15
th
International Congress on Archives
Hoy
www.wien2004.ica.org
8
competencies is sound, but the criticism is more directed to implementation models. The same
criticisms were being made some nine years later suggesting a slow rate of change in the
implementation of competency standards. Submissions to a 2003 study on skill shortages in the
Australian workforce expressed concern that the:
Competency based approach has been applied in a simplistic, mechanistic fashion, at the
expense of a broader focus on foundation skills and knowledge that promotes innovative,
flexible responses and problem solving.
Other concerns expressed about competency standards include:
·
narrow or single outcome-based learning that did not necessarily prove understanding; and
·
complexity of the documentation, which sometimes exceeded the literacy abilities of those
attempting to use it.
Competency-based standards that focus on the ability to do set tasks, while neglecting the more general
attributes such as communication, attitudes and cooperation, seem inappropriate to the concept of a
profession and how professional development might be structured. There is little room in such a narrow
framework for Cox's emphasis on a profession developing shared values, ethics and a sense of
altruism.
In 2003 the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) conducted a review of training packages,
which are essentially sets of competency standards for specific industries or sectors. The review
revealed how the current structure of training packages was orientated towards individual qualifications
with teacher-centred learning.
However, the workplace is increasingly being seen as a context driven environment, where collective
ways of working and learning are used and learner-centred development is encouraged.
rigid structure of training packages does not facilitate learning in this changing workplace environment.
Options other than training packages need to be developed to reflect the increasing diversity of learning
experiences.
The review found evidence that the concept of competency was moving away from the
traditional performance-based approach.
The concept of skill can no longer be simply defined in terms of the knowledge and skill
required for a job or occupation. The new concept includes an array of general and personal
capacities and attitudes deemed essential for the world of work, in addition to job and
occupational knowledge and skills.
The review of training packages also found that regional contexts or environments were very
important, and competency standards needed to be more readily adapted.
Another issue lies in the
need for industry-based competencies to cover a wide spectrum of skills and knowledge. For some
38
A Beattie, `A case study in projectbased learning and competency profiling', in A Edwards & P Knight (eds),
Assessing Competence in Higher Education, Kogan Page, London, 1995, p. 148.
39
Senate Employment, Workplace Relations and Education Committee, `Bridging the Skills Divide', 2003, Senate
website (Australia):
www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/eet_ctte/skills/report
(accessed 1 May 2004), p. 114.
40
Chappell, Gonzi & Hager, p.19; Field, p. 68.
41
Cox, p. 26.
42
Australian National Training Authority, High Level Review of Training Packages: An Analysis of the Current
and Future Context in which Training Packages Will Need to Operate, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra,
2003.
43
ANTA, Training Package Review, p. 9.
44
ANTA, Training Package Review, p. 40.
45
ANTA, Training Package Review, p. v.
46
ANTA, Training Package Review, p. 34; Senate, Bridging the Skills Divide, p.114.
