MLEs for Lifelong Learning

1
Skills and competencies

• MLEs for Lifelong Learning
• Birmingham 2005-02-22
• Simon Grant Janet Strivens
• TransPortALL, Liverpool
• CRA - CETIS - LIPSIG

2
Origins

• 1920s US behavioural objectives
• 1960s US emergence of competency-based education
  and training (CBET) esp. in teacher education
• the precise specification of competences or
  behaviours to be learned, the modularisation of
  instruction, evaluation and feedback,
  personalisation and field experience
  requirements of the US Office of Education for
  model training programmes for elementary school
  teachers, 1968

3
National Consortium of Competency Based Education
Centres (US)

• Competency statements/specifications
• Based on analysis of professional role
• Describe outcomes expected from performance, or
  knowledge/skills/ attitudes essential to
  performance of professional functions
• Facilitate criterion-referenced assessment
• Specified and made public prior to instruction
• Validly related to competency measures which are
  also specified and made public prior to
  instruction

4
CBET in the UK

• Callaghans Ruskin College speech (October 1976)
• A New Training Initiative (ED 1981)
• Training for Jobs (ED/DES 1984)
• Employment for the 1990s (ED 1988)
• Development of Assessable Standards for National
  Certification Note 3 The Definition of
  Competences and Performance Criteria (MSC 1988)
• National Vocational Qualifications Criteria and
  Procedures (NCVQ 1989)
• Towards a Skills Revolution (CBI Task Force 1989)

5
Characteristics of National Vocational
Qualifications

• Performance criteria explicitly related to
  standards
• Underpinning knowledge/understanding
• Range statements
• Sufficient sample on which to base an inference
• Assessments based on collection of evidence that
  competence has been demonstrated
• - direct observation of performance (ideally in
  real work
• setting, or simulation)
• - witness statements
• - attested products/artefacts
• Attitudes/values expressed as observable
  behaviours (see Care Sector Consortium Values
  Base Unit)

6
Characteristics of NVQs (contd)

• Assessment on demand little concern for how
  long the learner takes or how many times assessed
  (cf. rejection of time-serving)
• Method of curriculum delivery immaterial
  
• not institutionally bounded, no syllabus
• Unitised certification (to reflect functional
  analysis for standard)

7
Some issues for RDCEO

• Skills level eg Dreyfus model
• -Novice
• - Advanced Beginner
• - Competent
• - Proficient
• - Expert
• Relationship of theory (knowledge/understanding)
  to performance (esp. should it be assessed
  directly or observed in use?)
• Capturing capability, curiosity, criticality,
  creativity etc. in skills/competences language

8
Approaches to representation

• Analogy of measurement
• Imperial
• Every different context has a different measure
• Consider size or length or distance
• height depth along land/sea horses type
  wire screws
• No obvious interrelationships
• Metric or SI
• Try to have one set of measures to reuse

9
The PDP haiku - for skills too

• Diverse practice! Shared
• (mutual recognition)
• representation

10
The problem

• Learner builds up evidence of skills
• within skills framework from 1st institution
• Learner moves to other institution or job
• but they have a different skills framework
• Does evidence connect to new skills?
• impossible to tell!
• http//www.inst.co.uk/clients/jisc/skillsinteroper
  ability.html

11
What could be happening?

• e.g. Communication skills might mean different
  things in the different contexts
• Different terms may be used for same skill
• or indeed different languages
• There may be overlap between two skills in
  different frameworks (or indeed the same)
• but who knows how much?

12
Favoured approach to solution

• Break down skills into smaller parts until they
  are no longer disagreed on
• IT skills may differ
• but setting margins in MS Word is same
• or in the medical domain
• hand-washing is probably the same
• control of infection may depend on role, etc.

13
The RDCEO dimension

• IMS specification Reusable Definition of
  Competency or Educational Objective
• A possible way to lay open skill definitions
• and provide building blocks for frameworks
• But gives no guidance on structure or actual
  content

14
The C and the EO of RDCEO

• Even if competencies are agreed (C)
• even then, the ways in which to teach (EO)
  exercise and assess them will differ
• at least in HE, where there are a lot of
  opinionated people ?
• schools, along with national qualifications, are
  only controlled by national governments
• so will differ internationally

15
Recipe for consensus

• Factor out the EO side of the picture,
  recognising that teaching and assessment will
  inevitably differ, but that we need agreement for
  transferability
• Break down high-level C concepts until they are
  agreeable
• Publish the consensus on the web

16
Exercise option 1 (by interest)

• Join with others into same skills
• How do you define them?
• What authorities might have frameworks?
• SSCs regulatory bodies consortia etc.
• Can you agree what is agreeable, and what is a
  matter of viewpoint and context?
• Compare views on this record reflect

17
Exercise option 2 (institution)

• What skills are significant to us
• as whole institution or company
• as part of an institution
• How to establish a skills framework for our
  institution / company / body?
• How to ensure it relates to others
• and benefits the learners?