inDEPTH


Academy (NAA), has long put PBs at the heart of his teaching. “Positive engagement and appropriate conduct are reinforced throughout in realistic environments and task-driven scenarios,” he says. “Learners are exposed to meetings with senior


representatives, industry experts, MPs and dignitaries. This builds confidence and allows learners to practise conversing using appropriate language, manners and respect.” He adds: “The aviation industry is one of the most


tightly regulated in the world. Honesty, integrity, respect, diligence and trustworthiness are the cornerstones.” But the drive towards these skills is also accelerated


by the speed of technological change. As the World Economic Forum has highlighted, there is greater emphasis on developing learners who are resilient and adaptive. So what PBs are necessary, and are they the same as competencies? Gilbert says: “We don’t all use the same referencing. My litmus test is ‘do employers consider learners work-ready?’ “This tends to require both subject-specialist


knowledge – competencies – and professional behaviours, demonstrating understanding of work etiquette, such as communication and industry-specific requirements, which could also be deemed competencies.” For Spencer it is about “developing business-like


attitudes” in learners, and these are not the same as competencies. “Employers differ considerably in what they consider to be business-like and it will vary depending upon the occupation,” she says. “Some will require basic self-organisation, appropriate dress, timekeeping. Others will value creativity and individuality. “Being ethically-minded, or willing to go above


and beyond for a client, could not be described as ‘competencies’. “It has to be about making good decisions in


Peter Rook is a freelance journalist and journalism lecturer at University Centre Peterborough, part of Peterborough Regional College.


FURTHER READING


• Mak-van der Vossen, Marianne et al (2014). Assessing professional behaviour: Overcoming teachers’ reluctance to fail students. Available at goo.gl/s7nL4M


• Spencer, E and Lucas, B (2014). Remaking Apprenticeships – Powerful Learning for Work and Life. City and Guilds. Available at goo.gl/MEEo7s


• The World Economic Forum report on PB-related skills is available at goo.gl/9eCK4z


14 ISSUE 31 • SPRING 2018 INTUITION


real situations, so it can’t just be a list of task-based competencies that learners must check off as they learn them in isolation. “Assessments could include teacher observations,


evaluations of learner portfolios, or the dynamic assessment of learners’ performance in novel and demanding situations.” This raises issues for Bentwood, from the Strategic


Development Network, who says: “The challenge for the person doing the observation, who has been doing things their own way for years, is doing it in


FRESH CHALLENGES FOR TEACHERS


The professional behaviours of teachers and trainers may require amendment in light of the increased emphasis on developing these sought-after skills in students. SET’s Professional Standards for Teachers and Trainers


provides a base, but the teaching of PBs provides new challenges.


Ruth Gilbert, chief executive of the Career Colleges Trust,


says that not all teachers know how best to engage learners in PBs, and that many require support to help them engage with employers. She is also concerned about the increasing pressure PBs


place on teachers. “I don’t believe most teachers ‘signed up’ to be ‘enterprise’ or ‘work skills’ experts,” she says. “Current industry practitioners are best placed to guide on


workplace competencies required.” Richard Hamer, education and skills director at BAE


Systems, says the emphasis is on teachers to remain current regarding industry PBs, and “exhibit those behaviours whether it be our own staff, training staff or training providers”. He says that BAE Systems rotates training staff into the


workplace and then back into training to keep them up to date with changes in the industry.” Jane Simister hints at a greater level of reflection required.


“Teachers can experiment with planning lessons with ‘character’ in mind and asking, ‘How can I teach this area of my subject in a way that actively fosters curiosity, stimulates good judgement, or demands flexibility of mind?’ Mike Cox also believes teachers will have to become


increasingly reflective and adaptive. He feels that one of the key teaching professional behaviours is to stretch learners “but there are some teachers going through the motions and not doing that stretch”. Find out how you perform against professional standards, by using SET’s self-assessment tool on its website under Professionalism, then Professional Standards. self-assessment/


an objective way. “Some areas will be more prone to bias. If it is assessing, say, compassion in a healthcare student there is potential for even more bias. The assessor has to be mindful of that bias.” A study in the School of Medical Sciences, at the


Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, found that among the reasons teachers assessing PBs were reluctant to fail medical students was their “concern for the subjectivity of one’s judgement”. It led to a strategy which included supporting teachers in assessing PBs, and students lacking these skills being offered individual support to practise them. Simister admits that measuring and assessment is


“a much trickier business”. “It is extraordinarily dificult to create a fair, balanced


way of doing this, and it raises ethical questions about our right and ability to even attempt to evaluate another person in this way,” she says. “The most effective ways forward are likely to involve teachers as coaches, helping to raise young people’s awareness of the range of attributes that will boost their chances of success and fostering reflective discussions. “The last thing anyone would want is to reduce


something genuinely meaningful to another set of tick-boxes.”


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