Skills Standards are an evolutionary next step in describing and assessing skills. The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) has mandated that skills standards are to be used in all qualifications, replacing unit standards. Their guidelines for listing skills standards provide a definition of a skill standard and the criteria required to list them on to the directory of assessment and skill standards (DASS).
Last week, I participated in a webinar organised by ConCOve Tūhura to introduce the good practice guides for skill standards. The webinar was hosted by Eve Price from ConCOVE and included Dr. Karen Vaughan (Hummingbird Effect) who developed the guides with Andrew Kear, Michelle Tiatia from Waihanga Ara Rau and myself, representing 'providers'.
The recording of the webinar can be viewed here.
The good practice guides themselves is made up of six guides. The first, provides a background. The second, an overview of the system for skill standards - these two also detail the evidence-base for the move towards skills standards. The next three guides are for practitioners. One on assessment and consistency issues, one for industry stakeholders and one for programme development and delivery. The last guide goes through the project itself, the method for developing the guides.
It is important to understand skills standards as they will be the way in which all qualifications will be enacted. It will be important to workshop and have conversations with our teachers, as each qualification moves from unit to skill standards. Assessments (especially in the AI world) will need to be thought through and the introduction of skills standards represent a good opportunity to open and continue the important ongoing work on understanding the role of assessment of akills (along with the knowledge, attributes and contributions to occupational identity formation).
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