FC 01. Tool to Help Draft the Final Educational Competencies

 

Introduction

The final educational competencies of each area of growth describe a body of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that young people are expected to use to solve different situations effectively. These competencies are considered final, because they should be developed by the last age section prior to leaving the Scout Movement.

These competencies are based on a combination of values of the Scout Movement, defined in the Educational Proposal, and the needs required to grow in a specific context and time.

Writing the educational competencies is a complex task. This tool proposes practical guidance to support teamwork.

 

Objective

This tool is intended to

• prepare you for writing the final educational competencies.

 

This tool is intended for

• the team responsible for the design or review of your NSO’s Youth Programme.
• participants who will use this material in seminars or workshops to study, debate, and design/review your NSO’s Youth Programme.

 

How to use this tool

1. Read and discuss the material: Guidelines to Writing Educational Competencies.
2. Form six teams, one for each growth area.
3. Have each team write the final competencies for each growth area, using previously identified educational priorities as a basis.
4. Next, get the teams to exchange their work and analyse the final competencies.  Each team must evaluate if the final competencies are written properly, clearly, and if they are understandable and relevant.
5. Finally, in a plenary session, ask the teams to share their conclusions and suggestions for improvements.

 

Guidelines to Writing Educational Competencies

1. Reflect on the steps taken

To write the final educational competencies, is very important to reflect on tasks that have been carried out previously. We suggest reflecting on the following:

• The needs and interests of young people in a specific social context.
• The social, political, economic, and cultural needs of society.
• Your ability, as an NSO, to fulfil both the needs and aspirations of young people and the needs of society.
• The values that we sustain as a Movement.
• The areas of growth and their educational priorities.
• The profile of the ideal person we aspire to form once they go through the educational process.

All this information must be re-examined and discussed, since it is essential for drafting the final competencies.

 

2. Establish a higher age limit for the last age section

Before defining the final competencies, it is essential to decide what the age limit will be in the last age section in your NSO. For this, several factors must be taken into account, including the needs of young people in the society in which they live, the age at which they access adult roles, other opportunities offered to young people, and the resources available in your NSO.

 

3. Choosing a development area and an educational priority

To begin, choose a development area and identify its educational priorities, which correspond to the needs of young people.

Write between one and three final competencies for each educational priority to ensure you cover all the educational aspects appropriately.

Although there is no minimum or maximum number of competencies, if the number of competencies is low, it is probable that you will not cover all the educational aspects that should be covered. On the contrary, if the number is very high, you run the risk of overwhelming and discouraging both responsible adults and young people who must work with these final competencies.

 

4. Elements of a competency

A competency includes the following elements: verb, object, and condition.

• The verb expresses a capacity. It is an action the person performs written in third person singular. You can use 1 to 3 verbs.
• The object presents the content or knowledge that is required to adequately perform the competency.
• The condition is the situation.  The setting or the context in which the action will take place, the location, the resources, and the people with whom we execute it.

Verb What do they do?	Object What do they do it with? Through what do they do it?	Condition Where? How? Why do they do it?
Collaborate	in the positive resolution of conflicts	in their community in order to contribute to peace.
Integrate	their religious principles	in a coherent way between their faith, their personal life, and their social participation.

 

5. Examples of verbs 

Verbs related to knowing		Verbs related to know-how		Verbs related to knowing how to be
Analyse Interpret Recognise Synthesise Define Plan Identify Distinguish	Classify Relate Show Describe Summarise Deduce Locate Check	Argue Solve Interpret Organise Build   Design Program Structure Develop Write Analyse Manipulate Make	Detect Generate Adapt Investigate   Orient Produce   Pick up Drive Operate Express Use	Accept Participate Appreciate Respect Create Express Collaborate Share Prefer Propose	Care Rate Contemplate Integrate Assume Admire Enjoy Sample Deny Value

As this is an educational process, another consideration will be the distance to be travelled by young people, i.e., the individual’s progress relative to their starting point. 

 

Additional Recommendations

Get an expert’s support

Writing final competencies is a demanding task with a certain degree of complexity. Ask for advice and support from people specialised in the development of Educational Proposals for young people between the ages of 17 and 26. The role of these specialists will be to assist us in drafting final competencies.

 

Analyse other NSOs’ final educational competencies

It can be very useful to analyse examples of final educational competencies written by other NSOs or other organisations dedicated to youth education.