Learning for Life, Work and the Future Initial ... - Unesco-Unevoc

Learning for Life, Work and the Future Participants’ Papers Page 87
is not only a response to government policy but also to
demands from employers. In industry and commerce
employers prefer workers with broad (multi-) skills
who can carry out a range of functions in a production
process and are adaptable to changing work
circumstances under the influence of modern
technology.
3. What are Key Skills?
Key skills are referred to in various ways: key competencies,
generic skills, soft skills, core skills, basic
skills, fundamental skills, transferable skills, capability,
study skills, abilities, attributes, and so on. The
question here is: do all indeed refer to the same
concept?
A wide range of abilities and attitudes has been listed
as key skills, including accountability, flexibility, goal
setting, integrity, self-motivation, punctuality, work
habits, responsibility, leadership, ability to work in
teams, language skills, positive self-image, and a
positive attitude towards work. Clearly some personal
skills are more fundamental than others to support
human productivity in all vocational areas.
Several authors have tried to place the various identified
skills in ‘key areas’. The number of transferable
skills identified ranges from 20 to 108 (Holmes, 1998),
with various categorisations proposed. McLaughin
(1992) placed skills seen as imperative for employment
in the following categories:
• Communication (understanding, speaking, listening,
reading, comprehending, using/producing written
materials);
• Thinking (creative, innovative, critical and logical
problem solving, effective use of information
systems and tools, decision making);
• Personal and interpersonal (positive attitudes and
behaviour, responsibility, adaptability, work with
others).
4. Is the Key-Skills ‘Picture’ Complete?
What is considered to be a key skill will depend on the
specific group of persons identifying the skills.
Employers might ‘see’ different key skills from an
educationalist or rank differently the importance of
listed key skills. Key competencies relating to the
following ‘missing areas’ have been identified:
• (Multi-) cultural understanding
• Psycho-motor skills
• Musical or visual/spatial skills (arts).
Skills evident in, for example, proficient reading,
comprehension and appreciation of literature, ethical
concern, generosity, altruism – are they covered?
5. Generic (Transferable) Skills
or Domain-Specific Skills?
Critics of the generic skill concept argue that knowledge
and skills are context-specific and cannot be
isolated from the context in which they are embedded
(Breier, 1998). These critics state that the so-called
core key or transferable skills are very specific skills
(not context-free at all) that have been identified by a
particular group of employers. They concluded that
conceptions of generic skills are about attributes
required by employers for work and that transfer of
skills between contexts is a skill in itself. The pursuit
of general transferable core/key skills is termed as
wasteful ghost-hunting. The transferring skill is a
meta-skill that allows selection, adaptation, adjustment
and use of the other skills in different situations.
Breier concludes:
there is nothing intrinsically generic or transferable
about the skills commonly labelled as generic or
transferable. Most have to be acquired and exercised
in specific contexts, with reference to specific
knowledge bases. The term ‘generic skills’ really
refers to competencies that are valued by the
employers.” (Breier, 1998, p 90 – 91)
6. Further Clarification: What Are Key Skills?
What are key skills? How can you distinguish between
a key and a non-key competency? Is the ‘common’ list
of key competencies sufficiently comprehensive or are
‘key areas’ in human life left out? What do we mean
by ‘transfer’? How like/unlike do two situations have
to be to speak of transfer or to speak of a new skill?
From the point of view of the generic concept critics,
are key skills transferable or domain specific? Do they
exist at all or is this just a theoretical construct?
(Holmes, 1998.)
These are some of the fundamental questions in the
debate over the introduction of ‘key skills’ in new
programmes in the region. It is worth listening to the
pros and cons raised in countries like the UK and
Australia that already have a respectable experience in
‘key skills’ in the curriculum, with strong supporters
and detractors. Other countries, notably the Nordic
countries, the Netherlands and Germany, are exploring
different options such as the ‘key problem’ approach.
7. How Were ‘Key Skill’ Areas Identified?
The identification of ‘key skills’ has been based on
analysis of employers’ preferred skills. These initiallyidentified
key skill areas were later revalidated by
employers. How valid is such a validation? Holmes
(1998) states that a faulty methodology for the identification
of key skills has been used and that the
concept ‘key skill’ itself is flawed.
This raises a number of fundamental questions. Have
key skills or employability skills been identified? Are