1. Occupational Competence: A Curriculum Model
Santa De Jager and Christoph Vorwerk
German Technical Co-operation (GTZ) – SDSI
Southern African Society for Co-operative Education, Vereeniging, South Africa, April 2006

2. Introduction South African economy characterised by
acute skills shortages on the one hand and
high unemployment rates on the other
considerable uncertainty amongst institutions old and new (eg, Sector Education and Training Authorities or SETAs), employers and learners.
Older models and practices appear to be out of step
with the new requirements,
the new institutions
the new delivery options such as learnerships.

3. Purpose of Paper Present a curriculum model
Clarify the nature and requirements of learning required for occupational competence
part of systemic approach
based on three modes of learning
for achieving occupational competence.
Benefits of model

4. What is Skills Development?
Skills development is the learning process leading to occupational competence
Occupational competence requires application in context, ie
work experience in a real-life, real-time working environment.
Definition:
In this paper the term ‘occupations’ also includes trades and professions
See Chapter 2, paragraph 22 of Bill of Rights

5. Between labour market and education system
Systemic Disconnect
Between labour market and education system
education institutions and training programmes
employer expectations or labour market needs on the other
At different levels of the system
Macro – policy & strategy
Meso – partnerships and roles
Micro – provider, workplace
Definition
labour market and workplace
we mean this in the broadest sense, wherever people engage in economic and social development activities

6. No systemic link between the labour market and NQF
Labour Market Actors
Occupations
SETA’s
Prof Bodies
Economy
Society ?
The ‘Disconnect’
Labour Market
Qualifications
NQF
SGBs
Provider system
ETQAs
SAQA
Needs
Flow of Skills

7. The Re-connect
To reconnect the labour market and the education and training system, propose the following
Organising Framework of Occupations
capture skills development needs
roles, tasks, changes in occupational patterns
National Career Path Framework
Organise occupational groups, show progression, articulation,
National Qualifications Framework (NQF)
Curriculum Model
structure education training interventions
Proposals:
at a strategic level would be about prioritising scarce and critical skills
at sectoral level SETAs would structure their incentives in order to encourage and focus stakeholder and provider efforts
at a local level providers would engage with sites to provide the requisite work experience

8. Flow of information, trends, scarce & critical skills priorities
Economy
Organising Framework Occupations
National Career Path Framework
Labour Market
SGBs
Needs
Society
NQF
Flow of Skills
Occupations
Provider system
Curriculum Model for Occupational Competence
Quality assurance, impact assessment, management

9. Misconceptions about learnerships
Learnership is a new type of qualification
Learning only takes place in the workplace
Occupational competence achieved through learnerships means an inevitable sacrificing of academic standards

10. Learnerships A learnership is a learning programme which:
consists of a structured learning component;
includes practical work experience of a specified nature and duration; and
results in a qualification registered by the South African Qualifications Authority, and
relates to an occupation.

11. A learnership is one route to an occupational qualification
National Certificate NQF Level X
National Certificate NQF Level X
Learnership 1
Learnership 2
Experiential learning
Skills
Programmes
Certificate
Course
Internship
Courses
RPL
Experience
Courses
RPL
RPL
RPL
Internship
Internship
Experience
Experience
Certificate
Certificate
Course
Course
Courses
Skills
Skills
Learnership
Learnership
Learnership
Learnership
BTech 2 2
Programmes
Programmes
Courses 1 1

12. Key features of a learnership
Learner is employed and has workplace exposure during the formal education and training processes
The work experience component must be specified, planned for and assessed

13. Key problem in implementing learnerships
At heart of disconnect at the operational level lies an implicit theory of provision:
if I teach people enough of the right things, they will be able to do these things in context
Providers view workplace learning as informal, difficult to codify, therefore impossible to direct or evaluate.
as a result experiential learning processes typically provide only vague guidelines to employers and learners to acquiring occupational competence

14. Curriculum model developed to
Integrate education, training and workplace practice
Bridge between formal education, formal training, practical training and workplace experience which lead to integration
Bridge & basis of partnership between
public education institutions
private education and training providers
workplaces
Provide a common language for the development of learning programmes with an occupational intent
improves coherence
Learners achieve occupational competence

15. Occupational Competence
The ability to perform activities in the jobs within an occupation, to the standards expected in employment
Three learning modes required
1. Knowledge
acquisition
(general and contextual)
3. Workplace experience
2. Development of
practical skills
Integration of Education and Training
Curriculum Model

16. Curriculum Model: Outline
Collaboration is the key to coherence and integration
The modes of learning need to be linked, woven together and reflected in the curriculum
Knowledge
Practical skills
Practical learning activities
General and occupationally relevant knowledge and theory
Application
(structured learning)
Subjects
Workplace experience
(practice)
Products/
services
Specialised and contextual knowledge & theory
Topics

17. Knowledge learning component
Knowledge - a series of topics that can be clustered into subjects
must support and underpin, and enable the learner to successfully engage in, the practical activities leading to the development of skills.
Much is applicable to the group of occupations, and
specialised knowledge applicable to the more specific occupations and contexts

18. Practical skills learning component
Practical activities structured as modules
class room exercises
laboratory work
hands on work in workshops
field trips
assignments
Role play, simulation, discussion groups …

19. Work experience
Develops relevant skills applicable to the occupational competence within a specific context
Real-time, real life
Experience the uncertainties, the challenges and the ambiguities
Reasonable period of time is essential
Results in the development or delivery of
products or services
structured as assignments or projects
under guidance of practitioner
not just dumped in workplace to sink or swim

20. Structure of the Curriculum Model
Two parts
Part 1
the development of a curriculum framework for a group of related occupations that share similar general theory, knowledge and basic skills
Part 2
the development of curricula for each occupation within that group
the identification of specialised and contextual knowledge components

21. Applicability of the Model
Programmes for occupational competence not new, no radical changes required
What’s new is:
to define, describe and quality assure learning in the workplace in relation to the formal learning processes
combine institution-based and workplace-based learning
flexibility to create programmes which
accommodate learners with varying needs based on prior knowledge or experience
Adjust to sites and distances from institution

22. Application of the model
Origin: Further Education and Training sector (FET) in order to implement learnerships.
Successfully used to restructure a can-making apprenticeship into a series of learnerships
unit standards broken down into the smallest possible components
grouped to eliminate duplications

23. Developed curriculum
Clustered horizontally into meaningful units of learning
General theory and knowledge topics
Practical skills modules
Specialised and contextual knowledge topics
Work experience modules– ie workplace practice
Topics and modules were grouped vertically into ‘subjects
Example

24. Benefits of the Model Same curriculum framework and core content used
for a number of related occupations
Don’t need to develop one for each qualification
for various different learning programmes
Learnerships. skills programmes, internships.
clarifies issues of articulation, portability and progression
Provides a structure for all role players to decide on issues related to delivery, funding, quality assurance, assessment

25. Work experience
Structure of work experience modules, assignment or projects
Title:
Purpose/Relevance
Duration
Outcomes (tasks)
Methodology
Evidence Required
Method of assessment and details of the assessment process
List of resources

26. Reflections on the process
Notable gap was that the trade theory subjects
Other gaps non-technical in nature eg basic principles of business, HIV/AIDs, team work.
But illustrate the danger of a field of study focused approach – people skills not in domain of engineering
Topics under general knowledge and theory & many practical modules applicable for virtually any process that manufactures packaging, including glass, plastics and paper products.
No difficulty in integrating all the product variations into the overall curriculum
Easy to construct a management system to sequence learning, allocate responsibilities and review or develop materials.

27. Lessons for the Higher Education Sector
Structures collaborative processes between all components of the delivery system:
the curriculum developers, the education and training practitioners, other specialist training providers the employers, professional bodies and even the students.
Sufficiently flexible to allow the development of various kinds of programme arrangement
Facilitates the transition from a teacher-led paradigm to a learner-centred, outcomes- and occupational competence- based paradigm.
Quality assurance of the learning process overall still lies with the primary institution
no loss of control when universities of technology engage in skills development processes
Will improve the credibility of the programme
thus the student’s ability to enter the occupational context or employment.

28. Impact assessment National Skills Development Strategy
Department of Labour, 2005
much greater emphasis on achieving targets (outcomes) &
making an impact ie,
real changes in the labour market
particularly for vulnerable groups
SETAs, employers & partnering providers will have to:
collect & report more information so that the government can evaluate and reconfigure policies and incentives where necessary

29. Quality assurance – change of focus
Mouton proposes five reasons for interventions failing:
The intervention is inappropriate
not addressing the real problem
Implementation is poor
poor quality delivery
Not all members of the target group receive the intervention as planned or do not receive the same intervention
inadequate coverage
lack of standardisation
The intervention is appropriate, implementation is good but implementation is insufficient
diluted intervention
insufficient dosage
The intervention is good, implementation is good and sufficient, but the target group is not receptive
lack of minimum necessary conditions for change (Mouton, 2003)

30. Not just the content of the teaching programme:
Curriculum model links to an overall quality assurance system, including
the programme purpose & design
the implementation strategy
the programme processes and resources
the delivery and the learning activities
the specific needs of each target population.
Not just the content of the teaching programme:
also the purpose, the relevance, and the impact in the labour market of the programmes
Key requirements
responsiveness & relevance
effectiveness, efficiency
impact

31. The curriculum model tool for higher education institutions to:
Conceptualise or re-conceptualise work-integrated learning programmes for the development of practical skills
Manage of workplace experience and practice
Engage pro-actively & productively with the world of work
employers, industry and professional associations, SETAs and communities)
Re-establish a connection to the labour market
Ensure the quality of education and training in and for the workplace
Link directly to the national programmes (JIPSA, NSDS) & contribute to the reduction of skills shortages & alleviation of un- and under-employment