June 14, 2013. 0930 – 1230

Moray House School of Education

A Workshop on Employability & Key Competences in Postgraduate

Programmes

A Workshop on Employability & Key Competences in Postgraduate Programmes

Objec&ve  &  Learning  Outcomes  To  share  experience  &  ideas  of  par&cipants  •  The  policy  context  for  Key  Competences  and  Higher  Educa&on  

•  the  deep-­‐rooted  challenges  of  incorpora&ng  key  competences  into  Higher  Educa&on  

•  The  PROPOUND  project  and  its  ac&vi&es  •  PROPOUND  toolkit:  to  assist  reform  

PROPOUND Developing a Key Competences Model for

University Postgraduate Programmes Project Number: 518051-LLP-1-2011-1-ES-ERASMUS-EMCR

PROPOUND  Objec&ves  Drive  the  modernisa*on  agenda  in  higher  educa&on:  •  Promote  curricular  reforms  to  promote  employability  of  postgraduate  students  

•  Encourage  coopera*on  between  universi*es  and  employers  

•  Promote  the  evalua*on  and  development,  of  transversal    competences  for  postgraduate  students  

Propound  Outcomes  

•  Review  of  Key  Competences  in  five  countries  •  Case  studies  of  the  development,  assessment  and  cer&fica&on  of  Key  Competences  

•  Pilot  projects  focused  on  key  competences  

•  Mainstreaming  Report  

•  Generic  Ac&on  Plan  for  Universi&es  •  Website  www.propound.eu  

Target  Groups  •  Universi*es:  Posi&vely  effec&ng  the  restructura&on  and  

improvement  of  a  set  of  selected  Postgraduate  Programmes  of  the  five  European  universi&es  par&cipa&ng  in  the  project.    

•  Firms:  Benefi&ng  par&cipant  firms  in  Postgraduate  Programmes  enabling  employers  to  iden&fy  the  competence  needs  of  their  employees  (specially  those  capaci&es  and  abili&es  that  improve  the  work  performance).    

•  Postgraduate  Students:  The  project  has  also  a  posi&ve  effect  on  Postgraduate  students  

Policy  context:  Lisbon  Declara&on  

…  to  create  a  Europe  of  knowledge  [by  2010  the  EU  should  have]  …  the  most  compe66ve  and  dynamic  knowledge-­‐based  economy  in  the  world,  capable  of  sustainable  economic  growth,  with  more  and  be=er  jobs,  and  greater  social  cohesion.    

Key  Competences?    

Key  Competences?  Unemployment  in  Europe  

Unemployment  in  Europe  Unemployment  Rates  of  Popula*on  with  Ter*ary  

Level  Qualifica*ons    

Unemployment  in  Europe  Unemployment  Rates  of  Popula*on  with  Ter*ary  

Level  Qualifica*ons    

Competences  

European  Key  Competences  Communica&on  –  mother  tongue  

foreign  language(s)  Maths,  basic  science,  technology  

Digital  competence  

Learning  to  learn  Social  &  civic  competences  

Ini&a&ve  &  entrepreneurship  Cultural  awareness  &  expression  

EU  Key  Competences   OECD  Key  Competences  

England,  Wales  &  NI  Key  Skills  

Scotland  Core  Skills  

Communica&on  in  mother  tongue  

Use  language,  symbols,  text  interac&vely  

Communica&on   Reading,  wri&ng,  document  use  Oral  communica&on  

Communica&on  in  foreign  language    

Conduct  ac&ve  dialogue  with  world  

Mathema&cal  &  basic  competence  in  science  &  technology    

Use  technology  interac&vely  

Applica&on  of  numbers   Numeracy  

Digital  Competence   Use  knowledge  &  info  interac&vely  

ICT   Computer  use  

Learning  to  learn   Life  plans  &  personal  projects  

Improving  own  learning  &  performance  

Con&nuous  learning  

Social  &  civic  competence  

Relate  well  to  others,  resolve  conflict  

Sense  of  ini&a&ve  &  entrepreneurship    

Problem  solving   Problem  solving  

Cultural  awareness  &  expression    

Adapt  tools  to  own  purposes  

Employability?  

Competence  to  get  the  job  Competence  to  get  the  job  done  

Ever  deeper  pool  of  qualified  applicants  but  competences  to  get  the  job  done  are  not  

changing  No  evidence  that  job  design  is  changing  to  make  

use  of  available  competence  (SKOPE  2012)  

Employability?  

Our  problem  is  not  …the  supply  of  skills  but  …  employer  demand  for  skills  and  how  these  skills  are  u6lised  in  the  workplace    

(Fiona  Hyslop,  2007,  Scobsh  Parliament)  

Project  Phases  Developing  models  and  tes*ng  through  Pilots:  

Experimenta*on   and   Valida*on:   Developing   models   of   iden&fica&on   and  evalua&on  of  transversal  competences  

Exchange   and   benchmarking:   Exchange   of   informa&on,   materials   and   best  prac&ces  from  Pilots  between  the  partners  of  the  Project  

Strategies  and  Modeliza*on:   realiza&on  of   studies   and   compara&ve  analysis  (PROPOUND  Mainstreaming  Report  +  PROPOUND  Ac&on  Plan)    -­‐  to  guide  the  curricular  reform  of  Postgraduate  Programmes  at  Universi&es.      

Dissemina*on     to  disseminate  the  results  of  the  Project  and  to  promote  the  transference  of  the  tested  models  to  other  State  and  regions  of  the  European  Union  

• PILOT  ESTONIA:  Estonian  Business  School  -­‐  the  pilot  involved  a  compara&ve  analysis  of  communica&on  competence   of   graduates   across   three   postgraduate   programmes   (MA   Interna&onal   Business  Administra&on,  MBA  Interna&onal  Business  Administra&on,  MA  Business  Communica&on)  

• PILOT  ITALY:    Fondazione  Politecnico  di  Milano  (FPM)  –  the  pilot   involved  examining  the  programs  at  the  ins&tute  in  terms  of  competences  and  learning  outcomes  from  the  contents  of  specific  courses  using  ques&onnaire  surveys  and  gap  analysis.    

• PILOT   SPAIN:   FGUGREM   University   of   Granada   -­‐   The   Pilot   involved   a   strategy   looking   at   the   self-­‐management  of  competences  where  postgraduate  student  play  the  main  role  in  the  assessment  of  their  competences  as  well  as  defining  plans  for  personal  and  professional  development.   I.E.  Masters   in  “3D  Anima&on  of   Characters”.       The   inten&on  of   the   pilot   is   to   promote   the   interac&on   and   informa&on  exchange  between  the  employers  and  the  postgraduate  students  in  the  phases  of  internship  in  firms.  

Pilots  (x5)  

•  PILOT  NETHERLANDS  :  InHolland  University  –  the  pilot  involved  assessing  the  training  of  assessor  competences  based  on  systems  of  Valida&on  of  Prior  Learning  (VPL)  for  teachers.    

•  PILOT  SCOTLAND,  U.K.  :  The  University  of  Edinburgh  

–   The  pilot  involved  mapping  the  LLL  ‘Learning  to  Learn’  key  competence  against  the  learning  outcomes  and  (assessment)  performance  criteria  of  a  selec&on  of  different  types  of  Postgraduate  Masters  Programmes.    

–  Explored  the  experience  of  learners  associa&on  with  Learning  to  Learn  and  amempted  to  iden&fy  scope  for  learner  self-­‐assessment  as  a  means  of  securing  learner  engagement.  

Pilots  (x5)  

Details  of  the  Pilots  available  in  the  Pilot  Compendia  Manual    

Learning  to  Learn  

‘the disposition and ability to organise and regulate one’s own learning, both individually and in groups … the ability to manage one’s time effectively, to solve problems, to acquire, process, evaluate and assimilate new knowledge, and to apply new knowledge and skills in a variety of contexts — at home, at work, in education and in training. In more general terms, learning to learn contributes strongly to managing one’s own career path.’

Pilot  (University  of  Edinburgh)    

•  to map LLL KC 5 (Learning to Learn) against the learning outcomes and (assessment) performance criteria of a selection of different types of Postgraduate Masters Programmes (eg Conversion; Advanced; Research and either PSRB accredited or non-accredited)

•  to explore through interviews and focus groups the experience of learners in the selected programmes respect of the development, evidencing and assessment of the essential knowledge, skills and attitudes associated with Learning to Learn

•  to attempt to identify scope for learner self-assessment as a means of securing active learner engagement with LLL KC 5

Aims  &  Objec&ves  

Findings  

•  Little conscious consideration of Learning to Learn & so limited evidence of understanding

•  Tended to emphasise time management & specific tools & techniques

•  Learning perceived as individual acquisition of knowledge from an “authority”

•  Bias towards formal learning & being educated

•  Limited focus on problem-solving or on reflection in learning

•  Acknowledged importance of developing time management and critical thinking skills

Findings  

•  Recent Graduates have greater awareness of Learning to Learn but instrumental focus is on:

•  Learning to meet programme expectations

•  Learning how to get a job

•  Very little use of available diagnostic instruments – largely employment focused

•  Knowledge is seen as something to be delivered by “an other”

The  purpose  of  PROPOUND  is  to  help  the  higher  educa&on  system  take  a  step  forward  in  the  ac&ons  aimed  at  including  key  competences  in  postgraduate  programmes  and  recognising  them  formally.    Solu&on  via:  

•  Route  A  Discrete:  Developing  key  competences  aside  •  Route  B  Embedded:  Embedding  key  competences  

Findings  

•  Both  routes  to  formal  recogni&on  of  key  competences  can  be  fostered,  taking  into  account  their  mutual  cri&cali&es,  limits  and  opportuni&es.    

•  The  specific  university  contexts  will  play  a  relevant  role  in  choosing  either  approach.      

•  On  the  whole,  one  of  the  key  success  factors  for  including  key  competences  in  the  formal  recogni&on  process  is  consensus  within  the  university  communi&es  of  teaching  staff  and  students  as  well.    

The  first  step  is  deciding  together  that  key  competences  are  to  be  formally  recognised.    

Findings  

Support  for  the  idea  that  the  individual  takes  a  central  place  in  establishing,  designing  and  implemen&ng  lifelong  learning.  Calls  for  co-­‐makership  of  the  learner  him/herself  

The  poroolio  is  a  powerful  way  to  give  structure  and  content  to  this  co-­‐makership.    

In   the   light  of   the  different  goals  needed  to  make  a  start   in   lifelong   learning,   further  research   is   needed   into   the  mo&ves   for   and   the   desired   design   of   lifelong   learning  strategies  

VPL   as   a   bridge   between   the   individual/organisa&on   and   professional   educa&on/schooling   only   becomes   relevant   when   concrete   learning   ques&ons   have   been  formulated,  which  then  need  to  be  answered    

VPL  may  serve  as  a  bridge  between  the  competence  needs  of  the  organisa&on  and  the  individual  –  Top  Down  VS  Bo3om  Up  

Implica&ons  for  Higher  Educa&on    

•  Knowledge  Socie&es  –  Financial  Economic  Crisis  –  Need  for  Innova&on  and  Flexibility:  increasing  the  importance  of  key  competences  in  employees.    

•  Employers  are  wan&ng  graduates  with  relevant  (hence  transversal)  skills  and  competences    

•  Bemer  synergy  between  the  worlds  of  educa&on  and  work  needed  to  support  investment  in  developing  more  relevant  and  bemer  skills,  (including  transversal  ones)  which  can  be  done  by:  

–  Facilita*ng  full  integra*on,  autonomy  and  reten*on  of  new  employees.    –  Redirec*ng  investment  in  training  and  learning.    –  Involving  employees  with  shared  innova*on  and  development  

–  Having  a  say  and  par*cipate  in  post-­‐graduate  programmes  and  career  services  

Implica&ons  for  Employers  

•  Job  shortages  (75  million  unemployed  young  people  in  Europe)    

•  A  shortage  of  skills  alongside  lack  of  hard  on  required  skills  for  employment    

•  Employers,  educa&on  providers,  and  youth  live  in  parallel  universes  

•  Challenges  crea&ng  a  successful  educa&on-­‐to-­‐employment  system:  

–  Constraints  on  the  resources  of  educa&on  providers,  such  as  finding  qualified  faculty  and  inves&ng  in  expansion.    

–  Insufficient  opportuni&es  to  provide  youth  with  hands-­‐on  learning.  

–  The  hesitancy  of  employers  to  invest  in  training  unless  it  involves  specialized  skills.    

Implica&ons  for  Policy  Makers  

Further  details  available  in  the  Mainstreaming  Report  and  Ac*on  Plan  Manual    

Ac&on  Plan  Framework  

Thank  you  

www.propound.eu