View From Here has been researching the European picture of competence development for Seniors. It seems that for our particular age group, there are no specific competence frameworks in use across Europe – nor in any of the partner countries of the Senior Plus project. Instead, there is a patchwork of approaches and tools used to help older people gain recognition for the experience and competences they have gathered over the years. Some focus on particular jobs, others on particular competence areas such as Information and communication technology (ICT). The only exception is the European Life Long Learning competency framework, which as the name suggests, is not focussed on any age group but does provide a wide range of competences.
These are
- Communication in the mother tongue;
- Communication in foreign languages;
- Mathematical competence and basic competences in science and technology;
- Digital competence;
- Learning to learn;
- Social and civic competences;
- Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship;
- Cultural awareness and expression
As we think about this list in the context of supporting Seniors, it becomes clear that not everything is relevant for everyone and so an approach is emerging which gives Seniors the opportunity to select from this kind of broad list, the competences they are interested in and to add to the list other competences they will need to move into their next role. We are using this kind of approach also, to inform the tools and processes to used by trainers and advisors working with the Seniors.
Jonathan Bowyer
Staff View from Here
United Kingdom, 29th of June, 2016