Business Case: ROC Flevoland Educational institute for Application developers.

Navigating on competences from the job floor perspective

Ton van Beuningen. (Tutor at the educational institute (ROC Flevoland) for application developers.)

The usefulness of and the need for competence driven education in professional craftsmanship sectors are understood by many. More attention to the professional practice in learning and training is an important advantage of the competence driven approach. There is however still some criticism on this new way of learning and training. The reason for this criticism is the way in which the competence driven approach has been introduced and is carried out.

Competence driven education doesn’t only have, as an aim or goal to acquire knowledge and skills, but also that skills are practiced and a correct professional attitude is internalized. These three elements – knowledge, skills and professional attitudes are summarized in the term “competencies”.

From frontal teaching a class to competence driven education

Since long - being a professional tutor - I changed my style of teaching into a competence driven coaching style. I couldn’t realize this change instantaneously. It was a gradual change from unstructured competence driven approach towards a structured approach. This process of learning how to optimize my coaching abilities using a structured competence driven style, is still going on. Lately, I also structured this process in time. Practically speaking to coach students in planning and time management.

What I see happening around me with professional educating colleagues, just starting with competence driven approach, is the first phase, namely discovering that structuring is necessary. For this reason there are many complaints of the students, such as: “Structure is necessary”. ”We must manage everything ourselves” and concerning teaching theory: “Too few lecturing hours”. These complaints must not lead back to classroom frontal education approach. If that is the consequence, students will be, in the long run, worse off. The complaints of student must be taken into account to structure the competence driven approach, using a license of the WEB application Talent Resource Management (TRM) of TalentDeveloper, which facilitates this process.

Changes

The competence driven approach will learn how to act in the different professional (craftsmanship) roles. Students are in the role of a student when they are taught or gather themselves, theoretical knowledge. They are in the role of an apprentice when they are practicing a trade - when they are in a project and learn how to communicate with fellow students, they are in the role of a peers, to give (being invited) and receive (when asked for) feedback on the activities of their team members, they are in the role of employee when they receive from and give feedback to several different stakeholders( amongst which the tutor / coach and constituent / employer / company coach during internalship).They have the chance to develop the competences involved, when they reflect on the feedback given from different angles and points of view. This will make life of a student richer but more difficult in comparison to the old situation: absorbing just knowledge, when it’s offered to the student. Now the responsibility of development and results are in the hands of the student. This means, a student will learn flexibilities, changing roles when necessary Therefore the student must have not only a means of structured overview of development and results, but also have a clear on focus the preset goal. TRM as navigation system, offering these features, can be of great help in this complex competence driven environment.

This also means a substantial change in the role tutor. The tutor will get other tasks. The responsibility of gathering the appropriate information is the responsibility of the student: The tutor is not just professor in the old-fashioned classical class sense of the word, but he will become more a guide, study coach, expert, and master when he accompanies projects of a team of students. He must be able to change roles easily from study coach, expert to master-craftsman. A complete difference approach in relation to that of old fashioned professor which has got used to frontal class education.

Practice

What is the situation right now, because in theory it sounds quite good, but how will this be in every day practice? As a former professor I’m responsible for a cohort of approximately 65 students, to be educated in the role of application developer in the educational department ICT at the ROC Flevoland. This cohort is divided in two groups of which I am the tutor, study coach. The students apply for internalship in a company on different projects. Teams of students are formed during these projects and accompanied by selected and certified dedicated company coaches and company master-experts to add to the craftsmanship and progress of students during internalships,.

A project must be implemented according to certain groundwork. That groundwork - which tasks have be carried out there, which products have be delivered, which attitude is applicable for this the constituent, employer or customer? - can be found on the Internet site of application development. (home.versatel.nl/beuningen99)

Beside these projects the application developers in training also attend lectures. They’ll get theory concerning the programming language, databases and how to build a web application. Furthermore the students will get the necessary professional math.

And of course education in communicative skills in the languages such as Dutch and English is offered. These lectures consist of two components: language skills, which students must follow if they have subscribed to a profession-specific level and take components such as how to present, write a letter, taking meeting minutes.

Competences

But where and when do competences get to play its role in a competence driven approach?
That happens in two ways.
The first manner is during the projects when more intense communication takes place between students. When, for instance, the cooperation in a group of students is under level. The students must discuss the mishaps, try to solve the problems and set up appropriate agreements. Meeting minutes are taken during the meetings about the agreements which are read by the project manager, being one of the professors. When there is no agreement, the project manager will intervene. Ultimate consequence can be expelling of one or more students from the project team. But that’s a decision when all other options fail. In their professional life and practice, will not also have colleagues selected for uptimum cooperation.
The second manner takes place at the beginning of the school year and when the students have finished a project. At the beginning of the year during supporting lectures I explain what competences are and what the meaning is in the context of the training. I introduce my students to the WEB-application “Talent Resource Management” (TRM) of TalentDeveloper and how to use TRM as a internet-Personal-Competence-Passport (i-PCP) to navigate towards the goals in this three year education in application development to become a “competent junior professional craftsman”.

I assigned all motivation-, attitude- and personality- related competences to the profile of application developer in TRM. Skills competences will be checked during examinations and during the masterpiece period, the final exams.
I’ve chosen a scale from 1 to 6: 1=freshman; 2=novice; 3=beginner; 4=competent junior professional craftsman; 5=proficient professional; 6=master-expert. Level 4 is the level of behavior at which to perform during activities, at the end of the education period, described in objective visible behavior has (level 5 and 6 are destined for the educational employees, but can also be applicable for students.)

At the end of education and training the objective visible behaviors of all the competences has to be scored on level 4 on average .It is possible that at the beginning of education and training, students score on levels 1 to 3. And when a student is really talented in certain aspects he might be scored on level 4, 5 even 6. I tell my students that explicitly, because they think in the first place that they must perform at the beginning of training already on level 4. At the end of a project the students must do a self-assessment of competences, scoring the involved behaviors according to the related activities. When a score is under level TRM will ask for a specific improvement remark. When a score is above level, TRM will ask for a specific appreciation remark. At the same time a student can invite a team member(peer-assessment), an employer / constituent, company expert, company coach, the tutor, the mentor and or the project manager (guest-assessment), to score his behaviors and give feedback related to his activities in this project during this period. As a result, it’s is possible for the student to have a 360 degreed picture as a realistic image of the way his performance is perceived, experienced from several different point of view. The student now can reflect on the feedback, gets a SWOT of his performance and can start generating ideas how to improve or adjust his behaviors. Starting with defining a Concrete, Recognizable and Inspiring goal, he can set up a Plan of Activities to improve the next period. For example by choosing those activities in which the student would like to improve him.

Generally speaking students update their i-PCP (internet Personal Competence Passport) in TRM. That does not mean that everyone updates his i-PCP in the manner, such as I would have done it. A student can have a complete different self-image. And I, as a study coach, can perceive quickly who is constantly overestimating himself. The competences are produced by a professional institute dedicated to this specific sector called ECABO

Conversations

By reading the scores, the conversations, between me, as a study coach and the student, will become more significant. So these conversations will deviate from “You must stick to the agreements we made” and “You must still have to earn study-credits”, towards a conversation “I can see your Plan of Action and activities to improve yourself in development for the coming period; How can I contribute in the realization your Plan of Action?”. My coaching activities really flourish and come to grips for the students. It really lands in more futile soil.

Students discuss these subjects also amongst each other. Especially if a student does not understand the observation and the related feedback remark related to his activity. That student will ask: “What do you mean by that remark.” Because a group of students forms a team, during a certain period, such a conversation will take place in a relaxed and open way, since they know each other as team members.

Overview

As a result of aggregated data, I’ll have a structured overview, in the form of Competence score cards and Role score cards on a personal level, but also on team-level or unit-level, in order of high potentials and the once who need extra guidance, paperless and real-time. As an example of last period, my impression of two groups was confirmed as a result. The students experienced difficulty in communicating. Now I can send the professional communication specialist of the education institute to guide, to coach and to help out.

Competence driven education

Competence driven education doesn’t mean that students are sent away with a task and “good luck!”
Competence driven education doesn’t mean a passive attitude of the tutor/coach “pull info”
Competence driven education doesn’t mean “No more theory”.

What does competence driven education actually really means?
It means – the student will be encouraged to gather substantial and relevant information where and whenever he thinks suitable;
Theoretical knowledge will still be transferred structural and an active role and attitude of the professor, as well as from the student is required.
It means that projects are given to the students who structure (research; design; building; realizing; implementing and supporting) the projects and the tutor or project leader or project manager, actively accompanies the process and the team members.
TRM, by means of internet-Personal_Competence Passport, can facilitate and enhance (realizes simplicity in understanding and in use of complex) competence driven education, by letting the students and the study coaches navigate on the competences, in the direction of the preset goals.

Drs  A. C. van Beuningen,

Professor Application Development; ROC Flevoland

Straat van Florida 1

1334 PA  Almere

The Netherlands