AARE 25TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE, HOBART, TASMANIA, 26 - 30 NOVEMBER 1995 THE MAYER KEY COMPETENCIES: A NEXUS BETWEEN GENERAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION? Jennifer Bryce: Australian Council for Educational Research Introduction This paper is written at the preliminary stage of work on a project which will examine the Mayer Key Competencies in relation to Arts Education in Australia. At this stage no data have been gathered, so the paper is just a reaction to some of the literature in the area, in particular the claim by the Mayer Committee that the Key Competencies will `fuse general education with vocational training' (Mayer 1992/3). Some questions that will be considered are: ¥Why should general and vocational education be `fused'? ¥Is a `nexus' better than a `fusion'? ¥In what ways might the Key Competencies form a nexus? ¥Will educators be able to make the Key Competencies work so that they can act as a nexus? The term `general education' will be applied to what we may consider as academic subjects or the Key Learning Areas that resulted from the Common Agreed National Goals for Schooling in Australia established in 1989. Distinctions between Vocational Education and Vocational Training will not be considered here, but `Vocational' will be applied to skills, knowledge and understanding specific to particular kinds of occupations. The paper will not consider whether economic motives behind a Key Competencies approach are desirable, or whether the seven Key Competencies developed by the Mayer Committee are the right ones. Underlying most of the discussion is a concern for the needs of young people in the post compulsory years of schooling in Australia. Before embarking on a discussion of the questions outlined above, it seems worthwhile to look at the environment in which the Key Competencies were developed and to look briefly at the notion of `competence', as it applies to the Mayer Key Competencies. Setting the scene In 1992, the Mayer Committee considered the needs of young people entering a world where work place demands will be changing rapidly. They asserted that future work places will require broadly defined rather than specialised work roles requiring creativity, initiative and strong social and personal skills. The Committee concluded that in order to gain skills in these areas young people need a general education - a strong foundation of knowledge, skills and understanding, and they need vocational competencies, but in addition they need `a further ingredient which fuses general education with vocational training - made up of the things that enable young people to take an active role in making decisions about the work they do and the way it is done and to make the most of opportunities to learn on the job - the things that enable people to put their general education to work' (Mayer, 1992/3). The `further ingredient' emerged as a set of seven Key Competencies. I became aware of a situation where young people have difficulty relating their general education to vocational aspirations two years ago, when I interviewed a number of young people who had recently completed the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) in Victoria (Bryce, 1993). They had completed the certificate with no intention of proceeding to a higher education course. I was interested in their comments about the VCE experience because they represented a group of people who, ten years ago, would have left school after Year 10 to enter the workforce or perhaps take up an apprenticeship. They were perhaps `products' of the Blackburn Report's emphasis on parity of esteem, as they seemed to me typical of the young people who these days are strongly encouraged to complete their secondary education in light of the belief that it should be accessible to all. Craig said: They're trying to make us all into educated people, and what's happening is creating a limbo; people who have passed the age when they should be becoming an apprentice, and they're not good enough to go to uni...Leaving these people to stay on at school is not distinguishing anybody. They're all in the same boat. Craig seems to have in mind two distinct groups of people: those who are `educated' and go to university, and those who, by implication, are not. Jeffrey also believed that some people `are not good enough' to go to university and that staying on at school was of little help: We've all been told to be this great uni sort of person instead of being told it's OK to get an apprenticeship or do physical labour. We're told we can do anything we like, basically; all you've got to do is set your sights. But the harsh reality is, though, that some people haven't got it: they think they have, but they haven't really. Leonie, working in a Supermarket checkout after completing Year 12, was not content in a state of `limbo' and was angry that she had been given false expectations of the post compulsory years of school: Now I wish I'd left school in Year 10, when jobs were better...I feel I wasted two years. I could have been getting a job, getting money in the bank, getting nice things for myself - getting a better job than I've got now. Yeah, I really feel I've wasted two years! We're so influenced by school when we're young, to go on and do Year 12. And it hasn't worked. It just hasn't worked. We've been misled, really, I think. These students seemed to believe that there is a polarity in the offerings of post compulsory education: academic subjects for those destined for university and, in their eyes, nothing much for those who intend to find work or enter an apprenticeship. `Academic subjects' were highly regarded; these students just felt that they `weren't good enough' to do them. This attitude was more frequently expressed than any suggestion that something more appropriate for them should have been offered. The prevailing attitude seems to be that if you are `good' you should stay at school and study academic subjects, if you are not it is time to focus on vocational education such as taking up an apprenticeship - and presumably other work-related education, if available, would be useful. This kind of scene, where people not suited to or involved in academic studies see themselves as inferior to those who are, is reflected in a study carried out in the United States by Warren Little and Threatt (1994) who note a tendency to `compress' the vocational curriculum in high schools. They describe an environment where `academically successful students [are] the most prized clientele'. They suggest that academic and vocational subjects are seen as separate endeavours, with academic ones being unquestionably superior (Warren Little and Threatt, 1994/282). It is likely that this attitude springs, to a large extent, from social class biases, where trades were for the working classes and the professions for middle class people. Indeed, in Victoria, where until recently there was a strong bipartite system of secondary education with high and technical schools, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology was founded as `the Working Man's College', distinguishing it from the university, which provided education for the upper and middle classes. These tertiary level institutions had a considerable influence on the secondary school curriculum. Well into the 1960s, technical schools were seen as appropriate secondary school destinations for the `less able' who could `work with their hands' and learn a trade. The Mayer Key Competencies (1992) have been developed in an environment where young people are strongly encouraged to complete secondary school and it is acknowledged that the curriculum needs to accommodate young people with a wide variety of post school intentions. But these moves are not totally altruistic. There are strong economic motives in this drive to retain high proportions of young people in post compulsory education . Indeed Collins (1995/10) has suggested that the Key Competencies approach is `a direct attempt to harness the post compulsory school curriculum to ensure that all students [improve] those instrumental skills thought necessary [to make them] competent human resources for the Australian economy', and Crittenden (1995/30) suggests that schools are becoming `servants of the economy'. These concerns spring from statements in the Mayer Report such as the introduction where it is stated that `Australia's economic success and hence our standard of living depends on a workforce and a work environment that is capable of matching, or improving on, world best practice. Work places must become more competitive' (Mayer, 1992/3). This strong economic purpose is ameliorated somewhat by statements that the Key Competencies aim to be appropriate no matter whether young people plan to proceed straight to the workforce after school or whether they propose to undertake further education. They are competencies `that all young people need to enable them to participate effectively in the emerging forms of work and work organisation' (Mayer, 1992/viii). A brief look at `competence' and the Mayer Key Competencies The seven Key Competencies developed by the Mayer Committee as essential for young people to be able to participate effectively `in emerging forms of work and work organisation' (Mayer, 1992/3) are: Collecting, Analysing and Organising Information Communicating Ideas and Information Planning and Organising Activities Working with Others and in Teams Using Mathematical Ideas and Techniques Solving Problems Using Technology. An eighth Key Competency, Cultural Understanding, is still under discussion. The Mayer report stresses that competence is about what people can do. It focuses on outcomes, but not in a narrow way: `Competence can be defined narrowly to mean demonstrated capacity to do a specific task, and even more narrowly by detailed specification of conditions under which performance of the task is to be demonstrated', but the report goes on to show that a narrow definition of this kind is not envisaged and `performance is underpinned not only by skill but also by knowledge and understanding...They are mindful, thoughtful capabilities. In this sense they cannot be explained or inculcated through the use of behaviourist learning theories...they must incorporate a sense of the learner as one who builds concepts and develops understandings which inform technical applications' (Mayer, 1992/7). Stevenson (1995) points out that `Competence' is usually applied to activities that are considered to be good or desirable - one does not usually speak of a competent murderer. There is thus an element of judgement about what is valuable (Stevenson, 1995/4). This element of judgement is important when we look at different perceptions of `Competence' in general and vocational education. The achievement of competence seems to be more highly valued in vocational education than in general or academic education where it can be used negatively as `just skills': `in ordinary conversation in university and school practice competence is often seen as confined to a limited aspect of humanness, something possessed by others...some people would be offended if they were regarded as ÒmerelyÓ competent'. (Stevenson, 1995/5) It may be that `competence' is viewed in this rather negative way in academic circles because it is not seen to accommodate a pursuit of excellence - so important in academic achievement. `Competence' does imply an element of sufficiency - once a target has been achieved, there is no need to go further. Thus a `competent' university essay would be `sufficient' to pass, but nothing special (an almost damning outcome) whereas, in a vocational sense, someone could be praised as a highly competent lawyer or carpenter. Why should general and vocational education be fused? The Mayer Report states that a role of the Key Competencies is to assist young people `to put their general education to work' (Mayer, 1992/3). It seemed that the young people interviewed in the study mentioned above had difficulty relating skills and knowledge acquired in their general education to the world of work which included apprenticeships and learning in the workplace. Although their schools offered Work Education and other links to the world of work these young people tended to view work and school as two different worlds. In some cases they referred to the world of work as `the real world', implying that the world of school had little relationship to it. Craig (quoted earlier) suggested that career plans at school are `a sort of dream'. It can be assumed that most young people undertaking post compulsory education have some kind of utilitarian motive: they select subjects that may help them get into a particular course, or ones that they think they are most likely to pass so that they can attain a certificate which, for some, may provide a passport to a job. It seems important that they should be able to see their general education subjects linking to this utilitarian purpose. The future world of work envisaged by the Mayer Committee is one where skills required for specific occupations are constantly changing and general qualities such as initiative and ability to get along with others are more highly valued than skills related to the carrying out of tasks closely related to a particular kind of job. Also, it will be most unlikely that a person will stay in one particular field of work; jobs and career paths will change even more rapidly than they do at present. Thus, in these ways, vocational education needs to be made more general to equip young people for this kind of world of work. Some kind of linking of general and vocational education may help to address these needs. There are, of course, many ways in which this can be done for example these days many schools have links with industries and with TAFE courses. The Key Competencies may provide one way of helping students make these connections. Is a `nexus' better than a `fusion'? A nexus is a bond or a bridge joining two groups. It presumably makes one group accessible to the other but it does not necessarily change the nature of each of the groups. The Mayer Report suggests that general and vocational education should be `fused' together. Fusing may possibly suggest that the two groups concerned do not remain discrete, in that it can suggest a melting together of two components. Writers, such as Crittenden (1995), have been concerned that the process of fusing, and indeed the role that the Key Competencies are deemed to have in post compulsory education, could lessen the value of each of the components: general and vocational education. Speaking of `convergence' (which appears to have similar attributes to `fusion') Crittenden suggests that it will narrow the scope of `liberal education' in the interests of workplace relevance and that the overall result will be to make senior secondary education more vocational in emphasis (Crittenden, 1995/25). Others, such as Boughton (1994) seem concerned that through this fusing the whole curriculum will be taken over by the Key Competencies so that essential aspects of curriculum areas (in his case the Visual Arts) will be lost. If the role of the Key Competencies is seen as a nexus rather than a fusing, the essential aspects of both general and vocational education should be as left in tact. Students may think about their subjects in a different way because, if the nexus is operating, vocational aspects of education will be more accessible to general subject areas, and vice versa. But the actual curriculum content need not necessarily change. When we investigate Art teachers' perceptions of the Key Competencies, in the study mentioned at the beginning of the paper, we hope to find out more about how teachers think about the Arts curriculum: whether they think in terms of areas of essential content-based knowledge and skills, or whether they think in more generic terms. This may help us to understand how generic skills and knowledge - such as the Key Competencies - may operate in the senior secondary school curriculum; whether indeed they can form some kind of bridge between general and vocational education and whether they are likely to radically alter the way this curriculum is approached. In what ways might the Key Competencies form a nexus? The Mayer Key Competencies may have the potential to form a nexus in that they relate to performance at work, and in addition are underpinned by knowledge and understanding, requiring an approach more usually associated with general education. This underpinning of knowledge and understanding may be one way of making a link. The overall focus may be seen to be utilitarian in that the Key Competencies aim to assist young people in the world of work, yet the underpinning suggests that achievement of the Key Competencies would involve activities such as reflection and questioning - skills usually associated more with general than with vocational education. Also, the fact that the Key Competencies are purported to be transferable from one context to another suggests that although they are related to work they require a form of learning which is generalisable, rather than being focused on a particular occupation or industry. Most importantly, the potential of the Key Competencies to form a nexus between general and vocational education may hinge on how they are assessed. As Carmichael (1992) has pointed out, it will be crucial to resolve whether the measurement of competencies is necessarily in opposition to the pursuit of excellence. As discussed above, in the past assessment of vocational education has tended to be of the `sufficiency' kind, where particular criteria need to be attained, but there is little emphasis on going beyond these necessary goals. If the Key Competencies are to form a worthwhile link with general education, they are more likely to be successful if assessment goals are set beyond the limits of what was earlier described as `mere competence'. The Mayer Committee outlines three performance levels for the assessment of the Key Competencies. As described at present, these performance levels seem to increase in complexity (the student has to be able to do more things) rather than offering scope for excellence. This present characteristic could lessen their ability to form a nexus. If, however, they can incorporate features which encourage a striving for excellence, they will demonstrate that work-related learning need not be narrow or have restrictive goals. Will educators be able to make the Key Competencies work so that they can act as a nexus? It is, perhaps, unfortunate that the Mayer Key Competencies were so named, because this word `competence' appears to be strongly associated with narrow competence-based approaches to learning in the eyes of some key educators. Competence-based approaches to learning are seen to be constraining, delimiting, and at the worst, undermining learning: `Instead of an holistic framework, competence-based education atomises and fragments learning into measurable chunks; rather than valuing process and experience, competence-based education is concerned only with performance outcomes and, most importantly, instead of encouraging critical reflection...competence-based education offers a mono-cultural view based on the satisfaction of narrow performance criteria and directed towards fixed and pre-determined ends' (Hyland 1994 /235). Also Boughton, referred to above, is concerned that `the real danger is that those competencies that can be easily described will be described, at the expense of more important learning outcomes which are complex, subtle and much more difficult to describe in atomistic terms' (Boughton, 1994/33). As mentioned, the Key Competencies were developed as an adjunct to the Key Learning Areas, so assuming that the curriculum and assessment strategies within the Key Learning Areas lend themselves to the exploration of complex and subtle elements, students will not be deprived of these experiences in a system which supports the Key Competencies. (As an aside, though, it may be that some of the kinds of elements referred to by Boughton should be incorporated in new Key Competencies, or possibly as a part of the Cultural Understanding Key Competency which is still under discussion.) There is also a concern that if teachers see achievement of the Key Competencies merely as another chore to be fulfilled - a check list to be ticked - without dwelling on the underpinning knowledge and understanding, then the Key Competencies will assume a role that is atomistic and restrictive. In other words, the way that the Key Competencies are taught and assessed will be crucial if they are to fulfil a role as a nexus between general and vocational education. Some evidence for these misgivings comes from statements such as that of Meredyth quoted in Marginson (1993), where generic competencies in university courses are seen to be different from and, by implication, inferior to the `real goals' of a university course. Also, Stevenson (1993) suggests that in some schools Key Competencies have been accepted just as an additional reporting requirement, with no real intersection between the imposed Key Competencies and the business of general education. At this early stage in the study of Key Competencies and Arts education (mentioned at the beginning of this paper) there have been a few opportunities to observe how the Key Competencies are perceived by teachers. These opportunities have made me aware of the multitude of different ways in which the Key Competencies may be interpreted. Some of these approaches cause concern, particularly in relation to the potential of the Key Competencies to form a link between general and vocational education. For example, when mapping the Key Competencies in a curriculum means spotting words that seem to fit the Key Competencies descriptions or assessing the achievement of all seven Key Competencies in a work place by observing a student perform one task. It will be necessary, but very difficult, to promote a shared understanding of the Key Competencies if they are to fulfil their intended purposes. The study of the Key Competencies in Arts Education should provide some insights as to how teachers will be able to integrate the Key Competencies in their programs and may supply some examples of best practice in these endeavours. Teachers will be asked about assessment strategies and about how comfortable they feel with the idea of assessing generic skills and knowledge in conjunction with those normally assessed in their Arts programs. One outcome from the study should be a picture of how comfortably the Key Competencies may link general and vocational education in the Arts. Conclusion This paper has been mainly an exploration of some of the literature about the Mayer Key Competencies. Of particular interest has been the question of fusion of general and vocational education. It has been suggested that the notion of `fusion' may be a little radical in that it could imply a changing of the content areas of general and vocational education - which is immediately threatening to subject specialists. It is acknowledged, however, that some kind of link between general and vocational education is desirable. It is suggested that the notion of a `nexus' may be preferable to `fusion', because a nexus suggests a bridging which provides access from one area to another without implying change to the particular areas. The paper outlines two ways that the Key Competencies may form a nexus between general and vocational education. Firstly, through their underpinning of knowledge and understanding which requires the use of skills that (such as reflection and questioning) which in the past have been more associated with general than with vocational education. Secondly, the Key Competencies can form a link if their assessment strategies are not restrictive and narrowly goal-based. They are seen to have the potential to encourage excellence which is more usually associated with assessment of general education, whilst measuring work-related skills and knowledge. The satisfactory implementation of the Key Competencies and their success in achieving the objective of linking general and vocational education will rest in the hands of educators. It is important that notions of competency-based education being narrow and restrictive are dispelled, and that a shared understanding and interpretation of the Key Competencies is reached. This last requirement is highly challenging. References Borthwick, A. 1993 Key Competencies - Uncovering the Bridge Between General and Vocational, in The Competencies Debate in Australian Education and Training, ed C, Collins, Canberra, Australian College of Education Boughton, D. 1994 Evaluation and Assessment in Visual Arts Education, Geelong, Deakin University Bryce, J. 1993 Reflections on the Value of VCE for Young People Not Intending to go to University, November 1993, Unpublished M Soc Sci thesis Carmichael, L. 1992 The Competency Movement - Professional and Vocational Education, Competency and Professional Education: A Symposium, Centre for Research in Professional Education, Canberra, University of Canberra Chappell, C. 1992 How are Competencies Developed? Competency and Professional Education: A Symposium, Centre for Research in Professional Education, Canberra, University of Canberra Collins, C. 1995 Curriculum Stocktake, Canberra, Australian College of Education Crittenden, B. 1995 Liberal and Vocational Education: Convergence or Confusion? in Curriculum Stocktake, ed. C. Collins, Canberra, Australian College of Education Hickox, M. and Moore, R. 1995 Liberal-Humanist Education: the Vocationalist Challenge, Curriculum Studies, 3, 1, 45 - 59 Hyland, T. 1994 Silk Purses and Sows' Ears: NVQs, GNVQs and Experiential Learning, Cambridge Journal of Education, 24, 2, 233 - 243 Marginson, S. 1993 Generic Competencies, Canberra, DEET Higher Education Division Mayer, E. (Chair) 1992 Report of the Committee to Advise the Australian Education Council and Ministers of Vocational Education, Employment and Training on Employment-Related Key Competencies for Post Compulsory Education and Training, September 1992, Carlton South, Australian Education Council Stevenson, J. 1993 Researching the Relationship Between Vocational and General Education, Queensland Researcher, 9, 2, 1 - 12 Stevenson, J. 1995 The Metamorphosis of the Construction of Competence, Inaugural Professorial Lecture, Brisbane, Griffith University Warren Little, J. and Threatt, S. 1994 Work On The Margins: Compromises Of Purpose and Content in Secondary Schools, Curriculum Inquiry, 24, 3, 269 - 292 Note: The study of Key Competencies and the Arts mentioned in this paper is being undertaken by the Australian Council for Educational Research and the National Affiliation of Arts Educators with a grant from DEET. Views expressed in the paper are those of the author and do not necessarily coincide with those of the organisations associated with the project. Sincere thanks to my colleagues Adrian Harvey-Beavis, Doug McCurry and Joy McQueen for their comments on early drafts of this paper.