Centre for Lifelong Learning Flexible and accountable? Using professional dialogue to assess competence in the workplace Dr Judy Rumbelow Assistant Director Centre for Lifelong Learning Coventry University

Flexible and accountable Flexible and accountable? Using professional dialogue to assess competence in the workplace Problems of assessing workplace competence What is professional dialogue? How can we use professional dialogue to achieve a rigorous and valid assessment? A better type of competence? A better type of assessment?

The problems of assessing workplace competence How should we define competence? Is competence a legitimate concept? Is it possible to assess competence?

Is it practical to assess competence? What methods do we use to assess competence? How do we judge competence? Can we make the assessment of competence accountable?

What is professional dialogue? A semi-formal conversation Planned Assessor directed with a light touch Linked to other evidence Recorded Tracked

Case study 1 A group of part time HE lecturers working towards NVQs at level 4 in Training and Development Professional dialogue used as supporting evidence especially in areas of knowledge and understanding

Case study 2 A group of HE student support staff working towards NVQs at levels 2 and 3 in Customer Service Professional dialogue used to fill ‘gaps’ in evidence after initial assessment of portfolio

Achieving rigorous and valid assessment The validity of ‘talk’ Links between types of evidence Professional judgement of the assessor Record keeping

A better type of assessment? A better type of competence? A holistic view of competence Manageable complexity Promoting reflective practice Easing the bureaucratic burden Recognising the professional role of the assessor Inclusivity

The practical implications of using professional dialogue as a method of assessment Encouraging more ‘on the job’ assessment Useful in 24/7 service industries Can encourage participation of line managers in assessment Can model practice for performance review

Summary and Conclusions It is possible to use professional dialogue to address some of the concerns about assessment of competence Rigorous assessment can be achieved but some careful record keeping is required Professional dialogue can be particularly useful for 24/7 service industries with minimal time out of the workplace