Knowledge Concepts in Competence-based VET Research Perspectives on Cognitivist and Social-Constructivist Approaches
Recent positions in competence-based VET research differ in their views on what types of knowledge are addressed in competence-based curricula as well as on the way different types of knowledge are valued in competence assessments. The debate is rooted in
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Knowledge Concepts in Competence-based VET Research Perspectives on Cognitivist and Social-Constructivist Approaches Agnes Dietzen
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Introduction
As a result of large-scale international assessments such as PISA, TIMSS and PIAAK, one of the main streams of empirical educational research focuses on competence diagnostics. Within this context, competencies are defined as ‘acquired cognitive dispositions of performance that functionally refer to situations and requirements in particular domains’ (Klieme and Leutner 2006, p. 879). The definition stems from Weinert’s influential assessment of the definition and selection of competence for international school performance studies from 1999. After weighing the various theoretical standpoints and empirical findings in cognitive and developmental psychology, Weinert suggested defining ‘competence as functionally determined cognitive achievement dispositions related to certain classes of situations and requirements that can be described psychologically as knowledge, skills, strategies, routines as domain-specific abilities’ (Weinert 1999). This definition encompasses a limitation to cognitive dispositions, although Weinert elsewhere states that he regards motivational, volitional and social willingness and the ability to take successful and responsible action and solve problems as fundamental (Weinert 2001, pp. 27). For pragmatic research reasons, performance studies have focused on the examination of cognitive performance dispositions, while motivational, volitional and emotional aspects have been marginalised and always examined separately.
A. Dietzen (*) Federal Institute for Vocational Education, Bonn, Germany e-mail: [email protected] © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2017 M. Mulder (ed.), Competence-based Vocational and Professional Education, Technical and Vocational Education and Training: Issues, Concerns and Prospects 23, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-41713-4_33
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Although this focus on cognitive aspects is widely accepted within empirical educational research in general and higher education, critics see its limitations particularly in domains addressing more complex skills and competencies, e.g. intercultural competencies (Köller 2008) and diagnostic competencies of teachers (Hansmann et al. 2013). The critics point out the exclusion of motivational and volitional aspects of performance within these domains, which they believe lead to inappropriate competence models. Köller sees a need for further research on modelling of complex competencies, e.g. for cultural and social science subjects in schools. Martens and Asbrand (2009) recommend a praxeologically oriented, theoretical approach to reconstructing action competence and the conditions of their acquisition for competence domains such as historical thinking or global skills for learning. This approach is based on the insight that action competence within a certain domain consists primarily of tacit knowledge and social practice skills, which are far more fundamental for understanding hum
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