COMPETENCIES

DEFINITIONS

“What the learners are expected to do rather than on what they are expected to learn about”- Richards and Rodgers

“Competencies describe the student’s ability to apply basic and other skills in situations that are commonly encountered in everyday life”- Schenck

“Performance-based process leading to demonstrated mastery of basic and life skills necessary for the individual to function proficiently in society”- Savage

“Competencies consist of a description of the essential skills , knowledge, attitudes and behaviors required for effective performance of a real world task or activity. These activities may be related to any domain of life, though have been typically been linked to the field of work and to social survival in a new environment”- Mrowicki

So, What is a competency?

Skills

Abilities

Attitudes and values

Knowledge

Performance-based process

Working this way, the result will be:

Knowledge Abilities

Skills

Attitudes ValuesPerformance-

based process

Learning to know

- Less concerned with the adquisition of structured knowledge than the mastery of learning tools.- Learning how to learn by developing one’s concentration, memory skills and ability to think.- Thinking is something children learn first from their parents and then from their teachers.

Learning to do

- Physical tasks are being replaced with a greater intellectual or cerebral content, as machines themselves become more intelligent.- New working patterns will call for the intensive application of information, knowledge and creativity.- Practical problem-solving thought.

Learning to live together

- Teach students about human diversity.- Children should be taught to understand other people reactions by looking at things from their point of view (Empathy).- Some teachers stifle curiosity or healthy criticism instead of teaching how to debate.- One essential tool will be a suitable forum for dialogue and discussion.- Collaborative projects and social activities.

Learning to be

- Education should contribute to every person’s complete development –mind and body, intelligence, sensitivity, aesthetic appreciation and spirituality.- Longlife process which is based both on self-knowledge and on relationships with others.- Education: individualized process and at the same time an interactive social experience.- Children should be offered every opportunity for aesthetic, artistic, scientific, cultural, social discovery and experimentation so that education can be more cultural and less utilitarian.

Can we name the competencies?

The ability to use language, symbols and text interactively.

- Effective use of spoken and language written languaje.- Use of IT (information tecnology).- Mathematical skills.

The ability to use knowledge and information interactively.

- Identify, locate and access appropiate information sources.- Evaluate the quality, appropriateness and value of that information.- Organise knowledge and information.

The ability to use technology interactively.

- Requires an awareness of new ways in which our students can use technologies in their everyday lives.- Incorporate technologies into their common practices, which produces a familiarity with the technology that then allows them to extend its uses.

The ability to relate well with others

- Allows students to initiate, mantain and manage personal relationships.- Students are able to respect and appreciate the values, beliefs, cultures and histories of others where they create an nice atmosphere.- Effective management of emotions.

The ability to cooperate

- Students join forces in groups to work.- Present ideas and listen to those of others.- Ability to negotiate- Understand the dynamics of debate.- Ability to make decisions that allow for different opinions.

The ability to manage and resolve conflicts.

- Analyse the issues and interests, the origin of the conflict and reasoning of all sides.- Identify areas of agreement and disagreement.- Reframe the problem.

The ability to act within the big picture.

- Students understand the wider context of their actions and decisions.- Take account of how they relate to school’s norms and in society .- Have an idea of the system in which they exist (culture, practices, laws, regulations, social norms, moral codes, values and manners).- Consequences of their actions.

The ability to form and conduct life plans and personal projects.

- Orientation toward the future.- Define a project and set a goal.- Identify and evaluate resources they have and resources they need, for example, time and money.- Learn from past actions, projecting future outcomes.- Monitor progress, making necessary adjustments.

The ability to asserts rights, interests, limits ans needs.

- Students understand their own interests.- Construct arguments in order to have needs and rights recognised.- It is up to our students to identify and evaluate their rights, needs and interests ( as well as those of others and to assert and defend them actively.

Thank you!