.
Grants
- AVETRA – Project 2 Report, 2023 Australasian VET Research Association and the Victorian Skills Authority, Research Insight Topic: ‘Role of industry in teaching and learning’ ($25,000)
- Writing and analysis for study and work
- Research and reflective practice in vocational education and training
- Developing VET curriculum for training providers and industry
- Vocational teacher education and practice
- Workplace pedagogies
Specialist roles
- Senior lecturer, Vocational Education and Training (VET)
- Industry Engagement Manager, Industry Skills Australia (ISA)
- Industry Skills Manager, Australian Industry Standards
- Program Coordinator and teacher, RMIT University School of Education
- Senior Educator and Learning Designer, Centre for Learning, Innovation and Professional Practice (CLIPP) Federation University Australia
- Aer Lingus Operations Supervisor, Shannon Airport, Ireland
- Japan Airlines Cabin Crew, London base