International handbook of education for the changing world of work : bridging academic and vocational learning (original) (raw)
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The use of competency frameworks as a basis for workplace learning initiatives is now relatively commonplace in organisations. This is reflected in the emphasis given to competencies in the HRD literature. However, the terrain of the competency discussion is somewhat ill-defined. This article attempts to define the context within which the value of competencies as a basis for workplace learning can be considered and discusses the philosophical and epistemological perspectives found in much of the literature. Competency definition and competency measurement issues are explored, as is a range of other issues concerning the value of competencies in a workplace learning context. The article concludes that, in the interests of clarity, consistency and reliability of measurement, consensus needs to be reached on the basic parameters and definition of competency.
Competence standards and frameworks: some lessons from the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom (UK) was one of the earliest countries to develop a ‘competence-based’ approach to vocational education and training (VET), and to draw up competence specifications for a comprehensive range of occupations. This approach has been emulated or drawn upon by several other countries, and it is still used as a benchmark or comparator for developing competence standards internationally. The UK’s basic approach is however now nearly thirty years old, and although it has evolved in response to problems and challenges, more innovative and robust models have emerged outside of the formal VET system. The UK can provide some learning-points for countries and groups considering developing occupational and professional competence standards, but many of these need to be sought out from beyond the official guidance for developing occupational standards and qualifications.
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Competency Standards – a Help or a Hindrance? An Australian Perspective
The Vocational Aspect of Education
The mere existence of competency standards for an occupation is not, in itself, enough to tell us whether they will be a help or a hindrance for education and training providers. Instead, that will depend on what sort of competency standards they are and how they are being used by the education and training providers. This paper will describe, firstly, the types of competency standards that would be a hindrance for vocational education and training providers and those that would be a help. Secondly, assuming that competency standards of the helpful type are available, the paper will outline the ways of using them that would still be detrimental to vocational education and training, and contrast this with ways of using them so as to improve the provision of vocational education and training. As against the widely held belief that competency standards require a totally new approach to vocational education and training, this paper argues that this is true only of the type of competency standards that are a hindrance. The type of competency standards that are helpful to vocational education and training provide a powerful means of improving what has always been best practice in the design, delivery and assessment of vocational education and training courses.
Professional definition of competencies: Empirical data vs ideology
Professional definition of competencies: Empirical data vs ideology, 2023
In the 21st century, the competency approach has undergone an expansion in industry, higher education and basic education. This study analyzes the main technical characteristics of the competency approach and competencies according to empirical field evidence obtained by identifying them in ninety different professions and then compares these characteristics with the existing definitions proposed by different authors, purifying the best definitions that agree with the empirical evidence. It is concluded that the definitions of the most reliable competencies are those that coincide with the empirical data obtained when analyzing the professions and therefore the most recommended for professional use. Keywords Competencies, identification of competencies, definition of competencies, characteristics of the competency approach, dimensions of a competency, competency approach.
Turning the contradictions of competence: competency-based training and beyond
Journal of Vocational Education & Training, 2000
The purpose of this article is to provide a critique of the idea widely promoted by governments and industrial parties in Australia that competency-based training (CBT) is a coherent model of vocation education and training with universal applicability. The critique is made first by way of illustration with reference to case material gathered in the course of a recent national research project on CBT. The argument is made that CBT, contrary to its image in the public policy literature, is not a singular and universal model of vocational education and training (VET). Rather, it embeds a series of radically different decisions or options with regard to notions of competency, and the use of competencies or competency standards. These decisions or options, once enacted, give rise to transformed models of VET. Shifting the critique to more theoretical ground, the argument is made that these models need not be seen as alternatives. Indeed, they are not entirely separate. Rather, they interact, support and/or challenge one another, as well as support and/or challenge CBT. The conclusion is drawn that, while all of these models have a place in the process of competence development as well as their particular strengths and weaknesses, models that maintain the tension between a focus on the outcomes of education and training and a focus on processes of educating and training, rather than resolve this tension in favour of outcomes, are most appropriate in VET. Thus, the models that contribute most to VET tend to be hybrid (e.g. education/training model, training/development model), mirroring the make-up of VET itself.