Kate Collings

Bio: Kate Collings is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Competence (human resources) & Curriculum. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 4 publications receiving 319 citations.

The concept of competence in the development of vocational education and training in selected EU member status: a critical analysis

Abstract: This contribution follows the descriptive review of Weigel, Mulder and Collins regarding the use of the competence concept in the development of vocational education and training in England, France, Germany and the Netherlands. The purpose of this contribution is to review the critical analyses brought forward by various authors in this field. This analysis also remarks on the most important theories and critiques on the use of the competence concept in the above-mentioned states, The systems of vocational education within the four states covered in this study are: the National Vocational Qualifications in England, the approach to learning areas in Germany, the ETED and the bilan de competences in France, and the implementation of competence-based vocational education in the Netherlands, and these are the respective focal points for the critical assessments of the competence concept presented here. These critiques encompass such aspects as the lack of a coherent definition of the concept of competence, the lack of a one-to-one relationship between competence and performance, the misled notion that employing the concept of competence decreases the value of knowledge, the difficulties of designing competence-based educational principles at the curriculum and instruction levels, the underestimation of the organizational consequences of competence-base education, and the many problems in the field of competence assessment.

El concepto de competencia en el desarrollo de la educación y formación profesional en algunos Estados miembros de la UE: Un análisis crítico

Abstract: Este texto es una continuacion de la revision descriptiva de Weigel, Mulder y Collings en relacion al uso del concepto de competencia en el desarrollo de la educacion y de la formacion profesional en Inglaterra, Francia, Alemania y Paises Bajos. El objetivo de esta contribucion es revisar el analisis critico llevado a cabo por varios autores de esta area. Este analisis tambien senala las teorias y criticas mas importantes sobre el uso del concepto de la competencia en los mencionados estados. Los sistemas de formacion profesional en los cuatro estados estudiados son: el Nacional Vocational Qualifications en Inglaterra, el enfoque de las areas de aprendizaje en Alemania, la ETED y el bilan des competences en Francia, asi como la implementacion de la formacion profesional basada en competencias en Paises Bajos, de hecho constituyen los elementos mas importantes para el estudio critico del concepto de competencia que presentamos. Estas criticas abarcan aspectos tales como la falta de una definicion coherente del concepto de competencia, la perdida de una relacion mutua entre competencia y desempeno, la nocion erronea de que el empleo del concepto de competencia disminuye el valor del conocimiento, las dificultades del diseno de los principios educativos basados en las competencias tanto en los niveles curriculares y de la instruccion, la baja estimacion de las consecuencias organizativas de la educacion basada en la competencia y los muchos problemas en el area de evaluacion de la competencia.

El concepto de competencia en el desarrollo de la educación y formación profesional en algunos Estados miembros de la UE: un análisis crítico ∗ The concept of competence in the development of vocational education and training in selected EU member status: a critical analysis

Abstract: Resumen : Este texto es una continuacion de la revision descriptiva de Weigel, Mulder y Collings en relacion al uso del concepto de competencia en el desarrollo de la educacion y de la formacion profesional en Inglaterra, Francia, Alemania y Paises Bajos. El objetivo de esta contribucion es revisar el analisis critico llevado a cabo por varios autores de esta area. Este analisis tambien senala las teorias y criticas mas importantes sobre el uso del concepto de la competencia en los mencionados estados. Los sistemas de formacion profesional en los cuatro estados estudiados son: el Nacional Vocational Qualifications en Inglaterra, el enfoque de las areas de aprendizaje en Alemania, la ETED y el bilan des competences en Francia, asi como la implementacion de la formacion profesional basada en competencias en Paises Bajos, de hecho constituyen los elementos mas importantes para el estudio critico del concepto de competencia que presentamos. Estas criticas abarcan aspectos tales como la falta de una definicion coherente del concepto de competencia, la perdida de una relacion mutua entre competencia y desempeno, la nocion erronea de que el empleo del concepto de competencia disminuye el valor del conocimiento, las dificultades del diseno de los principios educativos basados en las competencias tanto en los niveles curriculares y de la instruccion, la baja estimacion de las

Grasping the logic of practice: Theorizing through practical rationality

Abstract: There is an increasing concern that management theories are not relevant to practice. In this article we contend that the overall problem is that most management theories are unable to capture the logic of practice because they are developed within the framework of scientific rationality. We elaborate practical rationality as an alternative framework and show how it enables development of theories that grasp the logic of practice and, thus, are more relevant to management practice.

Connecting Competences and Pedagogical Approaches for Sustainable Development in Higher Education: A Literature Review and Framework Proposal

Abstract: Research into and practice of Higher Education for Sustainable Development (HESD) have been increasing during the last two decades. These have focused on providing sustainability education to future generations of professionals. In this context, there has been considerable progress in the incorporation of SD in universities’ curricula. Most of these efforts have focussed on the design and delivery of sustainability-oriented competences. Some peer-reviewed articles have proposed different pedagogical approaches to better deliver SD in these courses; however, there has been limited research on the connection between how courses are delivered (pedagogical approaches) and how they may affect sustainability competences. This paper analyses competences and pedagogical approaches, using hermeneutics to connect these in a framework based on twelve competences and twelve pedagogical approaches found in the literature. The framework connects the course aims to delivery in HESD by highlighting the connections between pedagogical approaches and competences in a matrix structure. The framework is aimed at helping educators in creating and updating their courses to provide a more complete, holistic, and systemic sustainability education to future leaders, decision makers, educators, and change agents. To better develop mind-sets and actions of future generations, we must provide students with a complete set of sustainability competences.

Conceptions of Professional Competence

Abstract: Professional and practice-based learning is a process which manifests itself in many different forms. It differs by personal characteristics of the learners, levels of their professions, fields of practice, intentionality of their learning, and formalisation of the learning activities. Notions of competence have entered this diverse practice in many ways. The question is whether conceptions of professional competence have helped the practice of professional and practice-based learning. In this chapter it is argued that this is indeed the case. Although various attempts to implement competence-based professional learning programmes were heavily criticized, later developments in competence theory and research gave new insights which emphasized the integrative meaning of competence within professional practice. It helped in mapping professional fields from a domain-specific as well as a generic behavioural perspective. This chapter goes into the roots of the competence movement, and evaluates the contributions of these to the field of professional and practice-based learning. This is further illustrated with examples of different professions in which competence models have been and still are an effective means to map requirements for professional practice and to guide the evaluation and development of professional and practice-based learning programmes. What worked and did not work is then explained by distinguishing three approaches of conceptualizing competence which have been used in different contexts, and which have wide implications for professional and practice-based learning. The chapter concludes with the claim that current competence conceptions help mapping, focusing and assessing professional and practice-based learning.

Professional competence as ways of being: An existential ontological perspective

Abstract: The Organization Studies Summer Workshop is an annual activity, first launched in June 2005, to facilitate high-quality scholarship in organization studies. Its primary aim is to advance cutting-edge research on important topics in the field by bringing together on a Greek island, in early summer, a small and competitively selected group of scholars, who will have the opportunity to interact and share insights in a stimulating and scenic environment. Following on the tremendous success of the First Organization Studies Workshop on Santorini, we are happy to announce that the Second Workshop will take place at Saint John Hotel (http://www.saintjohn.gr), Mykonos, on 15 and 16 June 2006. Mykonos (http://www.mykonosgreece.com/, http://www.mykonos.net), a worldfamous resort with beautiful sandy beaches, unique Cycladic architecture, and unrivalled night life, will provide an ideal setting for workshop participants to relax and engage in authentic dialogue. With this workshop we aim to create a setting in which the juices of intellectual creativity will naturally flow. Because the aim of the workshop is to generate opportunities for creative interaction and intelligent conversation, the number of participants will be kept intentionally small — up to 50 papers will be accepted. Papers will be circulated in advance and participants will be urged to read them prior to the workshop. More about the practicalities and costs of the workshop will appear later on the Organization Studies website (www.egosnet.org/os).