ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the ASSET Programme experience of defining a vocational curriculum in terms of specific learning outcomes or ‘competences’. We present examples of the competence-based units of learning (‘modules’—see previous chapter) together with an account of the method of their construction and an evaluation of their format. The general rationale for the approach is given, leading to a discussion of the advantages and limits of the ‘functional analysis’ method recommended by the National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ, 1995a, p. 17, paragraph 2.3). This is followed by a presentation of examples from the social work ASSET Programme, an analysis of how and why the ASSET format differs from the NCVQ model, and finally a discussion of the strengths and limitations of specifying competences as an approach to designing a vocational curriculum. This discussion leads directly into the recognition of the need for another dimension in the model, the Core Assessment Criteria, which is the topic of the next chapter.
