COMPETENCES

“ COMPETENT PERFORMANCE PRESUMES COMPETENCE”

BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

Competences are commonly assumed to represent more than the levels of knowledge and skills and to account for the effective application of available knowledge and skills in a specific context.

It is assumed that ‘competence’ transcends the levels of knowledge and skills to explain how knowledge and skills are applied in an effective way. They are easily identified with valued capabilities, qualifications and expertise..

Knowledge and understanding: In common usage in education and training, ‘knowledge’ is associated with the representation of facts, procedures, principles and theories in a particular domain. For example: one may have the knowledge that yesterday was a rainy day, or that dogs are dangerous.

It is an important characteristic of knowledge that it is easy to test whether or not a person possesses a specific body of knowledge. If someone fails to reproduce the knowledge at hand in a test situation, it is concluded that the person lacks the knowledge. Note that here the assessment of the learner is expressed in behavioural terms; however, failure to recall may be the simple result of an extremely large retrieval time: forgotten memories are supposed to be still available, but cannot be retrieved quickly

Knowledge, however, should not be confused with understanding. The ability to reproduce information does not necessarily presuppose understanding of the information; Understanding represents an intellectual capability to use information in a sensible, meaningful way and understanding is assumed to emerge when existing knowledge is brought to bear on a new situation. For example, if smoke emerges during cooking, we use our knowledge about cooking, fires and risks to evaluate the situation: we understand that something is going wrong and we draw the conclusion ‘Take action’ . Although understanding seems to arise from interrelating various kinds of knowledge, it is not a typical human characteristic.

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Cognitive skillsCognitive skills are associated with the mental operations that process this knowledge. They all refer to mental processes that occur in the mind (or rather, in the brain) while using, transforming or supplementing available knowledge.

Cognitive skills are highly associated with higher-order activities like problem solving, reasoning, thinking, assessing, concluding, and include the mental processes of analysis, synthesis and evaluation to produce a re-ordering or extension of the existing cognitive structure.

Cognitive skills are, by definition, restricted to internal (mental) processes. It is, therefore, essential to disconnect cognitive skills from observable interactions with the outside world. Indeed, some cognitive activities have no behavioural consequences whatsoever.

Cognitive processes may give rise to various observational behaviours, causing a person to intervene in the environment while performing planned operations and applying available knowledge.

In skills-training, substantial repetition, which allows learners to gradually improve their performance levels in terms of speed, precision and fluency, is usually involved. As a consequence, skills-performance becomes more and more automated.

In contrast with knowledge, cognitive skills are difficult to test directly. Direct observation of the brain during cognitive processes is hindered by technical and ethical obstacles. For this reason, learning objectives for cognitive skills are usually described in operational (behavioural) terms.

Ideas about competence: The concept of ‘linguistic competence’ represents the cognitive structure and rules that are necessary to produce speech; in contrast, ‘linguistic performance’ represents the way speech actually functions in practice when it is contaminated by external factors.

Chomsky, adopting a functionalist perspective, assumes linguistic competence to be general and invariant, while—in contrast—linguistic performance is strictly individual and variable. Anderson (1992) distinguishes between abilities and competences: Abilities represent the (operational) outcomes of tests, while competences represent the underlying cognitive functioning. Gronlund (1981), elaborating on competence-based tests, uses the word competences as a synonym for operational skills, i.e. writing skills, computational skills, reading skills, etc. Here, competences are not assumed to be fixed structures but individual abilities, that can be improved by training.

Competence is a highly-valued qualification that accounts for the effective use of knowledge and skills in specific , usually complex, contexts: The mastery of relevant knowledge and skills alone is no guarantee of successful performances in complex environments; individuals should be able to select from their available knowledge and skills in such a way that efficient and effective behaviour occurs.

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Stephenson and Weil (1992), in an attempt to cover self-confidence, motivation and persistence, assume that competences also include attitudinal components.

Competence: the need for a distinct conceptIt seems that there are (roughly!) two distinct denotations of ‘competences’ in education. From a theoretical perspective, competence is conceived as a cognitive structure that facilitates specified behaviours. From an operational perspective, competences seem to cover a broad range of higher-order skills and behaviours that represent the ability to cope with complex, unpredictable situations; this operational definition includes knowledge, skills, attitudes, metacognition and strategic thinking, and presupposes conscious and intentional decision making. Sometimes skills may demand conscious thinking. In complex, non-standard situations, competences are needed which combine knowledge (cognitive) skills and specific attitudes. Competences have a mental component representing thought and a behavioural component representing competent performance. Competent behaviour is always associated with conscious thinking.

The problem of competence standardsWhen competences are chosen as the ultimate objectives of education, they should be described in terms of well-expressed behaviours in well-expressed situations. If someone is labelled as ‘competent’ , his or her performances meet a standard.

The problem of assessmentThe assessment of competences should deal with the reproducibility or, more precisely, with the prediction of success in future behaviours. a well-defined and controlled test situation would not be appropriate for assessing competences. It may be concluded that the assessment of competences must include the issue of transfer; but such assessment would require a number of environments,

The problem of stability: The way behaviours are regarded can change over time—as a result of circumstances or shifting societal attitudes. Such changes in context can and do lead to the reassessment of competence to incompetence, although the abilities of the person in question remain unchanged.

No competences can be identified that will carry us forward in a changing world—because no competences will carry the value tomorrow that they have today. Competences may be stable but become worthless in a changing world.

The problem of conscious thoughtComplex and novel situations provoke intentional and conscious behaviour. This conscious thinking focuses on the selection, combination, or adaptation of existing routines to meet the new situation. But, increased speed and fluency implies more automatism and less thinking.

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DEFINITONS

COMPETENCE: Refers to one´s underlying knowledge of a system, event or fact. It is the nonobservable ability to do something, to perform something.

A cluster of related knowledge, skills and attitudes that affects a major part of one`s job (a role of responsibility) that correlates with performance on the job, that can be measured against well- accepted standards, and that can be improved via training and development.

PERFORMANCE: Is the overtly observable and concrete manifestation or realization of competence. It is the actual doing of something.

In reference to language, competence is the underlying knowledge of the system of a language. Performance is actual production ( speaking, writing) or the comprehension (listening, reading) of linguistic events.

COMPETENCY: The state or quality of being properly or well qualified.

COMPETENCE BRAINSTORM

• Competency models are highly useful in ensuring that students are doing the right things, clarifying and articulating what is required for effective performance.

• They help them to identify the essential skills, knowledge and personal characteristics needed for successful performance in a job and to ensure that “teachers” focus on developing them.

• Being able to demonstrate that the behaviours and skills you identify and develop are proven.

Information taken from: Martha Alles: The Art and Science of Competency ModelsDouglas Brown: Teaching by Principles / Principles of Language, Learning and Teaching.Wim Westera: Competences in Education: a confusion of tongues.

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KNOWLEDGE SKILL COMMITMENT

COMPETENCE

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2 KEY WORDS

PATTERNS OF OBSERVEDBEHAVIOR

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COMPETENCES / ACTIVE VERBS LIST

Discuss Memorizes Integrates ComprehendsAssures Proporcionates Formulates ComunicatesPlans Calculates Interprets EnjoysEvaluates Programs Facilitates Express Directs Supervises Develops Follows Coordinates Designs Specifies Follows Respects Shows interest Appreciates IncreasesParticipates Assigns Certifies ObtainsControls Analyzes Informs ParticipatesAnswers Distributes Consolidates ProducesUses (information) Organizes Names ReadsAdministrates Approves Interviews RegistersEstablishes Authorizes Sends Revises Transmits Amplifies Takes RevisesListens Experiments Recognizes SharesFaces Tells Paraphrases TracksSpeaks Reviews Cooperates UndesrtandsDetermines Installs Examines VerifiesMonitors Consults Identifies Writes

EXAMPLES OF COMPETENCES:

• Uses communication as a mean to express thoughts, feelings and emotions in and out of his/her school and family community.

• Understands and studies the different cultures using English as a second language.

• Uses his/her English language knowledge to improve his /her communication skills (oral and written)

EXAMPLES OF ACHIEVEMENT SIGNS:

• Names medieval social roles• Describes life in a castle

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• Identifies European imports and exports• Tells about the journeys of Marco Polo• Describes the Andes Mountains• Explains hypotheses scientists have about ……………..• Tells about cause and effect in a paragraph.

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