Video Talk 1: The importance and definition of competences
Welcome to this first session. To start
this course we want to ask the fundamental question, why are developing
learners’ competences so important, and why should teaching, learning and
assessment be grounded in a competence-based approach? Life is increasingly
non-routine, problem-based and technology rich. That’s why education systems
are moving away from solely content-led approaches, and focusing more on
helping learners develop a range of competences to cope in our complex world.
Education today, just as in previous centuries, is intended to promote
learners’ personal growth, citizenship and preparation for the world of work.
However, the skills needed for this in today’s society, just as in the future
society of the 22nd century, are and will continue to be very
different from those that were needed in previous times. While some skills,
such as numeracy and literacy, are just as important today as they were in the
past, other more transversal and higher order skills, such as collaborative problem-solving are
increasingly valuable for citizens to be able to effectively take part in life
today, whether personally, socially or professionally. Let’s hear what
Professor Patrick Griffin, of the University of Melbourne, had to say when we
interviewed him about the importance of these competences in today’s working
environment.
The need for school students to develop
competences, also known as ‘key
competences’ or ‘21st
century skills’, has increasingly gained importance, and has recently
become prominent in education systems worldwide thanks to social and economic
motivations, as well as developments in educational research. The need to
improve the quality and relevance of the competences learners acquire before
leaving formal education has been widely recognized, particularly in view of
Europe’s current high youth unemployment. Knowledge and basic skills are
necessary but no longer sufficient to meet the complex requirements of today’s
social demands in an increasingly competitive global economy. As we heard from
Patrick, in a digital world where functional skills-based professions are in
decline, competence oriented education has particular relevance. New
technologies are constantly changing the way we learn, work, live and function
in a digital and knowledge-based society. So the need to develop learners’
competences seems pretty clear. But what exactly are they, and which ones should
we be focusing on?
A useful definition is given by Hoskins and
Crick who state that a ‘competence’ can be defined as ‘a complex combination of knowledge, skills, understanding, values,
attitudes and desire which lead to effective, embodied human action in the
world in a particular domain’. In other words, being competent means being
able to effectively apply a combination of
knowledge, skills and attitudes to successfully react to a situation or solve a
problem in the real world.
The term ‘competence’ was originally used
in the professional context in
France in the 1970s to refer to what employees needed beyond qualifications to
act effectively in a range of work situations. In the 1980s, competence-based
approaches started to be developed in vocational
education and training in various countries. Since then, the growing
importance of competences has meant that competence-based learning has now also
been extended to general school
education, which is the focus of our course.
Competences are expressed, understood and implemented within each education system in
different ways according to national context, depending on educational
philosophies, historical and political traditions, as well as outside
influences. Countries have therefore developed their own national
definitions and competence frameworks, including subject-based as well
as transversal competences. In addition to this range of national
frameworks, some of which we will look at later in this module, various international
competence frameworks have been developed over the past 20 years. These
include the European Union’s Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong
Learning, the UNESCO framework, the OECD DESECO framework, Partnerships 21
framework, and the ATC21S framework. All these frameworks share common points
and have been developed in consultation with experts and stakeholders globally.
For the purposes of this course, we will mainly use the European Union
framework and the ATC21S framework as reference points. You can access all the
frameworks mentioned if you are interested in further reading, from our course
library.
Let’s firstly take a brief look at the ATC 21st
century skills framework which includes four dimensions: ways of thinking; ways
of living in the world; ways of working; and tools for working. Ways of
thinking is conceptualized as including creativity and innovation, critical
thinking, problem-solving, decision making and learning to learn. Ways of
living in the world includes local and global citizenship, life and career skills,
personal and social responsibility and cultural awareness. Ways of working is
considered to include collaboration and communication; and tools for working
comprises information literacy and ICT literacy. As you will see, the European
Framework also refers to all these competences, but is more firmly rooted in
the context of the school curriculum. As school education is the focus of our
course, let’s take a closer look at the European framework.
The
European Union Framework, developed by the European Commission in
consultation with all member states, includes the following 8 Key Competences:
- Communication in the mother tongue
- Communication in foreign languages
- Mathematical competence and basic competences in
science and technology
- Digital competence
- Learning to learn
- Social and civic competences
- Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship
- Cultural awareness and expression
All 8
key competences are considered equally important, because each of them
contributes to the personal fulfilment
and development of all individuals. Many of the competences overlap and
interlock, and they are all interdependent, with the following transversal
skills playing an important role in each of them: critical thinking,
creativity, initiative, problem solving, risk assessment, decision taking and
the constructive management of feelings.
You can
access the precise definition of each of the 8 key competences, as well as the
knowledge, skills and attitudes associated to each one in the European
framework, available in the course library. You are all teachers of different
subjects, and while all these competences are interrelated, certain competences
may be of more direct interest to you than others. However, there is one
particular competence which will be considered extremely important by all of
you, and that is the ‘learning to learn’ competence, as it is the foundation of
all learning. As with all the 8 key competences, the European framework firstly
provides a definition of learning to learn and then identifies the knowledge,
skills and attitudes associated to it.
Learning to learn is defined as the ability to pursue and persist in
learning, to organise one's own learning, including through effective
management of time and information, both individually and in groups. This
competence includes awareness of one's learning process and needs, and the
ability to overcome obstacles in order to learn successfully. Learning
to learn engages learners to build on prior learning and life experiences in
order to use and apply knowledge and skills at home, at work, in education and
training.
In terms of the essential knowledge related to this competence, learning to learn
requires an individual to know and understand his/her preferred learning
strategies, and the strengths and weaknesses of his/her skills and
qualifications.
In
terms of the essential skills
related to this competence, learning to learn firstly requires the acquisition
of the fundamental basic skills such as literacy, numeracy and ICT skills that
are necessary for further learning. Building on these skills, an individual
should be able to access, gain, process and assimilate new knowledge and
skills. This requires effective management of one's learning, career and work
patterns, and, in particular, the ability to persevere, concentrate for
extended periods and to reflect critically on the purposes and aims of
learning. Learning to learn skills include being able to learn autonomously and
with self-discipline, as well as being able to work collaboratively and share
what one has learnt. Learners should be able to organise their own learning,
evaluate their own work, and seek advice, information and support when
appropriate.
The essential attitudes related to this
competence include the motivation and confidence to pursue
and succeed at learning throughout one's life. A problem-solving attitude
supports both the learning process itself and an individual's ability to handle
obstacles and change. The desire to apply prior learning and life experiences
and the curiosity to look for opportunities to learn and apply learning in a
variety of life contexts are also essential. Whichever subject and age range
you teach, these are the knowledge, skills and attitudes you should be
developing in your students to ensure they can be competent lifelong learners.
This course is intended to familiarize you
with competence-based learning as a general approach. To do this we will focus
on how to develop two specific competences in students – the first is an
example of a subject-based one, mathematical
competence, while the second is an example of a transversal skill which can
be developed in any subject; collaborative
problem solving. You will hear more about both in modules 2 and 3.
Remember
that you can access further reading and related resources to this session from
our course library. We also encourage you to visit the course forum where you
can discuss the frameworks and definitions mentioned as well as how they relate
to your own national frameworks and understanding of competences. I hope in
this first week you will join the discussion with fellow participants and
instructors, and wish you an enjoyable rest of the course.
Video Talk 2: Key Points on
Teaching Key Competences
Video
Talk 3: Key Points on Assessing Key Competences
Video Talk 4: Competence-based
education in Europe today
Video Talk 5: Irish case study: Key Skills in the
Irish Curriculum & Project Maths
Video Talk 2: Key Points on
Teaching Key Competences
Welcome to this session. Implementing key
competences in schools involves not only specifying them in curricula, as we
have heard earlier in this module, but also developing appropriate
implementation conditions, teaching methods and assessment. In this video we will highlight the main
teaching and assessment methods which are conducive to fostering students’
competence development.
Traditional classroom environments are
often not the most appropriate context for the effective development of key
competences. The key competence approach, with its emphasis on the application
of knowledge in real world situations represents a significant departure from
traditional content-based approaches where subjects are taught and assessed
discretely. The main recommended approach to teaching key competences is
through the provision of interactive learning environments in which learners
can engage in practical, inquiry-based tasks. These environments present
open-ended problems and challenges to be solved through debate,
experimentation, exploration and creativity. Educational research by Dewey and
Vygotsky promoting a social and constructivist approach to learning emphasizes
the importance of competence development within a social learning context,
where learners are engaged in active learning in real life situations.
Simulating real world contexts has three main purposes: it can motivate
learners more than traditional approaches, learners are more likely to remember
concepts they discover on their own, and it provides a meaningful context for
problem-based learning. Project-based learning is a particularly well suited
method for the development of pupils’ competences, as several key competences
can be addressed simultaneously in a cross-curricular manner. In Module 2 we
will look more closely at ways of implementing project-based learning in
schools.
In summary, teaching key competences
involves a greater emphasis on interactive learning environments, allowing
students to work in teams on multidisciplinary topics, benefit from technology
enhanced learning, and have the mental, physical, social and emotional space to
collaborate on solving problems. Let’s take a look at a school in Finland which
has recently invested in developing a new physical learning environment.
The teachers and students in the Finnish
school we just saw are part of a school which understands the importance of
interactive learning environments for fostering competence development, and are
also lucky enough to have access to financial resources to make this possible.
Across Europe, however, a recent online survey found that teachers and head
teachers alike rated insufficient financial resources for changing learning
environments as one of the top 3 obstacles to teaching key competences.
Investment in modernizing learning spaces so that they enable diversified and
interactive learning is therefore important.
Let’s now look at eight key principles for
teaching key competences effectively:
Firstly, teaching should be task-based.
Learners should develop key competences through active, authentic,
collaborative tasks based on problem-solving. Problems should be complex and
with multiple solutions, allowing students to produce the solution in a variety
of forms.
Secondly, teaching should be
interdisciplinary: that is, taught through contexts that combine several
subject areas.
Thirdly, learning should be both
collaborative and individualised: Learners must collaborate to develop social
and communicative competences, but also be able to act autonomously and
self-manage.
Fourthly teaching needs to be both learner-
and teacher-led. For example, while project-based learning encourages pupils to
be active and responsible for their own learning, activities need to be supported
by guidance and explicit instruction from the teacher where relevant. In
particular, learners need support to develop their ability to learn
independently; also known as the ‘learning to learn’ competence, which we
looked at earlier in this module.
Fifthly, teaching and learning where
possible should be technologically innovative: Involving the pedagogical use of
ICT and mobile technology can really enhance students’ digital competence, as
well as an array of other competences.
The sixth principle is that teaching and
learning of key competences should take place both inside and outside of
school. A learning environment does not have to be classroom based; it can be
outdoors or even virtual. Teaching should harness the potential of
extra-curricular activities and after school programmes, paying closer
attention to how learners apply their informal and non-formal learning to what
they learn in class.
The seventh teaching principle is that
teachers should collaborate with the wider community including the social,
cultural and business sectors to create more opportunities for real world
learning. You will see examples of this in this module as well as in module 2.
Lastly, the teaching of key competences
requires teachers to pay closer attention to the social and emotional aspects
of learning, including the quality of relationships between and among teachers
and learners. This is important as researchers have argued that supporting
learners’ social and emotional needs stimulates well-rounded growth in learners,
which forms a basis for the development of the full range of key competences. A
personalized approach to learning has been endorsed by the new Maltese Core
Curriculum Programme, which targets low ability learners at risk of failure,
during the last 3 years of compulsory education, between the ages of 13 and 16.
Students following the new competence-based Core Curriculum Programme are
accompanied by a mentor who follows their progress and is responsible for the
students’ holistic development and overall wellbeing. Let’s hear from a head
teacher and education officer in Malta involved in the design and
implementation of the new curriculum.
To tell us more about effective approaches
for assessing key competences, some of which were just mentioned in the Maltese
video we saw, let’s now hear from a researcher who has worked on this topic for
many years.
Video
Talk 3: Key Points on Assessing Key Competences
Hello. My name is Janet Looney,
and I am Director of the European Institute of Education and Social Policy in
Paris. In this video I’d like to
introduce you to the assessment of key competences in a ‘nutshell’. I will be
talking in more detail about the principles behind competence-based assessment
and good practice in assessing key competences, and related challenges in
Module 3.
As you’ll learn throughout this MOOC, teaching, learning and assessment
of key competences involves new approaches – often through the provision of
interactive learning environments, and through collaborative and
multi-disciplinary learning. There is
also an emphasis on transversal skills.
Assessment of key competences should reflect these new ways of teaching
and learning.
As countries have introduced key competences to new curricula, they have
also defined new learning objectives for different stages of their
education. New curricula should cover
the objectives identified, and assessments measure how well students have
attained these objectives. All of these
elements need to be aligned. If they are
misaligned, it is impossible to draw a valid conclusion about how well students
have learned or to adapt teaching to better meet learner needs. This means that
teachers will need to develop new approaches to assessment.
These include:
·
Summative
assessment – that is the tests and examinations they design in order to assign
course grades, or at the end of the school year.
·
Formative
assessment – the kind of interactive assessment that takes place in the course
of learning, where the information gathered can be used to adjust teaching and
learning and better meet student needs.
·
And
student self-assessment of progress toward the transversal competences. These are competences that do not have a
learning “standard” – such as creativity, initiative and constructive
management of feelings - but where it may be important for each student to
track his or her development.
An important thing to keep in mind is that assessment of key competences
is very different than in courses where the focus has been on learning specific
content. Assessments need to provide
ways for students to demonstrate that they can use knowledge, skills and attitudes
to reason, solve problems and so on.
New tools such as portfolios and e-assessments will be very useful for
teachers.
Secondary school teachers may face additional challenges in introducing
key competences because the matriculation and university entrance examinations
are not yet necessarily well aligned with new key competence approaches. So it is attempting to focus on examination
content and focus on helping students to pass tests. A few studies have found that students
learning in courses that emphasise the kind of higher-order skills featured in
key competence curricula may outperform students who are learning in courses
that emphasise content knowledge. The
students in the first group also tend to retain information longer.
Classroom-based formative assessment is also very important for key
competence learning. It may be useful
to think of formative assessment as an integrated part of the learning process,
as teachers are able to adjust and scaffold learning, based on the information
gathered during classroom discussions, through observing students as they work
on projects, and so on. Students may
also assess their own work, or those of peers, and re-adjust their strategies
as they work on projects or attempt to solve problems.
The key competences also emphasise the importance of transversal
skills. These are the kinds of skills
that are important for personal development, and for learning-to-learn. They are also a new challenge for
assessment, as they fall beyond the subject-related learning objectives with
very clear learning standards. The focus
for transversal skills is more on personal improvement. Tracking tools and portfolios can help teachers
and students to focus on these important skills, and support learners as they
grow and mature.
We’ll explore all of these important ideas in more detail in Module 3
where we’ll be focusing on the principles behind competence-based assessment,
and on good practice in assessing key competences.
Video Talk 4: Competence-based
education in Europe today
Welcome to this session. Earlier in this
module we heard about the European competence framework which refers to ‘key
competences’. This concept has been adopted by all European education systems,
but the specific terms used, and the exact content of the set of competences,
varies across countries. Depending on the country and context, legal, policy
and curricular documents make reference to core competences for example, key
capacities (as in Scotland ), basic skills (as in Spain) or key skills (as in
Ireland); and other similar terms are also in use.
Several European countries, including
Austria, Bulgaria, the Flemish Community of Belgium, Finland, France, Norway,
Spain, Portugal and Poland, have introduced new legislation or amended existing
legislation to set out goals and frameworks for integrating key competences
into school education. Most European countries have also introduced key
competences and related learning outcomes into their national curricula for
compulsory education, during the last decade. For example, France introduced
competence-based education in 2005 through the ‘socle commun’, a common core
curriculum, comprising 7 competences, largely in line with the European key
competences. A new education act, which confirms a new common core for
knowledge, competences and now also culture, was adopted in July 2013. In 2006
Spain published its Organic Act on Education which specifically mentioned 8
basic competences as the building blocks of the Spanish school curriculum. This
has been accompanied by a national programme introduced by the Ministry of
Education in collaboration with 12 of Spain’s Autonomous Communities, which
aims at consolidating the integration of key competences in the curriculum. In
countries, including Finland and Sweden, where a competence-based approach has
in fact been in place since the mid-1990s, recent or current education reform
is re-emphasizing the centrality of key competences in the new curricula to be
introduced in the near future. Therefore key competences have been and still
are the focus of educational reform. However, the situation across Europe is
rather varied, with only some countries and regions having launched overarching
strategies fostering the development of all or most of the key competences,
including Spain, Poland, Lithuania and Austria. In the absence of a national
strategy, most other European countries have established centrally or
regionally coordinated initiatives to promote specific key competences.
While no country has made a complete shift
to competence-based education, several countries have made significant
progress. In addition to introducing legal and curricular frameworks for key
competences, countries have used various strategies to foster a
competence-based approach in the classroom. These include innovative
partnerships, pilot projects, the monitoring and evaluation of new initiatives,
dedicated funding and capacity building. Let’s take a look at some of these
strategies by listening to stakeholders who have been involved in key
competence initiatives, featured in case study videos produced by KeyCoNet –
the European Network on Key Competences in School Education.
Norway’s Cultural Rucksack Programme is a
good example of a national initiative which has used an innovative partnership
between the educational and cultural sectors as well as dedicated funding to
ensure all young people in Norway have the opportunity to engage with high
quality, professional arts and culture. The programme has secured funding from
the support of surplus national lottery funds. (INSERT VIDEO CLIP).
Another example of a large-scale initiative
which engages schools with the broader community, is the Global Enterprize
project, which teams up students with professionals from the business sector.
(INSERT VIDEO CLIP).
Some countries have invested in intensive
professional development when introducing new competence-based initiatives,
like Project Maths in Ireland, which we will be hearing about in the next
video. Each pilot school involved in Project Maths was allocated a regional
officer to provide teachers with in-school training to support them in this new
approach to teaching, learning and assessment. Portugal is an example of a
country with a specific initiative aimed at developing teachers’ ICT skills so
that they can in turn develop their students’ digital competence. The
EduScratch initiative promotes the educational use of the programming tool
Scratch, which helps develop students’ computational thinking. Teachers were
offered in-service training to support their use of the tool. (INSERT VIDEO
CLIP).
Some education systems have also provided
centrally-developed tools to help teachers implement this new approach to
teaching and learning. Last year Spain published a didactic guide for teachers
to support their integration of key competences in the classroom. Poland has
also recently developed a teaching tools database which includes a bank of
complex ready-to-use tasks which teachers can use to develop their students’
critical thinking and reasoning skills. The tools database was created to
support teachers in implementing the new competence-based curriculum introduced
in 2008, which prioritizes the development of students’ problem-solving skills.
(INSERT VIDEO CLIP).
We recently launched an online survey about
stakeholders’ experiences of competence-based education across Europe. We got
responses from over 3, 000 teachers, around 800 students, 700 parents and 500
head teachers. While the results
highlight some important issues, we should be careful in our interpretation of
them, as the survey was not based on random sampling and country representation
was uneven. The good news is that there is almost universal agreement among
teachers, students, parents and head teachers that key competences are indeed
important for helping people succeed in learning and life, and progress has
been made in defining and integrating key competences in national curricula.
However, if competence-based education is to become a reality, improvement is
needed in terms of collaboration and communication among stakeholders. Only 18%
of teachers indicated that their school had engaged with the broader community
to facilitate the integration of competence-based learning. Similarly only 21% of
parents stated that they had participated in discussions about competence-based
education, while only 65% of students said that their teachers had explained
the purpose and goals of key competences to them. A participative approach
involving communication with all key stakeholders, is essential to building
broad support for new competence-based reforms. School leaders play an
important role in communicating the objectives of the new approach to teachers,
parents, learners and the wider community.
Remember
that you can access further reading and related resources to this session,
including the full versions of the videos you saw, from our course library. We
also encourage you to visit the course forum where you can discuss any of the
issues mentioned in this session, and exchange with your peers about your own
country experiences of developing key competences in schools.
Video Talk 5: Irish case study: Key Skills in the
Irish Curriculum & Project Maths
Thanks Caroline. Indeed, as just mentioned, all levels of
school education in Ireland are at various stages of curriculum reform and the
development and embedding of dispositions and competences are viewed as central
to these reforms. In Ireland, we refer to key competences as key skills and
frameworks for key skills have been developed for lower and upper secondary
education, that is to say for students aged between 12 and 18.
The key skills are based on the competences set out in
the European Framework for Key Competences for Lifelong Learning, but are
adapted to suit the Irish context. The approach is an integrated approach with
the competences embedded into the learning outcomes of the formal curriculum
and assessment. Emphasis is placed on their role in the teaching and learning
approaches employed in classrooms. While curriculum and assessment reforms are
led from the centre, schools are encouraged to develop competences in ways that
work best for them. NCCA has worked closely with schools and teachers in the
development of the key skills frameworks.
Currently, the curriculum and its assessment for lower
secondary education (or what we call in Ireland, junior cycle, which includes
students aged between 12 and 15) is being reformed and as part of that reform
literacy, numeracy and six key skills have been identified as being central to
teaching and learning.
You can see here the six key skills of the Junior Cycle,
and it is clear that the focus is on learning to learn, working with others and
being reflective, creative and innovative.
At Senior Cycle (which includes students aged between 16
and 18) a framework sets out how Key Skills can be embedded in teaching and
learning and the learning outcomes associated with each skill. You can see here
the five key skills of Senior cycle education in Ireland.
Work has been underway on the embedding of these key
skills in the curriculum for Senior Cycle over the last number of years, and
the first subject to have its syllabuses completely revised has been
mathematics. In modules 2 and 3 of this course we’ll be focusing in on the
initiative called Project Maths which
set out to reform the way maths was taught, learnt and assessed in all
post-primary schools in Ireland. One of the main aims of the initiative was to
improve skills such as reasoning, sense-making and problem-solving. The key
skills of the Junior and senior cycle were embedded in the new syllabuses. We
wanted our students to be able to think creatively and use maths to think
critically, to develop a set of transferrable skills which meant they could
apply their knowledge beyond the classroom and to unfamiliar situations. We
wanted them to learn collaboratively, to analyse each other’s strategies,
problem-solve in groups and use technology to support their learning. In this way they would be more equipped with skills
for living in the world and for further study in the area of maths.
Internationally, the move has been towards an emphasis on problem-solving,
modelling and maths in real life contexts, and this approach was largely absent
in the previous mathematics curriculum in Ireland.
Watch
the following short video for an overview of the Project Maths initiative:
You heard in the video about the pervasive nature of the
final exam and the negative impact it was having on learning. In Ireland maths
is currently formally assessed mainly by way of a final externally set and
marked exam at the end of Junior cycle, followed by an exam at the end of
Senior Cycle. For that reason along with high failure rates and research which
was indicating that maths classrooms around Ireland were often teacher centred,
it was clear that reform was badly needed.
Luckily, there
was recognition by a number of key stakeholders that something had to be done
about mathematics standards and students attitudes to maths. The collaboration
of these stakeholders resulted in the creation of the Project Maths initiative,
which would change the syllabus, align the assessment with the learning
outcomes and include a big investment in teacher professional development.
In module 2,
Sandra Fay, a mathematics teacher in Ireland, will talk to you about the
challenges at the classroom level of introducing this changed approach to
teaching maths. She’ll also identify some strategies that were successful in
bringing about the aims of the syllabus and developing 21st century
skills.
The change in
the assessment of mathematics was one of the biggest challenges we encountered
during the implementation of the initiative. In module 3 dedidacted to
assessment, I’ll share our experience in Ireland of the challenges we faced and
some of the strategies which were effective in assessing key competences in mathematics.
I look forward to talking to you again then.
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