Using the Canadian Environmental NOS to Inform Curriculum Design

Canadian Council for Human Resources in the Environment Industry

Using the Canadian Environmental NOS to

Inform Curriculum Design

The results of a 2005 sabbatical project

Helen Knibb, School of Environmental & Natural Resource Sciences, Fleming

College


Overview

1. NOS project context2. Origins / characteristics of Canadian

Environmental NOS as compared to other jurisdictions

3. Applications to post-secondary curriculum development

4. Challenges in use5. Tools, resources & case studies


Scope of Research

– Applied learning, nurturing of practitioners, school to work transitions, learning ecologies, CoPs

– Different NOS models – Promotion of NOS in curriculum design– Curriculum development tools – Curriculum applications / models / best

practices


Origins of NOS

• Evolved out of failure of fragmentary training systems

• Used to frame national job strategy, certification, accreditation, work place training; P-S funding, credential validation

• Promoted in UK, USA, Australia,Canada

• Significant differences in approach and application


Old paradigm of learning

• Student as individual• Technical education

valued less than academic

• Vocational education prepares for personal prosperity

• Academic education prepares for leadership

• Individual specialist is priority

• Apprenticeships lack general education

• Education and training separate

• Rigid curriculum divide


New paradigm

• Focus on community and individual benefit

• Specialisations within a flexible academic - vocational structure

• Mobile and adaptable work force

• Curriculum reform of academic and vocational curricula

• Focus on generic skills and transferability

• Lifelong learning rather than training for a lifelong job


CBE

Competency based education (CBE)

- micro analysis of performance, but no synthesis; reductionist

- job specific

- promotes technical mastery, but not breadth

- Linear, prescriptive, lacks complexity


Learning ecologies

• Learning is about making connections

• Learning is on-going

• All knowledge is intrinsically unified

• Knowledge is mobile


Learning ecologies

Learning is about:

• What works for whom, under what circumstances and context

• Understanding vs. controlling context & influences

• Our capacity to learn more, not what we know


Learning ecologies

Most traditional courses are:

• Stop / start learning

• Stand alone

• ‘Owned’ by faculty

• Artificial constructs

• Inaccessible once completed


Practice & Learning

Professional development model:• Acquisition of knowledge and skills• Observation / emulation of practitioners• Attainment of personal practice

experience• Development of understanding and

meaning• Personal development - practice,

reflection, sharing (Ryan, 2003)


Communities of Practice

Frameworks for learning

– Foundation

– Application

– Integration

– EnculturationJohn Seeley Brown


Functions of NOS

• Describe standards of good practice • Reflect best employment practice• Identify main roles and responsibilities

within a work area• Describe the outcomes of competent

performance• Are a comprehensive, yet flexible tool • Can help promote successful school to

work transitions–www.skillset.org


Challenges - UK

• NVQs not well received

• Research indicated NOS were confusing to students and employers

• Students challenged by the portfolio as ‘evidence of skills’

• Higher levels not adopted

‘A disaster of epic proportions’


Challenges

‘A question arising is whether it is better to have exhaustive and detailed standards or simpler, holistic standards that concentrate on the critical aspects of assessment’

Eraut, 2001


Characteristics:

Canadian Environmental NOS

3 sub-sectors

– 19 NOS profiles – degree level

– 10 NOS profiles - college level

Across all sub-sectors

– 11 competency functions

– 36 competency clusters

– 280 environmental competencies

– 7 / 34 enabling competencies


Characteristics

Canadian Environmental NOS:• Environment falls under one sector

council• Developed / updated with broad-based

industry consultation• Independent of credential frameworks• Reflect competence of practitioners

after five years in the field• No detailed performance standards /

benchmarks


Characteristics

• Offer a design matrix, not a list• Flexible - not prescriptive• Focus on connections between sub-sectors• Emphasize broad functions over vocational

specificity• Developed at the high level – 280 competencies

for the entire environmental sector


Characteristics

• Clear, brief, jargon free

• Written holistically, build connections

• ‘Discipline-plus’ versus ‘discipline-specific’

• Anticipatory

• Voluntary


Characteristics

• Competencies classified by significance / frequency of use, not level of performance

• Do not include assessment

• Developed at two levels (college / university), not five as in UK

• Require diligence in order to use them to effect


Applications to P-S

• Develop curriculum based on research, not assumptions

• Find common language

• Promote documentation

• Develop new curriculum that’s anticipatory of industry needs

• Validate existing curriculum


Applications to P-S

• Develop areas of specialisation

• Develop common curriculum over multiple programs

• Enhance students’ employability skills and functional skills transferable across the sub-sectors


Applications to P-S

• Identify curriculum gaps• Align levels of learning• Re-balance / change emphasis

• Develop better strategies for applied learning / authentic assessment

• Application to co-op / placement


Applications to P-S

• Help to build a culture of student awareness

• Develop non-linear student career paths

• Design continuous professional development for practitioners


Applications to P-S

• Promote and design articulations (vocational–vocational and vocational–discipline)

• Align existing curriculum for PLAR processes


The Tools

ECO Canada web site offers educators:

• An overview of the NOS

• 9 ‘Tip sheets’ for application to curriculum challenges

• Case studies & glossary

• Future development of an Educators’ Forum / Community of Interest


Tip Sheets

1. What are the NOS and How Do They Apply to Env. Education?

3. Using NOS to Inform Curriculum Design

5. Aligning NOS with Departmental Goals & Graduate Outcomes

2. Positioning Curriculum for Career Paths in the Env. Sector

4. Using NOS to Develop Articulations and Linkages

6. Aligning NOS with a Specific Program of Study


Tip Sheets

7. Aligning NOS Within a Course Framework

9. Using Occupational Standards in the Design of Learning Activities and Assessment Tools

8. Integrating Env. Competency Functions & Enabling Competencies Across the Curriculum


Implementation

Requires

• Thinking across the curriculum

• Vigilance in application

• Setting realistic performances as contributing elements to the competency

• Curriculum mapping


Helen Knibb

[email protected]

Using the Canadian Environmental NOS to Inform Curriculum Design

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