THE DEFINITION AND SELECTION OF KEY COMPETENCIES …

1 THE DEFINITION ANDSELECTION OF KEYCOMPETENCIESE xecutive SummaryMep_interieur 27/05/05 9:17 Page 1 Mep_interieur 27/05/05 9:17 Page 2 PISA AND THE DEFINITION OF KEY COMPETENCIESIn 1997, OECD member countries launched the Programme for International StudentAssessment (PISA), with the aim of monitoring the extent to which students near the end ofcompulsory schooling have acquired the knowledge and skills essential for full participation insociety. Driving the development of PISA have been: Its policy orientation, with design and reporting methods determined by the need ofgovernments to draw policy lessons; Its innovative literacy concept concerned with the capacity of students to analyse, reasonand communicate effectively as they pose, solve and interpret problems in a variety ofsubject matter areas.

2 Its relevance to lifelong learning, which does not limit PISA to assessing students curricular and cross-curricular COMPETENCIES but also asks them to report on their ownmotivation to learn, beliefs about themselves and learning strategies; and Its regularity, which will enable countries to monitor their progress in meeting key assessments began with comparing students knowledge and skills in the areas of reading,mathematics, science and problem solving. The assessment of student performance in selectedschool subjects took place with the understanding, though, that students success in lifedepends on a much wider range of COMPETENCIES .

3 The OECD s DEFINITION and SELECTION ofCompetencies (DeSeCo) Project, which is summarised in this brochure, provides a frameworkthat can guide the longer-term extension of assessments into new competency domains. Executive Summary3 Mep_interieur 27/05/05 9:17 Page 3 OVERVIEWWhat COMPETENCIES Do We Need for a Successful Life and a Well-Functioning Society? Today s societies place challenging demands on individuals, who are confronted withcomplexity in many parts of their lives. What do these demands imply for key COMPETENCIES thatindividuals need to acquire? Defining such COMPETENCIES can improve assessments of how wellprepared young people and adults are for life s challenges, as well as identify overarching goalsfor education systems and lifelong competency is more than just knowledge and skills.

4 It involves the ability to meet complexdemands, by drawing on and mobilising psychosocial resources (including skills and attitudes)in a particular context. For example, the ability to communicate effectively is a competency thatmay draw on an individual s knowledge of language, practical IT skills and attitudes towardsthose with whom he or she is need a wide range of COMPETENCIES in order to face the complex challenges of today sworld, but it would be of limited practical value to produce very long lists of everything that theymay need to be able to do in various contexts at some point in their lives. Through the DeSeCoProject, the OECD has collaborated with a wide range of scholars, experts and institutions toidentify a small set of key COMPETENCIES , rooted in a theoretical understanding of how suchcompetencies are defined.

5 Each key competency must: Contribute to valued outcomes for societies and individuals; Help individuals meet important demands in a wide variety of contexts; and Be important not just for specialists but for all DEFINITION and SELECTION of Key CompetenciesWhy are COMPETENCIES so important today? globalisation and modernisation are creating anincreasingly diverse and interconnected world. To makesense of and function well in this world, individuals needfor example to master changing technologies and to makesense of large amounts of available information. They alsoface collective challenges as societies such as balancingeconomic growth with environmental sustainability, andprosperity with social equity.

6 In these contexts, thecompetencies that individuals need to meet their goalshave become more complex, requiring more than themastery of certain narrowly defined skills. Sustainable developmentand social cohesion dependcritically on the COMPETENCIES ofall of our population withcompetencies understood to coverknowledge, skills, attitudes andvalues. OECD Education MinistersMep_interieur 27/05/05 9:17 Page 4 Key COMPETENCIES in Three Broad Categories The DeSeCo Project s conceptual framework for keycompetencies classifies such COMPETENCIES inthree broad categories. First, individuals needto be able to use a wide range of tools forinteracting effectively with the environment: both physical ones such as informationtechnology and socio-cultural ones such asthe use of language.

7 They need to understandsuch tools well enough to adapt them for theirown purposes to use tools interactively. Second, in anincreasingly interdependent world, individuals need tobe able to engage with others, and since they willencounter people from a range of backgrounds, it isimportant that they are able to interact in heterogeneousgroups. Third, individuals need to be able to take responsibility for managing their own lives,situate their lives in the broader social context and act autonomously. These categories, each with a specific focus, are interrelated, and collectively form a basis foridentifying and mapping key COMPETENCIES .

8 The need for individuals to think and act reflectivelyis central to this framework of COMPETENCIES . Reflectiveness involves not just the ability to applyroutinely a formula or method for confronting a situation, but also the ability to deal withchange, learn from experience and think and act with a critical stance. The following pages look first at the demands of modern life and how they lead to thisframework, second at the details of the framework itself and third at how the framework canbe used both to inform the assessment of educational outcomes and for wider Summary5 Producing this framework: How the OECD developed a collaborative,multidisciplinary approach to defining a set of key competenciesIn late 1997, the OECD initiated the DeSeCo Project with the aim of providing a sound conceptualframework to inform the identification of key COMPETENCIES and strengthen international surveysmeasuring the competence level of young people and adults.

9 This project, carried out under theleadership of Switzerland and linked to PISA, brought together experts in a wide range of disciplinesto work with stakeholders and policy analysts to produce a policy-relevant framework. IndividualOECD countries were able to contribute their own views to inform the process. The projectacknowledged diversity in values and priorities across countries and cultures, yet also identifieduniversal challenges of the global economy and culture, as well as common values that inform theselection of the most important inheterogeneousgroupsUse tools interactively( language, technology)Mep_interieur 27/05/05 9.

10 17 Page 5A BASIS FOR KEY COMPETENCIESC ompetence and the demands of modern life Key COMPETENCIES are not determined by arbitrary decisions about what personal qualities andcognitive skills are desirable, but by careful consideration of the psychosocial prerequisites for asuccessful life and a well-functioning society. What demands does today s society place on itscitizens? The answer needs to be rooted in a coherent concept of what constitutes demand-led approach asks what individuals need in order to function well in society asthey find it. What COMPETENCIES do they need to find and to hold down a job? What kind ofadaptive qualities are required to cope with changing technology?