PROFESSIONAL-DEVELOPMENT AND COMPETENCE-BASED EDUCATION

The rapid expansion of competence-based education (CBE) through the work of the National Council for Vocational Qualifications (NCVQ) has now, thanks to generous public funding and official endorsement by the Department for Education, penetrated the theory and practice of professional studies in teacher education at both school and post-school levels. The NCVQ model of CBE is criticised and alternatives described. The current NCVQ approach is neither the only nor necessarily the most appropriate model of occupational development on offer. Models of professionalism based on the concept of 'expertise' are recommended as the ones most likely to produce the reflective practitioners required to enhance the status and quality of teaching in schools and colleges.