My Personal Portfolio : Competences. (Unit 7)

This topic is about the different competences that are in the curriculum. The differente competences that teachers have to keep in mind when they do an activity or any project such as a teaching unit (Unidad Didáctica).
I think that it could be not much interesting but is necessary to know this because is essential to any teaching. The teacher have to know what students are learning, and an effective way to know that is through the competences.

At the end there are some questions about this topic.

Given the new challenges that globalization continues to confront the European Union, each citizen will need a wide range of competences to adapt flexibly to a world that is rapidly changing and highly interconnected.

In this sense, the framework has the following objectives:

Identify and define the key competences necessary for personal fulfillment, active citizenship, social cohesion and employability in the knowledge society;
Ensuring that young people develop key competences to prepares them for adult life, and build the foundation for further learning and working life and that adults are able to develop and actualize their key competences throughout their lives;
Providing a reference tool at the European level aimed at those responsible for policy formulation, education providers, employers and learners to facilitate national and European initiatives towards the commonly agreed objectives;
provide a framework for later actions at a community level.

In this document, competences are defined as a combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes appropriate to the context. Key competences are those which all individuals need for personal fulfillment and development, and for active citizenship, social inclusion and employment.

The framework sets out eight key competences:

1. Communication in the mother language;

2. Foreign language communication

3. Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology

4. Digital Competence.

5.Learn to learn.

6.Social and civic competences.

7.Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship.

8. Cultural and expression awareness.

The key competences are all considered equally important. Many of the competences are overlapped and interlocked: aspects essential to one domain will support competence in another. Competence in the fundamental basic skills of language, reading and writing, numeracy and information and communications technology (ICT) is an essential foundation for learning, while all learning activities are based on the learning to learn.
There are a number of issues involved in the eight key competences: critical thinking, creativity, the ability of initiative, problem solving, risk assessment, decision-making and constructive management of feelings.

Communication in the mother language is the ability to express and interpret concepts, thoughts, feelings, facts and opinions in both oral and written form (listening, speaking, reading and writing), and to interact linguistically in an appropriate and creative way in all societal and cultural contexts, such as education and training, private and professional life, and leisure.

The Student should understand and express the different concepts, feelings, ideas and opinions in an oral and write way in some social and cultural contexts according to the needs of each. The grade of domain it will be different on each person. It is necessary to know the vocabulary, the grammar and the main types of verbal interactions.

Is the ability to apply and develop the mathematical reasoning to solve different problems in ordinary situations.

According to science competence, it is necessary to use the different knowledge and the methodology that explain the environment to make questions and obtain conclusions. This knowledge and methodology will be applied to answer to the human needs according to the competence in technology.

It referencing to a secure and critical use of TICs to the work, the leisure and the communication. To make it possible it’s necessary the use of computers to obtain, assess, stock, produce, present and exchange information and to communicate and participate collaborating through the Internet.

It demands a good comprehension and wide knowledge about Nature, the main applications such as data bases, and about the Internet risk.

It is the ability to start the learning, to organize the own learning and to manage effectively the time and the information. The student should determines his own capabilities and needs to overcome the different obstacles.

The pupils keep into account their life experiences to apply the new knowledge in different contexts. It´s quite important to the student be motivated and confident.

These competences include personal, interpersonal and intercultural competences and stock the behaviours that prepare people to participate in social life in an effective way. It prepares people to participate in the civic life due to the knowledge about social and political concepts and structures, the active and democratic participation.

It is related to creativity, innovation… to achieve goals. It is understand the ability of the person to transform the ideas in actions. People support this competence in their life but also in their job, home and society to develop specific capacities to contribute with the social and commercial activity.

Appraisement of the importance of the creative expression of ideas, experiences and feelings through different ways, included the music, the scenic arts, the literature and the plastic arts.

Now talking about the article published in the journal Société Pédagogique Romande, L’ Èducateur, in 1997. In which they talks about the many facets of a teacher and the 10 new skills to teach, the author divided them into 2 levels.

The first level is formed by the reference skills, these are considered a priority in the continuing training of primary teachers. These skills are:

Organizing student learning
Manage the progression of learning
Develop and make evolve the differentiation devices
Involve students in their learning and their work
Teamwork
Participate in the management of the school
Inform and involve the parents of the pupils
Use new technologies
Facing the duties and ethical dilemmas of this profession
Organize their own training

The second level is formed by the inventory and the explanation of the 44 specific skills. These are formulated by the author to explain the 10 skills that I said before. The intent to this work is to describe the ideal teacher skills of the future, which should be the basic axes on which the training programs have to be formed. Making a summary of all the skills that are mention in the article we can divided it into:

- The learning situations: this is about knowing to put in act all the open learning situations that come from the interest of the students that involve them in all the search processes and problem solving. This skill come from the interest of the students that is complete with the fundamental ability of knowing how to communicate enthusiasm for learning by involving students in research activities.

- The progression of learning: this is about to manage the progression of learning but practicing a pedagogy of problem situations, the teacher must have the ability to know to regulate this situations, adjusting to the possibilities of the group, for this is necessary to control all the mechanisms of the teaching disciplines and all the stages of intellectual development.

- Differentiation: It's about taking the heterogeneity of the group by put in performance all the complementary devices of the differentiated pedagogy, taking into account the method of mutual teaching. This skill means therefore to know the necessary conditions for necessary for cooperation that use certain values and attitudes such as tolerance and respect.

- Motivation: Consist in to encourage and maintain the desire to know and learn. The author of the article propose in this skill to involve students in their own learning, developing their capacity of self-evaluation and always listened to this pupils.