What Competency-based learning is...
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10 Reasons for Competency Based Democracy Learning
We might conclude, that education and qualification needs to respond to that observation and cover the broad range of experience, attitudes, book-knowledge and skills that one has and needs for his or her active and autonomously shaped life.
10 Reasons for Competency Based Learning
- Competency based facilitation gives learners ownership over their learning and is a cooperative social process – real and authentic empowerment.
- It takes takes strengths, needs, and abilities of learners for serious. Be more often surprised by the abilities and strengths of your learners.
- It appreciates the diversity of perspectives and learning styles in a group as a potential (instead of trying to even these qualities).
- Competency based facilitation encourages creativity, because it shapes new connections between topics, people, concepts.
- It stimulates a sense of initiative and leads to self-efficacy when learners experience a gain of competencies by successful applying their knowledge.
- It's relevant, because it allows learners to apply their abilities in a lot of different social roles and situations.
- It's more flexible, because it understands learning as a process instead of subordinating it under the regime of a too linear curriculum.
- It allows you to focus more on social processes and communication skills, because competency learning is a social process.
- You are more free from unrealistic learning goals or unreal assumptions regarding the needs and abilities of your learners, because mainly the learners abilities are in the focus.
- You learn, how cooperation with different fields of education, social engagement or non-formal education can increases the quality of education, enbaling learners to apply learning under real life conditions.
...and 5 Problematic Practices
Beyond all missionary words we need to acknowledge, that competency based learning is not always easy to implement. It is often a disruptive element in the learning culture of a school, of an academy or an organization. Changes are never easy and dilemmas appear between old proven and new risky ways of educating and unclarity about how they might go together. For instance:
What Competency-centered Learning Should Not Be
- A new layer of bureaucracy: It's intended to give learners and teachers more freedom instead more rules or procedures. It requires flexible teachers/facilitators and more freedom for learners.
- Tailorist instead tailor-made learning: It's a humanist and holistic approach aiming to support autonomy, not usability. However, some promoters of competencies misunderstand competency-learning as emphasizing on skill training only.
- Optimization without development: Competency is not a self-optimization tool nor for assessing the fittest or increasing competitiveness. They are an instrument for individual and free personal development.
- Doing without thinking: Competence-centered learning involves knowledge, attitude and skills. But some understand that it is a practice-only approach. However, successful action is not possible without the ability of a learner to assess and reflect on activities and goals.
Articles
Competency Frameworks
Competency Frameworks for Educators
Also interesting:
Overview of different competence frameworks relevant to lifelong learning. Online
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DEFINITION:
"A competency is more than just knowledge and skills. It involves the ability to meet complex demands, by drawing on and mobilizing psychosocial resources (including skills and attitudes) in a particular context."
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