Effectiveness of competences and competencies during transition from higher education to employment::a case study of community learning and development (CLD) qualifying training in Scotland (Invited presentation)

This paper presents the case study of a qualifying programme in Community Learning and Development that uses competences and competencies approach to prepare its students for transition to employment. It also gives insights into the competencies and competences debate. The results suggest that most participants felt that the competency approach was appropriate for professional development and as a preparation for transition to work. However, the current array of competences should be refreshed in light of developments to take into account the growing diversity of CLD practice. Also, participants emphasised that it was important to focus on soft skills (competencies) which indicate the process rather than the outcome driven hard skills (competences) alone, and that more work needs to be done to make them more explicit in the curriculum