This paper represents the latest in a line of papers and think pieces that the author has prepared on this topic -- for the UK government, the UK Skills and Productivity Board, and the Scottish Government and Scottish Funding Council -- since 2014. It seeks to explain why trying to bring skills supply into closer alignment with demand for skills…

The emergence of online learning has sparked increased interest in predicting learners' academic performance to enhance teaching effectiveness and personalized learning. In this context, we propose a complex model APPMLT-CBT which aims to predict learners' performance in online learning settings. This systemic model integrates cognitive, social,…

Singular efforts in PK-12 settings to instill a social justice mindset will not achieve the same outcomes as social justice education infused throughout content area instruction. In collaboration with 10th-grade teachers, we developed and implemented a biblioguidance curriculum to develop students' social justice and content area competency.…

Individuals need the shortest path to opportunity and employers require the shortest path to a skilled diverse workforce. To solve for this, Western Governors University (WGU) has created a skills-based architecture to map our competencies and credentials to high-demand knowledge, and technical skills as well as powerful, enduring, employability…

Critical thinking currently represents the necessary ability of an individual to orient himself in a world full of information, it allows him to search for his own identity, to form his own opinions, attitudes. Critical thinking is an individual intellectual process in which the thinker improves and cultivates the quality of his thinking,…

It has been postulated that field education is the signature pedagogy of social work education. Practicums are paramount in assisting social work students to develop the unique skills and competencies required for professional practice. Traditionally, field education in social work has occurred within the context of social service agencies…

Since the beginning of U.S. public school systems, educators and policy makers have debated what kinds of knowledge and skills that all schoolchildren should acquire. And those debates touch every aspect of a curriculum, its assessment, and its instructional materials. David A. Gamson, Sarah Anne Eckert, and Jeremy Anderson trace the history of…

Increasingly, Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG) and Virtual Worlds are being utilized for development of key competencies and 21st century skills in education. This paper is aimed at proposing a conceptual framework for the virtual world known as Second Life for potential application in Maritime Education & Training (MET). The need for…

Imagine walking into an 8th-grade science classroom and hearing a discussion among students about a challenging assignment they recently completed. A pilot program in 18 Tennessee schools develops agency through competency-based education. Students in Beth Hines' 8th grade physical science class at West Collierville Middle School in Tennessee are…

This case study highlights a high school math teacher's successful journey of taking the steps needed to move away from traditional teaching methods to innovative pedagogies supporting mastery-based teaching and learning. Mastery-based learning (also called competency-based learning) is a shift away from traditional, one-size-fits-all teaching.…

Ensuring all children and youth thrive as they move through school and into their adult lives requires that they have the opportunity to develop the skills and competencies that will help them land their first job, navigate and overcome the challenges they will face, keep positive relationships, and make good decisions. While families are central…

During the past 20 years, the afterschool field has been held accountable in varying ways--first, on the ability to provide safe places for young people to spend time while their parents work; then, on success in helping to improve participants' academic achievement as a supplement to the school day. Today, measuring success in afterschool…

K-12 education in the United States and across the world is at a turning point. The steady march towards equality and justice within the country has changed the context for the education system. At the same time, rapid and unpredictable changes in society and culture have created new expectations for education, changing what is needed for…

Many states are moving away from approaches that base student advancement on credits and "seat time" toward competency-based learning approaches that provide schools with the flexibility to link a student's advancement to mastery of content. Regional Educational Laboratory Northeast & Islands, in partnership with the Northeast…

There can be no denying the influence of competencies on the development of the school and its curricula. It is increasingly the case that, to enrol in a socio-economic fabric, whether locally or globally, learners--male or female--must learn to place their knowledge and know-how at the service of action: they must be able to deal with complex…