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4. The Competencies
From experience, the application of a conceptual approach to learning is best achieved by first introducing the competencies. The competency resource is a separate resource within The Global Curriculum Project and this resource will be released in mid 2017. The competency resource introduces each of the competencies and the importance of the sequencing of those competencies, as well as providing the conceptual framework maps for all six competencies.114 The competencies are briefly introduced in section 3 of this resource and the sample competency of Identity is also provided in this section.
In the 1980s when educators first introduced the ‘inquiry learning’ approach, we found that teachers spent most of their time racing around the classroom managing the learners’ progress, behaviours, answering their questions, providing them with the necessary resources and hinting at possible solutions to their questions.
Resource 35:
The Competency Pyramid
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This approach only encourages students to become increasingly dependent on the teacher. The introduction of the competencies provides the key capabilities for learners to take increasing agency over their learning and develop the capability to become an independent lifelong learner. Unless the learner is competent, educators will need to take on the role of being a teacher rather than an educator-learner, and learner-educators resort back to being students.
5. The Learning Process
To take increasing agency over their learning it is critical that learners understand and can apply the competencies, know how their brain learns and that they have the capacity to apply their understanding efficiently via the application of the Learning Process. If educators are asked to describe what the Learning Process looks like we are almost universally unable to describe this process with any clarity, including a lack of defined language that accompanies that process. This is an issue that educators will need to address urgently if we are going to be the ones that will guide learners to an understanding of the process of learning.
We will leave the Learning Process to be unpacked in more detail later in this section.
114 The competencies are explained and unpacked into concept based frameworks across 5 levels of cognitive development in the ‘Global Competency’ resource. This can be purchased from http://www.MarkTreadwell.com from July 2017