realisedevelopment.net

Just another WordPress site

Making Qualifications Work for Enterprise

March 4, 2010 by admin

Back in the late 1980s I made my living from writing national occupational standards and developing NVQs.  It was an exciting time to be involved in vocational education and training.

We were developing ‘standards of a new kind’ and the focus was on describing the outcomes of excellent occupational competence.  Standards and the qualifications based on them were demanding – reflecting real occupational competence.  The employment coalition was very much on board with this attempt to define ‘high’ performance.

However there was a problem.

Because the standards were demanding, relatively few people were able to achieve them. At least not right from the ‘get go’.  And because we were pretty exhaustive in specifying high performance in all situations that the role holder might have to handle (including infrequent but critical contingencies) the range of the qualification meant that they might take years to master.  Just imagine that.  Taking years of training and experience to be recognised as ‘fully qualified’.  What is it that Gladwell says about 10 000 hours?

However the ‘standards of a new kind’ came under pressure.  People were not getting qualified quickly enough.  In the league tables that compared ‘qualifications’ between the UK and its major competitors we were falling  behind.  Awarding bodies were not shifting enough certificates and as a result were not making money.  Something had to change.  And it did.

From my point of view the ‘new standards’ were rapidly diluted.  Assessment processes were undermined.  The qualification industry became a mass production unit instead of a crucible for excellence.  Within  a few years we had got ourselves a much more ‘qualified’ workforce.  But real competence, mastery of a trade, was hard to find.

And this is the situation that faces standards setting bodies at the moment.  Unless you can convince funders that you will develop a qualification that finds an immediate market and can operate at appropriate volumes you are unlikely to get funded.  Instead of qualifications driving up standards in the workplace they often reflect a diluted version of it.

By the mid 1990s I had completely lost my stomach for such work.  Writing standards with little or no aspirational content.  No serious attempts to define outcomes that indicated the presence of real skill and experience.  Little investment in progression routes to excellence.

But the most insidious impact of the new qualifications regime is that ‘we are all competent now’.  We can no longer rely on qualifications to be accurate indicators of real skill, quality and experience.  And this impacts not just on the economy but on communities too.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: community development, development, management, operations, professional development

Recent Posts

  • Hello world!
  • The Challenges of ‘Engaging Community Leaders’
  • Are rich people less honest?
  • 121s – The single most effective tool for improving performance at work?
  • Wendell Berry’s Plan to Save the World

Recent Comments

  • A WordPress Commenter on Hello world!
  • charles hapazari on Top Down: Bottom Up
  • Marvina Babs-Apata on The Challenges of ‘Engaging Community Leaders’
  • Steve Hoey on The Challenges of ‘Engaging Community Leaders’
  • Philippa on An imaginary open letter: To those who would ‘engage’ us…

Archives

  • November 2018
  • March 2014
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • August 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007

Categories

  • Community
  • Development
  • enterprise
  • entrepreneurship
  • Leadership
  • management
  • Progress School
  • Results Factory
  • Training
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2023 · Enterprise Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in