Learning Outcomes: the long goodbye. vocational qualifications in the 21st Century

TY - JOUR

T1 - Learning Outcomes: the long goodbye.

T2 - vocational qualifications in the 21st Century

AU - Winch, Christopher

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2021. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/9/13

Y1 - 2021/9/13

N2 - This article describes the origins of learning outcomes-based qualifications in England in the 1980s. It describes the design philosophy and evolution of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) which are contrasted with content-led frameworks and qualifications such as the English National Curriculum. The design flaws of the NVQ are noted and some policy implications ofthe NVQ experience are remarked on. It goes on to consider the adoption of learning outcomes approaches to qualifications in the European Union, first through the introduction of the European Qualification Framework (EQF) and then of European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO). First, it is argued that the EQF serves as an umbrella for qualificationsfundamentally incompatible with each other. Second, it is maintained that although ESCO has certain design features that liken it to the NVQ, it is also compatible with non-learning outcomes based qualifications. Its assumptions about qualification design, based on task analysis, render it unsuitable as a template for the development of advanced vocational qualifications. The declineand fall of the NVQ and its replacement by standards-based qualification in England is described and some lessons that can be learned by policymakers are outlined. Learning outcomes-based qualifications are not fit for purpose.

AB - This article describes the origins of learning outcomes-based qualifications in England in the 1980s. It describes the design philosophy and evolution of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) which are contrasted with content-led frameworks and qualifications such as the English National Curriculum. The design flaws of the NVQ are noted and some policy implications ofthe NVQ experience are remarked on. It goes on to consider the adoption of learning outcomes approaches to qualifications in the European Union, first through the introduction of the European Qualification Framework (EQF) and then of European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO). First, it is argued that the EQF serves as an umbrella for qualificationsfundamentally incompatible with each other. Second, it is maintained that although ESCO has certain design features that liken it to the NVQ, it is also compatible with non-learning outcomes based qualifications. Its assumptions about qualification design, based on task analysis, render it unsuitable as a template for the development of advanced vocational qualifications. The declineand fall of the NVQ and its replacement by standards-based qualification in England is described and some lessons that can be learned by policymakers are outlined. Learning outcomes-based qualifications are not fit for purpose.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85114853898&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/14749041211043669

DO - 10.1177/14749041211043669

M3 - Article

SN - 1474-9041

VL - NA

SP - 1

EP - 19

JO - European Educational Research Journal

JF - European Educational Research Journal

IS - NA

M1 - NA

ER -