Educational concept

The didactical concept of competency-based learning is at the heart of the curriculum. The consortium has defined this educational philosophy as follows.

Competency

=

Conscious and deliberate

application of the combination of knowledge, skills and attitude within a given professional context.

Three different but interrelated categories of competencies are distinguished:

  • Master’s competencies (inspired by the EU: Dublin Descriptors)
  • Professional competencies (provided by the professional field: what are the competencies required at this level?)
  • Personal competencies (which personal competencies does the communication practitioner need to acquire?)

The learning context should be such that it invites students to reflect on the interrelation between these competencies within the given context.  This means that the programme will have to provide you with the opportunity to work and study within different professional contexts and to take on different professional roles.  Our didactical concept should place you in a professional context in which you are asked to solve a communication problem.

This implies:

  • Researching the problem (for an outside client)
  • Creating and offering motivated solutions (theoretically  embedded)
  • (In some cases) Implementing and evaluating the solutions
  • Didactical forms should include project work, simulations and cases.

Learning is driven by problem solving. We are intrigued by new learning methods, such as accelerated learning. We want to apply creative learning methods, distinctively different from the traditional forms of learning.

Dissection of our definition of competency based learning:

Conscious:

The student is aware of the choices the communication professional is presented with and is able make an appropriate choice.  They have the abstract level of thinking required to be able to discern between the options. This implies that a student works from a helicopter view of the situation.

Deliberate: Of the choices available, the student is able to determine which option best suits the context. The student chooses with purpose.

Knowledge, skills and attitude:

Putting these three together implies they are interconnected and interrelated. All students will acquire the knowledge needed for a certain task.  A Body of Knowledge (BOK) for the core curriculum will offer students the general knowledge all communication professionals need in whatever professional role they play at a senior level. When choosing a specialisation, students will acquire the specific and specialised knowledge needed for the task at hand. The dissertation will require the student to become proficient with a chosen professional role to become a specialist.

The development of personal and professional skills is at the heart of our competency based programme.

We have included attitude as one of the defining characteristics of the successful professional.