Matching educational opportunities with competences Charalampos Thanopoulos Agro-Know Technologies Christian Stracke University of Duisburg-Essen Pollenzo, Bra, Italy October 25, 2012 Workshop on Agricultural Education, Methods, Practices and Technologies

Certificate LearningLabour Competence CerOrganic curriculum

Competence description Means the proven ability to use knowledge, skills and personal, social and / or methodological abilities in work and study situations and in professional and/or personal development. Competences represent the knowledge, skills, traits, attitudes, self- concepts, values or motives directly related to job performance or important life outcomes and shown to differentiate between superior and average performers. Competence is a measurable human capability that is required for effective performance. It may be comprised of knowledge, a single skill or ability, a personal characteristic, or a cluster of two or more of these attributes. Competences are the building blocks of work performance. The performance of most tasks requires the simultaneous or sequenced demonstration of multiple competences EQF, 2008 McClelland, 1973 Hoge et al., 2005

Common schema on the Competence description Competence: = Knowledge + Skills (+ individual ability) Activities: = Performance of Knowledge + Skills + Competences (+ individual ability) Competences can be built and exist without being demonstrated and performed. They are non-observable; they are only shown and observable by acting, i.e. by performance and activities. Only activities can be observed and measured. WACOM, 2010 eCOTOOL, 2011 AGRICOM, 2012

Competence example Required Competences for an Agricultural Expert in Organic Crop production o Selection of appropriate crops for a particular situation o Managing organic crops o Harvesting organic crops o Storage of organic crops

Competences differentiation General Competences (Key Competences) e.g. methods and processes are normally built after basic education and training Specific Competences Simple CompetencesComplex Competences e.g. specialist knowledge in a certain domain A complex competence can be composed of two, three or more simple competences.

Key Competences ( /publ/pdf/ll-learning/keycomp_en.pdf) /publ/pdf/ll-learning/keycomp_en.pdf 1.Communication in the mother tongue 2.Communication in the foreign languages 3.Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology 4.Digital competence 5.Learning to learn 6.Interpersonal, intercultural, social and civic competence 7.Entrepreneurship 8.Cultural expression

Example of Key Competences Key Competences for an Agricultural Expert in Organic Crop Production Reading Writing Cognitive Individual responsibility Wiliness to learn Self-knowledge Persistence and confidence Honesty Giving respect

Example of Specific Competences Differentiation between competences Complex - Simple Competences Complex Competence Writing technical reports Problem solving Writing Computer competence Simple Competences

Use cases & Examples

Job Profile

Example: Job Profile

Description of a course

Description of a Certificate

Example of a Europass CS description

Description of Competences

Examples of Competences I

Examples of Competences II

Conclusions: Benefits of implementing Competences Better description of Job profiles Recognition of qualifications Labour market requirements (Imposed by the occupational circumstances) Support a better match between the needs of labour market for knowledge, skills and competences and Initial / Vocational Education and Training Transparency and comparability of training opportunities Facilitate the validation of the non-formal and informal learning Gap analysis / Measurement of training needs

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