Using the Canadian Environmental NOS to Inform Curriculum Design

1. Using the Canadian Environmental NOS toInform Curriculum Design The results of a 2005 sabbatical project Helen Knibb, School of Environmental & Natural Resource Sciences, Fleming College

2. Overview • NOS project context • Origins / characteristics of Canadian Environmental NOS as compared to other jurisdictions 3. Applications to post-secondary curriculum development • Challenges in use 5. Tools, resources & case studies

3. Scope of Research • Applied learning, nurturing of practitioners, school to work transitions, learning ecologies, CoPs • Different NOS models • Promotion of NOS in curriculum design • Curriculum development tools • Curriculum applications / models / best practices

4. Origins of NOS Evolved out of failure of fragmentary training systems Used to frame national job strategy, certification, accreditation, work place training; P-S funding, credential validation Promoted in UK, USA, Australia,Canada Significant differences in approach and application

5. Student as individual Technical education valued less than academic Vocational education prepares for personal prosperity Academic education prepares for leadership Individual specialist is priority Apprenticeships lack general education Education and training separate Rigid curriculum divide Old paradigm of learning

6. Focus on community and individual benefit Specialisations within a flexible academic - vocational structure Mobile and adaptable work force Curriculum reform of academic and vocational curricula Focus on generic skills and transferability Lifelong learning rather than training for a lifelong job New paradigm

7. CBE Competency based education (CBE) - micro analysis of performance, but no synthesis; reductionist - job specific • promotes technical mastery, but not breadth • Linear, prescriptive, lacks complexity

8. Learning ecologies • Learning is about making connections • Learning is on-going • All knowledge is intrinsically unified • Knowledge is mobile

9. Learning ecologies Learning is about: • What works for whom, under what circumstances and context • Understanding vs. controlling context & influences • Our capacity to learn more, not what we know

10. Learning ecologies Most traditional courses are: • Stop / start learning • Stand alone • ‘Owned’ by faculty • Artificial constructs • Inaccessible once completed

11. Practice & Learning Professional development model: • Acquisition of knowledge and skills • Observation / emulation of practitioners • Attainment of personal practice experience • Development of understanding and meaning • Personal development - practice, reflection, sharing (Ryan, 2003)

12. Communities of Practice Frameworks for learning • Foundation • Application • Integration • Enculturation John Seeley Brown

13. Functions of NOS • Describe standards of good practice • Reflect best employment practice • Identify main roles and responsibilities within a work area • Describe the outcomes of competent performance • Are a comprehensive, yet flexible tool • Can help promote successful school to work transitions • www.skillset.org

14. Challenges - UK • NVQs not well received • Research indicated NOS were confusing to students and employers • Students challenged by the portfolio as ‘evidence of skills’ • Higher levels not adopted ‘A disaster of epic proportions’

15. Challenges ‘A question arising is whether it is better to have exhaustive and detailed standards or simpler, holistic standards that concentrate on the critical aspects of assessment’ Eraut, 2001

16. Characteristics: Canadian Environmental NOS 3 sub-sectors • 19 NOS profiles – degree level • 10 NOS profiles - college level Across all sub-sectors • 11 competency functions • 36 competency clusters • 280 environmental competencies • 7 / 34 enabling competencies

17. Characteristics Canadian Environmental NOS: • Environment falls under one sector council • Developed / updated with broad-based industry consultation • Independent of credential frameworks • Reflect competence of practitioners after five years in the field • No detailed performance standards / benchmarks

18. Characteristics • Offer a design matrix, not a list • Flexible - not prescriptive • Focus on connections between sub-sectors • Emphasize broad functions over vocational specificity • Developed at the high level – 280 competencies for the entire environmental sector

19. Characteristics • Clear, brief, jargon free • Written holistically, build connections • ‘Discipline-plus’ versus ‘discipline-specific’ • Anticipatory • Voluntary

20. Characteristics • Competencies classified by significance / frequency of use, not level of performance • Do not include assessment • Developed at two levels (college / university), not five as in UK • Require diligence in order to use them to effect

21. Applications to P-S • Develop curriculum based on research, not assumptions • Find common language • Promote documentation • Develop new curriculum that’s anticipatory of industry needs • Validate existing curriculum

22. Applications to P-S • Develop areas of specialisation • Develop common curriculum over multiple programs • Enhance students’ employability skills and functional skills transferable across the sub-sectors

23. Applications to P-S • Identify curriculum gaps • Align levels of learning • Re-balance / change emphasis • Develop better strategies for applied learning / authentic assessment • Application to co-op / placement

24. Applications to P-S • Help to build a culture of student awareness • Develop non-linear student career paths • Design continuous professional development for practitioners

25. Applications to P-S • Promote and design articulations (vocational–vocational and vocational–discipline) • Align existing curriculum for PLAR processes

26. The Tools ECO Canada web site offers educators: • An overview of the NOS • 9 ‘Tip sheets’ for application to curriculum challenges • Case studies & glossary • Future development of an Educators’ Forum / Community of Interest

27. Tip Sheets

28. Tip Sheets

29. Implementation Requires • Thinking across the curriculum • Vigilance in application • Setting realistic performances as contributing elements to the competency • Curriculum mapping

30. Helen Knibb hknibb@flemingc.on.ca