Å vurdere yrkeskompetanse: Hva er yrkeskompetanse, og hvordan kan den vurderes?

[Evaluating vocational competence: What is vocational competence, and how can it be evaluated?]

Abstract

The aim of vocational education is that students develop initial vocational competence. However, what is vocational competence, and how can it be evaluated and assessed? In this article, questions of evaluating vocational competence are investigated from epistemological perspectives. First, I will examine definitions of competence in official documents and in research and look at research that can illuminate vocational competence and assessment in vocational education. Then, I will direct the focus towards epistemological perspectives on vocational competence and analyse what kind of implications the understanding of vocational competence has for curriculum and assessment. A main question is which forms of evaluation and assessment are relevant to stimulate and express students’ development of vocational competence. Questions concerning the relationship between vocational competence, curriculum frameworks and forms of evaluation are analysed in light of rationalist, pragmatic and critical epistemology. I will argue that theoretical, practical and social aspects of vocational competence constitute a whole that also includes professional judgement, and that this must be expressed in the assessment. The article ends with a summary discussion of some important challenges and principles for relevant evaluation of vocational competence.