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1 – 10 of over 1000Martin Mulder, Judith Gulikers, Harm Biemans and Renate Wesselink
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether the new (comprehensive) concept of competence and the competence‐based education approach are being used in, and perceived as…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether the new (comprehensive) concept of competence and the competence‐based education approach are being used in, and perceived as being fruitful for, academic education.
Design/methodology/approach
In this explorative and qualitative study individual interviews with representatives of study programs from eight universities in the Netherlands were held, and a participative case‐study in one university was conducted, in which practices and perceptions from various stakeholder groups were triangulated.
Findings
The opinions of the respondents on the usefulness of the competence‐based education approach were quite positive. There is wide agreement on the necessity to align university curricula to the needs of society and of the labour market. University education can make effective use of the competence concept. Universities differ as to the extent to which they employ a competence‐based education approach. Many hurdles exist for actually implementing this in university curricula.
Research limitations/implications
Interpretations largely depend on the perceptions of the respondents in the study. For most university programs only one representative was included as respondent in the study.
Practical implications
With some exceptions, the competence‐based education approach is currently not much used in academic education. Possibilities and limitations of competence‐based academic education should be identified in further case studies and strategies for actually implementing it should be developed. Further research should show differential relationships between the level of integration of the competence concept in higher education and the societal effects of the respective programs.
Originality/value
The competence concept has been underexposed in university education practices and in research.
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Vidmantas Tūtlys, Sigitas Daukilas, Rita Mičiulienė, Nijole Čiučiulkienė and Ričardas Krikštolaitis
This paper aims to explore how the competence-based vocational education and training (VET) curricula facilitate shaping of work values of VET students. It discusses…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how the competence-based vocational education and training (VET) curricula facilitate shaping of work values of VET students. It discusses methodological and ideological orientations of competence-based VET in teaching work values and discloses the typical characteristics of teaching work values in the VET system of Lithuania.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research approach leading to a survey method is adopted to investigate how VET students acquire and apply work-related values and attitudes to work.
Findings
The survey of the VET students has disclosed that students are open to accepting different values of work, including cognitive values, social prestige and altruist values. However, orientation of the VET curricula to and provision of instrumental values lead to relatively weak internalization of the work values related to societal and spiritual dimensions.
Originality/value
The paper provides empirical evidence regarding the implications of the competence-based curricula for teaching students work values in the school-based VET.
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Inger Boyett and Graeme Currie
This paper presents a case study of a management development programme, which adopts a competence‐based approach aimed at middle managers in a further education college. The…
Abstract
This paper presents a case study of a management development programme, which adopts a competence‐based approach aimed at middle managers in a further education college. The programme takes place in a context that promotes the concept of general management. However, the programme, in which the general management approach is embedded, is resisted by the participating middle managers, to the extent that the programme “collapses” half way through and is never revived. As the paper suggests, there may be two reasons for this. First, in considering any potential relationship between public and private sectors, a key question is whether generic transfer of managerial ideas and practices from private to the public sector is appropriate. Second, it may be a question of the way in which the programme was implemented and delivered.
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The purpose of this article is to explore diversity in competence models across Europe and consider the extent to which there is sufficient common ground for a common European…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to explore diversity in competence models across Europe and consider the extent to which there is sufficient common ground for a common European approach to underpin the European Qualifications Framework.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses a literature review and interviews with policy makers.
Findings
Despite the central role of competence in policy initiatives, conceptual approaches to competence vary not only between but also within different member states. This diversity embodies not only language issues but also fundamental cultural differences in approaches to skill formation. Whether the models have sufficient common ground to permit a “best‐fit” European‐wide approach is open to question, although this is clearly an essential prerequisite for removing barriers to labour mobility. Despite initiatives like the European Qualifications Framework there is still no consensus for adopting a common competence model and policy discussions continue to reveal confusion.
Research limitations/implications
The focus on policy discussions at the European level may be a limitation, and readers should see this as the introductory scene setting to more detailed discussions in the following papers of important developments within member states. Beyond this, much is happening at the level of sectors and occupations that is the focus for practical implementation.
Practical implications
The paper highlights the urgent need to develop a coherent conceptual underpinning for competence descriptors in qualifications frameworks that will work as a best‐fit approach across Europe. Without this, occupational and inter‐sector mobility will be hindered.
Originality/value
The paper offers the most comprehensive assessment of European approaches to competence to date.
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Audrey Seezink and Rob F. Poell
The purpose of this article is to help schools for vocational education determine teachers' continuing professional development needs associated with implementing competence‐based…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to help schools for vocational education determine teachers' continuing professional development needs associated with implementing competence‐based education programs, so that these schools can develop better attuned HR policies. It investigates which elements from the cognitive apprenticeship model and from the acquisition and participation metaphors can be identified in the individual action theories of their teachers.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study was conducted in one school for vocational education, where 12 teachers engaged in an innovation project around the development of a new competence‐based education program for pupils. They participated in concept mapping, cued interviews (based on video recordings), semi‐structured interviews, and a joint feedback session. These four sources were used for an in‐depth content analysis of teachers' action theories.
Findings
No distinctive, crystallized action theories about competence‐based vocational education emerged at the individual teacher level; let alone individual teachers' action theories well in line with the two normative frameworks on competence‐based education. The case study shows the struggle that individual teachers are going through to get their every‐day teaching repertoire more in line with new ideas on competence‐based education.
Research limitations/implications
Only qualitative data are gathered, in one school, representing one school type, in one country only, limiting the statistical generalizability of the results. Not all respondents are able to participate in all four data sources.
Practical implications
Schools should develop HR policies that offer teachers CPD activities in the crucial area of competence‐based education; the frameworks presented in the study can be used to this end, by teacher educators as well as by HRD professionals interested in combining training programs with informal employee learning.
Originality/value
The study draws on literature from various disciplines (especially educational psychology and HRD), which traditionally have remained mostly separate. It combines insights from four separate data sources.
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The twenty-first century education system seeks to meet the societal demands of economic effectiveness and the unique professional development needs of individuals. This paper…
Abstract
Purpose
The twenty-first century education system seeks to meet the societal demands of economic effectiveness and the unique professional development needs of individuals. This paper aims to discuss the qualities of competence-oriented educational processes and the recent movement towards competence-based curricula in higher education.
Design/methodology/approach
This study follows a systematic literature review (SLR) methodology to explore the concept of competence within the context of educational science. The subsequent thematic synthesis analyses the findings of reviewed publications regarding graduate attributes in competence-oriented higher education and their perspectives and working-life expectations on exit profiles.
Findings
Interest in competence-oriented education, training and learning has grown in recent years, resulting in numerous theoretical and technical pedagogical applications in higher education. Nonetheless, ambiguous terminology presents a significant challenge, which is demonstrated by the inconsistent language of the study's results. Moreover, there is an obvious need for teachers' in-service training. The qualitative synthesis of this article will be useful for both educational and working life sectors to inform and promote different perspectives on competence-oriented educational processes. A clear articulation of competences is crucial for reforming higher education to meet students' interests and recognise their work-life needs.
Originality/value
The concept of competence has been under-investigated in higher education research and practices. This study offers novel insights and practical implications for competence-oriented learning concerning the paradigmatic change across higher education.
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Rebecca Huxley-Binns, Jenny Lawrence and Graham Scott
Universities must build curricula that prepare students for the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). However, given the pace of change, we cannot be certain of the attributes…
Abstract
Universities must build curricula that prepare students for the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). However, given the pace of change, we cannot be certain of the attributes necessary to navigate the fourth industrial age (4IA). This chapter argues we can prepare graduates for this unknowable future through integrative, competence-based curricula, outlines how we conceptualize, design, teach and assess competence-based HE, and invest in those involved in teaching and learning at the University of Hull, UK.
To be competent is to have the necessary experience, knowledge and self-awareness to do something successfully. Competencies are “taught in practice and assessed in application” (Lawrence et al., 2020). Students learn by applying disciplinary knowledge to professional practice, where possible attending to live briefs or authentic teaching and assessment relevant to study, work and life. This has the potential to benefit the local region and students as they build educational, cultural and social capital.
To sustain the currency of competence-based HE, we work with the learning community (student sponsors, prospective, and current students, employers, and providers of voluntary and other services) in designing our programs of study. We facilitate mutual learning to design and deliver integrative curricula that are meaningful and relevant to all.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine how educators can teach the key competence of a sense of initiative and entrepreneurship (SIE) as a cross-curricular subject in compulsory…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how educators can teach the key competence of a sense of initiative and entrepreneurship (SIE) as a cross-curricular subject in compulsory education. It draws both on the literature relating to entrepreneurial education and on competence-based education to set out five features of entrepreneurial teaching. For illustrative purposes, these five characteristics are explored in a questionnaire put to a small group of teaching staff.
Design/methodology/approach
This study employs a qualitative approach, seeking to understand the personal perspectives of participants, and drawing out the complexities of their behaviour, whilst also providing a holistic interpretation of such behaviour.
Findings
The literature review identifies five features of entrepreneurial teaching: embedding learning outcomes for a SIE within taught subjects; active entrepreneurial teaching; educating for entrepreneurial attitudes; networking activities; being entrepreneurial as part of lifelong learning. It can be hypothesised that teaching staff teach different aspects of the SIE depending on the subject they teach (vocational or more traditional) and their role (teacher or workshop assistant).
Originality/value
Development of the SIE and the five characteristics of entrepreneurial teaching is a first step towards understanding how secondary vocational teachers and workshop assistants understand and teach the SIE as cross-curricular subject. In line with Fayolle and Gailly who called for deeper investigation of the most effective combinations of objectives, content and teaching methods, the paper seeks to establish a relationship between teaching methods, development of entrepreneurial attitudes and assessment.
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K.J.P. Truijen, P.J.C. Sleegers, M.R.M. Meelissen and A.F.M. Nieuwenhuis
At a time when secondary vocational education is implementing competence‐based education (CBE) on a large scale, to adapt to the needs of students and of the labour market in a…
Abstract
Purpose
At a time when secondary vocational education is implementing competence‐based education (CBE) on a large scale, to adapt to the needs of students and of the labour market in a modern society, many vocational schools have recognised that interdisciplinary teacher teams are an important condition for this implementation. In order to provide students with the right competences for the labour market, different subject teachers should work and learn together and, by doing so, should be able to develop changes and improvements to ensure the effective implementation of CBE. In spite of the appeal of forming teacher teams in vocational education, studies on this subject show that teams in educational settings are not easily implemented. This paper aims to address this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, 28 managers from a Vocational Education and Training (VET) college in The Netherlands were interviewed in order to find factors that are related to effective team functioning. The authors choose to rely on a qualitative approach, because there has hardly been any empirical validation of factors that are related to effective team functioning in a vocational education context. In order to determine what factors influence team effectiveness, the results from the interviews have been related to what is known about team effectiveness from the literature.
Findings
By relating the results from the interviews to what is known about team effectiveness from the literature, a framework for future research on team effectiveness in schools is provided. In line with the organisational and psychological literature on team effectiveness, the managers distinguished several aspects in their definition of team effectiveness. Moreover, the findings of the study highlight the importance of the development of task interdependence, transformational leadership, and group efficacy for producing effective teams in education.
Originality/value
Although teams and team functioning have been the focus of researchers from different disciplines and have been studied from different perspectives, studies on the conditions that support or limit the successful implementation of teacher teams in vocational education are still scarce. The results of this study are expected to provide a deeper understanding of the mechanism that underlies the ability of teacher teams in vocational education to function effectively.
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