VET
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The comparison of a Danish concept with its Australian counterpart shows how much seemingly similar training concepts can vary. Don’ t let the names fool you. By Mary Leahy
The terms may be similar but the Danish idea of kompetence, or competence, is radically different from the Australian concept of competency.
In September, I visited a large vocational school in Copenhagen. Our host Benny Wielandt was eloquent in his praise of the Australian vocational education and training system. He also expressed great enthusiasm for competency-based training. However, over the course of our conversations it became apparent that there are important differences between the Danish understanding of competency-based training and the version found here in Australia.
Benny described competence as the product of a tacit interaction between three knowledge domains, which he characterised as the heart, the head and the hands.
The heart refers to personal attributes – the attitudes and values a person brings to their work. These are specific rather than generic. They will vary across different broad occupational areas. For example, the values and attitudes needed for care work will differ from those desired in logistics.
The head describes knowledge. This is not limited to the fragments of information needed to complete discrete work tasks. Instead it refers to a body of knowledge that informs work practice and is central to vocational or professional identity.
The hands point to the specific skills required to do the job. They may be manual or technical.
Competence is not the sum of these domains; it is formed through a synthesis of the heart, the head and the hands. Without all three, Wielandt argues, a person may have a qualification but not be competent.
I am yet to see a Danish policy document or European report on the Danish system that explicitly refers to heart, head and hands but the image captures the type of vocational education and training found in countries such as Denmark and Germany.
Under the European Qualification Framework, which has been adopted in Denmark, competence is defined as“ the proven ability to use knowledge, skills and personal, social and / or methodological abilities, in work or study situations and in professional and personal development”.
There is a cognitive component that depends on the conceptual knowledge developed in an area of practice( head). The functional component covers the things people should be able to do in their work and as an engaged member of society( hands). Finally there is the personal component, which includes personal and professional values and ethics( heart).
When competence is built on all three components, a person is equipped to work in new as well as familiar situations. The European idea of competence is linked to expectations that employees will have responsibility and a degree of autonomy.
How does this compare with the Australian idea of competency?
According to the Standards for Training Packages, units of competency specify the standards of performance required in the workplace.
There have been shifts in the way competency is defined here. The most recent iteration is intended to be a broader concept that pays greater attention to the importance of knowledge. Although the direction of the revision is to be welcomed, competency is still narrower than the European concept of competence. The increased emphasis on knowledge is an improvement but it is still limited to the applied learning required to complete specific work tasks.
This applied knowledge supporting a unit of competency is excised from the larger body of learning related to the area of practice. Competency-based training of this type does not foster an understanding of the relevant larger body. There is no sense that this knowledge is developed through debates within the field or that it may be contested. There is nothing to prepare students to participate in such debates whilst they are studying or once they are employed in the area.
In Australia, any discussion of a broader, more holistic version of vocational education
34 | campusreview. com. au