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Designing Competence-Based Vocational Curricula at the School-Work Boundary

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Enhancing Teaching and Learning in the Dutch Vocational Education System

Part of the book series: Professional and Practice-based Learning ((PPBL,volume 18))

Abstract

In this chapter, competence-based education (CBE) will be studied from the perspective of the curriculum. We will give an overview of what CBE entails, and review current practice and research on the status quo of CBE in Dutch VET. For this, we shall use peer-reviewed research and more practical, so-called ‘grey publications’. After a brief historical sketch of its rise in the Netherlands, we will give a characterisation of CBE. The conclusion is that CBE curricula in the Netherlands share the following characteristics: (1) integration of knowledge, skills, and attitude in competencies; (2) orientation on acting and integration in the professional domain, both in learning and assessment processes; (3) focus on the individual (i.e. flexibility) supported by the teachers; and, (4) focus on the development of the individual’s career competencies. The main difficulties of CBE implementation are introduced, which are pedagogical, conceptual, and cultural in nature and may help to explain why implementing CBE to its full extent is a time-consuming process. Although all the difficulties described hinder smooth CBE implementation, the difficulty in connecting learning in schools with learning in the workplace must be considered the central problem in implementing CBE in VET curricula. The remainder of this chapter takes a closer look at insights concerning the school-work boundary; it is first explored at the institutional level of co-development between education and workplaces, second with the aid of learning mechanisms in learning environments and after that through the means of a two-dimensional model. The chapter concludes with a closer look inside a learning environment at the intersection of the school-work-boundary that is the result of co-development efforts.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Vocational education at level 4/5 of the European Qualification Framework.

  2. 2.

    It should be noted that as a result of severe budget cuts (Coalition Rutte II, 2012) the Sector Councils are being reorganised. From August 2015 on, the 17 Sector Councils will form one collaborative organisation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Education and Competence Studies, Social Sciences Department, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Renate Wesselink

  2. Research Group Vocational Education, HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Ilya Zitter

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  1. Ilya Zitter
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Correspondence to Renate Wesselink .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. HU University of Applied Sciences, Utrecht, The Netherlands

    Elly de Bruijn

  2. Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Stephen Billett

  3. Inholland University of Applied Sciences, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Jeroen Onstenk

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Wesselink, R., Zitter, I. (2017). Designing Competence-Based Vocational Curricula at the School-Work Boundary. In: de Bruijn, E., Billett, S., Onstenk, J. (eds) Enhancing Teaching and Learning in the Dutch Vocational Education System. Professional and Practice-based Learning, vol 18. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50734-7_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50734-7_9

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