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Unpacking the key competencies with students

STEP 1: Introducing the key competencies to students

Each teacher in the key competency team introduced the key concepts underpinning the five key competencies to their class and initiated discussions and brainstorming about the key competencies.

STEP 2: Developing reflective diaries

Students were asked to develop reflective diaries about the key competencies (either hardcopy or digital). The diaries could include text provided by the teacher about what each key competency looked like, students’ text about the key aspects of each key competency from their perspective, a drawing of an aspect of each key competency, and students’ descriptions of instances when they had displayed this key competency. Students added to these descriptions once a month.

STEP 3: Seeing the future relevance of the key competencies

To encourage students to see the key competencies in the context of lifelong learning, and to introduce the key competencies to parents, teachers developed a key competency homework exercise that was also posted on KnowledgeNET. Students were asked to describe the key competencies to their parents and interview them about how they used the key competencies at home, at work, and during their leisure time.

STEP 4: Using a jigsaw approach to developing a shared understanding within the key competency team

With the facilitator, teachers designed a series of five lessons to assist students to further develop a shared understanding of the key competencies. Each teacher in the key competency team was designated an expert on one key competency. The students in each of the five classes were split into five groups and sent to one teacher. Each group contained a mix of boys and girls and students of differing abilities. With this teacher, each class group used a number of strategies such as group exercises and brainstorming to develop and refine a set of criteria for one key competency. In small groups, students then developed a presentation about this key competency in a format of their choice, e.g., posters, drama, PowerPoint, or oral presentation. All groups then returned to their original class to do their presentation. This approach resulted in each class having a group of students who were an expert on each key competency. After this exercise students completed a self-assessment sheet about how they had developed their presentation and used feedback to improve it.

STEP 5: Developing a shared school-wide understanding

In order to support a shared understanding of the key competencies to develop across the school, some students presented about the key competencies to a staff meeting. Students’ presentations were also videoed so that they could be shown to other students and teachers.