Learning outcomes in the school curriculum: key competencies
There is an alignment between the curriculum strands and learning outcomes in Te Whāriki and the key competencies in the New Zealand Curriculum for schools. Key competencies in the school curriculum are similarly dispositional and complex. They too focus on skill or ability, together with inclination/ motivation and sensitivity to occasion or context, and they too are about action.
The term “key competency” was developed within an OECD project, Definition and Selection of Competencies: Theoretical and Conceptual Foundations (DeSeCo).11 Helen Haste, in an early collection of papers on key competency for the OECD, comments that, in her view, competency “implies effectiveness not only in performance, but in the interpretation of context and meaning”.12 Franz Weinert 13 says that a key competency is an action competence and adds:
Unlike conceptualizations of competence that accentuate either cognitive or motivational aspects, action competence includes all those cognitive, motivational, and social prerequisites necessary and/or available for successful learning and action.14
Writing about key competencies, Dominique Rychen and Laura Salganik say:
In line with DeSeCo’s objective to focus on competencies that are of particular importance, the notion of key competencies is used – to start with – as a synonym for critical or important competencies … DeSeCo conceives of key competencies as individually based competencies that contribute to a successful life and a well-functioning society, are relevant across different spheres of life, and are important for all individuals. Consistent with the broad concept of competence, each key competence is a combination of interrelated cognitive skills, attitudes, motivation and emotion, and other social components.15
Key competencies, learning dispositions, and working theories provide the foundations for lifelong learning in any domain. If the educational environments and assessment practices are in place to support them, such competencies, learning dispositions, and working theories will be enriched and will develop in strength.