The New Metrics research-practice partnership is a coming together of like-minded schools who want to embed the teaching, assessment and recognition of complex competencies in their settings, as well as influence broader systemic transformation.
Learning in schools should be about more than domain-based knowledge and skills. Most curricula now acknowledge that every learner, at all levels of learning (from early childhood to industry-based learning), should be equipped with a set of complex competencies.
Complex competencies might also be referred to as '21st Century skills'; 'soft skills'; 'general capabilities'; 'transferable skills'; 'graduate attributes', or similar.
Despite the differences in name, all cover similar skills, attitudes and values that learners are expected to develop to thrive at school and in the future.
A complex competency is:
- teachable, learnable, observable, assessable
- learned in the context of developing expertise in particular domains
- developed inside and outside formal education
- transferable across contexts, that is, competencies learned in context of one domain or place can be transferred to another
In New Metrics, schools can assess and report on:
- Acting Ethically
- Active Citizenship
- Agency in Learning
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Personal Development
- Quality Thinking
Planning is in place to validate additional assessments in 2024, including:
- Leadership
- Entrepreneurship
Learning Design
In order for learners to continually develop their complex competencies, they must have opportunity to learn, exercise and demonstrate competence.
Designing learning for the development of competence can be quite different to traditional school planning. However, competence can't be taught without context, and therefore competency education goes hand-in-hand with the acquisition of skills and knowledge.
All good teaching practice relies on teachers having a clear understanding of the learning ambition for the class or learner. Teachers know what is intended to be learned and know what it looks like for a learner to develop in the area of focus.
