Assessing and certifying generic skills

Berwyn Clayton, Kaaren Blom, Dave Mayers and Andrea Bateman

Assessment and certification of generic skills is an essential aspect of the
current research focus on the place of such skills in Australian vocational education
and training (VET). This research, therefore, set out to gauge practitioners'
understandings of generic skills and the ways in which they incorporate the delivery
and assessment of these skills into their training programs. At the same time, it was
important to determine the critical elements of effective assessment of these skills.
What factors are critical in the assessment of generic skills? In the main, these
do not differ from those required for any valid, reliable, flexible and fair assessment.
The issues are very similar to those constantly raised by practitioners discussing
competency-based assessment in general, and do not constitute anything which is
unique to the assessment of generic skills. However, because generic skills are less
explicitly described in training packages and key competency levels are difficult to
determine, there is considerable potential for invalid judgements to be made about the
quality of learner performance.
Therefore, it is not surprising that informants called for better information to
support assessment decision-making (such as guidelines for evidence collection,
including the delineation of performance requirements or benchmarks) to ensure
consistency across assessors and across and between registered training organisations.
It is also crucial that assessors themselves understand what generic skills are and
know how they might be demonstrated. Without such understanding, it is unlikely
that effective delivery and assessment will occur.
Informants also consistently commented that specific resources and funding
need to be dedicated to the assessment of generic skills to enable it to be done
properly. They saw that delivery and assessment had to be flexible to ensure that
there were many opportunities for learners to be assessed in their achievement of
generic skills.
Many informants identified the importance of the learner's role in generic
skills learning and assessment. Some placed considerable emphasis on providing
well-designed, clearly articulated, comprehensive and readily accessible information
to learners, assessors, employers and other stakeholders on generic skills and how
they might be demonstrated and assessed. Such information can raise levels of
awareness and result in a greater level of commitment by learners and teachers to the
recognition of these skills.
Practitioners need clear directions as to which generic skills should be
fostered and assessed, and how this should be accomplished. This requires a revision
of the way that generic skills are incorporated into training packages, to make them
more explicit. As well as improving the level of guidance to practitioners, such a
revision would also help to minimise inconsistent generic skills assessment.
However, VET practitioners also require further professional development
support in order that their own skills, knowledge and attitudes are sufficient to enable
them to deliver and assess generic skills.
Therefore, the study suggests that:
 national VET policy be augmented to include a framework for the reporting
and certification of generic skills
 funding be allocated to support the full implementation of such policy
revision
 generic skills be more broadly promoted to key stakeholders
 training packages and assessment resources be further developed to assist
practitioners to conduct effective generic skills assessment
 professional development programs be offered to practitioners to build their
skills and knowledge about the delivery and assessment of generic skills.
Assessment of key competencies : The Torrens Valley TAFE approach Rob
Denton
The key components of this approach are :
1. Organizational vision and strategic commitment
Ensure that TAFE Torrens Valley graduates have employability skills sought
by industry and are ready to work, innovative and capable. These strategic
priorities need to be addressed in all annual plan programs.
 2. Valuing flexible learning and key competencies as core elements
Flexible learning and key competencies are interwoven into strategic priorities
and form the core of educational vision.
3. Explicit self-assessment
Self-assessment is the most effective strategy for learning and development of
generic skills.
4. Stakeholder consultation, collaboration and feedback
Close consultation and collaboration with students, employers, institute
management and staff is critical and includes academic forums, surveys and
interviews, research projects, industry guest speakers, Student Representative
Council participation and partnerships with employers.
5. Organisation-wide support for practical implementation
Organisational support is crucial and includes:
 key competencies coordinator
 Torrens Valley TAFE Key Competencies Focus Group
 framework of fundamental principles and philosophies
 development of assessment tools and processes
 intra and internet sites (under development)
 promotional events
 keeping abreast of (and influencing) national developments
Perhaps the most visible support mechanism is the Torrens Valley TAFE Key
Competencies Focus Group under the leadership of the institute key competencies
coordinator.