A four-stage model for lifelong competence development

Judith Schoonenboom - University of Amsterdam,

Colin Tattersall, Yongwu Miao, Krassen Stefanov, Adelina Aleksieva-Petrova

Competence development

• The general development of knowledge, understanding and cognition in a person with respect to a specific domain (Hyland 1994)

• Emphasis is on the individual learner• Related to lifelong learning• Not related to specific types of learning

activities • May, but needn’t involve formal learning

Competence assessment• Assesses the proficiency level of a specific

competence as a whole• Usually not related to specific training • Alignment between competence assessment and what

professionals actually do in practice• Typically delivered in intervals ranging from quarterly

to a few years • Problem how learners get access to the competence

assessment• Based on output criteria set by the professional

community, which can and will change over time

Competence development: five phases in the validation of prior learning

• Commitment and awareness – individuals become aware of their competences, organizations become aware of the importance of lifelong learning and VPL

• Recognition – identifying or listing competences, usually in a portfolio

• Valuation or assessment of competences – using the portfolio or additional assessments

• Development plan or the actual valuation – the valuation is turned into an action plan

• Structural implementation of VPL – VPL is structurally integrated into the organization (Duvekot 2005)

Competence assessment: seven stages

• State required criteria for performance• Collect evidence of outcomes of individual performances• Match evidence to specified outcomes• Make judgements regarding achievement of all required

performance outcomes• Allocate ‘competent’ or ‘not yet competent’ rating• If purpose of assessment is certification: Issue

certificate(s) for achieved competence.• Plan development for areas in which ‘not yet competent’

decision has been made (Fletcher 2000)

The cycle of competence development

Competence development and competence assessment

More information

judith.schoonenboom@uva.nl