1. Education Committee, Chicago Meetings
SOUTH AFRICAN NORMATIVE SKILLS PROGRAM
Presentation for
Education Committee, Chicago Meetings
Andrew Gladwin
October 2017

2. Key Aspects of a Profession (Bellis Framework)
Cognitive (technical skills)
Normative (delivery promise)
Organisational (ensuring the above)
We have specifically defined Normative Skills as the skill required to deliver on the professional promise

3. Normative Skills & The South African qualification
South African qualification developed from 2007 and 2009 and launched at start of 2010
During development of SA qualification, our premise was always that in educating future quality actuaries, we required a greater focus on delivery skills
International developments, in actuarial and other professions, have been towards greater emphasis on these skills
Current environment clearly calls for actuaries with competency in these skills
Specific SA research commenced in 2007

4. A Framework For Normative Skills
Lowther/McMillan/Venter categorised these skills into four categories in their 2008 research
Communication/interpersonal
Life skills (diversity, study skills, exam techniques, planning etc.)
Business management
Ethical/professional

5. Making The Framework Practical
Based on initial research, a four stage lifelong learning approach to normative skills was developed and approved by ASSA’s Council on 1 August 2011
Initial focus has been on implementing the 3rd stage which is the first two years of a student’s working life (Associate level)
4th stage (Fellowship level) commenced this year
First and second stage , which were combined, (university/pre-working) commencing 2018

6. Normative Skills and Work Based Learning.
The Normative Skills courses are education opportunities that takes place throughout the student’s Worked Learning path of 36 month where the skills and knowledge from the courses can be implemented in a real life working environment.
Work Based Learning
WBS develops additional delivery skills to ensure the effectiveness of the professional Actuary.
WBS will be the core of the Actuarial Professional Practise course (“APP”) and the various workshops will supplement and support learning at work.
Challenges
Integration of WBS and APP.
Students are not pro-active in the completion to learning logs, for example, some only complete essays and learning logs after completion of all examinations
As a result, gaps in skills are not address timeously and with training and development programmes
Students do not complete and submit annual review forms timeously
Discussions are not focused on developmental training needs

7. Normative Skills Courses
FOUNDATION
APP
COMMUNICATIONS
CORE APP
FELLOWSHIP APP
CONTENT
Basic concepts a
round professionalism and communication, ethics and professionalism around data and modelling
Preparing for written communication exam
Professionalism, Communication, Practical modelling, business skills, working with teams, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence
Integration of normative kills
DELIVERY
Part of university coursers or Online tutorials
Self study or Part of university courses
4 workshops – 6 monthly over 2 years
1 workshop over 2 days
ASSESMENT
Completion of university course or on-line tutorial
3 hour written exam
Active participation in workshops, 2 online exams, Modelling practical exam, Work based learning progress
Active participation in workshop, work based learning progress
WORK BASED LEARNING
Generally done before entering workplace
N/A
2 years required, integrated with course and personal development
1 additional year required .
WBS develops additional delivery skills to ensure the effectiveness of the professional Actuary.
WBS will be the core of the Actuarial Professional Practise course (“APP”) and the various workshops will supplement and support learning at work.
Challenges
Integration of WBS and APP.
Students are not pro-active in the completion to learning logs, for example, some only complete essays and learning logs after completion of all examinations
As a result, gaps in skills are not address timeously and with training and development programmes
Students do not complete and submit annual review forms timeously
Discussions are not focused on developmental training needs

8. An actuarial education curriculum that does not specifically recognise the
capabilities required for actuarial practice is inadequate and results in sub-
optimal learning outcomes . Novice actuarial learners will learn better if
they start by developing a schema for “actuary”
Learning quality is greatest when knowledge content and capability
development are integrated, and students learn actively and
collaboratively. In the author’s view, the Actuarial Society of South Africa
is on track to set the benchmark for best practice in actuarial education”
John Shepherd
(concluding slides in his presentation on A Blueprint For Actuarial
Education at ICA 2010)