KEY COMPETENCES

FIVE MAIN CONCEPTS

• COMPETENCES: The word “competence” means a mix of knowledge, abilities and attitudes: you are “competent” if you are able to act well in a certain situation. To be competent does not mean solely to know something or to have some notions about some topics, but also to put into practice the knowledge in a given context and situation. In this task we have used some activities which correspond to some key competences, such as digital competence, learning to learn, social and civic competence... (Contents, concepts, procedure,ethics...)

We can see in this article "Origin and development of Basic Competences in Education Primary" by Lourdes Mateo Villodres, really good information about competencies, which are core or key when are beneficial to the entire population, regardless of gender, social and cultural condition and family environment. Thus, the core competencies should be aimed at facilitating the maximum degree of capacity development potential of each person and the possibility of generating learning throughout the lifetime.

• LEARN TO LEARN: This is a key concept that we as teachers need to introduce in our classes because it's very important for our students. When students can direct their learning and know how they learn best, they can also better navigate the wide range of available choices in school and beyond.

Learning to learn is particularly important when teachers are no longer a main source of information and knowledge. Where learning is directed towards particular work or career goals, an individual should have knowledge of the competences, knowledge, skills and qualifications required. In all cases, learning to learn requires an individual to know and understand his/her preferred learning strategies, the strengths and weaknesses of his/her skills and qualifications, and to be able to search for the education and training opportunities and guidance and/or support available. (http://keyconet.eun.org/learning-to-learn)

• GAME-BASED LEARNING: In this task we have played some games that involved some keycomptences. Game-based learning is based on constructivist learning. What does this mean? Constructivism postulates the need to provide the student with the necessary tools so that he himself can build his own procedures to solve a problem. This implies a participatory process on the part of the student, who interacts with his environment to solve the situation that arises.

Risk-free practice, experiential learning and interaction are the pillars on which the theory of game-based learning is based. Learning through play allows students to experiment in non-threatening settings and gain knowledge through practice and social interaction with the environment and peers. (https://www.game-learn.com/es/recursos/blog/la-teoria-del-game-based-learning/)

Although this has been a main concept in more than one task, I have to place it here because this methodology is something essential for teachers, and this task have consisted of creating a game where students can enjoy and learn at the same time.

• EPISTEMIC DESIGN: In this task we have learnt that the content that is involved is something very important, we are studying to be teachers, and it is necessary to know that the activities we do for our students have to teach something to them. The content involved in an activity is really important and, above all in this task in which we have developed a game to do in class. We have learned about this concept in the first task with the ACAD framework, so we know that an activity is something that emerges when students participate, and in an activity we have to take into account the set design ( materials, space...), the social design (people who are involved in the activity) and the epistemic design (content).

• CURRICULUM: In the curriculum we can find the competencies, objectives, evaluation criteria, methodology... It's very important for teachers to follow and to know it because it's there to improve the learning of students at school. Maybe it has to be changed because education at schools has to be costantly improving. In this task we have take into account some competencies, and the competencies and objectives that students must achieved every course appear in the curriculum.

We can find in this webpage (https://www.teachwithmrst.com/post/the-importance-of-curriculum) some information about the curriculum. Curriculum intent forms part of the ‘quality of education’ judgement in the new Ofsted Education Inspection Framework (EIF) 2019. In simple terms, it a school’s educational intent and will be evaluated through what curriculum leadership has been provided by senior, subject and curriculum leaders.

How can we be sure that the activities we are developing in the class are useful for the children?

This is a very good question because we as teachers have to know that the activities we are doing in the class have the objective to make them learn, they can't be only for entertainment and fun, they must be valuable. In this task, we have seen some competences that help us to choose suitable activities, however, this is very difficult.

Activities must motivate children to progress and they have to teach something, children must be creative and actively working in them. Personally, in our activities we have tried to use the digital tools in order to create activities which fall within the key competences we have seen. When you as a teacher have prepared an original activity that is going to make children learn, then you have to be sure that your activity is going to be fun because they will be more engaged and it will create a very good learning environment in class.

I have find a very interesting article where we can find some information about key competences, it is called "A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW KEY COMPETENCES FOR LIFELONG LEARNING", and it has been written by Kivinen in 2018.

They talk, for example, about the history of the key competences. In 2006, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted a Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong Learning (2006/962/EC). In 2017 the European Commission launched a consultation to revise the old Key Competences. The Education Committee discussed the proposed recommendations during the Bulgarian presidency and the Education Council made the final decision on the 22nd of May, 2018.