Competency Based Education and Training

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Competency based education and training 4 The explanation for this apparent lack of interest may lie in the way most academics approach a new subject. They read the literature and attend conferences. Until very recently they have had little opportunity to do either. In the first edition of Competence and Assessment Gilbert Jessup wrote of ‘a new discipline’ centered on the assessment of competence. Although there is a long tradition of research in CBL in America, the underlying conceptual base has been considerably modified and developed in the British research which has informed the development of NVQs. This work has circulated in manuscript form among the small network of consultants and researchers commissioned by the NCVQ and TA but largely, has remained unpublished. When, therefore, the University of Sussex approached the NCVQ to help fund a conference aimed at the HE research community, Gilbert Jessup endorsed the project and further suggested that the papers and proceedings should be published by an independent academic publisher. As a result of this initiative two-thirds of British universities and a number of polytechnics sent delegates to a three-day symposium on Competency Based Learning held in Worthing in mid-March 1989. A wide range of papers were presented dealing chiefly with substantive issues in assessment and their application to the NVQ programme, the new structure of vocational education and training and the implementation of NVQs in FE. The book Historical background The first paper in this volume provides an historical backdrop. In my view it is essential for anyone coming new to the study of Competency Based Education and Training (CBET) to locate the context in which these ideas first arose and to see how they have developed. Although CBET is a relatively new focus for research and development in the UK, it has a long history and literature in the USA. Eric Tuxworth locates its origins and reviews its development by carefully relating the American experience to current developments sponsored by the NCVQ and the TA. Technical issues The next three papers examine technical issues bound up in the concept of competence. Bob Mansfield points out that the model of development underlying the British approach to Vocational Education and Training reverses previous approaches. The efforts of Industry Lead Bodies (ILBs) are directed towards the formulation of ‘clear and precise statements’; these are the ‘Occupational Standards’ which describe what effective performance means. This stands in contrast to earlier approaches which concentrated on the design of curricula to meet assumed needs. He examines the differing consequences of basing standards on a concept of competence which may be either broad or narrow. He concludes that what is required is a broad concept of competence to drive standards and associated assessment and learning systems.
Introduction 5 Alison Wolf addresses herself to the vexed question of identifying and assessing knowledge in a competency-based system. She argues that there is no necessary bifarcation between competence and education. Competency based learning is perfectly compatible with the learning of higher level skills, the acquisition of generalizable knowledge and understanding and the development of broad based courses. Her contribution is particularly useful in view of the decision taken recently to extend the NVQ framework above level four. Detailed negotiations are proceeding on a purely voluntary basis with many professional bodies, but there still appears to be wide-spread apprehension that the forms of assessment devised for lower levels within the framework would be inappropriate at higher levels. As they stand, they would. Alison suggests there is scope for developing performance criteria which take account of the deeper and more sophisticated knowledge component embedded in higher level assessment. Lindsay Mitchell examines the way in which occupational standards are defined and assessed; she, too, examines the role of knowledge in standards. She notes that although the model is still very much in a developmental stage, assessment processes devised for NVQs fundamentally call into question much previous practice. She identifies two key purposes of assessment in the NVQ model: to recognize achievement which has already taken place, and to infer an individual’s future performance in the areas of competence certified. ‘These fundamental purposes of assessment signal up the aims of the new system. Assessment in vocational qualifications is not for selection of the best for whatever purpose, or for determining in any direct way who has the potential for development in a particular direction. Vocational qualifications may inform these aspects but they are not their main purpose and should not be allowed to influence the developments to the detriment of the key purposes’. The response of the NCVQ the TA and the FEU Having traced the historical development of CBET and analysed some of the issues which arise out of the concept, we move on to consider the way in which three main agencies, The National Council for Vocational Qualifications, the Training Agency and the Further Education Unit (FEU) are contributing and responding to the development of a coherent national framework. Gilbert Jessup presents a model of vocational education and training which is now emerging clearly from the research and detailed negotiation which is taking place between the many diverse, interested parties with a stake in the enterprise: education, training, examining bodies, both sides of industry, the professions and government. He indicates the main features of the model with specific reference to the qualification framework: The National Record of Vocational Achievement (NROVA) which will provide the structure in which vocational education and training will operate. He makes the very cogent point that the new form of competence based qualifications ‘lead rather than follow education and training’. By spelling out what candidates are required to be able to do for the award of an NVQ and stating the criteria by which performance will be assessed, the process of assessment is demystified, probably for the first time in the experience of most candidates and most potential employers. ‘In doing so, the statement of competence also sets clear goals for education and training programmes. The specification of competence plus performance criteria provide the operational realization
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Page 5 and 6: UK The Falmer Press, Falmer House,
Page 7 and 8: List of Abbreviations ABCTG Adminis
Page 9 and 10: Foreword The debate on education an
Page 11 and 12: Chapter 1 Introduction John Burke A
Page 13: Introduction 3 The role of the NCVQ
Page 17 and 18: Introduction 7 importance of implem
Page 19 and 20: Chapter 2 Competence based educatio
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Page 27 and 28: LEADERSHIP CLUSTER * USE OF SOCIALI
Page 33 and 34: ©Bob Mansfield, 1989 Chapter 3 Com
Page 35 and 36: Competence and standards 25 whereas
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Page 45 and 46: Can competence and knowledge mix? 3
Page 57 and 58: ©Lindsay Mitchell, 1989 Chapter 5
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The definition of standards and the
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The emerging model of vocational ed
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and training and in particular the
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It includes those qualities of pers
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The employment department/training
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Curriculum implications 85 Thirdly,
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Curriculum implications 87 since th
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Curriculum implications 89 competen
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©Wirral Metropolitan College, 1989
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An achievement-led college 93 4 Per
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An achievement-led college 95 revie
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Chapter 10 Attitudinal change in FE
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Attitudinal change in FE in respons
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It has been a lot of hard work. I
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Towards the implementation of compe
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Initial teacher training and the NV
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have found the most pertinent. Her
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Emerging issues 165 Firstly, the NC
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Emerging issues 167 Technical chara
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Emerging issues 169 strategy for im
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Emerging issues 171 the balance of
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Emerging issues 173 establish the f
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Notes on contributors 175 those asp
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Notes on contributors 177 examining
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Index 179 NTI and 55-6 occupational
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motivation 190 and VET 96 learning
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elevant knowledge and 192 specifica
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