Student Experiences of Generic Competency Learning: A Case of Practitioner Research. Working Paper.

The implementation of an educational reform and the subsequent reconfiguration of curricula in a competency format prompted research into the learning experiences of students within a newly reconfigured competency-based curriculum. The curriculum was the technical and further education (TAFE) New South Wales (NSW) Tertiary Preparation Certificate III, first implemented in 1983 as a transition course to further education for adults. Adoption of the particular research perspective for the practitioner researcher in this case was dependent on factors that included nature and purpose of the research; experiences of the researcher within their practice; practitioner's conceptualization of being in the world; and pragmatic considerations, such as time and access. Consideration of these factors led the practitioner researcher to adopt an eclectic Symbolic Interactionist theoretical framework along with its methodology of participant observation. A model of practitioner research was proposed as a way of conceptualizing the conflicting yet complementary roles of teacher and researcher. Key characteristics of the three roles of teacher, course coordinator, and researcher were established, and a graphic representation was developed of these characteristics and the types of interaction and skills involved in each. (Contains 31 references.) (YLB)