The 3 Core Competencies (Creativity, Collaboration, Communication)

What is a core competency?

While there is not uniform agreement, in general we are referring to sets of intellectual, personal, and social and emotional proficiencies that all students need in order to engage in deep, lifelong learning. There are a variety of different models and frameworks used to express this concept. For the purposes of this post we will be using those described by the Rethinking Assessment group, namely

• Creative Thinking - creativity, imagination, problem solving
• Collaboration - Emotional Intelligence, Teamwork, Adaptability
• Communication - Expression, Language, Empathy

The assessment challenge

As we have discussed on several occasions education systems, like it or not, only really 'treasure what they can measure'. The challenge for lots of 'fuzzy' subjects and skills is that they are incredibly hard to assess using traditional methods - at least in a way that is reliable, valid and authentic. The reason for this is that most assessment rely on absolute judgements which take a reductionist approach to assessment - that is they break down elements into ever more detailed parts rather than considering them holistically.

For many tasks this is simply the wrong approach. A good example comes from the world of fine art. The British art historian Bendor Grosvenor has written extensively about Connoisseurship and its unique place in assessing the whole performance. When faced with the need to assess the 'whole', breaking things down into constituent parts runs the risk of losing the true value and essence of the performance.

A further problem of using absolute judgement in the wrong context is the backwash it creates for both curriculum and pedagogy.

Taking a holistic, comparative approach to the core competencies

We have users across the world using RM Compare to successfully assess Creative Thinking, Collaboration and Communication. In doing so they are liberated and empowered to experiment with new curriculum and curriculum models. For example

• Creative Thinking:
  • Super-power Creativity with Comparative Judgement
  • Comparative Judgement in Vocational Settings
  • From Assessment to a Learning Experience: A Transformational Journey with RM Compare
  • Digital Portfolios and RM Compare
• Collaboration:
  • Contributing Judges (AKA - getting students to submit and judge their own work)
  • A new approach to Peer learning with Comparative Judgement
• Communication:
  • Assessing the spoken word - What we know.

What next?

We want to empower instructors, assessors and learners through familiarity with standards. We will do this by providing a platform that allows for 'when ready', holistic assessment. In doing so we will meet the 'treasure what you measure' challenge and at the same time empower curriculum and pedagogical change. We call this new approach RM Compare on Demand. If you would like to know more please get in touch.