a critical reflection on qualifications frameworks and possible future directions 2008 biennale on...

A Critical Reflection on A Critical Reflection on Qualifications Frameworks and Qualifications Frameworks and

Possible Future DirectionsPossible Future Directions

2008 Biennale on Education in Africa

Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA)

Maputo, Mozambique, 5-9 May 2008

Key message 1

“Hanging focuses the mind”

Key message 2

Qualification frameworks are growing globally!

UNITED STATES of AMERICA

CANADA

ALASKA (USA)

MEXICO

COLOMBIA

VENEZUELA

BRAZIL

PERU

BOLIVIA

HONDURAS

NICARAGUA

ECUADOR

GUYANA

SURINAME

FRENCHGUIANA

COSTA RICA

PANAMA

GUATEMALA

CUBA

PARAGUAY

ARGENTINA

URUGUAY

CHILE

GREENLAND

ICELAND

UNITEDKINGDOM

REPULIC OFIRELAND

NORWAY

SWEDEN

FINLAND

DENMARK

ESTONIA

LATVIA

LITHUANIA

POLAND

BELARUS

GERMANY

CZECHREPUBLIC

NETHERLANDS

BELGIUM

FRANCE

SPAIN

PO

RT

UG

AL

SWITZ.

AUSTRIA

SLOVAKIA

HUNGARY

ROMANIA

BULGARIA

ITALY

UKRAINE

TURKEYGREECE

SYRIA

IRAQ

SAUDIARABIA

YEMEN

OMAN

UAE

EGYPTLIBYA

ALGERIA

MOROCCOTUNISIA

WESTERN SAHARA

MAURITANIA

MALINIGER CHAD

SUDAN

ETHIOPIA

SOMALIAUGANDA

SENEGAL

GUINEA

LIBERIA

COTED’IVOIRE

BURKINA

GHANA

NIGERIA

CAMEROON

CENTRALAFRICAN REPUBLIC

GABON CONGO

DEMOCRATICREPUBLIC OF

CONGO

KENYA

TANZANIA

ANGOLA

ZAMBIA

MO

ZAM

BIQUE

NAMIBIA

BOTSWANA

ZIMBABWE

REPUBLICOF SOUTH

AFRICA

MADAGASCAR

RUSSIA

KAZAKHSTAN

GEORGIA

IRAN

UZBEKISTAN

TURKMENISTAN

AFGHANISTAN

KYRGYZSTAN

TAHKISTAN

PAKISTAN

INDIA

CHINA

NEPAL

MYANMAR

THAILAND

SRILANKA

MONGOLIA

NORTHKOREA

SOUTHKOREA JAPAN

TAIWAN

CAMBODIA

LAOS

VIETNAM

PHILIPPINES

MALAYSIA

INDONESIA

PAPUANEW GUINEA

AUSTRALIA

NEWZEALAND

Key message 3

There are different types of qualifications frameworks!

What is a qualifications What is a qualifications framework?framework?

Higher Education

A qualifications framework is a national/regional resource, representing a national/ regional effort at integrating education and training into a unified structure

TVETSchooling

ABET

A Qualifications Framework sets boundaries

A qualifications framework is a set of principles and guidelines which provide a vision, a philosophical base and an organisational structure for construction of a qualifications system

Etc.

National Qualifications

Framework




Sub- National Regional Trans-national

Scope Specific levels/ sectors/ types of qualifications

Tracked/ Linked/ Unified

Meta-frameworks

Specific levels/ sectors/ types of qualifications

Prescrip-tiveness

Usually tighter Varying from loose to tight

Usually looser

Loose

Examples Higher Education, TVET

South Africa Namibia Scotland

Proposed SADCQF

EQF

VUSSC TQF

Different qualifications frameworks




IncrementalismRate and manner of

implementation

ArchitectureConfiguration of structural

arrangements that make up the framework

Policy breadthDirect and explicit links

with other measures

PhilosophyUnderlying thinking that influences the framework

PurposeExplicit reasons for

development as reflected in the objectives

ScopeMeasure of integration of levels, sectors and types

PrescriptivenessStringency of criteria for

inclusion

GovernanceActivities that guide, steer

and control

Towards a common Towards a common understanding of qualifications understanding of qualifications frameworksframeworks




Purpose (objectives) Purpose (objectives) of qualifications frameworksof qualifications frameworks

Back

• Addressing social justice• Improving access• International benchmarking• Communication• Regulation• Articulation

Underlying philosophy Underlying philosophy Influencing qualifications Influencing qualifications

frameworks frameworks

Back

• Global emphasis on the importance of lifelong learning

• Globalization, the need to facilitate labour movement and the commodification of education and training

• Neo-liberalism• Manageralism• Performativism

Key message 4

The idea underlying Qualifications frameworks is that of integration (– however defined)

What is an Integrated Framework?

• Definition: includes different types of learning but also changes the relationships between them.◦ How should it change the relationships?

Uniformity = Fits all learning and all qualifications into single mould. E.g. stringent common design rules for the structure of qualifications, for the way in their content is specified for assessment, and certification, etc.

Diversity = that recognises and celebrates a wide range of purposes, epistemologies, modes and contexts of learning, but which also recognises the need to build these into a coherent and coordinated system. In order to do this it should impose some aspects of uniformity.

The trick is to decide which is tight and which is loose.

What do we want to integrate?

• What forms of learning or knowledge do we want to integrate?◦ In SA linking of education and training (discipline-based and

work-based) One view sees education and training as distinct knowledge structures,

modes of learning, and distinct social relations. Opposing view point: education and training are points on a continuum of

learning – they are different but the differences are of a degree and they can shade into another.

Third view sees education and training as primarily social constructs which reflects institutional, political or status divisions with the system

Pressure for Integration

• Economic: Response to economic challenges of globalisation

• Democratic: Response to history of apartheid and redress

• Systemic: Response to increase scale and complexity of education and training systems, to the wider range of economic and social purposes they are expected to serve and systemic problems like credentialism and academic drift.

Purposes of Integration

• Curricular: ◦ to encourage learners to combine different types of learning ◦ to develop integrated forms of learning and knowledge ◦ to promote transferable and generic skills ◦ to promote parity of esteem

• Longitudinal:◦ To make pathways more flexible◦ To facilitate portability and transfer◦ To promote seamless opportunities for access and progression in lifelong

learning◦ To promote recognition of informal and non-formal learning

• Organisational:◦ To promote more coherent and better coordinated arrangements for delivery,

staffing, quality assurance, governance and funding of learning.

Key messages 5

There will be resistance to implementing QFs

Resistance may include epistemological, political, institutional, conceptual and philosophical

Barriers to Integration

• Epistemological:◦ Are real and important◦ Different fields of knowledge, academic vs occupational.◦ Behavioural theories of outcomes versus social constructivist theories of

outcomes

• Political:◦ Revolutionary change versus evolutionary change◦ Nature of qualifications e.g. academic qualifications as positional good while

raising the status of vocational qualifications.

• Institutional:◦ Arise due to the unintended consequences of the way institutions work◦ Operation of the social structures such as the labour market.

Overcoming Barriers

1. Clarify the meaning of an integrated framework.2. Clarify the objectives of integration.3. Make sure that the objectives are achievable.4. Clarify the barriers to integration.5. Make the framework as loose as possible with its

objectives, but manage this tightly.6. Progress in stages (incrementally).7. Coordinate with other policies.

Key messages 6

Learn from others, you don’t have repeat the same mistakes that others have made for example: ◦ comprehensive frameworks ◦ rapid incrementalism◦ size counts◦ expensive models ◦ appropriate use of experts and stakeholders

Quote

“At the heart of current debates on national qualifications frameworks lies a paradox. On the one hand, many countries, including South Africa, introduce such frameworks in order to transform aspects of their education and training system, their society, or their economy.

On the other hand, the literature on qualifications frameworks suggests that they are most successful when they are modest in ambition and incremental in approach: when they build upon existing structures and practices and on the trust, the mutual understandings and the power relationships that are embedded within them. In other words, it would seem, the frameworks that are judged to be most successful are those which succeed in transforming very little.” (David Raffe, University of Edinburgh, June 2005)

Changes to SA NQF

• Move from tight to loose.

• Unified to tracked model.

• Move from Integration as a ‘social construct’ to ‘continuum of learning’.

Scope of the Scope of the South African NQFSouth African NQF

Back

• Unified: all systems are integrated• Linked: separate systems but with

common structures for transferability• Tracked: separate systems with

limited transferability

Unified Linked Tracked

Levels and Frameworks

Level 1

Level Descriptors

Level 10

Higher EducationQualifications Framework

General & Further Education & Training Framework

OccupationalQualificationsFramework

Key message 7

QFs are popular because they can be used as instruments of communication, build flexible pathways, benchmarking, accountability, etc

Key message 8

Current Wisdom suggests that:◦ know why you want to use it, ◦ design it in a loose manner, manage it tightly, ◦ start where you are, move slowly using experts and

stakeholders appropriately, ◦ build trust and mutual understanding and take existing

power relations into account that are embedded, ◦ ensure that you provide accountability and

authority, and proper resourcing.

Key messages 9

NQF = No Quick Fix

Jay Naidoo (COSATU, 1996)

A Critical Reflection on A Critical Reflection on Qualifications Frameworks and Qualifications Frameworks and

Possible Future DirectionsPossible Future Directions




a critical reflection on qualifications frameworks and possible future directions 2008 biennale on...

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