Implementation and Assessment of Key Competences

08 December 2009 to 11 December 2009
Prague , Czech Republic

Peer Learning Cluster or other group

Key Competences

Background

The fifth PLA of the Cluster for Key Competences-Curricular Reform was hosted jointly by the Ministry for Education, Youth and Sports and the Research Institute of Education of the Czech Republic. This took place in the context of the updated Strategic Framework (‘ET 2020’) which reaffirms the crucial role of education and training in ensuring that all European citizens acquire the key competences they need for personal fulfilment, social cohesion and active citizenship.

Key competences for lifelong learning are the knowledge, skills and attitudes that young people should develop by the end of their initial education and training. The 2006 Recommendation sets out these eight key competences: communication in the Mother Tongue; Foreign Languages Maths, Science and Technology; Digital Competence; Learning to Learn; Entrepreneurship; Social and Civic Competence; Cultural Awareness and Expression. All are equally important and all are interlinked, in that aspects of one can support competence in another.

Since the Recommendation was published, the work of the Key Competences-Curricular Reform cluster has explored a range of topics which are of direct relevance to the implementation of the key competences in member states.

Against this background, Cluster’s participants agreed that it would be necessary to further explore different approaches to integrating key competences into the curriculum; methods of teaching and of assessing key competences in context; and the place of the transversal competences in curriculum, learning and assessment.

This PLA therefore focused explicitly on the topic of implementation and assessment. Topics covered during the PLA addressed: curriculum reforms in the Czech Republic; key competences implementation in Ireland and Austria; and the work of practising teachers and educationalists.

Description

One of the major tasks in which the Cluster for Key Competences-Curricular Reform is currently engaged is the development of a set of guidelines on the implementation and assessment of key competences that will provide a bridge between policy and practice.

The overall purpose of this PLA can be summarised as follows:

  • To support the concept and implementation of key competences in member states by exploring current issues, dilemmas and needs related to key competences implementation and assessment in partner countries;
  • To compare and contrast experiences of implementation and assessment of key competences in different countries;
  • To make recommendations concerning curriculum organisation, implementation and assessment of key competences.

 Topics explored during the PLA in order to achieve these aim included:

  • Overview of the Czech experience of implementation and assessment of key competences;
  • Presentation of examples of how key competences have been implemented and assessed in different member states;
  • Analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of current approaches to curriculum design and assessment.

Conclusions

The PLA succeeded in stimulating a range of exchanges and conclusions e.g. including that follows:

Developing competences:

  • The ‘competence’ approach does not replace educational content.
  • Most or even all of the key competences can be developed in most or all areas of the traditional curriculum.
  • Assessment can either help or hinder the development of competence and is therefore a major implementation issue for the dissemination of the key competences
  • Teaching methods which help learners to develop all dimensions of the key competences should be a regular feature of the teaching and learning situation, both in the context of single subjects, and in cross-curricular work.
  • Formative approaches to assessment should be carried out on an on-going basis, with the explicit purpose of helping learners to develop competence.

Creating system-level supports:

  • Implementing teaching and assessment methods which support competence, communication and teamwork between teachers are essential.
  • Providing system-level support for the relevant stakeholders (e.g. policy makers, teachers, school managers, etc.) is crucial
  • Need to encourage measures built on the expertise and experience of the people involved, including learners.
  • Need to embed the national key competences structure in lifelong learning strategies, at all levels and in all sectors of national education and training systems

Developing and assessing attitudes:

  • Attitudes are a crucial aspect of the concept of competence and are an essential dimension of developing all of the key competences. However, there are technical and ethical challenges in the development and assessment of attitudes at local and national level. It is also useful to distinguish different understandings of the term ‘attitude’.

Implementation and dissemination:

  • The Policy Guidelines currently being developed by the key competences cluster should provide a structure and guiding notes on the content and process of drawing up a Key Competences Implementation Plan at national level.
For further reading, see PLA_KC_Prague_final report.pdf
Knowledge System for Lifelong Learning