Competence-based education, which is practice-oriented education, is the answer to the call for highly competent teachers. We would have experienced for ourselves and heard the experiences of others about the nerve-racking effects of preparing for tests and then having to wait for the results. The experience is even worse when, after hours of doing the test, you may be unable to recall and apply what was learnt.

Do we want to hear that this is the experience our student-teachers/future teachers have? Of course not!

As The Mico University College positions itself to be a university, preparing for institutional accreditation, its proactive nature has caused us to engage in vibrant discourses and planning sessions to further enhance the capacity of our students to master teaching skills and exhibit exemplary values and attitudes.

Competency-based education will equip student-teachers with the knowledge, skills, values, and attitude that will aid them in meeting the needs of not just the national economy but those of the global economy. The ability to be critical in their thinking, communicate well with others, solve problems, and appreciate the views of others, as well as master content, are requirements of the future teacher. As such, the new thrust towards a culture of education in Jamaica at all levels is one that engages learners, allowing them, through guidance, to create knowledge and develop skills, values and attitudes that can stimulate a learning environment and promote learning for all to function effectively in the global world.

Adopting competency assessment in some areas of specialisation will result in a “richer” teacher-education programme. A programme so designed — using the constructivist model — will prepare graduates to effectively function in a dynamic work environment. While this adjustment to competency-based assessment will require research (needs assessment) and the consensus of educators and other stakeholders, the result will serve as a stimulus to the dialogue and, to some extent, provide sensitisation on the competency-based assessment aspect of competence-based education.

At the 12th Annual Quality Assurance in Tertiary Education week held March 6- 10, 2017, an overview of the 10 University Council of Jamaica standards for institutional accreditation were presented. Under Standard #4, Academic Programmes, one of the areas of focus is that there should be in place a standardised and sustained assessment process to evaluate and improve learning. The teacher-education environment can contribute to this by adopting the competency-assessment model to create performance tasks for the relevant areas of specialisations. This can ultimately lead to student-teachers’ (learners’) acquisition of pertinent skills through demonstration, coaching, and practise and, ultimately, after guided practise (“learning- by- doing”) demonstrate proficiency.

What is competency?

Wim Kouwenhoven (2003) defines competency as the ability to apply knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values in a bid to carry out a task(s), with motivation, self-confidence and determination playing a role.

Determining learners’ ability to perform tasks to the required standards or demonstrate proficiency in knowledge and skills can be obtained through competency-assessment means.

The aim of competency assessment is to indicate the effectiveness of knowledge, skills, attitude and values in the learning environment. Competency assessment is focused on outcome, that is, what the student-teachers (learners) will know and be able to confidently and reliably demonstrate at the end of a course or programme.

Competency assessment is highly outcome-oriented. It provides a way to measure students’ demonstration of learning. Learning criteria are developed and shared with the learner, providing them with information on what they need to demonstrate. The criteria will also outline the main outcomes required and what the learners should do to demonstrate competence in requisite skills, with the intention of attaining a specific goal. The educator, as a coach, will use the established outcome criteria to evaluate the student-teachers’ (learners’) performance.

Achieving competence

Achieving competence takes time, but the learners (student-teachers) will assess their performance (self-assessment), identify gaps and recognise the competencies that they need to achieve. In addition to this, formal assessment is conducted by the assessor or facilitator. The learners will be considered competent when they are able to apply the requisite knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes to successfully execute a task in varying situations and learning environments, as are in accordance with the standards of performance required in the teaching profession.

In planning for a phased implementation of competency assessment, The Mico will be guided by the following questions:

• What are the competencies that student-teachers need to master in order to deliver excellence in teaching?

• How can they become competent in their area of specialisation?

• What are the standards required for professional development of student-teachers?

Denise Minott is a curriculum specialist at The Mico University College. Send comments to the Observer or dminott577@gmail.com.