Competency based approaches and literacy education in schools: a grass roots view

The project described in this paper was one of the Children's Literacy National Projects for 1993 under the Australian Language and Literacy Policy (ALLP).Foci for the project arose from the proposals for reform in post-compulsory education proposed by Finn (1991) and Mayer (1992), which in turn arose from the belief that the needs of Australian individuals and industry would be best served if an increasing convergence of vocational with general education werefostered. At the education system level, the committees chaired by Finn and Mayer pointed to the need for a range of improvements in the organisation and flexibility of pathways for students through schools, TAFE and universities. At the individual level, the committees advocated that all young people should leave school equipped not only with subject-based knowledge and skills, but with a range of skills necessary for functioning in their post-school lives, including in employment. These skills were initially referred to as 'employment-related key competencies', but recognition of their generic value for a wider range of pursuits than employment soon followed. At the time the project was commissioned, it seemed likely that the implementation in schools of policies derived from the competency-based approaches proposed by Finn and Mayer was imminent. This expectation wasaccompanied by much unease and uncertainty about what the implementation would mean for schools, particularly in relation to more traditional subjectareas. The research described in this paper sought the views of a cross-section of principals and key teachers about how competency-based approaches could be integrated with existing programs and ascertained the extent to which elements of such approaches were already in use. The research also sought to identify schools, teachers and teaching practices which could serve as examples should wide-scale implementation of a competency-based approachproceed.